Gear Review Update

Look for the review on the Nike Air Court Ballistic 2.3 shoe tomorrow night. Also look for a review on the Head YouTek Prestige racquet sometime this weekend. I was also looking for input from people on a racquet or strings they would like to see a review on, and I will see what I can do!

Babolat RPM Blast String

Rafael Nadal is red hot off a second Wimbledon title and a fifth French Open title along with Babolat compatriot Francesca Schiavone taking home the French Open Women’s singles title.  Many people have recently been asking about the black strings Rafa has been using.  The strings are a new copolyester called Babolat RPM Blast.  Many of the other Babolat touring pro’s have switched to the new string including Womens French Open Finalist Samantha Stosur, Andy Roddick, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  I decided to put the new string to the test and see if this mysterious black string is all its cracked up to be.

Babolat says the string is a powerful copolyester string designed to give players extraordinary topspin along with a unique feel.  The string has a unique design to it as it is octagonally shaped.  The string also has a cross-linked silicone coating.  These unique features combine to help the player achieve extra topspin on their shots.  The octagonal shape is designed to give the string extra grip and the cross-linked silicone coating is designed to help the main and cross strings slide easily along each other.  Babolat claims on their website that the string gives players more power and spin.  Testimonials include Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Jo-Wilfied Tsonga saying they get more spin, power, and control with the RPM Blast string. 

I strung up my racquet with the RPM Blast string at 60lbs and hit the courts.  With the string being a polyester and strung in the mains and crosses I was worried  it would be a little brutal on the arm.  I have been really impressed with the feel of the RPM string on the arm.  I have not noticed the string to have as stiff a feeling as many other polyester strings.  I would attribute this to the string being a copolyester.  The string felt relatively smooth from all areas of the court, especially on hard hit balls.  The only complaint I had about the feel of the string was on touch shots, such as drop shots.  I always seem to feel this way when a racquet is strung with all polyester.  I strung at a relatively high tension for all poly, so I would like to drop the tension 5-8lbs and see if my feel on touch shots improves at all because of a looser string bed.  

I was really impressed with this string from all areas of the court.  I can sum it up in two words, “game changing”.  I thought the string offered tremendous control from all areas of the court as I was able to directionally place the ball right where I wanted.  I strung the racquet relatively tight so I was concerned about having depth issues, as I thought I would drop the ball short a lot.  This was not the case at all.  The Babolat string allowed me to take big cuts at the ball with now worries of it flying long or slower strokes without the ball dropping too short in the court.  The spin I can produce with this racquet is unbelievable.  I really found that when I hit the ball with topspin it just jumped right off the court.  I could hit angles with ease as the ball really dipped when I wanted it too.  Passing shots and balls at the feet of an opponent at net came easily for me and unexpected for them.  I had no problem hitting the ball high over the net and pushing my opponent way back as my balls dipped and bounced heavily up and toward them.  While playing doubles I hit several high passing shots that my opponents left thinking the ball was flying long, just to see the ball drop inside the lines.  I found that when I hit the ball flat and hard the string seemed to save me.  I hit several balls that felt like they would normally be long and ended up dropping in, which is a great feeling.  Not only was I impressed with the topspin I could generate with the racquet.  I was also astonished with the bite my slices had.  I rarely found myself hitting slices long and the ball seemed to stick to the court after it bounced as it rarely bounced higher than knee level.  The way this string creates spin is something special. 

I found nice pop on volleys and depth came easily.  The string performed well when hitting deep volleys, but again I would have liked a little softer feeling on touch shots.  I was really impressed with the RPM Blast string on serves.  I found I had good pace on my first serve and the great spin I found on groundstrokes continued on serves.  I found I had great topspin on second serves and could easily get the ball around the shoulders of my opponents.  The shot that impressed me most was my slice serve out wide.  This serve is not usually a strength of mine, but I found myself hitting several slice aces out wide from the deuce side, which is not a normal thing to me.  I attribute this to the extra action I was getting on the ball because of the string.  

