String tension and power

[Athelete1234]

Like I said, every player has a playble range, and the benefits are only there within that range, which is unique to each player. Too high you can't flex the strings, too low you over flex the strings.

[weeyeh]

Like I said, every player has a playble range, and the benefits are only there within that range, which is unique to each player. Too high you can't flex the strings, too low you over flex the strings.

At the risk of appearing to up my thread count, I think you have nailed the experience I have as well.

Further, I'd add that:

• Too high a tension destroys the player's shoulder. The player will be attempting to speed up his swing in his attempt to hit harder. This is usually done wrongly using the shoulder instead of wrist or fingers. High tensioned rackets also transmits more shock.
• Too low a tension causes the player to become lazy. That's what happened to me during social sessions. I strung my racket at 18-19lbs and had to slow down my swing to compensate. My max tension was 28lbs when I was much younger and now hovers at around 24-25lbs now (BG80).

The generally agreed process of starting with a slightly lower (but not overly low) tension and gradually move up to find your optimal tension has its very good reasons.

Finding the correct balance in string and string tension is, IMHO, the most important element in the racket system. In fact, I'd advocate doing that before splurging on a new racket.

[drowsysmurf]

#1 i'm sorry if you feel my comment was directed at you as it wasn't I just saw physics in some of the paragraphs and gave an opinion as well. i did not eve notice all of them were written by you (until you made that comment which made me go back an re-read). if i really want to super analyze (after re-reading) what was stated, there is definitely more to say. i was just merely stating the fact that equations given are for ideal cases. and he was asking about racket string tension in real life application (maybe i read that incorrectly too in which case i apologize and will re-read again) so was i incorrect in my comment then?

Static items? Interesting counter-argument when I've been talking about collisions. Please tell me where I've made "super ideal" assumptions. And please show me a physics book that takes into account all "real life" factors. We are only concerned about the tension in strings, string elasticity, application force, and racket frame stiffness do not apply.

[drowsysmurf]

and note i do agree with this quote! if you really want to test that out "ideally" and physics wise, hold the force constant, same racket, same hitting spot. only change that is there is string tension. thinking about it this way, you'd have only one changing variable. testing it out this way, you'd find your optimum string tension. It is like a bell curve, if tension is too high, you lose ur power, if it is too low, you lose ur power, if it is just right, you have optimum power which is the peak of the bell curve. if you really want to think about it some more (add in some of the angles of contact and the time of contact with change to the angle itself to make it more complicated and have fun with physics). maybe you can pursue a physics major to whoever posted this and end up giving us a one and for all conclusion

a kid would benefit from 1, and you grow bigger and stronger, u benefit from 2, as you age and u lose ur strength you benefit from 1 again. itz not to say that lower tension gives you more power or higher tension gives you more control because these lower or higher tension are relative to everyone. the reason this saying came about is because at higher tension, if you can't make the shuttle stay on the string that long so you can hold that variable more consistent therefore increasing ur accuracy. at a lower tension, hold the same force, the shuttle stay on the string longer, so by the time the shuttle flies off the string bed, the angle of ur racket might already be at a different spot compared to higher tension, there for less accuracy. as for the power part, if u can't bend ur string bed, then it is like throwing a baseball at the brick wall, it won't bounds back too far compare to throwing it at a spring wall.

Thinking about this situation a bit more, I realized that it's actually quite complex. I think there are two competing phenomena.

1) The increased impulse from the shuttle being in longer contact with the lower-tensioned strings.

2) The higher energy transfer from a more perfect elastic collision as a result of higher-tensioned strings.

(1) and (2) are related, the force during impact is not constant, the strings are like a spring, the force versus time will look like an arch. Lower-tensioned strings will give a wider (longer in time), but shorter (less force) arch. Higher-tensioned strings will give a narrower (shorter in time), but higher (more force) arch. The area under the arch is the change in momentum of the shuttle, a larger area will mean that the shuttle is hit away faster.

Putting it all together... I really haven't figured out how much (1) and (2) will cancel each other out... But judging from other people on this forum, my own experiences, and professional players, it seems like (2) will dominate a bit in the end, with skill.