As a stringer, I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have been asked, “What is the best tennis string for my [insert Babolat, Head, Wilson, Dunlop, Prince, or other racquet here]?” There are, literally, hundreds of strings on the market, with dozens of companies constantly developing new strings. To make it worse, there are different materials, construction, and thicknesses. I can’t let you forget, the string tension also adds another variable with the string you’ve selected.
I have playtested tons of different strings and I have found some great strings, as well as some not very good strings. It has taken me a long time to find the best tennis strings. I personally found that the L-Tec tennis strings are the best for me, that is of course installed with the JET method (I am a JET stringer, FYI). Although, before I was introduced to L-Tec, there had been a few others that I liked very much. I’m positive that, in the future, there will be many other strings that will be brought to market that I will like very much, as well as strings that are not a favorite.
So really, what are the best tennis strings for my racquet?
That’s the million dollar question. The key to finding the best set of strings for you and your racquet, is to identify what your game needs the most. For example, say you want additional spin on your groundstrokes, I would suggest starting with some textured or twisted tennis strings. These are a few examples:
- Babolat RPM Blast
- Volkl Cyclone
- Kirschbaum Spiky Shark
- Dunlop Black Widow
- Tourna Big Hitter 7 or Rough
Those suggestions are a select few polyester strings that are designed to produce more spin than a traditional round string.
If you were looking for a tennis string that would add more power to your groundstrokes, then the suggested strings would change either a smooth tennis string, or a natural gut. Here are some strings to start with:
- Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power
- Babolat VS Natural Team Gut
- Pacific Premium Power X Synthetic
- Wilson Natural Gut
- KLIP Legend Natural Gut
And finally, to make the decision of picking out the best string for your racquet even more exhausting, there are strings that offer comfort strings. For the tennis players who have fragile arms, there are plenty of options. Here are my recommendations for arm friendly strings:
All of the examples above are good places to start, though they could potentially be the complete wrong strings for your racquet and game. I cannot stress it enough to you, you will have to try many different string before you know exactly what is best.
The question, “What is the best tennis string for my tennis racquet?” is, in essence, and invalid one. There really is no true answer. Ask any tennis stringer the same question, and if he or she is a good stringer, they will ask you a series of questions to narrow down a selection of what may be best for you, and not just tell you, “This is the most popular tennis string right now! It’s the best tennis string because this pro and that pro are using it.”
Like I have already said numerous times, you will have to playtest a bunch of different strings until you find the right one. Just like tennis racquets, you will need to try a few to find the perfect one. You will know on the first ball when you have found the right tennis strings. Just keep looking and I promise, you will find what you are looking for.
- 2021 French Open Wilson Racquets - April 13, 2021
- Slinger Bag and Wilson Tennis Collaboration - March 2, 2021
- Wilson Tennis and Romero Britto - February 22, 2021