Features

Stringing the Sybase Open

Roger Gough is a member of long time professional "Sam the Stringer’s," String Team 2000, the team that strung racquets at this year’s Sybase Open including that of winner Mark Philippoussis, as well as upcoming players like Phillip King.

Each member of String Team 2000 was interviewed by Sam and required to pass a rigorous stringers test. Stringers had to be confident stringing with gut, able to work on Babolat type machines, and string consistently and efficiently under pressure.

TennisONE, caught up with Roger at the Sybase Open in San Jose. Here’s what he had to say about stinging for the pros.

That Gut Feeling

Most of the players at the Sybase Open like Chang, Larsson, and Gambill used natural gut. Players prefer natural gut because it provides responsiveness and feel that synthetic strings cannot. It is natural guts greater resiliency that makes it more responsive. Basically, when the ball impacts the string surface and is absorbed by the natural gut, the ball will be released more quickly resulting in more power. Natural gut also has a greater ability to grab a ball and impart spin. Manufacturers of synthetics have long tried to duplicate his feel but it is natural guts unique texture that gives it this advantage.

Still, many players such as Courier, Ferreira, and Tillstrom (this year's finalist) used synthetic gut. The preferred natural gut was Babolat, while some of the synthetics used included Prince, Gosen, and Tecnifibre. Another type of string used by a few of the players was made of polyester. Polyester is a very stiff material, which makes it durable.

Roger (far right) with the other stringers at this years Sybase Open - Front - Sam Ramirez - (head stringer), center - Karen Wilson, left - Duane Hobbs

Many of the players used modified racquets tailored specifically for them. Not the kind of thing you would expect to find at your local pro shop. Mark Woodeforde used the most unusual string pattern. His Wilson racquet had a unique configuration using only 12 main strings and 16 cross strings creating an extremely open pattern. He used a 14 gauge polyester string at a very high tension.

Woodeforde has used this unorthodox open string pattern in different racquet frames for several years now. By having a wide-open string pattern, Woodeforde thinks he gets a better feel for the ball - a fusion of spin, power, and control that matches his style of play.

The 14 gauge polyester string Woodeforde uses is something like the plastic wire you find on a weed whacker. Thick enough to hold the higher tension required for the pattern. In any normal frame the playability would be terrible, however, with the wide-open string pattern it actually has reasonable playability. Anything to gain an advantage.

Prestretching vs. Not Prestetching

Prestretching natural gut has been a standard recommendation for years. Pre-stretching eliminates some of the initial tension lost after the racquet has been strung. There are two things that happen to racket strings over time. First the string will relax or settle into place. This starts to occur as soon as the racquet is removed from the stringing machine. After a short time you can actually measure a loss in the tension or string bed stiffness. This will plateau over time. When the racquet is first hit with, the strings will continue to stretch causing a further loss. This is where the strings resiliency (the ability to return to its original shape) comes into play. The better the strings resiliency, the better it will play over a longer period of time.

In the stringers room - Xavier Malisse (Bel) closest with back turned. Jan-Michael Gambill with his bag over his shoulder.

There also is a difference in feel in prestretched strings. A player used to having his gut pre-stretched will feel a difference in the way the racquet hits. From a racquet stringers view, pre-stretching natural gut makes the coil of string much easier to handle so kinking of the string is minimized. A badly kinked string could break prematurely, especially in the case of natural gut. But at this years Sybase Open, many of the players preferred their gut not be prestretched. Pre-stretching is thought to take away some of the elasticity of the string. So, by not pre-stretching, the hit of the racquet will be livelier. Philippoussis was one of the players that did request prestretching.

High vs. Low Tension

Tensions ranged from the low 50's to the high 60's. Courier strung his Pro Staff mid at 57 pounds, Larsson used 58 pounds in his Hyper Pro Staff midplus, and Murphy Jenson strung his Prince Graphite 110 at 68 pounds. Players are looking for the right combination of control and power. A player will string his racket lower to gain power and increase the spin of the ball. For an indoor surface like the Sybase, where court conditions are faster, a player will go up in tension to make his strings slightly less lively for more control. Generally the players are looking for a firm racquet face so they can hit through the ball.

Today’s electronic stringing machines are very precise. These machines have digital read outs that are set to the poundage requested or in the case of kilos, to the half-kilo. For players, their greatest concern with stringing is consistency. They want their racquets done the same way and on the same stringing machine every time. Unlike your average club player, touring pros can tell the difference between one or two pounds.

Last Updated 9/1/98. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com