Do tennis strings make a difference?
5977844#0
In tennis, the strings are the part of a tennis racquet which make contact with the ball. The strings form a woven network inside the head (or "hoop") of the racquet. Strings have been made with a variety of materials and possess varying properties that have been measured, such as dynamic stiffness, tension retention, thickness (gauge), string texture (shape of the string), and rebound efficiency.
Strings (tennis)
5977844#1
The material used in tennis string can significantly affect a player's performance, and even health. Several materials are used to make tennis strings. They vary in terms of elasticity, durability, rebound efficiency, tension holding capability, and manufacturing cost, among other considerations.
Strings (tennis)
5977844#20
Racquets are strung either with two separate strings (and thus four knots), or with a single string (resulting in only two knots). Sometimes, a hybrid of two different string types may be used in the same racquet. Traditionally, a double half hitch has been used to tie off tennis string, along with a starting knot. Recently, new kinds of knots have been used called the "pro-knot" and "Parnell knot". Along with the use of a starting clamp, this can make all the knots identical, and improve the aesthetics of a string job.
Strings (tennis)
5977844#2
Animal intestine is the most resilient material used to make tennis strings. It has better tension retention than any other material, and also is softer than any other material used for tennis strings. It provides the most energy return, meaning it is the most efficient string. It remains soft at high tensions while other materials tend to stiffen dramatically. This allows gut string to enable players to string rather tightly to improve ball control without losing much rebound efficiency (power) and without greatly increasing impact shock, which can hurt the elbow and other joints.
Strings (tennis)
5977844#15
Polyolefin is one of the softest synthetic string materials, rivaling some Zyex and most nylon multi-filaments. It offers mediocre durability and tension retention, so it is generally used as the cross string in a hybrid string setup. For those who do not break strings very quickly, however, 100% polyolefin stringing may be a good alternative to natural gut and multi-filament strings. This is especially true for those who have had tennis elbow and find natural gut string to be too costly.
Strings (tennis)
1945335#16
Since the 20th century, with the advent of steel and synthetic core strings, most bowed instrument string makers market their strings by tension rather than by diameter. They typically make string sets in three tension levels:"heavy", "medium", and "light" (German "stark", "mittel", and "weich"). These tension levels are not standardized between manufacturers, and do not correlate to specific diameters. One brand's medium strings may have quite a different tension from another brand's medium. Based on available historical records, gut strings were sold before 1900 in a similar way.
String (music)
58142483#1
Inspired by The Beatles’ use of strings on “Eleanor Rigby” and “Yesterday”, DiNizio chose to include string arrangements on most of the songs on the album. “We didn’t take the material and do wacky things with it just to be different,” DiNizio said. “I went to someone who was alive and making records when Buddy was still alive — Charles Calello — to arrange all of the strings.” DiNizio said of the album: "I wanted to honor the memory of the musical artist from whom I got the most inspiration from – and in fact, provided the necessary encouragement to want to be a songwriter. I felt that on the fiftieth anniversary of his passing that someone should say something, but I didn’t want to do a typical knock-off Buddy Holly album, so I took a more baroque string-driven direction. On virtually every track there is a string quartet. So, it honors his memory, but I make the songs my own.”
Pat DiNizio/Buddy Holly
48954341#13
In tennis, the strings are the part of a tennis racquet which make contact with the ball. The strings form a woven network inside the head (or "hoop") of the racquet. Strings have been made with a variety of materials and possess varying properties that have been measured, such as dynamic stiffness, tension retention, thickness (gauge), string texture (shape of the string), and rebound efficiency.
String (structure)
5977844#14
Zyex string offers more rebound efficiency, i.e. gut-like dynamic stiffness, than other synthetic strings, particularly when strung at low tensions. This gives it playability that is more similar to natural gut than, arguably, other synthetic materials. It also has low overall stiffness. The ProKennex IQ Element Z string, for instance, has the lowest stiffness of any synthetic string yet tested. The drawback of Zyex is that the outer wrapping materials in Zyex tennis string tend to be much less durable than the Zyex filaments inside the string and do not bond with them. This can lead to the outer wrapping wearing away, leaving the inner Zyex filaments.
Strings (tennis)
5977844#3
Its principal drawbacks are much higher cost to manufacture and purchase than other materials, weakness to shear stresses from off-center hits (typical of beginning players), variable quality control depending upon the brand, batch, age, storage conditions, and grade, difficulty of stringing due to its delicacy, and poor durability when wetted with water. Natural gut is very sensitive to different types of weather and those players who use it normally carry several different racquets with different tensions to compensate for this. Some players, particularly those who hit flat shots and hit the sweet spot consistently, find high-quality gut to be more durable than many other types of strings due to its outstanding tension retention. This may help to offset the high initial cost. The use of a dense string pattern also generally improves the longevity of natural gut.
Strings (tennis)