A quick question on tension loss, which i'm sure has been asked before. I re-strung my racket at 26lbs. After I played with it the first time, the tension dropped quite a bit, maybe up to 2lbs. My question is, will the strings keep dropping, or is this like a settling in period for the strings to adjust to? I re-strung my racket alongside a professional Master racquet technician, who ensured that I restrung it well. I am presuming that it is natural for the tension to drop a pound or 2 the first time I play with new strings as they have to stretch and move a little where I tied off? Can you please let me know if this is normal and if I can expect the strings to level out now at the same tension??? Thanks
The string will continue to lose tension over time until it snaps. Pre-stretching the string before stringing it will reduce the amount of tension loss. You can search the forum for more info.
Thanks Phandrew. The thing that I am concerned about is that it has dropped almost 2 lbs in one 2 hour session. Is this just the strings settling in? I can't really afford to have the strings drop 2 lbs every time, otherwise the tension will be only 18lbs before I know it.....
i actually thought that the tension will drop depending on the stringer's machine and ability. sure the tension will drop over time but the dropping of string tension should plateau providing the stringing machine and the stringer's technique is of high quality. the snapping of the strings over time should happen through wear and tear, but if the tension keeps dropping than it may be difficult to actually snap the strings?
At first, there will be a dramatic loss of tension, almost 2lbs in a week. Later on, the tension will drop very slowly after. It may take a year or two to make the tension go down like 5lbs. I find BG65 loses lots of tension, then holds it for a long time after though.
If that's the case, us stringers will be very rich in no time. Personally, I think fresh strung racket losing about 5-10% of tension in the 1st week, depend on how hard you hit and how often you play. After that, it will settle with a much slower rate. 26lbs to 18lbs? It takes a hard hitter 2 weeks to break the string, before it even hit 23lbs. It will take a causal player 5 yrs to get to that lower of a tension.
The break-in peroid it would drop about 2 pounds or so. I wouldn't go with pre-stretching personally because it's more like why elongate it first off - might as well use a higher tension instead.
Agree that most strings tension will drop 2 lbs after a week... I had the same experience with BG65, BG66, BG80 and Ashaway MP.... the worst I tried is Gosen r4x100... dropped 4 lbs in 2 weeks... Some said Ashaway MicroLegend has the minimal tension loss but I'm yet to try...
Thanks all for the very informative posts. having been stringing now for a couple of weeks, I agree with what you all say. When i re-string a racket, I check the tension and it is extremely high, even if I just do it at 26lbs. After that, it drops about 2 lbs on the first time I play, and after that, it levels out and stays roughly the same.
Have a look in Stringing Techniques & Tools. There is plenty of discussion there about how to pre-stretch string.