today i got to a competition and i player a lot of match, at the end, my hand was cramp and i cannot continue playing. soneone tell me it's because of my high sting tension, i use a armortec 700 ans 23Lbs. I often get cramp in the leg and the foot but never in the hand. So should I reduce my string tension or just try to get better alimentation to prevent my cramp
From personal experience I have never had hand cramp playing nearly 3 years with 23lbs, I have used tensions up to 40lbs and have only noticed having sore forearms especially when re-stringing the AT700 to 23lbs which other players have noticed after using the factory strings for a short period. 23lbs is not a high tension and should not affect you too much, as you move up you will notice that instead of the strings acting as a shock absorber your forearm will because the strings have little repulsion as a result of the removal of the trampoline effect. Might I also suggest that you may be holding the grip too tightly, or your grip is too narrow or a combination of both.
You aren't alone there. I string at 24lbs and I find that arm soreness to be quite apparent after one hour of steady playing. Still, I managed to overcome that by correcting my grip a little - still sore, but much less and more solid.
if you have muscle cramp, then it means you're body has run out of ATP (fuel.) You can counteract this by drinking sugar water or eating a lot more complex carbs like fruits and grains (cheap and easy.) You might also want to consider drinking sports drinks with lots of electrolytes and glucose. Slightly more extreme, you can take 5g of creatine a day.
Hey Benasp, I share Dill's suspicion that you probably held your racquet too tight. 23 lbs isn't very high tension. I routinely play at 22lbs-24lbs and have recently had one of my racquets strung at 25X27lbs. It's very important to get the timing of your swing right. Different tension requires different timing, so you will need time to adapt. As long as you're using the right technique and relaxing your grip, you won't have too much trouble with a tightly strung racquet. I have only on one occasion where I felt pain when hitting a shot with a new higher tension... it's a mis-hit (off-center) on a hard swung backhand clear and the vibration feedback of the hit hurt my wrist and lower forearm (I wasn't used to the new grip technique and just had my racquet newly strung at a higher tension). Beside improper technique, perhaps you're too tense in the tournament and that probably contributed and exacerbated to your cramp. Tournament is not a good time for experimenting. It's probably better to play with your usual equipment setting in the tournament to minimise anxiety on equipment.
Did you just recently buy this racquet and had it strung? Perhaps you were using a lower tension and you took a huge jump which you haven't adapted to so you're feeling a bit sore. It's like not excercising at something for awhile and playing again, your body isn't used to it so you wake up the next morning sore and stiff.
Not realy Yodums, I used the racket probably strung at 21-22 and switched to 23 which is my usual tension. An ex international used the factory tension for about the same length of time and went to 26 and reported the same problem. The only conclusion I can draw is that the factory tension is lower than 21lbs but i does not feel like it is.
Besides the tension, I think the "feeling" of the string also might play a role in the "impact". I've tried BG85 , BG65Ti and BG68Ti with 23-24lb (strung by myself, so, different stringer / machine should not be an issue), and the difference was kinda obvious. The BG85 surely feels "softer" than 65Ti / 68Ti, and I feel more tired on arm/shoulder after playing with Ti strings for long time. However, with the feeling of better clear (at least, i think so), I still stay with Ti strings these days.
You say your wrist was different, to coin a phrase was it cocked and were you playing more of a slap shot rather than a wristy flick?
I was not using my wrist to do shot like i usually do but when i changed my technique it was to late a big gramp in the finger next tu the tumbs.
When you have the wrist cocked you cannot properly pronate (rotation of the forearm for a forehand shot) properly and there is little chance of using your wrist so the "new" way of holding the racket and executing the shot does not use the same muscles and also if you keep your hand in the same/simmilar position for a while it will get cramps which can be explained medically in other threads. Also there is less pliability or scope for your wrist to flex so the shock/impact is being absorbed by your hand and wrist and probably sending the pain up your hand.
