Our Tennis Thread

[Rob ITST]

I think Sampras used 19 or 20 gauge strings...super thin strings!

Nope, that was a myth. He used 17 gauge and 17L - 1.22mm on grass, 1.25 on other surfaces. The 17L was either squash gut, or custom made; I'm not sure, but I think it was squash gut. I tried some 19 gauge gut once, and you couldn't even put 55lbs of tension on it.

I used to use 17 gauge gut mains, with 18 gauge Timo crosses. That was a very sweet feeling hybrid.

As far as the spin, everyone used to believe that thinner strings were better, but that's kind of changing now. Many people now think, especially with the polys, that thicker gives you more spin. The idea was that thinner strings would dig into the ball deeper, "biting" it more - now the idea is that thicker strings make the string bed "rougher".

[djarvik]

I agree with Rob. Want lots of spin? Try this:

Thicker Poly with rough edges strung at around 50 lbs on a 16x19 pattern.

[jayl0ve]

I can understand why you two would think that...I still feel like I get more spin with thinner strings though..

Besides, they feel much much better than 15 or 16 gauge...I could never play with those.

[Rob ITST]

I have a theory that if someone thinks they will get more of something with a racquet or string, then they will.

I've told people that a racquet was powerful, then they go out and try to hit every ball hard, and say "Man, this thing does have power".

Same with strings and spin; if they think a string gives them more spin, they start swinging faster and more vertically, then say "Man, this stuff gives you tons of spin!"

Tennis is so mental, and most tennis players are nut cases.

[jayl0ve]

Yeah you're right kinda...although I just played with my new strings and I really am getting a ton of spin...my backhand slice is str8 FIZZING!

It could just be because they're brand new strings though and I'm ready to believe they'll give me a little more spin.

[Rob ITST]

Here's the best way to really tell if new equipment is making any difference:

1: Play with someone you play often (preferably a coach).
2: Don't tell them you have anything new.
3: After a while, ask them if they notice anything different.

Chances are, they'll say no, or something completely unrelated to what you expect.

[Rob ITST]

BTW to anyone who uses Luxilon ALU: They're "buy 2 get 1 free" just about everywhere right now.

[Moralspain]

BTW to anyone who uses Luxilon ALU: They're "buy 2 get 1 free" just about everywhere right now.

, but why is that? too much stock?, new ALUs to come?

[VillaJ100]

Yeah there are a lot of variables when you play that can give the illusion, everything from temperature and air pressure, altitude and even the balls you use can create faster/slower/ more spinny conditions

[jayl0ve]

I used to think that altitude stuff was bunk, but not too long ago I played at 4,500 feet elevation in the desert, and I could barely keep the ball from flying 10 feet past the baseline and ended up losing to an obese man because I could not keep the ball in the court

[jayl0ve]

Man I'm loving the 18 gauge Timo's...maybe it's not a ton more spin, but the feel is definitely much better. It almost feels like there's no strings there at all if you hit it dead center on the sweet spot.

Hey Rob, you said 'The idea was that thinner strings would dig into the ball deeper, "biting" it more - now the idea is that thicker strings make the string bed "rougher"

Wouldn't thinner strings result in bigger holes in between the strings...bigger 'squares' of empty space on the stringbed?? And wouldn't those dig into the ball more than a bunch of smaller squares??

Maybe it's just a marginal difference though. And maybe that's what you meant by 'biting' more in the first place.

Anyways I definitely don't feel like I"m getting LESS spin, for what that's worth...

Kinda off-topic but do you ever see guys playing with dead balls?? Haha man I went to the court in the public park near my place the other day, and I saw these two guys playing a match with nothing but dead balls...it was so funny cuz they probably thought they were pros or something, neither of them were hitting it long EVER and both were taking humongous swings, but I knew it was just because they were using totally dead balls...I sat there watching them until they were done, busted out a brand new tube of balls and asked both of them if either of them wanted to play a set or something but they said they had to leave...man I wanted to show them how much they'd suck with balls that actually keep their pace after 1 bounce

[Rob ITST]

Hey Rob, you said 'The idea was that thinner strings would dig into the ball deeper, "biting" it more - now the idea is that thicker strings make the string bed "rougher"

Wouldn't thinner strings result in bigger holes in between the strings...bigger 'squares' of empty space on the stringbed?? And wouldn't those dig into the ball more than a bunch of smaller squares??

Maybe it's just a marginal difference though. And maybe that's what you meant by 'biting' more in the first place.

Yep, that's what I meant. What they've found, though, is that the ball doesn't really deform enough to get in between those spaces - not enough to make much of a difference at least.

If you think about it, the difference between gauges is tiny. TiMO 17 is 1.22mm and 18 is 1.10mm - so the difference between the size of the empty spaces is only about 0.12mm. TiMO is actually a pretty extreme example - usually when you go from say, a 16 to a 17, you're talking about 0.05mm (1.30-1.25). It's kind of amazing we can feel any difference at all.

[MiTrenZ]

I find myself a 4.0 - 4.5 type of player.
But my goal is to really improve my game this season.
I put a lot of work in my backhand (went from 2handed, to slice, to a 1handed backhand)
So need to get this one more consistent.
Goal this summer is to participate in 8 - 10 tournaments and hoping to win some of them,

+ Points
Speed
Forehand
Backhand slice
Dropshot (can play it at almost every part of the court and kill it)

Neutrals
Serve
Volley

- Points
Backhand
Stamina

[jayl0ve]

Hey Rob, you said 'The idea was that thinner strings would dig into the ball deeper, "biting" it more - now the idea is that thicker strings make the string bed "rougher"

Wouldn't thinner strings result in bigger holes in between the strings...bigger 'squares' of empty space on the stringbed?? And wouldn't those dig into the ball more than a bunch of smaller squares??

Maybe it's just a marginal difference though. And maybe that's what you meant by 'biting' more in the first place.

Yep, that's what I meant. What they've found, though, is that the ball doesn't really deform enough to get in between those spaces - not enough to make much of a difference at least.

If you think about it, the difference between gauges is tiny. TiMO 17 is 1.22mm and 18 is 1.10mm - so the difference between the size of the empty spaces is only about 0.12mm. TiMO is actually a pretty extreme example - usually when you go from say, a 16 to a 17, you're talking about 0.05mm (1.30-1.25). It's kind of amazing we can feel any difference at all.

Same with the difference between racquet-head sizes! I saw this diagram where they had circles, layered on top of each other, representing different racquet heads of different sizes, from like 88 sq inch to 100 sq inches, and the difference is really really small. On top of that, the sweet spot in any size racquet is essentially the same across the board, outside of say, 120 sq inch uber-grandpa racquets.

Hey MiTrenz where do you live, in the US? You gonna play some USTA tournaments?? I'm thinking of doing the same thing this summer too.

[MiTrenZ]

Hey MiTrenz where do you live, in the US? You gonna play some USTA tournaments?? I'm thinking of doing the same thing this summer too.

Hee, no i live in The Netherlands.
So no USTA tournaments .
Just the tournaments in my region.
The ranking system here is also quite different.

Its from 0 - 9
With 0 being pro and 9 a beginner.
Average is like 6

At the moment i'm 6 but i do have the potential to reach 5 - 4 this year. So gonna compete in 8 - 10 tournaments in the singles 6 and singles 5 and hope to win in the 6 and come as far as i can get on the 5...

I'm now almost 21 years old and wanna reach 3 before i turn 25.
So i give myself a reasonable amount of time to improve my game and compete in different tournaments.