All About Tennis Strings – Buying Guide by Racquets4U.com

The soul of the tennis racquet is String. Players spent their days and months on searching for tennis racquets, however, tennis strings have not been focused so keenly.  If you want to give your best on the court, strings must be an important part of your weaponry. This article will help you to know which type of tennis strings are suitable for a particular style of game.

There are number of tennis strings available in the market of various brands and these strings are categorized in terms of Durability, Playability, Spin, Power and now Hybrid strings. It would be very confusing to choose your preferred tennis string without having knowledge about it. Your Racquets4U team brings a detailed buying guide to tennis strings that will help you to understand the mechanism of various strings available in the market and choose the right string for your game.

Types of Tennis Strings:

Various types of tennis strings available in the market are discussed below.

1. Natural Gut Tennis Strings

Natural Gut Tennis Strings are considered as one of the best string available in the market for Playability. Courtesy of high elastic properties, this string provides great power and comfort. Furthermore, tension also lasts for a longer period. However, manufacturers have made slight upgrades to increase durability. Even though it is highly-priced, players prefer to have this string in their kitbag to make them stronger on the court. Natural Gut is one of the most beloved strings in the player circuit.

Available Natural Gut Tennis Strings are - Babolat VS Touch, LXN 125 Natural Gut.

Features: Power, Comfort, Feel

2. Multifilament Tennis Strings

Multifilament Tennis Strings are made up of small microfibers that are woven together to develop a single string. Such strings are equivalent to natural gut in many forms. These types of strings offer playability and high comfort. This string reduces the chances of injury like tennis elbow for the players. These are more durable strings with equivalent power and lower price in comparison to Natural guts. Today many players are loving multifilament strings.

Available Multifilament strings are - HEAD Reflex MLT, HEAD Velocity, Babolat Xcel, Tecnifibre X-One Biphase.

Features: Power, Comfort, Feel

3. Monofilament Tennis Strings

Monofilament Tennis Strings are the most popular and highly recommended strings, also called Poly Strings. Unlike Multifilament, these strings are made up of Single-core filament material. These strings offer Durability along with Spin and Power. However, where you have some Pros there are cons too. Monofilament strings are a little bit hard.

Available Monofilament strings are - HEAD Hawk, HEAD Hawk Touch, HEAD Lynx Tour, Babolat RPM Blast, LXN Alu Power Soft, Solinco Tourbite

Features: Control, Spin, Durability

4. Hybrid Tennis Strings

Hybrid Tennis Strings are NextGen solution for the players who are looking for Spin, Power, Comfort and Feel. These types of strings provide perfect playability and durability. Hybrid is basically a mix of two different types of strings or gauge in a racket. Over a period of time, it has found favor with players and the reason is the increasing popularity of polyester strings. Polyester strings are stiff; players tend to mix them up with natural or synthetic gut to increase playability and comfort. Hybrid strings amplify a string’s life and make them more durable and comfortable.

The Most favorite combinations are - Babolat RPM Blast + VS Touch, HEAD Hawk Touch + HEAD Velocity, Wilson NXT Tour + LXN Alu Power

Features: Power, Comfort, Balance

5. Synthetic Tennis Strings

Synthetic Tennis Strings are budget strings. These are quality strings at a lower price. The result tends to be an economical string that performs reasonably well all around without the enhanced features associated with other types, i.e., the extra comfort available through multifilament or control familiar with polyester. These are value for money strings.

Available synthetic strings are - HEAD Synthetic Gut, HEAD Challenge, Prince Synthetic.

Features: Value for Money, Durability.

You can learn more about tennis string and its structure from this infographic:

Materials Used in Tennis string

1. Polyester

A polyester string is made up of individual polyester fiber with a thin layer of coating on it. The polyester string has low elasticity and it is stiff in nature. They have durable and one of the best strings for topspin. Polyester string loses tension quickly which results in decreasing control.

2. Kelvar

Kelvar is one of the strongest strings available in the market. People use it with nylon strings to eliminate the harsh feel. It provides maximum comfort and durability. Moreover, Kelvar maintains it tension for a fair piece of time. The drawback is that Kevlar’s comfort level is low and it also doesn’t provide much spin. It is usually suitable for players who are regular string breakers.

3. Nylon

Nylon is the most common type of Nylon string. It is believed that around 70 percent of the players use nylon strings. Nylon strings are made up of synthetic water, carbon and oxygen. It has a nylon core with layers on it. Its solid playability and pocket-friendly behavior are its USP's. The biggest advantage of Nylon strings is that these are weather resistant and perfect for intermediate level players.