I think the hype behind this new mysterious Babolat RPM Blast string can be put to rest.  I found this string to perform tremendous for me, and I plan on playing with it from now on.  The string feels comfortable in an all polyester string job, which is a definite plus.  This string produces spin which is unparalled by anything else I have ever tried.  I found it to offer good pop coupled with good control.  I can see why several pros have switched to this string, and I would recommend it to many players.  Anyone who hits with long full strokes and spin will greatly enjoy this string.  Younger players and hard hitters who can handle a full polyester string job will get the most out of this string, as it performs its best this way instead of a hybrid.  The string really seems to slide back into place after you strike the ball.  I never once had to strighten out my strings.  I found the string to be reasonably priced as I got a set of 17 gauge for $17.  The string comes in 16 and 17 gauge.  The Babolat RPM Blast string is a great new product and I would suggest giving it a playtest as soon as possible if you are a power hitter.

New Reviews Coming This Week!

I have been extensively playtesting some of the gear that helped Rafael Nadal win a fifth French Open Men’s Singles Title. Look for reviews in a few days on the new Babolat RPM Blast string and the Nike Air Court Ballistic 2.3 shoe!

Wilson BLX Tour

In my last review I mentioned the new BLX technology Wilson is putting in their racquets. BLX uses fibers from the volcanic rock basalt to interweave with Karophite Black fibers to create great vibration reduction. Wilson claims this creates a racquet with perfect feel. Wilson improved one of their classics with BLX and created the new BLX Tour. This racquet was immediately put in the hands of comeback champion Justine Henin. Her return hit the tour on fire and she soon was at the elite of the game once again. Wilson Tour followers and Henin fans begged to know what stick was helping her win along the comeback trail.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

I got this racquet as a demo from Wilson strung with Hollowcore at middle tension of 55lbs.  This racquet features a bold bright orange and blue paintjob.  I liked this paintjob as it is bound to draw attention from the other players.  The racquet has technical specifications which make it a great all around performance racquet.  The stick weighs in at 10.9 ounces strung and has an even balance.  The frame has a mid size to mid plus head size at 95 sq. in and has a quarter inch of extra length at 27.25in.  The beam width is a straight 22.5mm which had a stiffness of 63 on the Babolat RDC.  The racquet also offers an ample open string pattern of 16×20 and a swingweight of 341.  As with the other BLX racquets, this racquet comes with a new grip, the Performance Hybrid Grip.  This grip is 1.8mm thick compared to 1.6mm of the Pro Hybrid Grip.  Instead of a leather base like the Pro Hybrid, the Performance Hybrid has a cotton base underneath the polyurethane outer.  Wilson claims this grip offers a balance of cushion and sensation.  Personally I wasn’t as big a fan of this grip as I was the Pro Hybrid, but many people will enjoy the cushion it offers.  After taking a few minutes to look over the stick, I was ready to get a taste of what this new version of one of Wilson’s most popular racquets had to offer!

VOLLEYS

Having little to no experience with the previous offering of this racquet I was eager to see why the Wilson Tour racquet is so popular.  I was a little skeptical about the BLX Tour’s ability at net after seeing the hefty swingweight of 341 and the extra quarter inch of length.  Normally a racquet with a swingweight in this range will give me trouble at net, as I find them hard to maneuver on reflex volleys.  I was pleasantly surprised with this racquet at net!  I found the racquet maneuvered great at net and I didn’t find the extra quarter inch of length to hamper this at all.  The swingweight of 341 seems high to me.  Volleys could easily have been my favorite shot with this racquet.  I found the racquet got around quickly on reflex volleys and I had no trouble punching volleys deep.  Even though the racquet has a lighter weight, I found it to offer good stability on harder hit passing shots.  The BLX Tour offered nice feel on half volleys and drop shots.  I can contribute this to the relatively soft flex of the frame and the string pattern.  I really enjoyed volleying with this racquet and found it to be a fun playtest at net.

