Posted on October 7th, 2022

Ask any racket stringer or tennis shop owner what the most common question they get asked every day is, and many of them will tell you it’s “Do I need my racket restrung?” “When do I know it’s time for a restring?” Despite this being widely asked, it’s also something that not a lot of players ever even think about.

I know players at the clubs I’ve played at that have kept the same string job for years, and a fresh restring is only ever considered if a string were to break.

However, strings wear down from play relatively quickly and subsequently lose their elasticity and ability to hold tension.

If you leave them too long, it can negatively affect your game. Let’s take a more in-depth look at why and when you should change your tennis strings.

Why Should You Change Your Tennis Strings?

Aside from breaking a string being the obvious reason to get your racket restrung, there are two other main drivers of why it’s time to cut and the strings and put some fresh ones in.

Tension Loss

All tennis strings will lose tension over time. They begin to lose tension as soon as they leave the stringing machine.

Depending on the type of string, in the first 24 hours after stringing, strings can lose roughly 10 per cent of their tension, and this continues when you play with the racket.

If you are a player that relies on higher tension for control and find that your accuracy of shot is reduced over time, then you’ll need to restring to regain that element of your game.

String Performance

As well as losing tension, strings eventually go dead. This causes them to lose their performance characteristics, which most likely the reason you chose to string with them in the first place.

This is particularly true for polyester strings as they will lose their snapback effect, which is a big part of how they help players generate topspin.

How to Know When It’s Time to Change Strings

Visual Indicators

Most advanced players will know it’s time to restring purely through feel, but there are a couple of visual things to look for.

Notching

When you make contact with the ball, your strings will rub together and produce friction, which causes the strings to notch.

If you look closely, you’ll see grooves form where the main and cross strings intersect. This will be more evident towards the upper middle of your racket, which is hopefully the area you make contact with the ball most!

If you see that these notches are close to breaking the string, or even just getting quite deep, it is likely an excellent time to restring.

Fraying

Natural gut and multifilament strings are composed of lots of tiny fibres that are intertwined. When they are freshly strung, they often have a coating on to protect them, but once this wears off, the fibres will start to fray.

This is a natural part of the wear for these types of strings, so some fraying is perfectly normal. Fraying can also be exacerbated by humidity and moisture.

However, beyond a certain point, the fraying will reduce the gauge of the string to the point it will break. So if you see fibres fraying at all angles and the string looks weakened, restringing is probably the right choice.

Feel Indicators

For players just starting out, it’s unlikely you will be able to detect subtle changes in feel on the stringbed. But as you develop your technique and your feel improves, you’ll start to notice changes in how the string plays over time.

A Loss in Control

When strings lose tension, the ball spends more time on the string bed, which can lessen your control. A loss in tension can mean you will find yourself hitting just long, making more unforced errors or having difficulty placing the ball. If so, it might be time for you to restring.

Less Topspin

When polyester strings lose tension, there is a reduction in the snapback of the strings, which means you have to swing harder to generate the same amount of topspin as you would on a freshly strung racket. Polyester strings also develop dead spots, which causes an erratic response.

If you find yourself hitting with less spin and you have to straighten your strings after every point, then it’s probably time to restring.

So How Often Should You Restring?

When it comes to racket restringing, there’s a general rule of thumb that most players are familiar with which is:

Over a year, you should restring your racket the number of times you play in a week.
If you play four times a week, then restring you racket four times a year.
If you have not had a fresh string bed in six months, then I would say it’s time to freshen things up.
Even if they look visually fine, the loss of tension and elasticity over time will have decreased the playability of the string.

For most players, this concept of stringing as many times per year as you play per week is not a bad rule to follow. Especially for recreational players who string with a synthetic gut and aren’t hitting a huge ball.

However, the problem is that it’s a rather broad blanket and can’t be applied to all types of players or all kinds of string.

While the time you spend on the court is a significant factor, other considerations will determine the rate at which players get their rackets restrung.

This only applies to non-string breakers as they have no choice but to restring as soon as a string pops, but factors include:

Frequency and duration of play
Style of play
Level of competition
Budget
String choice
Comfort

Aggressive ball-strikers with full, heavy topspin strokes will wear through strings much faster than flat-hitting doubles specialists with abbreviated swings and touch play.

For most players, a visual test is more suitable than abiding by a restringing calendar. My rule is based on both a visual look at the strings and how they play.

If visually they look fine, but you play poorly in a match? Ok, it happens. Play the next match and the one after that badly? It’s probably time for a restring. Even if the strings were fine, you’re at least resetting psychologically

What about Polyester Restringing Frequency?

Polyester strings are a tricky one to follow, and there’s no real calendar rule to follow. Generally speaking, while polyester strings are hard to break for most club players, they go dead after 10 to 20 hours of play.

Not only that, but they also break down unevenly, which creates dead spots in the string bed, which can lead to erratic performance. However, because they don’t break, players often keep them in their frames for too long.

For this reason, it’s’s often recommended replacing polys every couple of months at a minimum to restore playability and reduce the risk of arm related injuries from having to swing harder to get the same amount of pace.

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