Some help when my tennis stings break?

Question

i have a prince o3 red racket and whenever the strings break they break towards the very tip of the head. The strings break very often, every two weeks and its a hassle to get them restrung. i dropped the tension from 59 to 57 lbs and got a new head guard because a friend said that would help. ive also tried using heavier strings but the same problem arises. Is there anything else i can do or do i have to toss the racket??

quick note: my backup racket is o3 red speedport and i havent broken a string ever. Ive had it for six months

Answer 1

I used to break my strings every 2-3 weeks too.  I think the topspin really does it.  Not everyone hits with extreme topspin.  Some really good players rarely break strings because of the way they hit the ball.  I ended up buying my own stringer to save money in the long run.  You could try Luxilon Big Banger, which are practically unbreakable, but people with elbow problems stay away from it like the plague because it can get pretty stiff after a while.  I end up cutting the strings out because they lose their "feel" for me. By stringing my own racquets, I save money, and can experiment on hybrids and different strings.  I use natural gut on the mains, and a poly like luxilon on the crosses (Signum Poly Plasma is a bit softer).  If you like the o3 red, you should get a second racquet (same one), as a backup.  My advice: get a stringer and string your own racquets.  Then you can string your friend's racquets too, for a small fee!  Do the math - it ends up  paying for itself!

Answer 2

From how your describing where the strings break, I'm guessing that you probably break them because you scrape the strings on the floor.

Here, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-vbeXyOC...

If your looking for more string life, then try kevlar strings.

Answer 3

It is extremely unusual for a non-professional tennis player to break strings that often, especially in the same place, as you implied by saying, "towards the very tip of the head".

All racquets, strings, stringers (i.e., the person who did the stringing), and players are different. Give the same racquet, strings, tension, and strung by the same stringer to two different people of the same ability, and you shouldn't be surprised that the players will respond differently. Give the same string to two different stringers, and, even with the same racquet and tension, one might break before the other, even given similar play styles. Some people have never restrung their racquets, even after years of play, while some do so judiciously, whether it's needed or not. Give your racquet to somebody else, and you shouldn't be surprised if they have no problems with it.

Generally speaking, unless you are abusing the racquet (if so, then stop it!), if the strings break close to the edge of the racquet, as you said, above, then you might be consistently hitting the ball off the "sweet spot" (i.e., the center of the racquet), which, technically speaking, is "bad", causing undue stress at the edges, which are, arguably, the most stressed points of the strings even before a ball ever touches them.  Likewise, if you overpower the ball, especially at the edges, then you risk breaking them at any time, regardless of what model you are playing with (you also risk breaking the racquet, but, never mind about that for now!).

In your situation, you omitted a few very important pieces of information:

1) What gauge (thickness) is the strings you have been using?

2) Do you get them strung at the same place?

3) What is your NTRP level?

By not telling us what gauge you've been using, the only thing we can tell you is to use a thicker (smaller numbered) gauge, which should be more durable. I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "heavier" strings, as hardly anyone uses weight, per se, as a determining factor for selecting strings; one person's thicker string isn't, necessarily, heavier than another's thinner string, due to the various materials used.

By not telling us where you have had them strung, the only suggestion I could give is to find another stringer (especially if you are doing it yourself!). If you are limited to the one place, then ask the stringer for suggestions (i.e., if you've taken the same racquet to the same stringer "every two weeks", then the stringer is not doing his or her job by asking you what the heck is going on! At the very least, he/she should be checking to make sure there are no scratches or other damage in the grommets - - the places through which the strings are threaded; some racquets don't use grommets for all the holes - - which might be causing your strings to abrade, but, that's highly unlikely, as a good stringer would have caught that when he/she removed the old strings, or, if they were already removed, when he/she inspected the holes before stringing, precisely for just that kind of problem; it's standard procedure for good stringers). BTW, you said, "Ive (sic) had IT for six months", but you didn't indicate WHICH racquet you've had for that long: the first one or the backup!

By not telling us your NTRP level, we have no idea how experienced you are. For all we know, you are either a rank beginner who has no idea how to hit the ball, or you are a professional player, who, just under normal 3-5 hour per day practice, will tend to break strings a lot! Of course, if you were a pro, you wouldn't bother asking anyone on a website! And the number of racquets you have is meaningless, as far as abilities are concerned; I know terrible players who have lots of racquets, and great players who have only one!

Head guards (do you mean a plastic piece that goes over the edge of the racquet, or do you mean "tape"?) only protect the racquet, not the strings, so I don't know what good that will do.

Here's a somewhat bizarre suggestion: Get the racquet restrung just as you normally would, and then leave it alone for about two weeks. If the strings break, then  the tension or string is wrong for the racquet, or the stringer needs a refresher course. If they don't break, ask a VERY good friend to switch racquets with you for two weeks. If he/she breaks your strings, then it could be a coincidence, but, more than likely, it's the string. If you break the strings on your friend's racquet (regardless of the condition of the strings, racquet, etc), then, clearly, it is your style of play that's causing the problem!  If not, then play with your own racquet for two weeks. If they break after all that, then, once again, I'd have to say it's your style of play that's causing the problem!

So, if I haven't put you to sleep with all the above, even with all the info you omitted, at least one of my suggestions should help! Of course, you *could* just keep playing with your backup racquet!  ;)

Good luck, and thanks for supporting the string manufacturers and your local stringer!  ;)

Answer 4

:\ It seems to me like you're doing everything I could think of... Do you have the same strings on both rackets? if so, I'm not sure what else you could check... sorry!

Answer 5

I have a couple possibilities not mentioned above...

Perhaps you have a split or broken grommet causing the string to come in contact with the frame. This will cause the same string to break repeatedly. A professional stringer should know how to place plastic or nylon tubing in the grommet to repair it.

If you use the same stringer to replace your strings then possibly they are damaging the string with their clamp. This will also cause the same string to break.

If the string is raised above the bumperguard at the head or shoulder of the frame then it may come into contact with the court when digging out a low shot. The bumperguard may be worn down enough where it needs replacing or the stringer may be inserting the string improperly.

Mis-hits on serves and groundstrokes will break string but since you are only having trouble with one racquet this seems unlikely.

Using a hybrid set with polyester in the mains (the strings going up and down) can also alleviate this problem of frequent string breakage although if the grommet is damaged it will still wear it through prematurely.

Hope you find the cause of your breakage!

Answer 6

Stop buying gut string easy answer, but expect your performance to drop.

Mine break every month or so, i love breaking them on my serves though :)

Answer 7

ok, if it was me, i would not drop the tension, because that causes the string to move around more, making more dents...i use luxilon big banger and enduro pro, they last me a looooong time, but theyre tough on the arm, i hit with a lot of spin, and when i use to use nxt's or stamina or any synthetic gut, i would break every 3 days, yet again i play like 2 hours a day...but, i would say to bring up your tension, maybe get some string savers, or hybrid it (poly on the mains, syn. on the crosses)

Answer 8

Could just be me, but, as someone else mentioned, I think you're hitting your shots outside of the sweet spot. I have a friend who breaks strings about every 4th or 5th time he plays--only because of shanked groundstrokes. Try videotaping yourself and watch where you're hitting in relation to the sweet spot.

Maybe inserting string savers (String-a-lings) near the crosses and mains where you usually hit could help. Maybe hybrid stringing is an answer.