STRING TENSION TEST: 70lbs v 30lbs

Ever wondered how much difference the tension of your strings makes to playing tennis?
We strung two (of the same) rackets at opposite ends of the spectrum and test how different it feels and plays. The difference is amazing!
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[@jeff3257]

had chronic tennis elbow until lowered tension to 30-35 now been good for over a year. It makes a huge difference especially for 99% of rec players that are 4.5 or lower.

[@ph-tennis]

Yeah that makes perfect sense. Looser tension is going absorb more shock and benefit tennis elbow sufferers.

[@alfaphire1947]

I experimented with many different brands and tensions over my first 5 years in the sport and came to the conclusion that I would fold over any racket strung under 50lbs, I have been stringing the same racket at 62lbs for the last 17 years. I have always felt like I had more control and far less stress to the frame.

[@tonyspark]

Great example! I had tennis elbow for like 2 weeks, so I decided to lower the tension from 55lbs to 45lbs with poly string. It’s been great experience so far. Much softer and comfortable. I’m a 5.0 player and 90% is about your style and technique. Try lowering tension next time when you restring your racket.

[@cybergrail]

Great video! Thank you!

[@ph-tennis]

Glad you liked it!

[@RW-ws9dp]

My daughter is a junior player, actually 18 now…but coming up when getting her racquets restrung i would be asked what tension and I never really knew. The stringer if they knew her would end up saying say 50 something…I think 53/55/58. She’s continuing to play, should a player find that ‘perfect tension’ then restring regularly (before popping a string). I’m also thinking of having her try a lower tension as an experiment based on your video. She generally plays well with what she has imo

[@ph-tennis]

It all depends on so much - weather (temperature/humidity), court surface, so it’s difficult to make a guess at ‘perfect tension’ without factoring these things in. But it’s worth trying some different tensions for sure. Just make sure it’s the same string and that the stringer is accurate!

[@oscarschmidt571]

best thing is to provide her 3 tennis rackets with 3 diff. tensions and see which one suits her game.

[@LubaLuba1]

Which string did you use with the lower tension because I heard you can't really go that lower, they start to snake curve?

[@ph-tennis]

Hi @LubaLuba1! Both rackets were strung with Yonex Poly Tour Pro (Rackets are Yonex Ezone 98)

[@jonrobles1468]

I've always strung my rackets at 50 lbs. Fifty pounds has been optimal for me, but as I'm older now, I'm considering going lower, maybe to 40-42 lbs. I have tried rackets with higher tensions and they kill my arm.

[@ph-tennis]

That makes sense Jon. You could also try a softer string as this will help with the stiffness and the impact on your arm too

[@crsantin]

Depends on the strings and racquet. I like 50 lbs too. I’ve tried 48lbs on my current set up and I’m not crazy about it. 50 seems a good balance between power and control. I may try 40 just to experiment.

[@jonrobles1468]

@@crsantinit also depends on the player's comfort level. When I was younger, I have played with rackets strung at 60 lbs. When I would hit the ball on the sweet spot it was great. But on one occasion, as I was serving, I made contact towards the end of the racket and the racket head broke in two, leaving dangling strings!

[@rd172]

Pro players in the 90’s (such as Phillippousis) used natural gut strings (as a full bed) and so were able to string at higher tensions with less arm jarring than they would have experienced stringing a full bed of poly at the same high tension

[@ph-tennis]

Very true. The strings you choose will certainly have a significant impact too. We’re testing different string types too so look out for a video on that very soon

[@g2tennis]

I think no human can play a full bed of poly at 80 pounds like Muster did with natural gut

[@logicrule]

Would lower tension also mean u have to replace the strings sooner as they will drop to like 20lbs very fast? or even lower.

[@ph-tennis]

Potentially yes, but they would lose tension as a % so would be lower in total tension less compared to a tighter string. Ie 10% tension loss would be 3lbs on the 30lbs but 7lbs on the 70 Of course some strings hold tension better than others, a multifilament for example would stay at tension for much longer than a poly, generally.

[@superdiver.]

Would lower tension cause excessive string shifts? Thank you

[@ph-tennis]

There is likely to be more string movement the lower you go. At 30 (which is extreme) there was movement but nothing that had any dramatic, negative impact

[@minutemaniii7062]

Only for natural gut strings. Not for Polys

[@baradex1899]

I hope you will notice my comments..i want to ask something..I have my yonex ezone ace with 260grms weight..i want to know what kind of string i have to use for this racquet..I am 45 years old now and a begginer..I have a problem with 290grms roger federer racquet with 48lbs and i feel so much pain.

[@minutemaniii7062]

Yonex ezone..... use spin strings HyperG or Head Lynx tour orange..... 17G ..... string at 40 to 45Lbs. Thank me later 😊

[@baradex1899]

@@minutemaniii7062 woooohh...thank you sir...