GROUNDSTROKES

Many very successful baseliners on tour have used a version of the Wilson Tour including Lindsey Davenport and Justine Henin.  As these two hit some of the biggest groundstrokes in the women’s game, I was convinced before I even hit with the BLX Tour that it must be a good stick off the ground.  I normally hit with headlight racquets around 12 ounces, so when I picked up this racquet the balance took a little time to get acquainted with.  The first thing I noticed when I hit groundstrokes with this racquet was that it played heavier than 10.9oz.  The BLX tour swung and hit the ball more like a 12 oz racquet, which was really surprising but rewarding.  And by rewarding I mean it packed a punch.  This thing is powerful, yet I still got the control I’ve come to know with players racquets.  If there was one concern I had for this racquet coming into the playtest, it was that it would get pushed around by harder hit balls compared to a heavier racquet.  I found the Wilson BLX Tour to offer surprisingly good stability on hard, heavy hit shots from my opponent.  Sure I did think the stability could have been improved with a little more weight against the hardest hit balls, but this racquet did the job really well.  The most impressive quality this racquet offered off the ground was the amount of spin I could generate with it.  I found topspin was easily accessed and “Wow” was it good.  I hit so many balls with this racquet that felt like they were going to fly long, just to see them dip into the court at the last second.  The spin was also a joy when my opponent was at net as I could dip the ball quickly to their feet or pass them.  The racquet was strung with all Hollowcore but I would really like to try it with polyester in the mains to further enhance this spin.  The spin and power allowed me to hit out on the ball and easily keep it consistently deep in the court.  I really enjoyed the feel of the 16×20 string pattern on groundstrokes.  I normally play with a tighter string pattern and 16×20 patterns always intrigue me as I find them somewhere in the middle of an open and closed pattern.  I enjoyed the firmer feel of the 16×20 pattern compared to a more open 16×19.  The racquet offers good bite on slices.  I was really happy to see this as I find that many racquets with 16 mains seem to float slices more than a racquet with 18 mains.  Overall this racquet really shines on groundstrokes and it is easy to see why many top juniors and professionals choose this stick in a game dominated by baseline play.

SERVES

The joy I found hitting with the Wilson BLX Tour continued with serving.  The good access I found to spin while hitting groundstrokes continued when hitting serves.  I really found that topspin serves jumped up off the court and slices really slid out wide.  I would attribute this great spin to the racquet being lighter then I am used to, so I really found it moved quickly through the air.  If I had one complaint about this racquet it was that I wish the racquet had a little more weight to it on serves.  I found I wasn’t hitting my spin serves with as much pace as normal and I felt like it was because the racquet simply didn’t have enough mass behind it.  I found I could hit flat serves with good pace, but I still would have enjoyed a little more weight behind the stick on serves.  Don’t get me wrong though, the Wilson BLX Tour was still a fun racquet to serve with and I found success on my serve by placing the ball well with plenty of spin instead of trying to blow the ball past my opponent.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

Overall I think the Wilson BLX Tour lives up to the hype.  I was really impressed by this racquet from all areas of the court.  It was solid at net, the baseline, and on serves.  This racquet is really effective from all areas of the court and it is easy to see why this is the racquet of choice for Justine Henin.  I would especially recommend this racquet to people who are looking for the playability of a player’s racquet but want increased pop, in a lighter more manageable weight.  If you are a baseliner or an all courter I would highly recommend giving the Wilson BLX Tour a demo.

Wilson Pro Tour BLX

Wilson has recently come out with their newest line of racquets, which they are calling the BLX series. This line of racquets is already generating tremendous hype. A lot of this hype is because of the tour’s newest young star, Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro has been seen playing with one of the new BLX racquets since this year’s Australian Open. Ever since the public caught a glimpse of his new stick, they wondered what it was and where they could get one. The wait is over and Wilson has released his new stick of choice to the public as the Wilson Pro Tour BLX. The racquet is a player’s stick which Wilson claims baseliners will love. I was able to spend a few good hitting sessions with this stick, and here are my thoughts.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

