Category Archives: elbow
Is this a cost effective alternative?
Everyone loves natural gut but not everyone loves the price, even though it is very much worth it!
You may think ” I will just use synthetic gut it must be about as good”. Nope, not even close. However there is string that may be close enough to consider as an alternative.
One such string is IsoSpeed Professional. Because we know “a picture is worth a thousand words” here is a picture:
IsoSpeed v VS Touch
If you are serious about playing tennis at a high level for a long time please consider an alternative to a string that does not help that effort.
This is one, however there are others that we will highlight in future posts.
Power vs String Bed Stiffness
We have been testing strings for power potential since 1984! Currently, we have over 500 strings registered on our website, and we will put a link in this post that will take you there. Over the years, we have tested that several times that number but need to remove some strings that simply do not need to be in this data while keeping “legacy” strings for reference to today’s offerings.
What does the power potential of string have to do with String Bed stiffness? While a single strand of string tells us a lot about the performance characteristics of any string, it is the total string bed that you play with, not a single string!
We test for String Bed Stiffness in four (4) different ways: Babolat RDC, Flex Four, Master Tensometer, and our proprietary String Bed Master.
What we want to clarify is the power of the string bed stiffness, and to do that, we need to include the tennis ball, which is, by design, not very efficient. I believe the rebound percentage is about 53 to 58 percent. If the rebound percentage were closer to 100 percent, the ball would not stay in the court!
The graph below helps us understand what String Bed Stiffness will work in any given player situation.
Power vs String Bed Stiffness
I know there are a lot of lines, but I am certain you can understand them. We will help you along and explain why this is very important to you and us!
The vertical axis (Y) is Power, and the horizontal axis (X) is String Bed stiffness in pounds per inch. Every device we use for string bed stiffness presents the force in pounds per inch. The green dotted box represents the “normal” range (≈ 160. to 210.0) for string bed stiffness.
If we want to maximize the power of the ball contact and string, we would need a string bed stiffness of about 100 pounds per inch, which is achievable but not “normal.
The upper curve (brown or red) represents the sting bed only. So you see a power range of 20.0 down to 6.67. The lower curve (blue) introduces the ball and, due to the ball design, does not add any power but detracts from power. So you see a power range of 13.7 down to 8.38. Because we don’t know how hard the ball is being struck, we prefer to use the string bed-only curve. It is, however, critical for us to know how the ball is participating.
An interesting and important value of the graph is the power value. As the string bed becomes stiffer than the ball (≈ 210.0 pounds per inch range), the ball will provide more power than the string bed. Not much, but at least the ball will not detract from the power!
Now for some GOOD news!
It seems that I am recovering from this cold or whatever it is, so now we can return to a relatively normal schedule!
I want to start with some comments from Willie B. regarding string. After you read Willie’s comments, we can talk about the string and why it does what it does: to allow players of any level to play without discomfort.
Here is from Willie:
“FYI, my inability to play tennis more than 1-twice a week due to the pain for over 4 years impacted my game. The last time I was ranked was 5.0, but now at 47, probably more like 4.5 (No tournament for the previous 5 years)
The good news is that with the feel of those strings, I can hit back (I practiced with a top player last Sunday, and he even felt it as I am not scared to go big… I have played with him for over a decade)”.
Willie’s racquet technician is Henry Hamels of String MD. Thank you, Henry, for sharing!
If you have not already guessed, the string material is PEEK, polyetheretherketone, which was marketed as Zyex by Ashaway under the MonoGut ZX and ZX Pro models! This monofilament format offers an alternative to stiffer monofilament strings while providing, in most cases, better performance and durability!
- The raw material is expensive.
- Some
racquet techniciansstringers simply don’t know how to handle PEEK.- The high elongation of PEEK is a surprise to the first-time stringer.
- Marketing hype is not strong.
- Very few players and stringers know about this alternative.
- See Marketing Hype above!
- Stringers may have had a poor experience before and are wary.
- The material does not change shape; therefore, knots are not as tiny as some stringers prefer.
- PEEK will “tighten” its own knots.
- Beginning stringers may over-tighten the knot, causing failure…never to be used again!
- Currently, the material is available in two (2) colors, tan and black.
- MonoGut ZX is 16 gauge
- MonoGut ZX Pro is 17 gauge
Depending on the player’s tennis intentions, we may start them on PEEK at age nine (9) but no later than twelve (12).
Thank you, Willie, for your comments!
To see if this material will benefit your game now and for the long term, ask your racquet technician.
- Please text us if you need additional information: 407.491.4755
- Comment on this site, and we will respond to specific questions.
- If, based on our player history, your application may not be the best, we will tell you.
- Very beginning players and those players experimenting with various strokes creating mis-hits need to be recognized.
Racquet Quest, LLC
