Tennis Industry magazine

 

String Selector Map 2008: The Right Plotline

Our exclusive listing and chart will help each of your customers plot a course to the perfect string for his game.

By Dave Bone

There are about 600 strings on the market today. And while selecting the right string for your customers from that pool may seem like a near impossible task, our exclusive Guide to Strings should be able to help you find exactly the right product that will help their game.

Our annual guide is designed to cut down on the amount of time you spend searching for that perfect string. In past years, we’ve listed in these pages the vital stats and test results of all 600 or so strings. But for this issue, since the vast majority of those strings don’t change from year to year, we’ve decided to streamline things a bit and list just those strings that are new to the market this year or otherwise haven’t been on our list in the past.

The complete, sortable listing of more than 600 strings is available here. You can also find a lot of other stringing and customizing information and tools that will help you help run your business effectively at RacquetTECH.com.

The chart below, which is also on our website, plots key information for all 600 strings. Use this chart, combined with the full listing of strings, to find your customer’s current string, and to then find either similar strings or strings with other characteristics that your customer desires. To find the string that goes with a dot on the chart, you simply need to note the dot’s coordinates, then look them up in the full listings on the website, which are sorted by stiffness.

How to Find The Perfect String

To help your customer, first find the current string they’re playing with on the full listing of strings and note the specs for “stiffness” and “tension loss.” Go to the chart and find the dot that corresponds to those stiffness and tension loss coordinates.

A few other points to keep in mind:

New Strings (Sorted by Stiffness)

This listing of 87 strings shows the latest product available and doesn’t include the vast majority of strings on the market today. For the complete listing of nearly 600 strings that your customers can choose from, visit our website. Then use that complete listing, combined with our charts both here and on the website, to find the perfect string for your players.

