What are the disadvantages of playing with dead poly or co-poly?
- Thread starter beneszilo
- Start date
fin-tennis(h)
Rookie
1. Tennis elbow
2. Lack of feel
Anything else? Please continue.
2. Lack of feel
Anything else? Please continue.
1.You do not need to be a string expert, but know how your racquet hits.
2. With a poly , when it looses enough tension it is like a heavy piece of twine, it will not have any proper resiliency,and therefore feels dead, and if it is that way for a while I know that some players do not even realize it until they get a new string job.The other end of the spectrum is nat. gut, as it is highly elastic, and will keep enough resiliency until it breaks.
raygo
Semi-Pro
It will lose tension like all strings. I can't perceive tension loss directly (unless I check with a Stringmeter), but I can see the effects in my game.
A lot of it depends on whether you are used to the feeling of new strings or old strings. People who don't play that much and never restring are used to dead strings; a fresh string job might feel weird and too tight. Conversely, if you're used to new strings, old strings will feel soft and mushy.
Let's say you like fresh strings. Your technique is calibrated for that particular feeling. As the string loses tension, your game will adapt and compensate automatically. You may find yourself starting to miss more, especially those tough shots you 'used to make.' It's easier to compensate for lost tension during easy rallying, but when you're pushed hard, your muscle memory will revert to the shot it 'remembers,' except this time with a lower tension than your game was calibrated for. Sure, you'll get it after a couple of tries, but how many shots will you miss before you've recalibrated your running forehand (never mind starting over again after you restring)? Stretch this out for the duration of just one hitting session and you have a recipe for lots of swearing and general unhappiness with your game.
The effects are more pronounced the harder you hit the ball. Even at the intermediate level, players may not even notice or care, and simply take responsibility for getting the ball in, period. As you improve and start blasting more and more of your shots, you're talking a much lower margin of error.
At high levels, you're hitting hard and still need max consistency, that means the best contact you can muster as you're running and scrambling around the court. You can't control the incoming ball, so that means consistent stroke technique...which will be difficult to develop if your stroke is constantly compensating for things like tension loss. Of course, good players will adapt and improve regardless...but all players will benefit from minimizing variables that can complicate this already complex game. This is why people restring so often (they like fresh strings) or wait a few days after restringing before playing, or stepping on their strings (they like broken-in strings).
Of course, this is assuming you already know how to move your feet and get in position for every shot.
A lot of it depends on whether you are used to the feeling of new strings or old strings. People who don't play that much and never restring are used to dead strings; a fresh string job might feel weird and too tight. Conversely, if you're used to new strings, old strings will feel soft and mushy.
Let's say you like fresh strings. Your technique is calibrated for that particular feeling. As the string loses tension, your game will adapt and compensate automatically. You may find yourself starting to miss more, especially those tough shots you 'used to make.' It's easier to compensate for lost tension during easy rallying, but when you're pushed hard, your muscle memory will revert to the shot it 'remembers,' except this time with a lower tension than your game was calibrated for. Sure, you'll get it after a couple of tries, but how many shots will you miss before you've recalibrated your running forehand (never mind starting over again after you restring)? Stretch this out for the duration of just one hitting session and you have a recipe for lots of swearing and general unhappiness with your game.
The effects are more pronounced the harder you hit the ball. Even at the intermediate level, players may not even notice or care, and simply take responsibility for getting the ball in, period. As you improve and start blasting more and more of your shots, you're talking a much lower margin of error.
At high levels, you're hitting hard and still need max consistency, that means the best contact you can muster as you're running and scrambling around the court. You can't control the incoming ball, so that means consistent stroke technique...which will be difficult to develop if your stroke is constantly compensating for things like tension loss. Of course, good players will adapt and improve regardless...but all players will benefit from minimizing variables that can complicate this already complex game. This is why people restring so often (they like fresh strings) or wait a few days after restringing before playing, or stepping on their strings (they like broken-in strings).
Of course, this is assuming you already know how to move your feet and get in position for every shot.
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got to say strings going dead isn't SO terrible. After you get past the loooong hump of them feeling dead and getting a bit over-powerful as the tension drops. once they are dead dead and the hump has passed the string is awesome for taking controlled and massive cuts at the ball.
Polys: bad within 24hours of stringing imo --> better for a short while until they reach peak and OMG are they crisp and strong and full of precise control and feel --> slowly descend into crapness --> then WOW, awesome! glad I pushed through the crapness.
Polys: bad within 24hours of stringing imo --> better for a short while until they reach peak and OMG are they crisp and strong and full of precise control and feel --> slowly descend into crapness --> then WOW, awesome! glad I pushed through the crapness.
I string polys quite lose and use it on cross only in hybrid. After about 5-10 hours of playing time, polys goes to this so called "dead" state and stay like that until it pops. since i strong it loose and only use it in hybrid, it's ok to manage it. of course, if i am a pro tennis player, i would use one poly job per session but you know it's kinda ok for us, non pros, imho.
