Breaking Cross Strings

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.