Company String Material Gauge Stiffness (lbs/in.) Tension loss (lbs)
Pacific Tough Gut 16L Natural Gut 1.20 83 7.52
Pacific Tough Gut 15L Natural Gut 1.40 103 8.66
Isospeed Professional 17 (Arm Protection) Polyolefin 1.25 151 15.35
Isospeed Control 16 (Arm Protection) Polyolefin 1.27 158 15.61
Babolat Xcel Power 17 Nylon 1.27 164 10.76
Babolat Xcel 17 Nylon 1.26 169 10.72
Tecnifibre TGV 17 Nylon / Polyurethane 1.27 169 14.69
HEAD ETS 17 Nylon 1.25 170 14.00
AM Sports High Speed Viper V4 Nylon 1.24 171 14.37
Tecnifibre TGV 16 Nylon / Polyurethane 1.31 175 14.60
Isospeed Energetic Speed 1.30 Polypropylene / Polyester 1.29 175 18.76
Babolat Xcel 16 Nylon 1.29 176 9.66
Tecnifibre Xr3 17 Nylon / Polyurethane 1.26 177 10.60
Gamma Asterisk Tour 16 Nylon 1.31 178 19.95
Gamma Asterisk Tour 17 Nylon 1.27 180 12.53
Klip Excellerator 18 Nylon 1.22 181 15.26
HEAD ETS 16 Nylon 1.32 182 13.16
Tecnifibre Xr3 16 Nylon / Polyurethane 1.31 183 9.92
Alpha Gut 2000 17 Nylon 1.29 183 11.46
Kirschbaum Hybrix Power 1.25 (Cross) Nylon 1.23 184 13.06
Kirschbaum Hybrix Spin 1.25 (Cross) Nylon 1.25 184 13.91
Pacific Space Power TX 17 Nylon 1.25 188 16.54
Isospeed Hybrid Long Life Nylon / Polyester 1.29 190 11.07
HEAD FiberGEL Spin 16 Nylon 1.32 191 12.08
Pacific Space Power TX 16 Nylon 1.32 194 16.65
Kirschbaum Hybrix Power 1.30 (Cross) Nylon 1.31 195 12.39
Prince Recoil 16 Nylon 1.30 195 15.95
Prince Synthetic Gut Multifilament 16 Nylon 1.28 196 13.98
Kirschbaum Touch MultiFibre 1.35 Nylon 1.34 197 13.87
Babolat Addiction 16 Nylon 1.31 198 11.79
Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 17 Nylon 1.25 202 13.05
Kirschbaum Profi Tour 1.25 Nylon 1.26 205 11.43
Kirschbaum Profi Tour 1.30 Nylon 1.28 208 10.89
Isospeed Pulse 1.20 Polyester 1.23 209 21.78
AM Sports Pure Control Orange Polyester 1.25 210 22.25
Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 16 Nylon 1.28 211 12.94
Carnelian Synthetic Gut 16L Nylon 1.32 212 12.92
Pacific Dura Tech 16L Nylon / Aramid 1.27 214 13.12
Gamma Zo Tour 16 Polyester 1.32 214 20.73
Isospeed Pulse 1.30 Polyester 1.30 214 23.74
Gamma TNT2 15L Nylon 1.33 218 10.69
Pacific Poly Power Pro 17 Polyester 1.21 218 21.78
Pro Supex Big Ace Micro 1.15 Polyester 1.20 219 19.34
Pacific Poly Power Pro 16L Polyester 1.24 222 21.65
Unique Big Hitter Blue 18 Polyester 1.21 223 18.32
Isospeed Hybrid Control Polyester 1.25 223 20.73
Topspin Cyber Blue 1.20 Polyester 1.22 225 18.17
Gamma Zo Tour 17 Polyester 1.29 225 18.94
AM Sports Terminato V1 Polyester 1.27 225 24.50
Pacific Poly Soft 16L Polyester 1.26 227 19.41
Gamma Dura Spin 15L Nylon 1.41 230 10.23
Pro Supex Premier Ace 1.20 Polyester 1.22 232 18.05
Pacific Poly Power 17 Polyester 1.18 232 19.95
Pro Supex Blue Gear 1.19 Polyester 1.19 232 20.53
Gamma Dura Spin 15L w/Wearguard Nylon 1.31 233 11.00
Topspin Cyber Blue 1.25 Polyester 1.24 233 15.66
Unique Tourna Poly Premium 17 Polyester 1.27 233 21.80
Isospeed Hybrid Spin Polyester 1.30 233 24.08
Isospeed Pyramid Spin Polyester 1.30 233 24.50
Kirschbaum Touch Turbo 1.275 Polyester 1.26 234 21.21
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power Spin 127 Polyester 1.29 235 19.25
Gamma Zo Tour Rough 16 Polyester 1.29 235 20.52
Topspin Cyber Flash 1.20 Polyester 1.20 236 17.47
Prince Tournament Poly 16 Polyester 1.29 236 24.17
Unique Big Hitter Blue 16 Polyester 1.29 238 17.88
Unique Tourna Poly Premium 16 Polyester 1.29 239 20.25
Luxilon Big Banger TIMO 122 Polyester 1.20 240 14.07
Pro Supex Blue Gear 1.19 (Platinum Edition) Polyester 1.19 240 17.60
Kirschbaum Hybrix Power 1.25 (Main) Polyester 1.24 240 19.14
Kirschbaum Super Smash 1.225 Polyester 1.23 243 19.74
Topspin Cyber Blue 1.30 Polyester 1.31 246 20.38
AM Sports Viper V2 Polyester 1.25 248 24.56
Kirschbaum P2 1.225 Polyester 1.23 251 15.76
Kirschbaum Hybrix Power 1.30 (Main) Polyester 1.31 251 19.16
Topspin Cyber Blue 1.30 Polyester 1.29 254 17.13
AM Sports Bionic V9 Polyester 1.23 255 17.09
Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky 1.20 Polyester 1.22 256 19.97
Kirschbaum Hybrix Spin 1.25 (Main) Polyester 1.26 256 22.02
Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky 1.225 Polyester 1.23 257 14.58
Kirschbaum Super Smash 1.275 Polyester 1.26 257 19.53
Kirschbaum Hybrix Spin 1.30 (Main) Polyester 1.31 261 18.17
Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky 1.30 Polyester 1.31 261 18.17
AM Sports Super Pro V3 Polyester 1.24 263 19.49
Pacific X Force 16L Polyester 1.32 264 14.33
Pacific PolyForce 16L Polyester 1.26 267 19.03
Rab Mono Flex 1.27 Polyester 1.26 274 16.09
Pacific PolyForce 15L Polyester 1.35 274 19.05

Test Procedure

All strings in our test were tensioned to 62 pounds and allowed to sit for 200 seconds. Then the string was hit five times with a force equivalent to hitting a 120 mph serve. The tension loss represents the 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 stings and lower impact forces. Higher values represent stiffer strings and higher impact forces.

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About the Author

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

 

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