Most tennis players severely notch or break their main strings. That is due to the main strings' movement from topspin shots.
A rare few break their crosses more frequently instead. Then they started wondering was it a defective string, poor string job, poor technique or due to shanking the ball.
But since it always snap near the sweetspot, it cannot be any of the above reasons. After observing the players who snap their crosses more often, I noticed two peculiarities.
First, they do not hit with a lot of topspin. Most of their strokes were driven almost flat forward with little upwards follow through. The very much lower net clearance, usually about a foot or less, confirms their flat shots.
Second, they use a lot more sidespin on both wings. Other than the low net clearance, most of their shots skidded off the ground instead of kicking up like topspin shots would.
An examination of their strings also revealed more cross strings movement than mains. Typically, the crosses are pulled upwards towards 12 o'clock. When I pulled the mains aside near the sweetspot, most of the crosses there were already notched.
You can see it clearly in the pic below. Blue mains black crosses. The crosses are deeply notched.
Notching always happens on the string that moves, not on the ones that stay still. For this group that break crosses and yet want a softer feel than full poly, perhaps they should try gut/poly or syn gut/poly since they move the crosses a lot more.
Basically, use the stiffer or more durable string in the cross. It may add a little more sidespin and control as well.
A playing partner, CK, lamented on how fast his poly setup "dies".
My understanding of poly death could be attributed to two areas - tension loss and no more snapback.
Since both issues were previously addressed satisfactorily (link), I whipped out the "String Glide" and inserted sixteen pieces.
Compared to before the string savers, CK felt the stringbed firmed up. He also heard the strings sliding and snapping back much better.
I hit a few shots with his racket as well. Even with more than 10 hours of play on that set of 1.10mm poly strings, I felt the stringbed tightness was restored good enough for me. I could trust the strings for directional control and swung freely. Spin was very good too. Much better than the 4-hours-old poly stringjob I was using in my racket that session.
In another session, I planted sixteen pieces into another playing partner, M's stringbed.
M was initially skeptical but allowed me to proceed anyway.
After some hits, and swapping back and forth with his other matched racket with exact strings setup, M commented:
- the stringbed felt a little more dampened with less vibrations which he enjoyed, and
- pocketing was deeper and it felt the ball stayed longer on the strings which gave him more time to shape or re-direct the ball at the last minute.
From my side, the result was very clear. M's shot dispersion and control was unmistakable between his three rackets. I could tell immediately when he picked up the one with stringsavers.
After the initial impressions, both CK and M popped the same question:
"Where did you buy the stringsavers?"
The verdict is clear.
Since string savers are so much cheaper than a stringjob, I believe this could be a viable method to extend the playing life of the poly strings.
As always, if you choose to do so, pay extra attention to how your wrist, arm, elbow and shoulder feels. Live to play another day!
18Dec2014 update:
After hearing positive feedback from CK and M, DL adopted the use of stringsavers in his open strings racket (link) as well.
After insertion, DL commented:
- the slight dampening reduced some stringbed vibrations without the need of a dampener,
- it played more comfortable with better pocketing, and
- added more spin and control.
Coincidentally, these stringsavers have all been tested with positive results in full poly (CK), poly/syn gut (M) and full syn gut (DL).
Long before the recent craze with spin frames and spin effect string patterns, very open patterns have already been tried and tested.
A regular playing partner, DL, dropped off an exotic 97 square inches, 14x17 Keencraft Classics tennis racket to be strung, complete with racket tag and even a pack of recommended strings!!!
I suspect this could have been released in the 80s or 90s. The strings have turned very stiff and brittle. Given the very open pattern, and that the owner opted for more control, I strung it with a 1.40mm 15g synthetic gut instead.
Playtest:
- Within the first few hits, it was clear the 15g string was a good decision as it provided a lot of directional control that this 14x17 would otherwise be missing.
- Despite the thick gauge, spin was very easy. The frame weights felt naturally polarized to me. It whips very easy and fast.
- Impacts were smooth and dampened enough that no dampener was needed. Being an old school frame, I suspect it was foam filled. Hence the excellent vibration absorption.
- DL hit a lot of flat serve bombs during our game. Based on an estimate with my rackets, I believe this stick's swingweight could be somewhere around 350.
- But it still felt maneuverable! Clearly, his confidence was heavily boosted by both the easy power and high control, which are usually not found together.
- I am quite impressed by this made in Taiwan racket. If you have one stashed away at home, or see one in the thrift store, I would recommend you pick it up for a spin. It would be fun!
In mint condition. Brand new. Unstrung. The last few of the Yonex woodies released in the 1970s (link).
Fortunately, the dilemma rests with M, my playing partner.
Not me.
His Christmas present, I suppose...
A picture speaks a thousand words.
Since I did not take any pics in my previous post (link), I snapped some while re-stringing my ProKennex Black Ace 98 with synthetic gut recently.
Below measurement was after the mains were done.
To reduce parallax error, some pics were taken from directly above the inside hoop. It spans from 1.0 cm to 26.1 cm, yielding an internal hoop width of 25.1 cm. Note the crosses were unfilled.
Here's how it looked after the crosses were completed. Racket still mounted.
From 1.0 cm to 25.4 cm, it's now 24.4 cm. The hoop narrowed 0.7 cm after the crosses were done.
The unstrung internal hoop width was 24.5 cm for this racket. So it's a 1 mm distortion.
As I mentioned in my previous post (link), my belief is no mounting would completely stop the frame from distorting. It serves more as a guide than "locking down" the hoop.
Choosing an appropriate combination of strings, tension and stringing method should take greater emphasis.
Following my previous attempt to increase spin by increasing ball-to-string friction (link), I thought I should try reducing string-to-string friction as a comparison too.
Roughing up the strings severely reduced durability. In some instances, I did not even get to play before it snapped! So it was not very viable.
Reducing inter-string friction would mean using lubricants like grease, silicone and hand lotions.
Almost equal amounts of each of the three different lubricants were applied directly onto the strings of three different rackets. Then rubbed into the intersections between mains and crosses. Excess amounts were lightly wiped off using tissue paper.
Knowing upfront that the tennis balls would be gunked up with oily residue, old tennis balls were used. They were playtested, then checked for bounce height and weight to ensure equality. 3 balls were set aside to test each lubricant independently.
Unfortunately, it was a total disaster.
Despite wiping off the excess lubes, the balls turned greasy very quickly. Once that happened, the entire stringbed became so slippery. Any attempts to swipe the ball for more spin ended up having the ball skid off the strings instead. There was no grip at all.
The few times that the strings managed to grab the ball did not end up well too. Directional control was lost. The ball zipped off sideways before the stroke was completed.
The hand lotion posed the least problems and the oils were all equally bad. Not only were all the balls ruined in less than 15 minutes, but my hitting partner's stringbed turned oily and lost grip as well. Our overgrips, pockets and shirts were also stained.
Some faint ball marks could also be seen on the dry hard court. Out of safety and consideration for other users, we stepped over the ball marks to ensure they were not slippery. We looped a rag under one shoe and cleaned up as many ball marks as we could find.
After cleaning up, we resumed playing our normal games with normal rackets and balls.
If you do attempt this, please ensure to:
(1) bring lots of rag to clean up the mess,
(2) change new overgrips as my racket almost flew, and
(3) check that the courts are not slippery for the next user.
But seriously, this is not worth trying.
