If you realize that the racquet you bought a few years ago still has it’s original strings in it, it’s time to have your racquet restrung! There are a few things to consider when you want to restring your tennis racquet. When you are ready, Elite has you covered. Read on to learn all about tennis restringing.
How Often Should You Restring Your Racquet
The general rule of thumb is: as many times as you play in a week is how many times a year you should have your racquet restrung. So, if you play 3 times a week, you should restring your racquet every 4 months. Remember, this is a general rule. Some people will go through strings faster, some slower, and most people will not restring as often as they should.
4 Types of Tennis Strings
Before you have have your racquet restrung, you must decide what kind of string you want in the racquet. Below is a brief explanation of your choices to you help you better understand your options. There are four types of string.
Natural Gut
This string provides the best tension maintenance and feel for any type of player. It is made from individual strands of intestines (usually from cows). Some of the downfalls are that it is the priciest string on the market. Depending upon your style of play the string might not last very long. This string also doesn’t hold up to the elements very well. The string also has a tendency to not react well to weather. If you are going to use this string don’t leave it in cars or garages!
Multifilament
This type of string has a design structure with numerous individual string filaments mostly made of nylon, which are wrapped or braided into a single length of string with a urethane binding agent. This type of string tends to produce more power and comfort solid-core or synthetic gut strings, and are a good option for people with arm problems. Multifilament strings are a great choice for people who want the performance of natural gut, but don’t want the heavy price tag. These strings provide excellent elasticity when freshly strung, but lose tension fairly quickly.
Monofilament
A type of string design where one string material, or a combination of materials, is drawn through a shaped dye, to form one solid piece of string. This string usually has greater durability than synthetic gut or multifilament strings of the same material, but have less power, feel, and comfort. The most common monofilament string is polyester based string. These strings are ideal for players searching for durability with control and spin. It is a string that is much harder on your arm then most other types of string. Recently, companies have started producing what they are calling a softer poly which has all the characteristics of a poly, but are easier on your arm. Polyester-based strings also lose tension fairly quickly. To maximize using poly strings you should have a full and faster swing.
Synthetic Gut
This is typically a nylon based string with a solid monofilament core surrounded by one of multiple layers of smaller filaments. This construction technique allows for more of and all-around performance by combining the improved tension maintenance of the solid core while improving the feel and playability by utilizing the outerwraps. This string’s performance has improved over the years and is enjoyed by players of various levels. Synthetic gut is the most economical of all strings on the market.
Tennis Restringing at Elite Sports Clubs
Most people don’t realize that Elite has racquet stringing services. You can drop the racquet off and pick it up at the same place that you play tennis. A one stop shop.
Stop by any front desk and ask them to help you. They will take your racquet and get it to one of our trained stringers: Joe at Brookfield, Dustin at West Brookfield, Logan at Mequon, and Marty at North Shore/River Glen. These stringers are not only able to restring your racquet or update a grip, but they are also able to make suggestions to help try and improve your game. Just ask.
The Elite racquet stringers are always available to help with the decision-making process. In the coming months, we will be sharing additional information about our stringing staff, strings, racquets, other tennis equipment, and other related subjects. Until then, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
Get more involved with Tennis!Written by Marty Badt; Tennis Pro and Tennis Racquet Stringer at Elite Sports Club-North Shore
4 Comments
Great article, Marty! I have no clue what strings I have and don’t know what I should have! We always go to Les Moise because of their punch card system where you eventually get a free string job. What does Elite charge?
Pauli
We have a number of options based on type of string/brand/etc. If you bring your own string, we charge $18 for labor. Otherwise, our cheapest option starts at $24 and goes up depending on what you want.
Are there any discounts for 56 years old
We currently do not offer any discounts.