Making a Hybrid Tennis String
Discover in this article of our tennis string guide all you need to know to build your perfect hybrid string adapted to your tennis! Balanced and allowing two different tennis string references to be combined on the same racquet, more than half of professional tennis players on the ITF, WTA, ATP circuits and club competitors turn to fitting a hybrid tennis string personalized! There are endless combinations, the best? Yours ! Follow our tips below.
The Hybrid Tennis String: What is it?
The hybrid tennis string is a combination of two different tennis strings, placed on the same tennis racket. A tennis racket that needs 12 meters of tennis string to be strung, it includes a row of uprights and crossbars, which can each accommodate 6 meters of the same tennis string.
To this extent, it is quite possible and more and more common when choosing the string to put two different tennis strings on a racket, one on the uprights and the other on the sides of the racket.
Several reasons have led tennis players and stringers to turn to the practice and choice of hybrid tennis strings.
All UNI-CORD® tennis strings can be fitted as a hybrid tennis string, with each other or with another multifilament type reference,
natural gut or synthetic gut
The Monofilament Tennis String: Type & Manufacture
After all, if you only lay 6 meters of a top-of-the-range tennis string, which you can cut with 6 meters of another inexpensive tennis string, this saves money in the long run and doubles the lifespan of its reel of premium tennis string during each passage to the laying of the string on the racket and thus to be able to consume it entirely for about thirty rackets rather than fifteen, or at the stringer in club or in store to halve the price of the chosen string since only 6 meters of it will be charged per racquet to be re-strung.
With the cost of natural gut tennis strings continuing to rise each year*, and the democratization of monofilament tennis strings and synthetic gut tennis strings (synthetic gut), tennis players adept at setting of natural gut over 12 meters quickly found that the same sensations of comfort, sensation and durability were possible with only 6 meters of natural gut laid on a racket, on the uprights or on the crosses of your choice. So much so that now there are only 6 meter natural gut tennis string sets for sale.
Also, following the appearance of the premium monofilament tennis string, sold between €200 and €300 per spool, intended for big string breakers and high level competition, many tennis players in this category have also made the economic choice of only putting 6 meters on their racket, coupled with a synthetic gut-type tennis string, it is the cheapest type of tennis string on the market*!
For good level junior tennis players, seniors, and all users of a multifilament tennis string, the choice of the hybrid tennis string allows you to comfortably use a stiffer monofilament tennis string.
This therefore allows either a smooth transition to the use of a monofilament tennis string for juniors, or a retention of the use of a monofilament tennis string for seniors, and a contribution in control and general durability of the string tennis placed on the racket for all users.
*1. N-B: There is no reel of natural gut tennis string, this type of string requires isothermal packaging to protect the string from temperature variations and light, it is only sold in an aluminum pouch.
This conditioning, apart, also impacts its high cost. Today a set of 12 meter natural gut tennis strings sells for an average of €55 compared to an average of €7 to €10 respectively for a set of 12 meters of synthetic gut tennis string and an average of €17 to €25 for a set of 12 meters of multifilament tennis string.
The hybrid tennis string to boost your game: the tennis string without weakness or compromise?
The fact that a hybrid tennis string is a combination of two similar or radically different tennis strings by their nature, their gauge or their contribution to the respective game,
suggests that in addition to the infinity of possible choices, there is THE perfect tennis string for yourself, ideal for your game and flawless!
The answer is: maybe.
Said like that, it seems obvious that a hybrid tennis string can be much more balanced than one and the same tennis string laid over 12 meters on a tennis racket, however still many tennis players of all levels pose on their tennis racquets a single string reference.
However, and if we remain more measured, composing an ideal hybrid tennis string adapted to your tennis is a painstaking job that can require months or even years of testing, as well as a complete knowledge of the string market!
Most of the time, composing your hybrid tennis string is a team effort and listening between the player who describes his tennis and his needs and the stringer who must draw a parallel with references and consider a complementarity between two tennis strings.
Fortunately and for some time now, tennis string designers and historical brands have started to offer packs themselves with two tennis string references coupled to form a hybrid string.
Nevertheless, the couplings already offered and sold by historic tennis brands and string designers are very general and are not always optimized for your tennis, however they allow you to make a quick choice and start testing the hybrid tennis string on your racket !
