String News
As you know I do a lot of string evaluations for myself, my customers and some manufacturers. I do this to have a clear understanding of what a string does at various tensions in various racquets ,and, also in a “controlled” environment!
So, if you ask me for a recommendation my answer will based on data, and, of course some anecdotal evidence. I know most manufacturers try very hard to place the string into the correct category but sometime they simply miss!
There is an ongoing conversation(s) regarding the categorization of polyester based strings relative to racquets and player stature. This may, for example, look like; “If you use Racquet “X” and are under fourteen (14) years old do not use “XYS” string at tensions higher than 40lbs (18.1 Kilo)”.
It is well known that it is very “tricky” to use polyester based string for most younger players that are experimenting with stroke production and still do not have the physical strength to really take advantage of what polyester may offer. For the record I do not recommend it.
Durability is always an issue so when I ask for “playing time” it should be in hours, not days or weeks, but hours. It is a big help to know what portion of those hour are training or playing. It is obvious that one (1) hour of training will be more “destructive” than one (1) hour of tournament play.
The more we know about string the better the choices can be. It is my imperative that the string matches/enhances the application. Tennis Warehouse, the premier online source for tennis stuff, is also very active in the effort to enlighten players in the selection of the string they order. We can do this!
What do you think?
Posted on January 30, 2016, in Juniors, shoulder, String, String Review. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Racquet Quest, LLC
Scott, thank you for the comment!
The answer to your first inquiry is “I don’t know!” I have seen players that rate themselves at 4.0 to 4.5 that can not use polyester. I know players of advanced age that can use polyester in oversize racquets at low tension (string bed stiffness) that love it!
Tension is a huge contributor to the benefit, or lack of, for polyester strings, however, tension loss is also a factor. Most polyester based sting is not very stable, therefore the changing of racquets at the pro level every 9-10 games.
Unintended consequences are an issue. Many players expect the string to do too much and if they don’t think it is doing enough they begin to swing harder to get that extra “spin”, consequently creating arm issues.
My position is “there is no bad string just bad applications”.
I suppose this begs the question: at what level does an adult need to be playing before benefitting from poly? And does that come down for soft polys or hybrid set ups? And how does tension affect that equation?