New Year, New Strings?

How often should I get my racquet strung?

I hear this question all the time...and there really isn't one consistent answer.

The conventional wisdom, that I agree with, is that you should get your racquet restrung as many times a year, as you play a week. That means if you play 2 times a week, you should get your racquet restrung 2 times a year. This is a great place to start but we can do better!

Depending on what level you are playing at, how much spin you hit with, what type of string you play with, etc., the stringing frequency will change.

Let's try to break this down:

The more spin you hit with, the more your strings will show signs of wear (typically crosses if playing with a hybrid setup, while mains will tend to notch more in a full poly setup). If you'd like to keep that spin potential, and your strings aren't breaking but are notching, it may be time to restring. This would be more crucial if you actually feel a difference in the way your strings are playing.

Another important factor would be how quickly your strings lose tension. Each string has a different tension loss percentage. Natural gut, synthetic gut, and multifilament strings tend to have lower levels of tension loss. They all stretch more during tensioning and then don't lose much tension after that (percentages of loss average around 10%). Polyester/co-poly strings don't stretch much during stringing but then lose a good bit of tension over time (percentage of loss average around 30% with some exceptions). Some co-poly strings can be around 15% and others can be as high as 50%. If you've been playing tennis for a while, you'll be able to feel when you make clean contact and the ball starts sailing long consistently. This is when it's probably time to restring. Typically, higher level players can compensate for this effect to a certain extent, and then the balls start going long.

Overall, having fresh strings can feel amazing, especially if you think it's time for an upgrade or different string. Just remember to have a conversation with whoever is stringing your racquet. They should be able to ask the right questions and point you in the right direction! I also offer free string consultations so feel free to give me a call or shoot me a text!