THE BEST OPTIONS FOR TENNIS PLAYERS SUFFERING FROM PAIN : TENNIS ELBOW, WRIST & SHOULDER INJURIES

reprinted from www.tennisgear.com  Article by Dave Bone

Anyone who’s suffered from tennis elbow knows that it’s enormously frustrating and can keep you off the court for long periods of time. Obviously, things like rest, stretching, physio and strengthening exercise are essential however a few changes to your racquet set-up can make a huge difference.

While most of the racquet and string manufacturers claim to have a magic cure the truth is actually much more simple – the more flex in your racquet and elasticity in your strings, the better it is for your arm. In slightly more scientific terms the more flex in a racquet and more elastic a string, the more energy it can store and release into the ball.

So which racquets and strings are those?

As far as racquets are concerned be sure to take a look at the stiffness rating before making a decision – it’s also important you don’t get a racquet that is too heavy (for example the Wilson Pro Staff 90 comes in with a relatively low stiffness rating and is a flexible frame, however at a strung weight of over 350 grams it’s probably not going to do your arm too many favours…) or has a small headsize / sweetspot (which makes off-centre shots more common). As a guide we can take a look at two best selling racquets of the past year – the Babolat Pure Drive and the Wilson Blade 98. Both racquets share similar specs as far as headsize and weight are concerned but will put very different levels of stress on players arms. The ever-popular Pure Drive is a much more powerful frame which can lead people to believe it will take the pressure off their elbow however this isn’t the case, with a stifness rating of 72 (the higher, the stiffer) it is one of the stiffest frames on the market and will transfer a lot more of the impact onto the arm. The Blade 98 is more of a control-orientated frame however with its stiffness rating of 65 is going to be a much better option for a player suffering from elbow trouble.

Which leads us to strings – as far as elasticity is concerned Natural Gut is at the top of the heap (but you will pay for it). Other factors such as differences in gauges, twist rates and raw materials will cause gut strings to have minor variances between brands however Natural Gut will always come out on top despite any claims from manufacturers. Next in the pecking order are Nylons and Synthetic Guts followed by Polyester and finally, Kevlar which is, in my humble opinion, not only the worst string as far as looking after your arm is concerned but also the worst option for anyone who enjoys the feeling of hitting tennis balls.   As someone who has played with a full set of kevlar for a couple of months on a European tour due to being completely, utterly broke I beg of you – please never, ever use Kevlar.

Listed below is the Tennis Industry Magazine  String Selector Guide 

2014 String Selector Guide – Tennis Industry Magazine

1. Start by finding the string you currently use in the list below (we’ve broken the market down into four categories: Nylon, Polyester, Natural Gut and Kevlar).

2. Note the string’s stiffness and tension loss numbers.

• If you’re completely satisfied with your current string and don’t want anything different from their next string, strings listed in the same neighborhood (very close to their current string) will likely play similarly.
• If you’re happy with how long their string plays well, but don’t love the feel of their string, try something with similar tension loss but with a different Stiffness Rating. Strings with a higher number should feel stiffer (or crisper), while strings with a lower number should feel softer (or more comfortable).
• If your client is happy with how their string feels, but not with how long it feels that way, try something with a similar stiffness rating but a lower Tension Loss rating.

Older strings on the market (as f 2014)