Tennis Racquet Strings Guide: How Useful Is It to Know About Strings?

It is easy to overlook the type and quality of the strings when choosing a tennis racquet, but these factors actually matter. In fact, if you want to ascertain the function and quality of your tennis racquet, you need to look up a tennis racquet strings guide and make sure that you choose the right strings and tension for them. Playability is one of the qualities you should look into when selecting strings. You may like them firm and crisp, or comfortable and soft. Playable strings were historically gut-like in resilience and feel, making natural gut strings (traditionally made from the intestines of cow) popular with players in the past. Natural gut is still widely preferred, but there are high-quality and reasonably priced synthetic types that offer high-quality playability, too, such as Dunlop Silk, Babolat X-Cel, and Prince Premier Power.

Referring to a tennis racquet strings guide can help you understand how durable the strings should be. When it comes to tennis strings, increased durability typically reduces playability, especially when doing shorter strokes, which can feel dead and stiff. Strings that are abrasion resistant and made in thicker gauges may be more durable, but they are not that resilient and elastic compared to their thin counterparts.

Hence, if you are breaking 16-gauge nylon strings, you may want to upgrade to a 15L version of the same strings. If you prefer a softer, multifilament feel, consider the comfort strings from Prince. They come in thicker gauges, like the Premier Control 15 and Premier Touch 15L. Otherwise, go for a durable nylon string like Wilson Synthetic DuraMax and Gamma Marathon DPC. Other alternatives are polyester hybrids (i.e. Volkl Psycho), firm polyester (Super Smash by Kirschbaum), and soft polyester (i.e. Polyfibre TCS). Advanced players may consider Kevlar hybrids, but they must be careful as the material can generate too much shock to tendons. You should be able to learn more about these materials by referring to a tennis racquet string guide.

In terms of string gauge, the rule of thumb is thinner strings improve playability, and thick strings improve durability. Gauges range from 15 (the thickest) to 19 (the thinnest). Half-gauges are identified with an L (i.e. 16L and 15L), which stands for ‘light’.