Stringing recommendation for TE

[dak95_00]

I couldn’t decide where to put this thread so I decided here since I trust stringers the most and I’ll be stringing my racquets.

I’ve been experiencing TE in my off arm and it must be due to my 2hbh. I might’ve actually aggravated my elbow lifting weights months ago but tennis has been making it worse.

I use a heavier racquet with a 4 1/4 grip. The weight varies between 11.9-13.5oz depending upon the racquet used. I string them with nylon 16 mains and Isospeed Baseline Spin & Speed 17 crosses both at 60#s.

Aside from the pain, I’m literally playing the nearly the best tennis of my life as I approach my 47th birthday. It rarely hurts while playing unless I hit an awful, off-center shot. It just stiffens up afterward.

What do you recommend? I’m thinking a full bed of nylon or synthetic gut at 60 should play similar. Should I try a multi like x1 or a natural gut? I like my current setup. I hit very flat Eastern grips and play an all court game. I hit very hard and low so string adjustments are annoying and can take time. Did I mention I’m playing GREAT? Tennis record says I’m a 4.2 NTRP.

 

[esgee48]

Try dropping the tension on the cross by 4# or 5#. Though they both have a ref tension of 60#, 17 Ga will string up much tighter [higher relative DT] than 16 Ga. If that does not give enough control, increase the tension in the main.

Also try warming up the TE elbow by using a sleeve.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

In your off arm? Weird. If it was dominant arm I'd say the following:
If you're getting TE, you need to step away from the game.
Do not play unless your arm is at 100% before and after playing.
If you play with TE, get ready to be forced to take a year off.
You don't need strings, you need rest

 

[dak95_00]

In your off arm? Weird. If it was dominant arm I'd say the following:
If you're getting TE, you need to step away from the game.
Do not play unless your arm is at 100% before and after playing.
If you play with TE, get ready to be forced to take a year off.
You don't need strings, you need rest

Yes, it’s my left arm. I’ve been tinkering with a 1hbh and it’s not bad but my shoulder gets tired. I’m going to change the tension as suggested above and wear a sleeve, warmup, stretch, ibuprofen, ice, etc.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

That crap won't help. If you have TE, you'll need to rest until it's gone.

 

[Irvin]

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/tendonitis-or-bursitis-your-best-treatments-begin-at-home/

 

[borna coric]

If you have TE, you should be playing with Luxilon Natural Guts.

 

[Kevo]

That sounds a little strange to me. Do you do anything else active/repetitive with your off arm? It may just be a slow healing slight injury from the weights. If that's the case, light therapy type exercises might be the thing you need to rehab it, but I'd hesitate to take any recommendation very strongly if I were you unless you are pretty sure what the problem actually is. My elbow or shoulder or wrist can hurt too if I hit a strong enough shank on a shot, and I don't really have any issues to speak of atm really.

I did have some elbow problems for a while that were actually caused by mousing on the computer. Changed my desk arrangement a little and went to a different more ergonomic mouse and that cleared up after a few weeks.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

If you have TE, you should be playing with Luxilon Natural Guts.

Do you have a link where this is for sale ? I don't think TTW sells this.

 

[dak95_00]

Do you have a link where this is for sale ? I don't think TTW sells this.

You aren’t allowed to post links here to non-TW sites that compete with them. There are search engine sites such as Google or Yahoo! where you can search and quickly find numerous big tennis stores selling it.

Side note: I will never take advice from a person unable to do a simple Internet search.

 

[jim e]

If you have TE, you should be playing with Luxilon Natural Guts.

Actually lux gut hits firmer than other quality Nat gut strings. VS is a plush hit.Klip uncoated also hits comfortable, as well as Wilson Gut.You will not go wrong with any of. Those

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

I want to buy from TTW.
Which is good ?
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Natural_Gut_String/catpage-NATGUT.html

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

16 vs 17 ? pros and cons?

 

[MAX PLY]

Non-racquet related: rest, ice, proper strengthening exercises when able to do so, have a pro look at your form to see if something is amiss. Play only if comfortable--take time to warm the arm up before.

Racquet related: use gut or a good soft multi (NXT, X-1, NRG) and drop your tension 10-15 pounds but use a thinner gauge to make up for some of the lost control. Make sure you have a new or at least clean grip/overgrip on the racquet as well.

 

[Rabbit]

I want to buy from TTW.
Which is good ?
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Natural_Gut_String/catpage-NATGUT.html

You can't go wrong with Babolat. If you've never tried natural gut, buy some Tonic and put it in.

 

[siata94]

for me, flat strokes (continental grip for all strokes) was likely a contributor to TE.
Once I got TE, changed equipment (heavy/flexible racket, soft string, low tension) allowed me to play again but it always felt like was always on the verge of getting TE again. Lots of discomfort after each session and needed 3-5 days rest in between. After decades of flat strokes, I've finally learned/switched to the modern ground strokes. Now I have seemingly 2x the racket head speed, only use full poly (at low tension) yet no pain, can play longer sessions and consecutive days. Bonus is much fewer balls into the net; in the past, 90%+ of my errors were into the net, rallies were pretty short. Took me a long long long time to unlearn the muscle memory of flat strokes, and during that time, nothing but frustration and poor inconsistent play. Totally worth it now that I've gotten over the hump, still learning new muscle memory.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

How long will you take off when you got TE?

 

[Traffic]

I want to buy from TTW.
Which is good ?
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Natural_Gut_String/catpage-NATGUT.html

I've played with VS Team (17g) and Klip Legend 17.
I find VS to play a little "brighter" in terms of feel.
Both are comfortable, but I'll give the nod to Legend.
Legend also has a bit more power, so may need to string a little higher tension to control the power.
I've got some packs of Lux that I'll try out in the coming months if I can find the opportunity.

I've crossed both guts with Isospeed Cream. If I were to try gut/poly again, I would try Proline2. It comes pre-stretched from the factory so it should maintain tension better than most poly.

 

[fuzz nation]

16 vs 17 ? pros and cons?

Several years ago I met a guy who was just returning to tennis after recovering from a serious case of tennis elbow that sidelined him from play for a number of months. He had tried a poly layout in his Pure Drive Roddicks and the trouble followed in a hurry.

So after mending with physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, etc. he started playing again and he didn't switch racquets. He just changed his strings to full beds of Babolat VS Touch in 16 ga. His comeback was borderline miraculous - no twinges or issues in his elbow when he started playing again on a regular basis.

If I tried a natural gut in my own racquets, this VS Touch 16 would be my choice in my 16x19 Volkls with their 98" heads. If I wanted natural gut in a racquet with a smaller head or a dense pattern, I'd try this label in 17 ga.

 

[LeftyJunk]

Increase your grip size.