string tension on yonex SP 500 sr

[the furor]

hi, im a weak player, have played for a few years. What would be an acceptable limit for stringing the yonex isometric swing power 500 sr???? i want to go to 20 lbs. but they recommend only 18. Will i be ok? with 20 lbs????

[Bob]

what kind of playing style to you play? i heard that for ppl who like to smash alot would use lower tension, so the strings can act like a spring

[BaMBaM]

Doh! Here we go again, the string tension argument.

[cooler]

You can count me out this time.

[Mag]

Don't be so harsh guys! :-) We gotta have some patience... these obviously the eternal questions! Maybe we should compile a badminton FAQ?

[the furor]

im just wondering about MY racuet.....will it be able to sustain over 18ls. tension, even though yonex recommends 18 as a max???? dont worry about tension suggestions, im just wondering if the iso 500 swing power sr will take a tension of 20-21lbs.???? Also, what would be the SAFE maximum that you would want to string this racuet at???

I will experiment myself to find the tension which is best for ME. But i want to be sure that my racuet isnt gonna break in the process!

thanks alot.

Fury

[Henry]

I own a ISO SP 500 SX, and I strung it at 23lbs and it's been holding up, I've even clashed it a few times playing doubles. But I can't tell you it won't break, take your chances. A long time ago I had a Isometric 100L, it was a cheapy racket and it imploded at 23lbs. Anyways, the 100L was made in taiwan and the SP 500 is made in japan, hopefully it's better and stronger.

[Mag]

You should be fine with 20-21 lbs. It's really not very hard. I can't imagine any decent racquet (which the 500 is) today that will implode from tensions above, say, 24-26 lbs. The problem is that this is not black and white of course. If you have a bad clash in a doubles game for instance, the lower the tension the greater the chance that your racquet is going to hold up...

Yonex has a pretty generous warranty policy, but in return they settled for max tensions with a lot of overhead. I don't know anyone who actually bothers with Yonex' recommendations. A top of the line racquet with 18 lbs? It doesn't make sense.

[shaun]

I would have to disagree with bob, a lower tension makes for less power-DEPENDONG on how you hit....wit works like this:
strings is like a trampoline, when u hit it, the strings go back, then rebound.
therefore, the lighter u hit, the lighter the string tension you should go with to compensate for ur lack of power. if you are a hard hitter, obviously use a tighter string tension because if it is too light, the strings will accually absorb your power and not rebound fast enough to propell the shuttle to a high speed

[Bob]

but wouldn't an analogy for this be like throwing yourself against a brick wall (high tension) or a uh, can't think of something for that. but ya, the brick wall wouldn't let you bounce very far.....
and thats what i heard, i haven't tried different tensions alot. i stick with 21. its been like that for the last 2 rackets.

[shaun]

um throwing urself against a brick wall is a bad analogy because the wall isnt moving....in badminton the bird flies towards the raquet and the raquet also swings TOWARDS the bird. Therefore, the higher the force, the more the strings will absorb and have less time to rebound to give the birdie a "whip" affect off the face of the raquet. THis is why if u hit harder, u need to increase string tension as well.

[eugene]

i think the higher the tension, the more powerful your smash.
imagine a person running towards a truck, the person being the shuttlecock and the truck being the racket.
if the person gets knock down by the truck representing a high tension, the person would fly.
however, if there is a layer of rubber to represent a lower tension in front of the truck, it would reduce the power.
i choose the person and the truck as both racket and shuttlecock is moving and there are the weight of both items compared is about the same ratio.
i hope my idea is helpful and aid to the tension discussion.

[BaMBaM]

The motion of the objects are all irrelevant as what moves in reference to what is all relative.

[Brett]

Eugene, I think the real life application of your analogy would result in a messy truck.