STORY: Hybrid String for Tennis Racquets – An Experiment

Gear, Story — By stevie

I don’t know how long ago I first heard about hybrid strings.  Over the last year or so, it seems that everybody is talking about them and even the magazines are starting to write about them. 

If you don’t already know, hybrid strings refers to using two different types of strings to string a tennis racquet:  one type of string for the mains (up and down, traveling from the top of the racquet towards the grip) and another type for the crosses.

One of the initial benefits that I heard about for hybrid string jobs was that it allowed players to combine a string with good “feel” such as a natural gut with a string that was more durable, such as a synthetic such as nylon.  For me, that was never all that strong a selling point because I rarely break strings.

However, the latest talk is about how much more control these stringing jobs can provide you.  Apparently, they allow you to hit all out and still keep the ball in the court.  In fact, from listening to the commentators on tv tennis, they reward you for hitting all out.

Now that was cool!  Who doesn’t want more control in their game.  But where to start?  One of the things I was least clear about was what tension to use for each string type.  After chatting with a few stringers, what I gleaned was that you should string the synthetic at about 10% less tension than your other string.

So I’m currently using 57 pounds for the mains and 51 pounds for the crosses.  Because I needed to string 2 racquets at the same time, I was able to experiment and compare this racquet and an “all gut” string job at 57 pounds. 

My findings?  I’ve only had the hybrid string job for about 10 hours of play but here are my thoughts:

• I can’t believe how little loss in feel I have compared to all gut.
• I DO seem to have a little more control (could be placebo but I haven’t used my all gut racquest for the past several weeks)

I’m still wondering what would happen if I did a combo with gut for the crosses and nylon for the mains.  I suspect I’d get more control but probably a stiffer racquet, but I don’t know.

Tags: Gear, hybrid strings, tennis tips