Why do so many pros use 16 gauge strings?
- Thread starter zill
- Start date
Because they want them to last and feel roughly the same for 9 games.
SavvyStringer
Professional
I'm not sure where you got the idea that many/most use 16. I would say it's a pretty good spread. Some rackets/ strokes require thicker strings. Nadal and the 15g is a necessity to get any sort of durability and not just run through frames. Kyrgios uses 17g PTP, Donald Young uses a hybrid of 16L/17 HyperG, Jamie Murray uses 16L, most women's players that I've strung for use 16L or 17 as well. Most of the guys using Lux are using a 1.25 or 16L as well. Maybe they use a thicker gut but for many the poly is a 16L or less.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
I agree with @SavvyStringer
its a combination or durability and performance for the player and the racquet
too thin and they break too fast
too thick and they loose playability
ill use a 16g string to close the string bed a bit more on a open pattern racquet like h.extreme.pro
but ill use a 17 or 18g string on a h.radical.pro, 16g would be too much imo for me
one other thing to consider, most pros like "more control", so their racquets are gonna be more closed pattern!, the ones that like open pattern frames like kyrios or nadal ,they will need to restring more often
its a combination or durability and performance for the player and the racquet
too thin and they break too fast
too thick and they loose playability
ill use a 16g string to close the string bed a bit more on a open pattern racquet like h.extreme.pro
but ill use a 17 or 18g string on a h.radical.pro, 16g would be too much imo for me
one other thing to consider, most pros like "more control", so their racquets are gonna be more closed pattern!, the ones that like open pattern frames like kyrios or nadal ,they will need to restring more often
naturallight
Semi-Pro
I think the Babolat rep on here said Nadal breaks 15g in 15-30 min in practice
landcookie
Professional
That's just insane. I'm surprised his elbow can withstand the constant pummelling of 15g rpm at such RHS
1HBHfanatic
Legend
not unlikely at all,,
he has the 2 recipes for string breaking!, spin and force
FIRETennis
Professional
What's your source for that stat?
~75% of Sponsored Luxilon players use 1.25 according to Luxilon's player & sponsored player list
~65% of Top 100 ATP Pro's use 16L/17/18 gauge vs. 35% that use 16/15L according to the TW community sourced Tennis Racquet Specs
I think it's more like amateurs that use thicker gauge to make them last longer, better tension maintenance, less deflection, more control etc... stuff pro's don't really need.
~75% of Sponsored Luxilon players use 1.25 according to Luxilon's player & sponsored player list
~65% of Top 100 ATP Pro's use 16L/17/18 gauge vs. 35% that use 16/15L according to the TW community sourced Tennis Racquet Specs
I think it's more like amateurs that use thicker gauge to make them last longer, better tension maintenance, less deflection, more control etc... stuff pro's don't really need.
Last edited:
JoelDali
Talk Tennis Guru
I remember watching Nadal practice from like 10 feet away and there was so much spin on the ball that the ball looked egg shaped as it traveled through the air.
Insane spin and force he generates. Probably more than any other player on the FH side.
megamind
Legend
berrettini gets more rpms
am1899
Legend
Indeed. His forehand is absolutely nuts.
Holdfast44ID
Semi-Pro
I'm sure top pros, who have the money, will use whatever gauge they feel they play best with. If Fed had to go through breaking string in 5 racquets using 18g string to win the Wimbledon finals because he felt an edge over using 16g, I'm sure he would use the 18g. However, one could counter that it could be a pain in the *** to constantly break strings as it could throw off one's rhythm I suppose. That's the only reason I can see for pros being concerned with breaking strings, not the cost.
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
One Handed Dynasty
Semi-Pro
After Guga brought poly into the tour everyone spent a year or so trying out different setups to adapt and take advantage of the new spin control. An incidental consequence of switching from full beds of natural gut was that pros stopped breaking strings because of how much lower their tensions were and how quickly poly lost tension and died. Guys like Sampras and Haas would have their racquets strung in the 70’s and would keep them in a separate room in hotels because the gut would snap overnight.
Once guys began stringing in the high 40’s/low 50’s they didn’t need the extra elasticity thinner gauges gave. The snap back effect of poly and faster racquet head speed lead pros to gravitate to thicker gauges of non poly strings in their hybrids due to the more consistent response and durability.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Once guys began stringing in the high 40’s/low 50’s they didn’t need the extra elasticity thinner gauges gave. The snap back effect of poly and faster racquet head speed lead pros to gravitate to thicker gauges of non poly strings in their hybrids due to the more consistent response and durability.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ron schaap
Hall of Fame
Besides durability thicker strings feel different and possess maybe a little bit more control.
ron schaap
Hall of Fame
There is a famous video om youtube from a guy who is hired by Tecnifibre to test strings by hitting balls with it. He manages to break every string after around 100 hits and he is no Nadal but still a former pro i believe.
Link?
TropicalFruit
Rookie
This is the answer. If you've never gotten close to that swing speed, it's hard to understand how much force is truly involved. Most 17g strings can't handle it, or even if they could, wouldn't play the same after 20 minutes, which is too short, even for the pros.
Don't have the source, but heard one match when Rafa was playing with 15g, they strung his racket with 16g instead, and he could barely put a forehand in the court. The amount of string movement and variability in launch from a 17g string at that level of force provides so little control it's unplayable (Perhaps as a cross string, with a thicker main, if both are very stiff).
stapletonj
Hall of Fame
think of the total point score in a pro tennis match. usually within 5 points in a 3 set match, esp. if it actually goes 3 sets.
% of times a pro has WON a point when his string broke during the point - less than 10%, I'm guessing.
No pro in his or her right mind would want to have one, much less 2 points in a match, that they have at least a 50% chance of winning, go down to 10% because of a string break.
Of course, if they like thinner strings better, through practice, they can find a gauge that will not break ever in 9 games.
breaking a string in a point is a disaster
% of times a pro has WON a point when his string broke during the point - less than 10%, I'm guessing.
No pro in his or her right mind would want to have one, much less 2 points in a match, that they have at least a 50% chance of winning, go down to 10% because of a string break.
Of course, if they like thinner strings better, through practice, they can find a gauge that will not break ever in 9 games.
breaking a string in a point is a disaster