I got this racquet as a demo from Wilson, strung with Wilson Hollow Core 16g at 55lbs. I found the cosmetics of the racquet to be appealing. I love how the bright yellow jumps out with the rest of the racquet being black. When I picked up the racquet the first thing I noticed was the grip. Wilson has introduced new grips on their player sticks with the BLX line. The grip is called a pro hybrid grip and it is a polyurethane grip combined with a leather base. I personally am a fan of the distinct feel of the bevels with a leather grip. I found this new grip to be very comfortable in the hand and offer a firmer feel with the comfort of a cushion/synthetic grip. I found the racquet well weighted as it comes in at around 11.6oz, with a 7pts or (7/8″) headlight balance. The racquet has a nice head shape and size at 96sq in. The swing weight was appealing to me at 332, along with the stiffness of 62. The Pro Tour comes with an 18×20 string pattern. I am a fan of player’s racquets and this new offering from Wilson had me really excited to hit the court.

First of all, I found the Pro Tour easy to maneuver around all areas of the court. The racquet swung easily from the baseline. I never felt like I was muscling the racquet around. It came through the strike zone fast and smooth both on serve and on groundstrokes. At net I found the same maneuverability as I did at the baseline. The racquet moved quick through the air and I found reaction volleys easy to handle. As I stated the racquet is supposed to be quite flexible. I found that the racquet played a bit stiffer than listed. I was finding easy pop from all areas of the court with this stick.

VOLLEYS

I found this stick to suit my game well at net. Like I said earlier I found the racquet really maneuverable, while also offering good pop. It was easy to punch the ball deep in the court with little effort. The dense string pattern offered delicate touch on drop shots and volleys. I felt like I could easily control my volleys with this racquet and place them wherever I pleased.

GROUNDSTROKES

At the baseline the Pro Tour continued to impress. I found I was able to really hit through the ball with good depth and pace. When I hit the ball off center or found myself hitting on the run or from a defensive position, the racquet offered more forgiveness then I usually get with a player’s stick. Probably my favorite shot with this stick was my two handed backhand. I was really able to hit the ball aggressively and go for my shots without worrying about hitting long. I don’t hit my backhand with as much spin as my forehand and I found it easy to rip the ball crosscourt and down the line. I attribute this to the maneuverability of the racquet. The stick gave me just enough mass to hit a big ball while still allowing me to take a quick fast swing, when my preparation was a little subpar. On the forehand wing I was not as impressed. I found access to spin with the racquet but I didn’t feel as though my ball was jumping off the court as it does with my normal racquet. I think the Wilson Pro Tour BLX is more suited to a flatter hitter than someone who prefers to hit a spinier ball. The racquet offered good stability against big hitters. If I were to play with the racquet I would add some weight to give it a more stability and a little more weight to my topspin forehand. The racquet was not quite as whippy as I normally prefer, and I feel a little added weight may help me achieve the weight/balance combination I am looking for. The dense string pattern gave me good bite on slices when I really drove through the ball. If I didn’t have time to really set up for the shot they did float a little more than I would have preferred. I think this is also something a little lead tape could fix.

SERVES

I found the racquet to offer good access to spin and pace on serve. I was getting great slice when hitting the ball out wide on the deuce side and good topspin when hitting from the ad side. The racquet really came through the air quick and I found the stick to offer some easy pop. I wasn’t hitting the biggest serves of my life but serving was definitely enjoyable. Finding my target was a joy with this stick. I found I could easily place the ball where I wanted. Flat serves were enjoyable with the extra pace the racquet had to offer. I think adding a little more weight to the stick could give me the extra MPH I was looking for.

OVERALL CONCLUSION

Overall, I really enjoyed play testing the Wilson Pro Tour BLX. The racquet was maneuverable and offered good pace for a player’s stick. It was a pleasure to hit volleys, serves, and groundstrokes with this stick. I think a baseline or all court player who doesn’t quite want the heft of a 12oz stick will really enjoy this racquet. As for those people who like a little more heft in their stick, this racquet is definitely worth a look, as I feel with some weight this could be a really impressive offering from Wilson. If you are in the market for a new player’s racquet I would suggest giving the Wilson Pro Tour BLX a try. Who knows maybe soon you’ll be hitting forehands like Juan Martin del Potro.