At UNI-CORD®, we have simplified our range as much as possible, with a single string dedicated to each style of tennis and available in a single gauge.
This is an added value for the choice of a hybrid tennis string!
Indeed, all our tennis string references are compatible with each other to form a hybrid specific to your style of play.
Some essential prerequisites to know to compose your hybrid tennis string
Become an expert on the process of mounting a hybrid tennis string!
You will find below the possible combinations, their benefits to the game, the optimizations to be made on the layout of the different tennis strings and the rules of tension to design your own hybrid tennis string.
Hybrid tennis string with two identical string types
Making a hybrid tennis string with two identical types of strings is possible and not very common. It is perfectly possible to use two tennis strings of the same type, close or different.
Hybrid tennis string with two identical monofilament or multifilament strings with two different gauges (Uprights: String A - gauge 1.25; Traverse: String A - gauge 1.30)
Above all, this configuration makes it possible to influence two factors: The durability of the string and the power/control ratio.
General:
If the hybrid is built around the same identical string (example: Rafael NADAL),it is the gauge the key point of the hybridization !
The thinner the gauge, the more feel, spin and dynamism of the strings at impact, and the less life and resistance to breakage.
The thicker the gauge, the more control, absorption and stability at impact, and the less feel and string dynamics.
Recommendations and Contributions to the Game:
Playing with the gauges of the same tennis string allows to adjust and improve its power, control and durability as needed, without altering and radically changing your choice.It's a minimal adjustment.
On this system, if you want to keep your unique tennis string to optimize its power a little, you must put the thinnest gauge in the uprights and the thicker gauge in the crossbars.
Conversely, if you want to keep your unique tennis string but optimize your control and power, you should put the thicker gauge in the uprights and the thinner gauge in the crossbars.
The Stringer's Advice:
The thinner gauge should always be less stretched than the thicker gauge, it is responsible for the dynamism and the impression of the effects of the strike in contact with the ball.
It is also recommended todo not exceed more than 2 Kilos of difference between the tension of the uprights and the crosspieces, at the risk of losing tension and consistency of feeling and increasing a significant difference in tension between the uprights and crossbars at the end of the life of the hybrid string.
Hybrid tennis string with dtwo different monofilament or multifilament strings but with the same gauge
(Uprights: Rope A - gauge 1.25; Traverse: Rope B - gauge 1.25)
General:
If the hybrid is built around the same type of string and the same gauge, but two different references, it is the construction of the string and its properties that are the key point of hybridization!
Recommendations and Contributions to the Game:
If there is a single smooth construction (round), non-textured or “rough” type tennis string in the combination, it is best to lay it across the racket to maximize stability and ball control.
Its tension must always be higher than that of the textured or rough tennis string, without exceeding 2 kilos of difference between them.
If there are two smooth (round), non-textured or rough-type tennis strings in the combination, it is preferable to lay the stiffer of the two (the one with the least slippage, which has a carbon coating rather than 'silicone) on the sides of the racquet to maximize stability and ball control.
The tension of the least rigid tennis string must always be lower than that of the most rigid tennis string, without exceeding 2 kilos of difference between them.
If there is a single textured tennis string (hexagonal, pentagonal, etc.) or "rough" type in the combination, it is best to lay it on the uprights of the racquet to maximize spin and length of ball.
Its tension must always be lower than that of the tennis string with smooth construction (round), without exceeding 2 kilos of difference between them.
Case of the Inverted Hybrid Tennis String:
If, on the other hand, the textured tennis string is placed on the sides of the racket, it is a so-called "reverse" hybridization (example: Roger FEDERER) which will further promote grip on impact and increase the weight of your strikes. rather than spin and length.
If we reverse the hybridization, then the tension of the textured or rough tennis string must be greater than that of the smooth (round) tennis string, without exceeding 2 kilos of difference between them.
The Stringer's Advice:
A hybridization of two textured or "rough" tennis strings with different constructions (example: a hexagonal tennis string and an octagonal tennis string) or identical (example: two "rough" tennis strings) is strongly discouraged!
When laying the crosses, and crossing between the two strings when tensioning the strings on the machine, the differences in texture will damage the two strings at the intersections and alter the life of the hybrid tennis string, then again more in play when moving the strings.
