If you’ve watched tennis on TV recently, you’ve probably heard about the pro players affinity for polyester strings. Tennis analysts often tout polyester strings as a technology that changed professional tennis into the ballistic baseline battles we see today. But are polyesters good for everyone, at every level?

WHY POLYESTER STRINGS?

Polyester offers a firmer feel than nylon and synthetic gut. The polyester material is inherently stiff, and so it doesn’t stretch like the popular multifilament Wilson NXT does. In short, players with exceedingly fast swing speeds and proper mechanics select polyester string to provide the control they need to keep the ball in the court. The strings are slick to the touch, and they snap-back into alignment after contact to ensure a consistent response. Polyesters do NOT help produce more powerful shots. If power is what you seek, check out our article “Is natural gut for you?”.

TENSION GUIDELINES

Because of their stiffness, the tension recommendation for polyester string is 10 to 15% lower than with a multifilament. While a string like natural gut remains comfortable at 60 pounds, polyester at that high a tension would feel dead, and harsh on the arm joints. Some pros and high level amateurs are having great success stringing polyester in the 40-50 pound range.
Polyester and “Durability”

Though polyester strings can take a while to snap, calling them a durability strings has created some confusion. Polyester does not break quickly, but the performance has a drastic drop off after several sessions on court due to their rapid tension loss. For the best performance, you should cut out the polyester string before you break it. On the pro tour, it is rare these days to see a broken string on court. The highest pro level players are restringing their racquets almost daily, so they never have to worry about tension loss becoming an issue. The tension loss troubles have led to much greater use of hybrid stringing.

HYBRID STRINGING

To counter the stiffness of polyester string, pros have started to string one half of the racquet with natural gut. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Serena Williams are three players who favor the natural gut string in the mains, and the polyester in the crosses.The idea is to blend the control characteristics of polyester, with the comfort and tension maintenance of natural gut. Countless other pros and tons of competitive amateurs use the polyester in the main strings, and gut, or a soft multifilament in the crosses. Doing this helps save some cash, while also saving elbows.

Poly Is For Me If:

• You regularly break synthetic gut, gut, or multifilament strings after a couple of hours of hitting
• Your stroke mechanics are consistent, and you are generating 60 mph (or faster) of ball speed
• You need control above all else

Poly Is Not For Me If:

• You are trying to add power to your tennis game
• You are a chronic sufferer of tennis elbow
• You want polyester string because it takes a long time to break, and not because of anything else