In the old days (wood racquet era), any self-respecting player used natural gut. Todays manufacturing processes produce nylon strings (or synthetic gut, if you insist) that provide a good combination of playability and durability. In fact, most of todays performance synthetics are constructed of nylon, albeit a higher grade than basic nylon string. Nylon - synthetic gut or nylon? Truth be told, synthetic gut is nylon. String Gauges and Diameters in millimeters: 15 Thinner strings also provide more spin potential by allowing the strings to embed into the ball more. A 15L string is thinner than a 15 gauge but thicker than a 16 gauge string. Tennis string gauges range from 15 (thickest) to 19 (thinnest), with half-gauges identified with an L (15L, 16L, etc), which is short for light. Generally speaking, thinner strings offer improved playability while thicker strings offer enhanced durability. The superior abrasion resistance of Kevlar makes it the most durable string available. Finally, for players who blow through all of the strings listed above, Kevlar hybrids are the final alternative. After that, we recommend trying a polyester string, such as Babolat Ballistic or one of the popular Luxilon strings. Otherwise, the next step would be a nylon durability string, such as Gamma Marathon DPC or Wilson Stamina. (See gauge table below.) If a player is breaking a 16 gauge nylon string (synthetic gut), we might suggest they switch to a 15L version of that same string, if available, for more durability. Thicker gauges and abrasion resistant materials will be more durable, but they are less elastic and resilient than their thinner, nylon-based counterparts. Unfortunately, increased durability in tennis strings is usually at the expense of playability. DurabilityĪs with our beer, most of us want a string that offers everything. Strings that offer good playability at a lower price (below $7.00) include: Alpha Gut 2000, Ektelon PowerPlay (AKA Prince Synthetic Gut Soft) and Tecnifibre E-Matrix. Some of the most popular playability strings at Tennis Warehouse Europe include: Babolat X-Cel, Prince Premier w/SoftFlex, Tecnifibre NRG2, Tecnifibre X-One BiPhase and Wilson Sensation NXT. It is the oldest tennis string made and remains the benchmark for playability. This is the only string made from a natural product - beef intestines. The most resilient (playable) string at this time is still natural gut. The material, construction, and thickness of a string will all affect the playability of a string. Generally, a playable string is resilient, which means it snaps back quickly upon ball impact. Some players like a crisp, firm playing string while others equate playability with softness and comfort. Its very difficult to obtain consensus on what makes a string playable. Here are a few guidelines to make your string and tension selection easier. Every player has different needs and preferences. However, not all strings (and string tensions) are right for all players. Fortunately, synthetic string technology has improved dramatically over the last 20 years and there are very few bad strings. Players will spend 6 months demoing racquets and 6 minutes choosing a string. Strings may be the soul of racquet, but to many players they are just an afterthought. All About Strings & Stringing Strings are the Soul of a Racquet