Luxilon Adrenaline

Luxilon strings are well known as some of the best, if not the best polyester strings available to tennis players today. Luxilon is the most popular brand of polyester strings on the ATP tour, as 70 percent of the pros on tour use them. Luxilon Big Banger is probably one of the company’s most popular strings, and a set normally runs around $16 or $17. Many recreational players find this string expensive as they can get synthetic strings for much cheaper. A new offering from Luxilon is now affordable for the masses. This new string is Luxilon Adrenaline and it is available from many retailers for around $10.

During the last few weeks I have had the chance to put Luxilon Adrenaline 16g to the test. I was able to playtest the string in several different setups. First I strung it up as a hybrid at 60lbs with the Luxilon in the mains and Wilson Synthetic Gut in the crosses. After I playtested the string with this setup, I was able to string up my racquet with all Adrenaline at 56lbs.

After playing with the Adrenaline hybrid, I found that the string was an enjoyable hit from all areas of the court. I found that I was getting good spin on the ball from the baseline and on serves. I have definitely played with hybrid setups where I was getting more spin on the ball, but overall I was impressed with the spin potential of this string. As I moved to the net I found nice feel on volleys and touch shots. Just like Big Banger and other Luxilon strings, I found Adrenaline to offer good control from all areas of the court. The Adrenaline has a crisp/firm feel to it, but when strung as a hybrid it was fairly easy on the arm so it didn’t feel as harsh.

Hitting with Adrenaline in a hybrid was enjoyable but I felt it really reached its potential for me when strung as full poly in my racquet. I immediately found even more control over the ball from the baseline. I was able to hit out much more than with the hybrid, without fear of hitting long. I also found much more spin potential from the full poly setup. I was able to get good pop on the ball from the baseline and on serve, as I felt I could really unleash fast swings with this string. Around the net I felt very confident with this string. I was able to really punch the ball deep with no problems. Touch shots didn’t have as good a feel as the hybrid, but that is one of the tradeoffs that comes with stringing a racquet with all poly. The serve was the shot that really stood out for me with the full poly setup. I was getting tremendous spin off my serve when hitting topspin and slice. I would hit the ball well above the net thinking it would go long, and then the ball would seemingly drop from the sky right into the box and kick up above my opponents shoulders. I felt I was getting some of the best spin I have had on serves in a long time. My opponent said I almost knocked the racquet out of his hand on a few of my first serves.

Overall I was really impressed with the Adrenaline string, especially because of its price. I felt like it outplayed many other polys I have tried in the same price range or that were even a bit more expensive. The string had a crisper/firmer feeling to it and I found it a little harsher than Big Banger, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I think anyone who is a big hitter from the baseline would really enjoy playing with this string, as it is an affordable polyester with all the quality you would expect from Luxilon.

New Wilson BLX Line to be released in January

There has been a lot of buzz in the tennis world about Wilson’s new 2010 technology. There have been several teaser ads showing up with their new 20X logo.

I heard today that the new Wilson BLX line will be officially released starting in January with the new 6.1 line. The new Pro Tour model used by Del Potro will also be available at that time. There was no information about the new technology released at this time.

Quick Review: Volkl Cyclone 18

Those of you who have read my reviews and posts in the past might know that I am not a big fan of shaped strings. I have many time said that the string you use is not going to add spin to the ball, it is how you swing the racquet. It has also been my belief that you can get a better result by using a thinner gauge string rather than going with a shaped string. While In still hold these beliefs, I finally have found a shaped string that I like, A LOT! Granted it is in an 18g poly, but all the same it is shaped.

Volkl Cyclone is a gear shaped polyester that is supposed to give you a better bite on the ball, and I will say that it does bite the ball very well. What I can’t tell you is that I think that this string would do well on its own even if it wasn’t shaped like a gear.

I felt that this string has a lot of potential for players who want to dabble in the polyester family. It isn’t nearly as harsh as traditional polys like Luxilon Big Banger or Babolat Hurricane Tour, but gives you a similar feel. The 18g version of this string gave me a very good feel for the ball, and I felt like I had a better touch on my shots than with thicker polys. I felt as if this were an all court poly, not just for baseliners. While it doesn’t have the playability of my usual set up (Natural Gut Mains/Pro Hurricane Tour 17 crosses), it did have a similar feel.

