Category Archives: Learning
Looking at the Differences
For the past fifteen (15) years or so, most string discussion centered on polyester. By now, you know our position on polyester, so we won’t go through that again right now. What we will go through right now is the difference(s) in a polyester string!
PET, polyethylene terephthalate, is the standard “material” in the better quality polyester string, so how can there be so many different versions of the same material?
Can you say “additives”? Luxilon has made it part of their brand to use acronyms for materials in each string’s description. ALU, for example, is aluminum, Timo is titanium/molybdenum, and I don’t know what 4G is.
So let’s take a look at the differences in a couple of polyester stings. Shown here are two (2) polyester strings, Luxilon ALU Power and Volkl V-Star. You can see the difference in stiffness between them, the V-Star being “softer,” but what you can’t see is the V-Star package does not say “co-polyester” but instead Co-Polymer!
Polyester? Co-Polyester? Co-Polymer?
We know “co” is two or more and “poly” is many, so how many of anything does any material have in it? We may never know and probably shouldn’t care as long as we have the presented data.
What can we see from this graph?
- ALU Power reaches 50 lbs quicker (stiffer)
- ALU Power exhibits good elasticity
- V-Star is more linear (consistency)
- V-Star has a greater tensile strength
- V-Star is softer (takes longer to reach 50 lbs)
How would a player know this by just looking a the package? I am not sure! Adding the word “soft” or “comfort” or “feel” may persuade a player to try the string, but what if a better decision could be made before spending the time and money?
Consistency. What Does It Look Like?
Consistency!
Consistency is a component of almost every successful thing we do each day!
But, what does it look like? Well since this is a tennis centric post it will look like this:
What you are looking at is identical racquets, identical string, identical failure location!
If you find the very end of each string you will see how consistent this failure location is.
This string is a high elongation material so will notice that the ends of the broken strings are very far apart.
This is a good thing since it (elongation) contributes to comfort and power when hitting the ball.
This failure location indicates the player is striking the ball with consistency! That many explain the UTR of 13.3!
What else does this failure location show us?
- Most impacts are not in the center of the racquet.
- The string spacing in this area is a little more “open” which may “catch” the ball and contribute to rotation.
- There are more strings for the ball to “roll” over before leaving the racquet which may contribute to rotation.
Consistency is important in everything we do. Visualize it like the string bed of this racquet and try to hit the same spot each time you do something…anything!
Let’s Get Serious!
If you listen to the Racquet Quest podcasts you will recognize this statement!
So, why are we posting it on the website if it is already a podcast? Because it is serious! A racquet came in today that reminded me of why we started GASP! The stringing is so awful that I can’t keep myself from writing this!
The owner of the racquet does not remember at which tournament it was strung otherwise we could contact them and offer some suggestions!
Why is this racquet so bad?
- Inconsistent tension across the string bed
- The accuracy index is 65!
- Virtually no tension in the top cross string…because
- The racquet was strung from the bottom up plus the poor knot
- Stringing of the crosses started at the bottom (starting X at the top is highly recommended)
- Tie offs on the wrong holes
- 8M is better
- Cross over at the lower side
- Probably due to the wrong tie off
- One-piece format
- Inconsistent string tension
- Bad tie off knots
Why is it so hard to do a better job when stringing a tennis racquet? In this case, it appears the stringer has no training. There are errors no competent stringer would make! But, until players refuse to accept this shoddy work it will continue!
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- Wrong Tie Off Hole
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- Cross Over
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- Bad KNot
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- Another Really Bad Knot
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- No Tension on the First Cross String
Why “demo” a Racquet?
We have had this discussion before, but it needs repeating periodically!
Why? Because players are not, in some cases, getting what they want but thought they were. And whose fault, or oversight, is that? The racquet dealer, the player, advertising, or just bad luck?
I say it is the “demo” process in general! As we have discussed before the demo racquet your receive from online or even a local store is probably not set up for you! So you are “demoing” something that may not be even close to what you want or need! This can be costly!
Probably more costly than demoing a racquet that is set up for you! It will cost at least one stringing of the string of your choice…your choice, not anyone else’s choice! The tension will be what you want, not anyone else. The weight and swing weight will be set up for you, not anyone else…so you see where this is going! Spending $50.00 may save you $100’s if a “poor” selection is made!
After you have had the demo racquet set up for you it is important that you try it as many times as possible, but at least three (3) sessions.
The objective of a demo program is to get the correct racquet for you so take advantage of the “set up” opportunity!
Racquet Quest, LLC
