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String Selector 2014

Use our exclusive guide to find the perfect strings for your customers.

By Dave Bone

When it comes to tennis strings, the U.S. market appears to be going in two directions. Most of the major manufacturers seem to be slowing the introduction of new string models, and some are even reducing the size of their lines. So, you might think the number of strings out there is declining.

But in the last several years, more new brands of string have entered the U.S. market than we can ever remember happening in such a short time frame. It’s not that these are all new string companies. Many have been around for some time, but their products have only been available in markets outside the U.S. Now, though, many of these brands have found U.S. distributors and felt the time was right to move into the U.S.

So, when you combine these brands entering the U.S. with the new brands popping up for the first time, the result is a string market that continues to grow at an alarming rate.

The USRSA now has lab-test results for nearly 900 models of string. We don’t know anyone who can say they’ve actually played with all the different models available, or who can say they know what every string on the market feels like.

That’s why our String Selector tool is more important than ever. It offers an apples-to-apples comparison of all the different models on the market because all the strings were tested using the same exacting procedures.

What does this mean for you? Stringers and retail shops can use the information in our String Selector to find models that offer exactly what their customers are looking for.

For advice on how to most efficiently use this information, make sure you read the section on “Using the String Selector.” For a better understanding of the string graph, read “The Geography of Feel.” Remember, though, that USRSA members have access to even more powerful tools — String Spec Search and String Selector — on the Members-Only section of the website, www.racquettech.com.

String Spec Search allows the user to choose the brand and model of string they are considering and see the specs of that string without having to search through the whole list of 900 strings. The String Selector tool allows the user to enter the brand and model of string a player is currently playing with as well as the changes they would like to make in their string. The tool then goes through all the strings currently available and returns a list of string that meets the requested changes.

It’s been two years since we published our String Selector (technical difficulties prevented us from completing our testing last year), so you can imagine there are a lot of new strings that have been introduced since January 2012. In order to save some trees and to focus on what’s new, we’ve decided in this printed edition of Tennis Industry to publish specs for just the new strings (the current strings that were not included in the 2012 guide).

Newest strings on the market

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

All strings 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 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.

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 2014 issue
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