Power, Spin and Durability in Tennis String

Players have different needs to fulfill from the strings they use. Racquets4u team now brings you various purposes fulfilled by various types of strings.

1. Power

Power in tennis string depends on the gauge and string tension. String plays an important role in generating power for the shot. If you are struggling in hitting hard shots then you need to have a softer string as it generates more power in shots. The thinner the gauge, the more power it will generate thereby more powerful shots. Multifilament types of strings generally provide a good amount of power while returning a shot.

Available strings for power are - HEAD Hawk Touch, Solinco Hyper G, Tecnifibre X-One.

2. Spin

Spin is basically the change in the movement of the ball on the court. Different types of strings generate different amounts of spin. In a study, it was found that polyester strings provide more spin as compared to nylon strings. Players generally use spin or topspin for drop shot when the opponent is far away from the net. Along with string type, technique and players’ angle also contribute to the amount of spin.

Available strings for Spin are - HEAD Lynx Edge, Solinco Tourbite, Babolat RPM Blast.

3. Durability

The durability of a tennis string depends on various factors. An important factor affecting the durability of a string is its gauge type. Thicker gauge strings will last long when compared with thinner gauge strings. Another factor on which the durability of the string depends is the type of string itself. The material used in the manufacturing of a string also affects its durability. Kevlar strings are one of the strongest strings available in the market and are durable also.

Available strings for durability are - HEAD Sonic Pro, Solinco Outlast.

Tennis String Gauge

Once you find a set of tennis strings that you would like to try, you may get confused with what gauge or thickness makes the most sense for you. There are two key factors to be considered while thinking about string gauge: durability and spin potential.

Typically, the thicker a string, the more durable it is and the lesser spin potential it has, while the thinner a string, less durable it is and more spin potential it offers. Strings are widely available at 17 or 16 gauge, with 17 being a thinner string and 16 thicker. In the spirit of keeping things simple, we suggest players start with one of those based on whether they are looking for more durability or spin and then adjust from there to arrive at the best combination of a string with your racquet and game.

List of all the types of tennis string gauge along with their measurements is given below:

A thinner tennis string gauge improves playability and a thicker tennis string gauge improves durability. Players can choose different types of string gauge as per their needs and style of game.

Tennis String Tension

It is the application of force applied on the strings by the machine. It helps in achieving the desired playability of string bed i.e. strings fitted in a racket. Usually, there is an appropriate tension range mentioned on the racket. High string tension will provide you more power, feel and comfort but it will be difficult to handle and it won’t last long also low string tension will result in less power but more feel and comfort. Also, it will last longer and control will be maintained for a long period of time in comparison to the low string tension. String tension neither should be too high or too low, one should follow the string tension guidelines given by the racquet brands for their racquets.

What is the Right Tension for your Racquet?

When you’re stringing a racquet for the first time, it doesn’t have to be a guessing game. First, start with the tension range recommended by the racquet’s manufacturer. You can typically find these numbers printed directly on the frame – check the inside of your tennis racquet’s throat or the inner edge of the frame’s head, where it’s usually located. Manufacturers will test their racquets with real players to determine an appropriate range. The best thing you can do for the first time around while stringing a new racquet is to split the difference and start with a tension that is right in the middle of the manufacturer’s recommendation.

For example, if your racquet says the recommended string tension is 55 to 60 pounds, start with 58 pounds. Based on the performance of the racquet, you can adjust up or down to your preference.

Low vs High String Tension

When stringing tennis racquets, a common question that arises for players is whether they should string with a higher or lower tension and what impact the change will have on their racquet’s performance. The simple answer is that higher tensions will provide you with more power, while lower tensions will give you more control.

Use of Dampeners in Tennis Racquet String

The dampener is a small piece of rubber that players attach to the string of a tennis racquet. Dampeners are usually placed on the bottom of the racket strings and the reason is that if the ball hits it, it will lead to miss-hit and loss of a point and the second reason is according to ITF rule you cannot place it in the middle of the racket strings. The job of a dampener is to reduce the quantum of vibrations caused when the ball comes in contact with the racquet. They are usually available in various unique colors and designs. In a recent study, it was found that Dampeners doesn’t reduce the effect of the impact of hitting the ball with a racquet on the arms, but only reduce the vibrations caused by string and suppresses the sound. Various top ATP and WTA players such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams do not use dampeners on their tennis racquet. Beginners can surely use it during the initial days of their career.

We hope that this information will increase your knowledge about the tennis strings that you have been using or are planning to use and it would help you to arrive at the best suitable string for your racquet and game.