I noticed the most bite on my serves, and loved the feel at the net. I was able to ratchet up the spin on my groundstrokes when I wanted to, but the extra spin wasn’t as obvious from the back court.

The only deterrent I see with this string is that if you break poly, the 18g will probably not give you the durability that you require. Also these strings seemed to be more prone to movement in the string bed compared to other polys and co-polys.

Overall, I would highly recommend these strings to anybody who is looking for a little more bite, or for a poly that allows for more playability.

String Power Levels, Part 2

In part 1 of evaluating a string for power level, we discussed some of the physics behind string power levels, and how strings behave throughout a range of impact forces. In part 2, we’ll expand on that information and see how it can be applied to benefit our game.

When evaluating your own game, the best method of differentiating string needs is by how fast the ball impacts the strings rather than grouping players purely by swing speed, as is the common practice. Impact speed is the combination of how fast we can swing a racquet with good control and repeatability, combined with the ball speeds that are seen in our typical play. This means that someone who swings faster but plays against slower balls will want the same general response from a string as someone who swings slower but plays against faster incoming shots.

Response Deflection Point:  What is it?

From Part 1 of this article, the response deflection point is when the string’s elastic response changes so that additional increases in impact speed provide increasingly less and less extra ball rebound speed. This occurs when the overall tension, defined as the combination of initial stringing tension plus the increase in tension as the ball hits and stretches the string, nears the string’s elastic limit.

The importance of the response deflection point is greater for players who are at the point where they have the ability to consistently and cleanly hit balls past their opponents. Players who are not yet at this level typically want a linear response all throughout their swing range, which would happen normally because the lower impact speeds won’t generate sufficient tension increases to near the response deflection point. In these cases, typically a very elastic string like gut or a multifilament string is chosen to maximize power.

How to use the Response Deflection Point

For players with the ability to cleanly hit winners past your opponent, then the response deflection point matters, and there are some general rules of thumb. First, you want want the string’s response deflection point to be just above the level of your fastest controllable and repeatable ball impact speed. This is so you can have a linear response up until you start losing control and timing of the ball impact event. Above that point, you don’t want the ball to spray wildly, but rather give you a more modest increase in rebound speed so you still have feedback about what your swing is doing and also gives you the best chance to keep that ball in the court. When the response deflection point is well above the controlled, repeatable impact speed, you will often hear things like “This racquet is a rocket launcher…” to describe how the ball just flies uncontrollably when the player tries for just a bit extra. When the response deflection point is below the repeatable, controllable impact speed point, players will often complain about a lack of power and a feeling of deadness.

The second rule of thumb is that stringing tension is the way to control where this response deflection point occurs. Stringing looser moves the response deflection point upwards while stringing tighter moves the response deflection point downwards. So if you find that swinging harder doesn’t reap the increase in ball speed you desire, stringing looser will give you more ball speed at the upper end of the impact speeds. If you find that when trying to hit a ball that is going faster than comfortable or trying to swing beyond your repeatable and controllable swing speed that the ball flies on you, a higher stringing tension will bring the response deflection point down and keep the ball speed more in check. This is especially useful for players who are stretching their game by playing against higher level competition or learning to hit the ball harder.

The third rule of thumb is that changing string gauge also changes where the response deflection point lies. If two otherwise identical strings are tensioned identically, the higher gauge (meaning thinner string) will reach the response deflection point sooner. This seems counter-intuitive because we’ve all been told that a thinner string produces more power. In actuality, we are likely fooled by the fact that a thinner string is lighter and makes the racquet swing easier, giving higher ball speeds.

