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String Selector Map 2010

Use our charts to find the perfect strings for your customers.

By Dave Bone

The tennis string market in America seems to be moving in a counter-intuitive direction. At a time when more companies are closing their doors and reducing their inventories and selections, the tennis string manufacturers continue to increase the size of the string universe.

But, when you think about it, this probably shouldn’t be so surprising. Even though tennis players are being more careful with their money and putting off the big investments in new racquets and new outfits, they aren’t choosing to stop playing tennis. In fact, as the USTA just recently announced, more people are playing tennis today than in the last 25 years. So, with more people playing tennis and less people buying new racquets, it only makes sense that more people are having their racquets restrung than ever before.

Stringing has always been one of the most profitable parts of any tennis shop. This helps to explain why manufacturers continue to invest more in their string business.

All of these factors working together have created a string market today with more than 700 models of string currently available. That number can be overwhelming for someone trying to make a decision about what strings to carry. After all, it would be impossible to actually test every string and compare it to every other string and keep track of the results.

But, thanks to the USRSA, you don’t have to. Our exclusive String Selector visually maps over 700 strings based on their tension loss and stiffness. This powerful tool can help you find other strings that play similarly to a client’s favorite string or even help you find a string that outperforms your client’s current favorite.

Using the String Selector

1. Start by finding the string your client currently uses in the appropriate list (we’ve broken the market down into four categories: Nylon, Polyester, Natural Gut and Kevlar).
2. Note the string’s stiffness and tension loss numbers, go to the appropriate map and find the dot located at these coordinates.
   • If your client is completely satisfied with their current string and doesn’t want anything different from their next string, dots in the neighborhood (very close to their current string’s dot) will likely play similar.
   • If your client is happy with how long their string plays well, but doesn’t love the feel of their string, try something on the same vertical level, but farther to the right or left. Strings to the right should feel stiffer (or more crisp), while strings to the left should feel softer (or more comfortable)
   • If your client is happy with how their string feels, but not with how long it feels that way, try something in the same column, but higher or lower. Strings higher on the chart should soften (or loosen) up more quickly, while lower strings should hold their initial feel longer.
3. Once you’ve found a dot that seems interesting, note the coordinates and look them up in the table.

The Geography of ‘Feel’

Finding Your “Feel Good” Location

• Softer strings are to the left, stiffer strings to the right.
• Strings that lose more tension are at the top; those that lose less are at the bottom.
• All strings on the same vertical line should feel about the same, no matter the tension.
• All strings at different locations on the same horizontal line will feel different from each other.
• Stringbed power increases to the left.
• Player supplied power increases to the right.
• Stringbed control increases to the right.
• “Arm friendly” strings are to the left.
• “Feedback” intensity (shock) increases to right.
• Feel consistency over time tends to increase toward the bottom.

Test Procedure. We tensioned each string to 62 pounds and allowed it to sit for 200 seconds. We then struck each string five times with a force equivalent to hitting a 120 mph serve. The tension loss represents the total amount of the relaxation over both time and impact. The stiffness value is a calculation derived from the amount of force created at impact to stretch the string. Lower values represent softer strings and lower impact forces. Higher values represent stiffer strings and higher impact forces.

Hybrids: To look up a hybrid combination, you must look up each string separately. If it is a pre-packaged hybrid, most packaging indicates the name of each string. There are a few hybrids using strings that aren’t sold on their own. Those strings are included in our lists. They will be listed as the name of the hybrid with (main) or (cross) after the name. For example, Head Protector 16 (main) is the string used for the mains in Head’s Protector 16 string.

(Note: USRSA members will find this information in the members-only section of RacquetTECH.com in the String Specifications section. The data are both searchable and sortable.)

Nylon, Zyex, & Polyolefin (Sorted by Stiffness)

Polyester (Sorted by Stiffness)

Gut (Sorted by Stiffness)

Kevlar/Technora/Vectran (Sorted by Stiffness)

See all articles by Dave Bone

About the Author

Dave Bone is the CEO of the U.S. Racquet Stringers Association, and co-publisher of Racquet Sports Industry magazine.

From the January 2010 issue
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