The most common question that people always ask is how often they should change tennis racquet strings. As you know, strings wear down after some time of playing, and they lose their tension and elasticity. This can impact your play, which is why it’s important you pay attention to it.Why change the tennis strings?
Even brand new tennis strings begin to wear down quite quickly after you restring. Strings lose about 10% of their tension in the first 24h after stringing them. This reduction continues as you play and use the racket more and more. It’s not a good thing to adjust to this reduction of tension. Because the quality of your play depends greatly on the tension of your strings, you should always change them when needed.
How often should I change the strings?
Maybe you’ve heard that there’s a rule of thumb that says how often you should change the strings. Replace the strings as many times per year as you play per week. If you play tennis twice a week, then you should replace the strings on your racket two times per year. This is a good rule to stick to if you’re a recreational player. However, if you’re a more serious player, there are some factors you should consider.Frequency and length of play:
You should think about how often and for how long you play. The rule of thumb may be a good thing to go by for some people. In general, if you play every day of the week, you’ll restring your racket every 52 days. However, if you think about it, you’ll understand that it’s impossible to play each day for 52 days before breaking a string. We suggest you take the number of times you play per week and double it. This way you get a more realistic number of times to restring your racket per year. Also consider whether you play for an hour or three hours since the length of play can make a great difference, too. Style:You don’t have to string your racket very often if you come to the net a lot, and hit softly with an eastern grip. If you hit hard at the base line with a western or semi-western grip, then you’ll need to restring your racket a bit more often. The friction and wear of the strings are bigger when you hit hard.Competition:The more you compete, the more important it is to control everything affecting your game. Stringing is one of the things that have a great deal in quality of the game. Every time you play and practice, you want to the tension of your racket to be the same. You should vary the tension depending on how you’re playing each time, but it’s important to know what to expect at each level. Stringing your racket is more important the more serious you are as a competitor. Budget:Budget is something we always have to think about. You may want to play every day of the week for hours, but then expect to restring your racket quite often. It’s important you think about the type of tennis strings, too, if your budget is limited. The frequency at which you’ll have to restring depends on the construction, material, and gauge of the strings. Preference:Your personal preference is significant. If you’re just playing for fun, but are not concerned with tension, don’t think about it that much. Don’t let other people tell you when you must restring because the decision is up to you.