As a stringer for the club, I get a lot of questions regarding the how, when, and with what questions about stringing racquets. Especially with new technology coming out, it is an admittedly confusing area of the sport where there is a lot of marketing “fluff” involved. That being said, the strings are without a doubt the most important part of the racquet, and often the most neglected part. So here are a few tips that will hopefully demystify the often cloudy subject of stringing your racquet:
HOW OFTEN?
The simplest way to answer this is to take a look at how often you play weekly; you should look to get your racquet restrung as many times a year as you play weekly. So if you play 3 times a week, at the very least you should get your racquet restrung 3 times a year.
Some strings fray as they age and this is totally normal. Just because they are fraying doesn’t necessarily mean you need to restring them; however, it does mean they are getting close to breaking.
WITH WHAT STRING?
At WRRFC we have 4 different grades of string: economy, multifilament, polyester, and playability. Each grade has its pros and cons.
– ECONOMY: Economy strings are our most inexpensive strings, and while they are not bad by any stretch of the imagination, they don’t have the upsides as our higher grade strings.
– MULTIFILAMENT: Multifilament strings are our middle of the road strings; they are constructed of many small strands and weaved/braided together. These are a step above our economy strings; however don’t offer the upside of our playability strings.
– POLYESTER: Polyester strings are a monofilament construction and are the most durable strings we sell. They offer great spin potential and good power generation. The biggest drawback of a polyester string is that they create a stiff string bed which can aggravate tennis elbow and other arm ailments.
– PLAYABILITY: Playability strings are the top of the line, cream of the crop strings that we offer. They offer the utmost in feel on the ball and are the softest and easiest on the arm. While these are our highest price-point strings, they are more than worth the added cost.
If you still have questions about stringing, just ask any of the pros at WRRFC. We’re all skilled at the fine art of racquet stringing!
About the author: Kyle Mollison is a tennis pro at WRRFC. When he’s not giving lessons or playing on one of his five USTA teams, you can find him stringing racquets.