Racket Strings & Stringing

STRINGS ARE THE ENGINE OF YOUR RACKET

Stringing… one of the most important things to consider on your racket. You need to feel confident when playing your shot that the ball/shuttlecock should do what you want it to do. The wrong string and the wrong tension in your racket will make it not perform how it should for you. We are all different in what we feel from the strings, which is why there is no right or wrong when you try to determine what string, tension, gauge etc you would like. Players can take a few weeks to decide on their choice of racket, but minutes on the string they want to use. We can offer expert advice here at Withers helping you make the correct choice.

Old wives tale

The amount of times you play a week is how many restrings you should have a year (even if you are not breaking strings). Whilst you should bare this in mind, not everyone can/will justify this, but you should have at least one a year. For tennis being played in the winter when the balls can be heavier due to excess water, this adds weight to the cloth on the balls and the rubber core on the ball can be harder due to cooler temperatures. Both of these can put extra strain on the strings. This will vary slightly for badminton and squash, but some squash rackets have quite open string beds and badminton players always seem to want high tensions, both of these points can contribute to early string breakages.

Tennis Racket Strings

There are various types of string that offer different playing characteristics.

Power, comfort and feel

We would always advise a softer string for players seeking power, comfort and feel. Natural Gut (Babolat VS Touch) offers a very soft feel and is the string that offers the best playability, feel comfort and power than anything else. There are more durable versions of natural gut, which are far better in damp conditions. These types of string are classed as a multifilament (Babolat Xcel, Wilson Sensation). These are made up of many individual strands, wrapped together to make one string. If you have ever suffered with tennis elbow, any wrist problems, a frozen shoulder etc, we would always recommend a multifilament/natural gut due to the comfort and dampening qualities that they possess. There are other options which you can alter to the string bed to aid you in making your racket more comfortable if you do suffer with tennis elbow i.e lowering the tension or choosing a thinner gauge of string. For juniors, a multifilament would always be recommended to help them avoid injuries for as long as possible, as well as stringing at a lower tension.

String that offers a little bit of everything

Most of us want a string that offers a little bit of everything. A player who has a powerful game and hits the ball hard would usually look at a harder, more durable string. A softer, multifilament string would feel fantastic but would just not wear well. However, a harder, polyester/monofilament (Luxilon Alu Power, Babolat RPM Blast, Luxilon Savage) string should last longer. The down side of a monofilament string is comfort, but this type of string is usually aimed at the more advanced player, who tend to break strings more frequently.

However, you can mix both string types together to create a hybrid combination. Many professional players use this set-up. This is where you combine a polyester/monofilament string with a natural gut/multifilament giving you a combination of durability, control, power and comfort. Most of the time you would find the polyester in the mains and the natural gut/multifilament in the crosses to have slightly more control. However, you can swap it around if you wish to have more feel and power.

Below is a list of of our more popular tennis stringing options:

  • Multifilament/Natural Gut
  • Babolat VS Touch (NG)
  • Babolat Xcel (M)
  • Wilson Sensation (M)
  • Yonex Poly Tour Pro

  • Polyester/Monofilament
  • Babolat RPM Blast
  • Babolat RPM Rough
  • Luxilon Alu Power/Rough

  • Yonex Poly Tour Pro

  • Hybrid
  • Babolat RPM Blast x Babolat Xcel
  • Babolat RPM Blast x Babolat VS Touch
  • Luxilon Alu Power x Babolat VS Touch

  • Luxilon Alu Power x Wilson Sensation

String Tension/Gauge:

The tighter the tension, the less power but more control… the looser the tension the more power and less control. Think of it like you are jumping on a trampoline, a racket reacts the same way. When you are jumping up and down on a tightly sprung trampoline you will not lift off that much. However, if you move off the centre of the trampoline you will not venture too far off your direction. If you are on a loosely sprung trampoline, will jump higher and if you move away from the centre you probably land off the trampoline.

The same can be said on a string bed. When strung tight and the ball contacts the string, the ball flattens slightly, this loses energy in the ball resulting in less power. If it is strung loose, the ball sits into the string bed longer and rebounds off it without the ball being flattened, resulting in power but, you need to work harder at controlling the ball. Each racket offers guidance with a tension range. If you go above it then be aware that any breakages may well be deemed as your responsibility. The higher the tension, the more strain you place on the racket. Also be aware that every restring weakens the racket, very minimal, but it is worth noting.

We are finding now that tensions on tennis rackets are getting lower and lower. Our average tension for tennis rackets is now around 52lbs and is dropping consistently. We have strung rackets as low as 26lbs and as high as 70lbs!

Badminton rackets, however… are doing the complete opposite! People are wanting as tighter tension as possible. The downside is that the sweet spot on the racket becomes smaller and you need to have better technique and timing to get the best from the string. Squash players haven’t tended to change much. Most frames we do, tend to be between 24-30lbs.

All strings will tend to come in different gauges (thickness). The thinner the gauge, the more power, feel and spin potential it will offer you. The thicker gauge, offers you more durability, but you will sacrifice power, feel and spin.

Strings really are the engine of your racket.