[@tonyantonuccio4748]

Babolat VS Natural Gut, 16 gauge, at 40 pounds, Babolat String Savers. Great spin, good power, good control. Strings won't break. Your arm will thank you.

[@ph-tennis]

Thanks for the tips!

[@pwelch5944]

Do you think that you would get the same effects with both poly and synthetic gut.

[@ph-tennis]

The effects will differ slightly depending on the string type, but overall (and at these extremes) the results would be very similar

[@ql3670]

Not the same. When lowering the tension, the increase in power will be a lot more noticable with synthetic gut than with poly string. With (firm) poly string, I was surprised to find out that the increase in pace was not that much, but the increase in launch angle was very noticeable.

[@blackspiderman1887]

I swing the raquets very very hard and I cannot do low-tension. It have to be 65

[@guyprovost]

Same here…can't even comprehend how I could generate spin with under 60 pounds

[@bigboytennis1]

I've gone as low as 24 lbs in my pure strike 18x20 with aig international polyester. Worked great.

[@ph-tennis]

That’s low! Must be getting crazy spin! Joe

[@bigboytennis1]

@ph-tennis well. Kinda funny. But because the string pattern is so dense, that's my flat shots racket. Lol. Yeah, even with that low tension i just hit flat. I have some other 16×19 pattern rackets and those are my topspin rackets. On those rackets I string it around 38 lbs. There's just too much movement with the strings if I go super loose on the 16x19 rackets

[@crsantin]

I think polys are best below 50.

[@mteca5093]

İn my ezone ,43 mains 40 cross...yonex rep said go 3 pounds lower on cross with a poly

[@ph-tennis]

Interesting and I’ve heard something similar. I’ve just been playing with 40lbs but because I’m f the heat felt I lost tension too quickly! I usually do mains and crosses the same tension

[@mteca5093]

@@ph-tennis before you tie up the mains,,,press on them one by one to see if they all have same tension...sometimes i press on a string and it feels soft n goes down more lower....plastic strings are not perfect cause they have soft spots....i pull the crosses twice cause of string friction

[@ph-tennis]

@@mteca5093 nice tip! We have a couple of machines that do it for us luckily 👍🏽

[@Dhtdhrtv]

I am not for sure due to my poor English. Is he saying that lower tension helps load more spin, which is the opposite to the established theory that the availability of spin is in proportion with tension?

[@ph-tennis]

Thanks for your comment! With the lower tension the strings move more, keeping the ball is on the strings longer. This generates more spin.

[@Dhtdhrtv]

@@ph-tennis understood. thanks. I need to lower from 50 to somewhere below 45.

[@ph-tennis]

@@Dhtdhrtv give it a try and see what works best for you! 👍🏽

[@dastanprobg2071]

Hi there, how do I know my racket needs new string?

[@ph-tennis]

It depends. Pros will string after every match, I restring about once a month but some players will go months or just wait until a string breaks. How you strike the ball, the frequency and how much you play (and in what conditions) will affect the tension but it really depends on how it feels to you. If you feel like the ball is doing what you want it to, then why change?

[@drejtoman2974]

Not good on your arm playing with old dead strings.

[@logicrule]

@@drejtoman2974 define dead strings though, I don't get what it means, I don't know when the string is lively or dead, they all feel the same to me honestly...1 day old vs 6months old

[@drejtoman2974]

@@logicrule Depends .... How often you play, how you hit the ball ... Some players break soft swing in days or shorter. If you are happy no worries.

[@logicrule]

@@drejtoman2974 I just don't understand those terms, I have tried like hyper g, rpm blast, confidential, volkl cyclone etc... all feels similar to me to be honest, what's different is the tension and racquets

[@pjcdm]

Some talk of the size of the racket should come into play. No? The weight of the racket can affect the power & spin of balls.

[@ph-tennis]

Sure thing. Both rackets are Yonex Ezone 98 - 305g

[@pjcdm]

@@ph-tennis I was talking in generality. Smaller rackets require bigger or smaller tensions. No? I have a 105 in2 racket that is 280 gr. strung. I use solinco hyper g at 52 (mistake), but usually use 55. the recommended tension is 55 to 65. Tempted to try 60, to be honest.

[@davidglover9210]

You would never string a racket at 70Ibs as its much too tight. Years ago you had Prince rackets where the recommended tension was 72Ibs but they were 110 head size. Also at 70Ibs you'll probably injure your arm or shoulder. 30Ibs is also too loose ok for coaching maybe where it would be easier to feed the ball to a pupil but you would lose control on your shots in a game.

[@Charmander009]

If synthetic gut . U would be fine in any tension but 55 is ideal. Wit poly anything more than 55 is going to be like a plank of wood . U can’t get any spin

[@ph-tennis]

Not sure 'any' is the right word. 100% agree that it would be very very difficult. But you can definitely get spin with a solid surface (think table tennis) just a lot less than loose strings.

