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).
Even natural gut, widely reputed to hold tension the best, loses about 13% tension. (~7 lbs stabilization loss when strung at 51 lbs, according to Tennis Warehouse University String Performance).
For non-string breakers, it can be difficult to justify cutting out a set of strings after just several hours of play.
Up till now, some of my friends call me fussy and wasteful when I cut out my strings after 8 to 10 hours. (Yet these same chaps always want to "try" my racket almost everytime we play!)
For the sake of going green, is there any easy way to "add" tension back without restringing? How can we "pull" the string and re-tension it after tie-off?
Then I came across this...
So I bought a pack and gave it a try.
The string savers look like tiny doughnuts, measuring just 3.5mm wide and about 1.5mm tall. Kind of resembles this.
The hole in the centre assists with "locking" it in place between the intersection of the mains and crosses.
Since my objective was not to "save" the strings from breakage, nor allow them to glide, that "hole" reduced the amount of string deflection I wanted.
An increase in bend means a longer string. And a longer string means greater stretch, thereby higher tension. So I cut out a few snipplets from my old replacement grip and inserted it alongside the stringsavers.
When I played with it, there was a significant increase in tautness. It felt more dampened, but the added control and power reduction was unmistakable. So much, that I moved my dampener to 12 o'clock to add about 6 swingweight points to beef up the power level.
I swapped the stringsavers and the black snipplets around and found the black pieces worked much better at "increasing" tension. None dropped off after several sessions, even at direct full impact.
When removed, the stringbed dropped back and became its former floppy trampoline again. Poor control with too much power.
For those who may be skeptical, I have measured and found that from 50 to 60 lbs of tension, both syn gut and multi stretches only an extra 1.0-1.5 mm. For poly, it's an extra 1.0 mm.
I believe either the snipplets or string savers can easily add 1.0mm of stretch to the strings. And you would need only about a dozen pieces, thereabouts.
String viagra, if I may...