Also, laying two textured and/or rough tennis strings on the same racquet can seriously degrade ball control and striking stability, spin and grip may be contradictory.
Irrelevant associations and mistakes to avoid
Beyond the hybrid tennis string combinations and recommendations presented in this article,Ithere are still several possible combinations which are not mentioned, in fact these combinations are not very relevant and have either no economic interest and do not allow you to mount a cheap hybrid tennis string, or they have a contribution to the game almost nothing.
A hybrid tennis string with a synthetic gut string and a natural gut string
The difference in quality between these two types of tennis strings is such that we will have the impression of losing and diluting the benefits and sensations that a natural gut string can provide entirely on the racket.
In addition, the durability of synthetic gut is less than that of natural gut, so the likelihood that the hybrid string will break before the natural gut wears out is high!
A hybrid tennis string with a synthetic gut string and a multifilament string
Same explanations as for the natural gut, the economic interest is negligible for each racket to be recorded with such an association.
In addition, the interest of the synthetic gut to provide exclusively comfort compared to a multifilament string is less because a multifilament string is already very flexible and comfortable. You might as well play a multifilament string over 12 meters or a hybrid string of two different multifilaments.
A hybrid tennis string with a multifilament string and a natural gut string
This might seem more qualitative than the combinations not recommended above, however it is not!
The sensations are very close between a natural gut string and a multifilament string, the price per trim is sometimes just as similar, there are indeed very expensive multifilament strings, however you can buy them on a spool unlike natural gut which requires a hermetic insulated envelope.
If you can access the natural gut, you might as well play it alone and place it entirely on the racket. On the other hand, if the playing sensation of a natural gut string is too confusing for you, it is better to play a multifilament string entirely on the racquet.
The combination of the two in hybrid string would bring very little contribution to your game, and there would be a risk that the multifilament string would wear out and break long before the natural gut reaches total wear!
If you were thinking of turning to such a hybrid association to string your racquet for reasons of comfort, stay on an integral multifilament string.
Conversely, if you were considering such a hybrid string to gain power without switching to monofilament string, try the integral natural gut string.
All UNI-CORD® tennis strings can be fitted as a hybrid tennis string, with each other or with another multifilament type reference,
natural gut or synthetic gut
Hybrid tennis string with two different types of strings
Making a hybrid tennis string with two different types of strings is possible and very common. It is perfectly possible to use two tennis strings of the same type, close or different.
Hybrid tennis string with monofilament string and synthetic gut string (Synthetic Gut)
General:
If the hybrid is constructed with a synthetic gut tennis string in the suit, it is the choice and the optimization of the monofilament tennis string the key point of the hybridization !
When a hybrid tennis string has a synthetic gut, it must always be laid across the racket, and the monofilament string should always be laid in the uprights with a finer gauge than that of synthetic gut.
Recommendations and Contributions to the Game:
When you choose a hybridization with a synthetic gut tennis string, apart from the side economic, it is above all for gain in comfort and absorption of vibrations on impact !
It is also for this reason that it is systematically placed on the sides of the tennis racket, it is this row of strings that is responsible for stability and ball control, so laying a synthetic gut string there will allow greatly dampen vibration and protect the arm of its user on impact, but also to further muffle the sensations.
The Stringer's Advice:
On this type of hybrid tennis string, it is recommended todo not add dampener, at the risk of sanitizing the feelings of the game too much!
Hybrid tennis string with monofilament string and multifilament string
General:
If the hybrid is built with a multifilament tennis string in the suit, it is the choice and the optimization of the multifilament tennis string the key point of the hybridization !
When a hybrid tennis string includes a multifilament string, it must be laid across the racket for more comfort, and the monofilament string always laid in the uprights with a finer gauge than that of the multifilament string.
The multifilament tennis string, of better quality and reinforced construction compared to the synthetic gut string (less solid),can be laid in reverse hybridization ! To make a success of an inverted hybrid tennis string with a multifilament and a monofilament, it is strongly recommended that the two tennis strings have the same gauge.
Recommendations and Contributions to the Game:
When you choose a hybridization with a multifilament tennis string, it is above all togain power and ball speed with maximum comfort.