Putting the Response Deflection Point to practical use

Great! But how do we find this response deflection point? Unfortunately, there is no easy way other than experimenting with different strings and tensions. Most players are well suited by using a typical synthetic gut string, strung at the middle of their racquet’s recommended tension range. From there, explore what happens when you start to swing a little harder than what is repeatable and controllable. If the ball flies wildly, the response deflection point is too high. If you get little extra ball speed and don’t miss by a whole lot, then the response deflection point might be a little low. It is an iterative process that might take several different stringings using different gauges and tensions to find where the response deflection point is. However, once you find it, you can use tension and gauge changes to match your game as it grows, and in a future article, we will go into how to switch strings and, by altering tension and gauge, get close to the response you desire without having to again go through a lot of experimentation. This will give you the ability to more easily explore different string materials that might benefit areas of your play.

Lets put this all together. For more advanced, harder hitting players, the response deflection point is one of the considerations in choosing a string that best suits our game. By choosing a string material and tension that puts the response deflection point just above the level of our repeatable and controllable ball impact speed, we can play to and just above our limits with the most power possible while providing for additional control when trying to swing with extra speed or when confronted by balls that are moving faster than we are used to. Tension and gauge are two ways to alter the location of the response deflection point, and can also serve as an indicator that a different string material might be needed.

String Tech 101 – String Power Levels, part 1

There are a number of threads in the Gear Review section that deal with strings. That’s understandable since the strings are the only part of our gear that touches the ball during play. There are many resources on the web that do a fine job of describing the different string types and their physical properties so there’s no sense in rehashing the basics of that information. What I hope to do is to explain in greater depth some of the finer points of string technology and science, provide some examples that help explain areas that seem to confuse many people, and show how we can then use this information to make choices to best help our tennis abilities. In a series of articles, I will put all of the different pieces of the puzzle together in a way that help you understand how choices in strings will affect your game, and factors in making informed choices that have the best chance of increasing your level of play. Hang in there for a little bit, and we’ll soon see how it all works together.

So when we choose a string, we are really looking for a combination of three primary string characteristics. These are power, spin, and a difficult-to-define attribute that I call “predictability. Let’s go over each of these three characteristics, looking at some of the science behind the scenes and how string choice affects our game, starting with the power level of the string.

One essential viewpoint to have when talking about the power level of a string is that the string and the ball should be thought of as springs. Unlike the metal springs that we’re all familiar with, the strings and ball don’t return all the energy it takes to flex them. The ball, being made of rubber and felt, absorbs much more of the energy going into compressing it than the strings do. Strings that do a better job of minimizing ball deformation will cause more of the energy of the impact to be returned, and the ball will come off the strings faster.

Wow, that sounds easy! Those web resources I talked about earlier mention that some string materials are more elastic than others. Is it really as simple as choosing an elastic string for more power, and an inelastic string for less power? Yes, but also unfortunately, here is where it gets a bit more complicated. While string elasticity is the primary factor in how powerful a string is, any of us that have tried several different strings know that there are slight differences between strings of even the same material, and that some strings just work better for our game than others. But what are these factors?

Here I think we need an example. Let’s say we have four different springs in front of us, and they differ in how much force it takes to compress them and also in how long they are, with the softest spring being the longest and the stiffest spring being the shortest. If you stand these springs on end and press down on them, it’s hard to tell much difference when you press on them lightly. However, the harder you press on them, the easier it is to feel a difference in how much they compress. There are two other characteristics that you can notice. One is that as the spring can only be compressed until the coils touch each other. At that point, the only way to compress it more is to break the spring. The other is that as the spring is compressed almost to the point where the coils touch each other, the amount of pressure required to compress it further increases exponentially. Up until that point, if you press twice as hard, you get basically twice as much compression.

This represents how the different string materials work. From least stiff to most stiff, the string equivalents of the springs would be natural gut, synthetic gut, polyester, and Kevlar. In the example, the length of the spring is equivalent to how much a string will stretch before it breaks. The length of the spring represents the range of racquet speeds over which you get a matching increase in ball speed for a matching increase in swing speed. As you near the end of the spring’s range of movement, you get less and less additional ball speed as you swing harder and harder, and I call this the string’s response deflection point. Keep note of that – it is important later on.

So how can we make use of this information? Stay tuned for part 2 of string power levels.