I recently broke my strings on my VT 70 (BG80 at 22 lbs) and decided to restring at 23 lbs. When I initially started playing, my shots were inaccurate and my shoulder muscle was sore, but after a few days it recovered. Now I've gotten use to the higher tension, however, I feel I've lost power and I don't receive any feedback from my racket when I smash (where it feels like the repulsion of the string bed travels to your grip). Is this a clear indication I should lower my tension? Thanks
even if you restring it at 22lbs, you'll feel that the stringbed is a bit stiffer, so you won't get as much power out of it as you did during the time before your string snapped. and after a while, the string tension had probably lost 1 maybe 2 lbs. so when you first play with 23lbs, it was a bit harder to get power out of it, but after a while, the tension dropped 1~2lbs, so now you're back to 22 or even 21lbs. you shoulder hurt could means that you try to produce the same pace on your shots at a higher tension, so you push yourself harder. if this is your first time switching to higher tension, give your body a few months to get use to it. maintain the same strokes, but gradually expect increase in pace. if you force yourself too much you'll just hurt yourself
Do you think playing with higher tensions while using nylon birds is ineffective? I decided to switch to nylon since my high school team uses them in tournaments.
It's a good idea that u switched to nylon if u play in the school tournament so u can get used to the feel and flight of it!I think if u are using nylon birds consistently then there is no need to compare it with feathers because ur main focus will be on nylons. It would also be beneficial to u to play with the same kind of nylons when u practice or play outside of school if possible. In conclusion if u r just using nylons period, then u don't need to adjust ur tension! To get the similar feel I used to use yonex nylons with a red tape around the cork which indicates a fast speed shuttle! I find it most beneficial to me when changing between feather and nylons, but that's just me and the kind of game I play in
Getting racket restrung at 22 to see if there's a difference in power. Should play either today or tomorrow!
I played one session against weaker opponents, so naturally, I was less aggressive, but I noticed the lower tension gave me slightly more power. The "crispness" of the higher tension was lost and my shots don't feel as accurate; or it all maybe psychological.
no, no, that's a good observation and generally that is the case. since your string bounces more, it would take a bit more time to retrain your wrist for control shots. i would love to hear about you going all out on a smash shot when you do, and pls more details about that shot
I have some slight timing issues with my smash since I haven't played consistently in a while, however, my clears are noticeably deeper and require less effort now (using nylon). If I were to use feather shuttles, it may be different
I just finished playing a session with feather shuttles today and my "full-out" smash shots were impressive. Definitely an improvement from 23 lbs tension.
Personally, 22 lbs allows me to play confidently with increased shuttle speed, whereas 23 lbs limits my power.
I personally would feel 1lb difference. I think it's more noticeable at higher tensions than at low tensions.
I strung with BG 80 at 24/26lbs, and it was like hitting with a dead fish. I didnt like it at all. Some racket/string/tension combos are just not good. BG 80 is a very stiff string to start with - it may be better suited for 20ish for your particular racket.
the comparison is hard to make, as string tension drops dramatically at the first few plays and then gradually after that. your old string, strung at 22lbs, will have lost a lot of tension the time you broke it. it will probably be around 18lbs or so if not less. when you get a fresh string at 23lbs, you are talking about quite a lot of difference in real tension. and not the 1lb difference that you may think it was.
kwun is perfectly right imho! whereas you may (or may not) feel the difference of 1lbs, it will not make THAT MUCH of a difference. 5 lbs will make a huge difference and that's probably what we're talking about!
My string jobs do not lose tension that fast, but I use small diameter string too. If you are running into that, one thing I would suggest overtensing the string before you clamp it. To do this, pull it with weight higher than your desired weight then back up. If you have a drop weight, simply give the weight a little bit of pressure to make a slight bounce on the arm. If you have a crank or electronic, give the string itself a little pull downward with your finger in front of the clamp. This helps to take some of the slack out between grommets around the frame and flatten the string a bit around the grommet itself. I would say it takes a couple extra seconds per string, and you will loose a mild degree of durability in the string because there is more tension between the grommets (you run a higher risk of center-main breaks). Agreed. Much of the loss of tension in strings is simply from the string cutting into itself as the mains and crosses impact each other causing the string to stretch and fray. If you have a large diameter string, this can be much more noticeable and you will notice a loss of tension faster. For tension around 20lbs, I would go with a lower diameter unless you smash like a madman. Pick up something cheap to experiment with first like Ashaway Zymax 67. Once you've got the right weight dialed in for your racket, then go for a BG 66 Ultimax or Nanogy 98.