It is also for this reason that it is most often placed on the sides of the tennis racket, it is this row of strings that is responsible for stability and ball control, so laying a soft multifilament string there, by its nylon fiber construction, will absorb and then restore a maximum of the power of the ball received, vibrations will be reduced as much as with a synthetic gut tennis string, the keystroke response and feel will be more dynamic and less sanitized.
The Stringer's Advice:
When the tennis string multifilament is placed on the crossbeams racket, its tension must always be higher than that of the monofilament tennis string of at least 2 kilos and up to 5 kilos of difference, this maximizes the sensations on impact and allows in the long term that the drop in tension of the multifilament, always faster than that of the monofilament, is not too brutal , at the risk of rapid breakage and loss of control.
When performing a reverse hybrid string, with the tennis string multifilaments in the uprights and monofilament tennis string in the crossbeams, it is generally recommended to increase the usual tension of its uprights and across from 1 to 2 kilos, with a higher tension of the uprights strung in multifilament of 1 to 3 kilos compared to the tension of the crosses in monofilament.
Example: My usual tension is 22 Kilos on the uprights and 23 Kilos on the crossbars, if I switch to inverted hybrid tennis string, then I can optimize my tension with 24 Kilos on the uprights in multifilament string and 21 Kilos in the crossbars in monofilament rope.
Hybrid tennis string with monofilament string and natural gut string
General:
The multifilament tennis string having been invented to present a close, serious, effective and less expensive alternative to the natural gut string, then it is necessary follow the same optimization principles to mount a hybrid string with natural gut, except at the voltage level where the optimization differs.
So, if the hybrid is built with a natural gut tennis string in the suit, then it is the choice and optimization of the gut string the key point of hybridization !
When a hybrid tennis string includes a gut string, this must be placed on the crossbeams of the racquet for more comfort and control, and the monofilament string always laid in the uprights with a thinner gauge than that of the natural gut string.
The natural gut tennis string, which represents the highest quality choice on the tennis string market, but also the most expensive, remains the best existing compromise between power, comfort and durability.
It has the best possible quality and construction with a manufacturing process always partly artisanal, slow and handmade. It is much more durable than a synthetic gut or a multifilament because the fibers it contains are animal and non-synthetic nylon, the fibers are mostly from dried beef casings and intestines and are therefore much more resistant.
It provides much more sensation and power than its synthetic fiber alternatives.
It is also the first string to have been laid in reverse hybridization !
To achieve a successful inverted hybrid tennis string with a natural gut and a monofilament, it is strongly recommended that the two tennis strings have a fairly similar or even identical gauge.
Example: a 1.28 gauge monofilament and a 1.30 gauge natural gut
Recommendations and Contributions to the Game:
When you choose a hybridization with a gut tennis string, it is above all to gain in sensation, durability and power.
It is also for this reason that it is most often placed on the sides of the tennis racket, it is this row of strings which is responsible for controlling the ball and which damages the string the least because it rubs less the ball than the strings laid uprights, so laying a gut string, resistant and powerful, will save life, yield over the long term with excellent power retained until breakage, maximum tension resistance and felted sensations still unequaled by other types of tennis strings.
The Stringer's Advice:
When natural gut tennis strings are used in hybridization, classic or reversed, it is strongly recommended to review your general blood pressure habits down 2 to 3 Kilos, with always lower gut string tension than monofilament from 1 to 2 kg.
Lowering its usual tension and keeping the tension of the natural gut lower than that of the monofilament allows when laying the hybrid string on the racket, and when playing, not to "broken" and overstretch the animal fibers of the gut at the risk of alter its resistance to breakage and its tensile strength. For example, a gut tennis string that is too tight dries faster (it yellows very quickly) and stiffens (becomes very hard and begins to “crack” when you want to put the strings straight on the racket).
In general, and regardless of the gut string chosen, its gauge and its placement on the tennis racket, it is recommended not to exceed 23 to 24 kg maximum tension.
It is also possible to perform a "pre-stretch" when laying the gut rope, it is a pre-stretching of the string of 5, 10 or 15% of the tension by the player in order to relax and gradually soften the rope before putting it under final tension indicated by the player, this allows a gradual tensioning up to "X" Kilos and not a direct tensioning of the rope from 0 to "X" Kilos, which protects the dried animal fibers from breakage, friction and yellowing.