TennisVenues speaks with Mark Nissen who shares his expertise on the world of tennis strings:
What’s difference between HIGH tension and LOW tension? How will it affect my game? Should I care about the tension and why?
The difference between high and low is the ‘trampoline effect’ The harder and tighter you string the less the ball bounces off therefore less power more control and vice versa for lower tension.
It will affect your game, It also depends on your game if you swing fast a little higher tension is normal if you swing slower and you can have it a bit looser. If you have it the wrong way around you can get an injury to you arm or hit the ball out of court.
I’m a beginner, what string should I get? And what string tension should I get?
If you are a beginner then just stick to a basic synthetic string or a bit better at a average tension around 55 pounds or 25 kilograms and get some good lessons on how to swing the racquet properly and use the strings better. Then you are guaranteed to get the best out of your racquet.
What’s are different types of strings?
The basic in strings is three types, 1 Polyester (plastic), 2 natural gut, 3 Synthetic gut strings and multifilament.
Is it a good idea to re-string regularly? (I’m a social player, I play once a week)
The general rule of thumb for restringing is once a year if you play once a week, play twice a week restring twice a year, etc.
There are so many brands and types of strings. Which one should I pick? Should I just copy what Pro uses?
I know there is plenty of choice out there but do not choose a string because of your favourite player unless you play like them.
What’s your favourite string and why?
Natural gut is the best string but is expensive and cannot handle wet conditions. The thing to remember is the cost versus playability versus durability. The balance is the hard thing to get right and as your game improves the balance should change.
What is the best string for power?
There is not one string that is most powerful it depends on racquet and tension and player.
Are all stringers the same?
All stringers are NOT the same. It is like any profession there are good ones and exceptional ones and it usually comes down to passion and love of stringing.
Finally, any advice or recommendation on string and tension?
Strings are important and do need some experimentation and working with your stringer to get a balance but at the end of the day the better you swing the better you use the string and the more you can evaluate them. It is very hard for beginner players to tell the difference and even good players struggle so don’t worry if you cant. The more you play the better.. Keep your eye on the ball.
Mark Nissen started playing tennis at 7 years old in Brisbane. He then started umpiring tennis at 16 years old and travelled the world for 6 years watching the best tennis players on the planet, after which he started coaching. He has been coaching and stringing racquets ever since. Mark has strung at the Australian open 4 times for two different teams. Mark is a qualified Master Racquet Technician (MRT) of which there are only a dozen within Australia.
