| Your tennis racket strings are just as important as | | | | thinner than a 16 gauge tennis string. A thicker string |
| your racket. But all too often we spend way too little | | | | generally provides durability so it lasts longer. A thinner |
| time researching tennis strings. Many tennis players | | | | string gives you better playability but sacrifices some |
| spend hours upon hours researching rackets to find | | | | durability. |
| the best tennis racket. They may even spend hours | | | | String Tension - Tension refers to how tight you string |
| playing with a demo racket before purchasing it. Once | | | | your racket. Tennis rackets typically come with a |
| they find the best tennis racket, many players go for | | | | recommended stringing range. The rule of thumb is |
| the cheaper string or the string that they had in their | | | | that tighter strings give you more control, while a lower |
| old racket. | | | | tension provides more power. If you have no |
| This can be a big mistake. If you used a demo tennis | | | | preference, it is generally best to use the mid-range. |
| racket, it most likely had the best all around string put in | | | | String Materials - Tennis racket strings are made up of |
| it for that racket. For example, if it was a very stiff | | | | many different types of materials. The materials |
| racket, chances are it had softer string in it or it might | | | | include natural gut, synthetic gut or nylon, polyester, |
| even have had natural gut in it, which is one of the top | | | | Kevlar, and there are even hybrid string sets which |
| playing strings. It has been said that the strings are the | | | | come with two different types of material. The choice |
| "heart of the racket" or "the soul of the racket". This is | | | | really is a personal preference. It is said that natural gut |
| so true. Your tennis racket string is what gives you the | | | | offers the optimum in playability and feel. It has been |
| "feel of the racket" or playability. If you put the wrong | | | | and continues to be the number 1 pick on the pro |
| string in your racket, you will wonder why you ever | | | | circuit. Kevlar is known for its durability while synthetic |
| bought the racket to begin with. Put in the right string, | | | | gut offers a good combination of durability and |
| and it will be hard to get you off the court! Of course, | | | | playability. |
| the "right" string is different for everyone. It all depends | | | | String Construction - There are several different types |
| on what the tennis player likes and needs. Some tennis | | | | of string construction that play a part in the string's |
| players like the firm crisp string, while other players | | | | make-up and playability. I will not go into detail but there |
| prefer the softer tennis string. You need to find the | | | | are solid core strings with one outer wrap, solid core |
| string that you like and works for your type of game | | | | strings with multi-outer wraps and then there are those |
| and tennis racket. | | | | strings with no solid core, they are just multi-filaments. |
| Playability is subjective and depends on the tennis | | | | There are also multi-filament strings with outer-wraps, |
| player. There are several factors that give a string | | | | textured strings, and composite strings made up of a |
| playability and should be considered when deciding on | | | | combination of materials. All of these different types of |
| tennis racket string. The next time you replace your | | | | construction provide the string with a different feel and |
| string, please take time to considering the following | | | | performance benefits. |
| factors: | | | | As you can see, there is a lot more to tennis racket |
| String Gauge - Gauge refers to the thickness of the | | | | string than meets the eye. The intention of this article |
| tennis string. The most common gauges are 15-18 | | | | was to hopefully encourage you as a tennis player to |
| gauge. Each gauge has a half size which is referred to | | | | pay more attention to the string that goes into your |
| by an "L", which means light. Lower numbers are thick | | | | tennis racket and to do a little bit of research next time |
| string while higher numbers indicate a thinner string. So | | | | your racket needs stringing. Get the most out of your |
| a 16L gauge string is thicker than a 17 gauge but | | | | racket and your tennis racket strings! |