what happens to my game (smash-power, overall power, net play, control) when i tension my racket highter than usual.
i play the at500, with a BG-80, wich si currently at 20lbs..wich is about 1-2 lbs higher than usual. i like it, my power is still the same, and it feels great (but that's probably because i had to cut out my previous bg-65-ti since it was slacking to much after 6 months..indistructable string...)

any tips?
because afaik, from 0-20lbs your power+control only increase..but is that the threshhold?

keep in mind that higher string tension will give u more control with less power. lower string tension will give u more power with less control.
if u have 2 at500(s) one strung @ 20lbs and the other strung @ 22lbs with same strings. try them all. u will probably notice their difference instantly.
20lbs isn't too high indeed but i think that's a good starting point! after that, u may increase the tension and find out what tension will give u great power as well as a good control.
for me, my ideal tension is 22lbs. in fact i'd tried 23lbs before. but at 23lbs i lost about 30% of power. that's a big deal!

30%,,that's indeed a lot..

and i'll definatly try what you said..(since i got 2..but my dad uses 1)

keep in mind that higher string tension will give u more control with less power. lower string tension will give u more power with less control.
if u have 2 at500(s) one strung @ 20lbs and the other strung @ 22lbs with same strings. try them all. u will probably notice their difference instantly.
20lbs isn't too high indeed but i think that's a good starting point! after that, u may increase the tension and find out what tension will give u great power as well as a good control.
for me, my ideal tension is 22lbs. in fact i'd tried 23lbs before. but at 23lbs i lost about 30% of power. that's a big deal!

How come the higher the tension, it will give you less power? Shouldnt it give you more power since the strings are tighter? :confused:

How come the higher the tension, it will give you less power? Shouldnt it give you more power since the strings are tighter? :confused:

lol - i should make u search for this answer, but i'm in a good mood..

the power is generated through the trampolining effect of the strings and not the tension. obviously tension has a part to play, but over a certain limit (about 20lbs i think - possibly less) the tension is actually reducing power for the sake of better control (since less trampoline means less room for error in the stroke.

all done.

coops

lol - i should make u search for this answer, but i'm in a good mood..

the power is generated through the trampolining effect of the strings and not the tension. obviously tension has a part to play, but over a certain limit (about 20lbs i think - possibly less) the tension is actually reducing power for the sake of better control (since less trampoline means less room for error in the stroke.

all done.

coops

Haha. Luckily you're in a good mood. Or else I can't find a better answer like your's. Thank coop :).. I guess I shouldn't string my racquet too high tension.

there's a sticky thread titled a short story on string tension or something like that in this very forum. might want to take a look.

also found it kinda weird a while back. higher tensions = lower power? till now im still not totally convinced cos i havent played with racquets with very high tensions yet. so far ive only handled racquets from 18-24 lbs tension and somehow i can hit the bird further with higher tensions. i know it sounds weird but thats exactly what happened to me. its probably psychological. u know when u start thinking "oh ive got a racquet with a higher tension, watch me im gonna play better now"

haha ill see again when i get my new racquet

keep in mind that higher string tension will give u more control with less power. lower string tension will give u more power with less control.
if u have 2 at500(s) one strung @ 20lbs and the other strung @ 22lbs with same strings. try them all. u will probably notice their difference instantly.
20lbs isn't too high indeed but i think that's a good starting point! after that, u may increase the tension and find out what tension will give u great power as well as a good control.
for me, my ideal tension is 22lbs. in fact i'd tried 23lbs before. but at 23lbs i lost about 30% of power. that's a big deal!

You can quantify the loss of power. Spectacular :cool:

You can quantify the loss of power. Spectacular :cool:

i don't have any equipment to measure. anyway that's my feeling. i would say it may not be 30% but the speed of the shuttle's definately reducing!

for me, my ideal tension is 22lbs. in fact i'd tried 23lbs before. but at 23lbs i lost about 30% of power. that's a big deal!

It does sound a bit incredible that 23lbs tension will be 30% less powerful than 22lbs. In fact, I would think that 23lbs would be marginally more powerful than 22lbs, if you hit it right.

