The Art of Stringing a Tennis Racquet

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On the inside of your tennis racquet, there is an inscription of the ideal string tension for that particular racquet, and it is a good idea not to exceed that tension as it may damage the frame of the racquet, causing it to crack.

High tension strings allow for more control in your shots, as they create a less powerful rebound action when they make contact with the ball, whereas lower tensions provide a trampoline effect, allowing you to have more power over your shot. In order to find the correct racquet for you is mostly achieved through trial and error.

There are different types of strings you can use, and you can even use different strings for the horizontal “crosses” of the racquet and the vertical “mains”. The different materials used are:

• Synthetic gut-an imitation of the cow or sheep intestine made using nylon. Strings made from synthetic gut give you good control over the ball if you don’t hit very hard.

• Natural gut- Made from cow or sheep intestine, these strings are expensive and are widely used amongst professionals.

• Kevlar- Good for players who like hitting the ball hard but do not hold their tension very well.

• Polyester- the same as Kevlar. Both are stiff and difficult to manipulate making it harder to string the racquet so are generally expensive.

Some racquets are strung with both types of strings, for instance with synthetic gut for the horizontal strings and Kevlar for the vertical.

It is essential that you understand how your racquet is strung, if you watch a racquet being strung you will see that most of tension is applied to the vertical strings, whereas the horizontal strings are less tightly strung, meaning that whenever you hit the ball you should hit the ball from low to high so that the contact is made with the vertical strings, if you try and hit the ball with a left to right action you will not be able to generate as much power as you are striking the ball with the strings that contain less tension.

You can, if you choose, buy a stringing machine and string your own racquets, however unless you are completely sure what you are doing it is inadvisable. Expensive stringing machines have an in built computer that tells you the tension of each string as it is strung but unless you are a professional you are better entrusting your racquets to a professional. The professionals are able to make the tension of each string marginally different, and using a variety of scientific techniques can exactly calibrate your racquet to suit your style of play