[@chandrasekharpbg]

I string between 54-60 on my pure drive plus. I get lot of spin. I use HyperG soft 17, volkyl cyclone 18 mostly. Tried RPM blast,ice code too. I usually change the strings about 3-4 weeks.

[@Assembledonetwo]

after playing with 40~42 lbs , i seriously have no idea why people play with 55 or above. For amateur like us, it just kills our arm and shoulder. Save your arm and shoulder with lower tension!

[@gab_ale]

My favorite tension is around 59 lbs. Now I'm playing with 55lbs just because that is the max. per my current racquet spec.

[@tennisone6376]

racket spec is just recommend man do what you prefer

[@gab_ale]

@@tennisone6376 I'll try a few more pounds next stringing to see how it feels with this racquet (Tecnifibre TF40).

[@ph-tennis]

Exactly!

[@bretts5571]

Good video except the background music

[@ph-tennis]

What would you prefer? Send some suggestions!

[@DetectiveConan990v3]

@@ph-tennis ideally no music, I enjoy the sound of the racquet hitting the ball

[@user-qu1sw7mn2u]

i sting at 47 luxillon 4g

[@ph-tennis]

Nice! Have you tried 4G soft?

[@ringo119]

Your at extremes with both tensions. 35 might be appropriate for an 11 yr old girl or 78 yr old man. 70 is well outside suggested tensions by manufacturers of racquets and strings. I think a more suitable choice of tensions for a young man such as yourself would be more like 44 vs 55 as a start, then you'll be collecting some meaningful data you can use.

[@ph-tennis]

Thanks for the insight! I went for the extremes intentionally to give the clearest idea of the difference, but usually string my rackets between 50-60. There are pros using these extremes though - John Isner and Jack Sock were stringing at 35 in Atlanta and John Millman at 66 so not without merit to test at both ends of the spectrum

[@sjjapp]

There are professional male players stringing as low as 20ish lbs and then on opposite end in high 60s. And it's not even this black and white, as string tension will vary often depending on opponent, surface, and general conditions. I think it was IGA, someone anyway recently that I saw, who said that their string tension can vary over 22ish lbs. So say their highest is 55lbs, their lowest would be 33.

[@ph-tennis]

@@sjjapp absolutely! “It depends” is one of our mantras

[@jonrobles1468]

I read somewhere Dustin Brown strung his rackets at 80 pounds! Adrian Mannarino strings his at 24 pounds. Jack Sock strings his at 30 pounds.

[@ph-tennis]

@@jonrobles1468 yeah there are a few pros who go to the extremes. Just goes to show how personal preference is really the only important factor to consider.

[@robmillsop4781]

Difficult to ascertain your level of competency via this video...tight strings don't necessarily determine spin rates..has more to do with the grip that being utilized, i.e., western/semi-western/eastern etc..along with the angle of the racket face and the swing trajectory..and the force of the swing..I string my Head Instinct PWR at 72 lbs...with a western grip..and utilize a consistent kinetic chain initialized by s straight front arm reaching across my body..and then using that same arm in coordination with my back hip/heel to achieve an easily forceful swing ending with my hands coming together over my left shoulder/chin on right shoulder for the 180 degree hip/shoulder rotation...all the while I can produce a very high rpm with my forehand....with a loosely strung racket--I would expect the majority of club-level players would spray the ball, often missing long...and then becoming tentative with their strokes

[@ph-tennis]

Hi Rob- thanks for the comment and absolutely love to see someone as dedicated to the sport as we are. Everything you say is absolutely true and in no way do we feel that string tension would generate more spin than sound fundamentals - the video was just to test string tension at the extremes and to asses and evaluate the difference. As the tensions were tested by the same player, the test was to see how they respond and as a result whether there could be any advantage gained at a looser or tighter tension. Have a watch through more of our videos and hopefully you can ascertain our levels of competence!

[@oa1021]

youre completely missing the point.

[@ph-tennis]

@@oa1021 - we are or Rob is? Regardless, we’d love to have your input as we’re always keen to hear new ideas and discuss this sport

[@davidevans1611]

I don't know about the majority of club players, but I string my racquet at 45lbs using Volkl Cyclone. I have a fast swing and don't spray the ball. I also play in USTA age group tournaments. It really all comes down to technique.

[@antoniomaria4096]

WTF means 70lbs and 30lbs?

[@ph-tennis]

Sorry Antonio! 70lbs = 31.75kg 30lbs = 13.60kg

[@antoniomaria4096]

@@ph-tennis Now yes, now you reached more than 200 country's in the world.

[@billfly2186]

google will convert it for you. Not that hard.