Strings may be the soul of racquet, but to many players they are just an
afterthought. Players will spend 6 months demoing racquets and 6 minutes
choosing a string. Fortunately, synthetic string technology has improved
dramatically over the last 20 years and there are very few “bad” strings.
However, not all strings (and string tensions) are right for all players.
Every player has different needs and preferences. Here are a few guidelines
to make your string and tension selection easier.
Playability
It’s very difficult to obtain consensus on what makes a string playable.
Some players like a crisp, firm playing string while others equate
playability with softness and comfort. Generally, a playable string is
resilient, which means it snaps back quickly upon ball impact. The material,
construction, and thickness of a string will all affect the playability
of a string. The most resilient (playable) string at this time is still
natural gut. This is the only string made from a natural product - beef
intestines. It is the oldest tennis string made and remains the benchmark
for playability. Some of the most popular playability strings at Tennis
Warehouse include: Gamma TNT, Tecnifibre NRG2, Tecnifibre TR Pro and
Wilson Sensation NXT. Strings that offer good playability at a lower price
(below $7.00) include: Gamma Gut 2, Gamma XL, Gosen OG Jim Courier Micro
and Prince Synthetic Gut Soft (our #1 best value playability string).
Durability
As with our beer, most of us want a string that offers everything.
Unfortunately, increased durability in tennis strings is usually at
the expense of playability. Thicker gauges and abrasion resistant materials
will be more durable, but they are less elastic and resilient than their
thinner, nylon-based counterparts. (See gauge table below.) If a player is
breaking a 16 gauge nylon string (synthetic gut), we might suggest they
switch to a 15L version of that same string, if available, for more durability.
Otherwise, the next step would be a nylon durability string, such as Gamma
Marathon DPC or Prince Endurance. After that, we recommend trying a polyester
string, such as Babolat Strongplay or Kirschbaum Super Smash. Finally, for
players who blow through all of the strings listed above, Kevlar Hybrids are
the final alternative. The superior abrasion resistance of Kevlar makes it
the most durable string available.
String Gauge
Generally speaking, thinner strings offer improved playability while thicker
strings offer enhanced durability. Tennis string gauges range from 15
(thickest) to 19 (thinnest), with half-gauges identified with an L (15L,
16L, etc), which is short for “light”. A 15L string is thinner than a 15
gauge but thicker than a 16 gauge string. Thinner strings also provide more
spin potential by allowing the strings to embed into the ball more.
String Gauges and Diameters in millimeters
15 1.41-1.49 mm 17 1.20-1.24 mm
15L 1.34-1.40 mm 17L 1.16-1.20 mm
16 1.26-1.33 mm 18 1.10-1.16 mm
16L 1.22-1.26 mm 19 1.00-1.10 mm
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.twbbs.org)
◆ From: ts132.mc.ntu.edu.tw