Low Down on Different Types of Strings

Luke Henley helps make sense of the bewildering variety of strings. Your level and game style will determine what strings are best for you.

Luke Henley, qualified stringer, helps us to make sense of the bewildering variety of strings available. Luke says, “There are a variety of different strings on the market and depending on your level and game style will determine what strings are best for you”.

Luke discusses:

Do different strings make a difference?
What different types of string can you get?
- Pros of each type and what type of player/game style?
- Cons of each type
What strings should I use?

Key Take-Aways

There are a variety of different strings on the market and depending on your level and game style will determine what strings are best for you. The easiest way to look at it is there are 4 main different types, although only 3 of these 4 are commonly used by everyone except for touring professionals. These are Multifilament, Synthetic Gut, Polyesters and Natural Gut. Natural Gut being the one usually only used by touring professionals due to its very expensive price tag and incredibly short durability and its inability to play in the rain or very damp/moist conditions.
Synthetic Gut: It’s upsides are the fact that it is economically priced and there are lots of them on the market that provide good all-round playability. Often a great type of string to players who a relatively inexperienced or new to the game. However, it’s cons would be that it doesn’t excel in any specific area. Overall though a very good type of string for a lot of club players and is great when used on conjunction with a polyester to form a hybrid for the higher levels of players who are sometimes needing that little bit more from their racket and strings.
Multifilament: What is great about these is that they can provide lovely levels on comfort, power and feel due to them being softer than the other sorts of strings on the market. Another notable upside is due to the softness of the string they can be used to help people who suffer from wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries to reduce vibration when striking the ball. This type of string also tends to hold its tension better than the others, with the exception of natural gut. On the flipside the durability tends to be not as good and it can be more difficult to have a feeling of control over the ball due to the liveliness off the string bed.
Polyester: These types of sting are the most durable on the market and also provide the greatest level on control and there are many designed to help increase the spin you can put on the ball due to their makeup. For these reasons they are more commonly used by more advanced players who don’t need as much help with power. On the flipside these strings don’t hold their tension as well and are harsher on the body, with greater vibration through the arm etc. And as mentioned above the lack of power can mean that some players will find this type of string less suitable.
Natural Gut: While this string offers the best power, comfort, tension maintenance and playability on the market. However, it’s incredibly expensive price tag, durability and inability to perform as well in certain atmospheric conditions means it is only really common place in on the pro tours. I haven’t even ever tried this myself yet! A single restring would likely cost around £45 and last a short amount of time.
With regard to what strings to use for each individual I would recommend that if they are unsure, they speal to the stringer and they should be able to assist you if you have gone to an ERSA qualified one. I would recommend speaking to someone over trawling through pages online as some of the information online can be misleading and confusing.
If anyone then needs any help or advice about what strings they should use then again please do not hesitate to get in touch and I’ll be happy to help. Forn those based more southerly in the Wolverhampton/Birmingham direction I would get in touch with Dave at county sports Hagley. He has world class knowledge and taught me a lot of what I know today. He can be contacted on 01562 885475 or please email him at enquiries@countysportshagley.co.uk. His shop down there is a shining example and provides everything you could possibly need and more, not to mention he always beats like for like online prices.

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Low Down on Different Types of Strings

Luke Henley helps make sense of the bewildering variety of strings. Your level and game style will determine what strings are best for you.

Key Take-Aways

Full series on understanding and caring for your racket

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