It does sound a bit incredible that 23lbs tension will be 30% less powerful than 22lbs. In fact, I would think that 23lbs would be marginally more powerful than 22lbs, if you hit it right.

absolutely not. IMO once u'd reached your limit on a particular string tension. 1lb+ will have a big difference.

but that 1lb sounds so lil!!! i can believe that having higher tension leads to lower power, i had a racquet which was strung at a really high tension (like 30) and the loss of power was very significant. the tension was so high that i had problems just doing a serve for doubles. in the end i had a qualified stringer cut the strings and the stringer was pretty shocked that the racquet did not even break.

the threshold is whatever tension you feel most comfortable with.

taneepak, i have seen you play and of course you would say that a slight increase in tension would give more power. your so good! all i heard when i saw you play was BOOM!

Yup! 1lb difference does sound little BUT it's 1lbs over your regular limit. Power is generated from technique, if you're less skilled/efficient... lower tension 'assists' to a certain point but control is less due to more angular variation introduced by the less tensioned string after shuttle contact. As you begin to hit harder with better technique, your control will suffer with the same tension you had before unless you move up the tension a notch. That's why you see majority of professional players playing at relatively high tension compared to the recreational crowd. The pros already have their power maxed out with technique and strength, small fine tuning of their equipment would improve their shot accuracy.

If you're not convinced by higher tension equals better control, try doing netshots with a high tensioned racquet and a lower tensioned one. It takes timing and strength to hit powerful shots with a racquet strung at 30lbs. Hitting with strength alone will just give you a weak shot and likely joint injuries/pain.

but that 1lb sounds so lil!!! i can believe that having higher tension leads to lower power, i had a racquet which was strung at a really high tension (like 30) and the loss of power was very significant. the tension was so high that i had problems just doing a serve for doubles. in the end i had a qualified stringer cut the strings and the stringer was pretty shocked that the racquet did not even break.

the threshold is whatever tension you feel most comfortable with.

taneepak, i have seen you play and of course you would say that a slight increase in tension would give more power. your so good! all i heard when i saw you play was BOOM!

In my experience, string tension and racket flex both together determine the power in the racket. For example, I had an extra flexible Cab 8200 strung at around 18 to 20 lbs and it gave me no power. I restrung it at 22x24 and the resulting power was amazing. I now use a stiff MP33, strung at around 16 lbs and the power is much much more than the 8200 at 22x24. I guess therefore power is a combination of racket flex and tension and neither of these 2 in isolation can be substantiated to increase or decrease power.

guys,

tension vs. power is not a simple relationship. so you cannot simply say more->more or more->less.

the relationship of tension vs. power is best represented by a graph like the following (very crude one, but you get the idea...). so as you can see, depending on where you are at the curve, increasing tension may increase or decrease power.

the key then is to find the point where the power output is optimal. and you can only do that by experimentation.

I second what Kwun says. Also, different string has difffernet tension for max power. What works on BG65 is different than BG85 and BG66. You need to try out different string and differnt tension to find you balance for power and control.

i wish there were people around me who used racquets strung above 24 lbs. so far my shots fly further as tension increases. from 18-24 that is. never got to experiment with higher tensions before. think that was what made me find all this just a bit weird

i think i should stop giving myself headaches about string tensions. ill just experiment when im richer:p

I second what Kwun says. Also, different string has difffernet tension for max power. What works on BG65 is different than BG85 and BG66. You need to try out different string and differnt tension to find you balance for power and control.

yes. different string, different racket, different stringing technique, and different hitting strength all contributes to the shape and optimal point of the graph.

what i think is interesting (but i cannot prove) is that hitting strength affects the graph. the stronger you are, the further to the right is the optimal point.

well, i can see where you get it. and i belive you/take your word for it. since you can see pros taking uo higher and higher tension. another explanation is that the people who can hit hard don't need to gather all their strength to get it line-line, so they can option for control, will lose, but that strenght is hardly used.

an ilustration:
person a has a strength of 10. perosn B of 15. it takes a strenght of 8 to to reach teh backline. therefore A strings his racket at 21lbs, since he than can still reach all corners, wiht greater control.
person B can string it at 28lbs(guessing) because he has greater strength, and still reach all corner with even greater control.

in this, A is me, or any other intermediate player, and B the proffesional...