Category: Gear

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just level up our tennis game when we wanted too? Unfortunately, we all have to go through this steep learning curve. Some might progress faster, some might progress slower, but we all have to face it. We start as a beginner and through the efforts of hard work, we progress. However, not many players are aware that our racket setup needs to progress too.

It can actually be very beneficial to equip your racket with the right parts, at the right level of play. But how do you know? Well, first off, reading this blog can get you a step further. As your game evaluates, most noticeably your footwork and stroke preparation, your knowledge and your technique allow you to hit with more weight and less of a racket head. This, in effect, means hitting with more mass and less control. As a final step, you’d need to equip your frame with the right string too.

As an intermediate player, chances are that you are hitting more rpm’s on the ball than before, thus increasing your spin game. Therefore, intermediate tennis players, can best look for strings that focus on control and spin. The control that they provide can help you put in even more steady groundstrokes with margin and the durability of them will allow for playing with enough spin. Also notice that while you might have sacrificed control from your racket frame, you choose to compensate that with your string selection. Remember, choosing the best racket sports gear is a game of trade offs and dealing with them in a smart manner…

In a hurry? Here are our top 3 picks:

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Babolat RPM Blast 17-Gauge Tennis String (Black)

Luxilion ALU Power 125 Tennis Racquet String Set (16L Gauge, 1.25 mm)

Solinco Tour Bite (17-1.20mm) Tennis String (Silver)

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71 Reviews

361 Reviews

256 Reviews

Check price and availability at Amazon

Check price and availability at Amazon

Check price and availability at Amazon

–

Babolat RPM Blast 17-Gauge Tennis String (Black)

–

71 Reviews

Check price and availability at Amazon

–

Luxilion ALU Power 125 Tennis Racquet String Set (16L Gauge, 1.25 mm)

361 Reviews

Check price and availability at Amazon

–

Solinco Tour Bite (17-1.20mm) Tennis String (Silver)

256 Reviews

Check price and availability at Amazon

Logically, manufacturers produce a wide range of strings suited for intermediate players. Choosing the right one can be a hassle. Therefore, we have created a shortlist that will help narrow it down for you.

1. Babolat RPM Blast

Not surprisingly, this Babolat RPM Blast is one of the best selling strings for intermediate players in my tennis shop. This is one of the best strings to give you that blend of the spin potential and control. Definitely a great option for counter punchers too. I read a review on this string, saying that the string is ‘underpowered’. While to my opinion that is definitely not the case, I can see where this might be coming from. As with all polyester strings, a lot of the power has to come from you, the tennis player. This applies to all poly strings, a clear tradeoff while opting for control and durability.

So, all in all, a true players string that can aid in your quest for spin and control. Just remember you’re sacrificing on power and comfort.

Things we like

• Available in a variety of gauges, like 1.20mm, 1.25mm and 1.30mm.
• Great performance on spin, control and reasonable durabilty
• Great price/performance ratio

2. Wilson Luxilon Alu Power 125

One of the rare breeds out there is the Luxilon Alu Power. You could consider it as the perfect blend of poly. If factors in power, comfort, control and spin. This all has to do with the structure of tennis strings, a secret recipe that only Luxilon is known for producing.

This string is actually made with the use of aluminium fibers, which help to give it a excellent durability.

Things we like:

• Maximum flexibility and ‘ball pocketing’ for a polyester string
• A variety of gauges available but you might want to stick to the (original) 1.25mm
• Great durability

3. Solinco Tour Bite

One relatively new name on the market is the Solinco Tour Bite, that we have been selling a bit more lately in the shop. I’ve been able to take a swing at it with the Head Speed MP and found it to be a great addition to our product range. It is the one string in our top three list that features an edged shape, more specifically a triangular shape. While the jury is still out on the effects of these shapes and textures on actual spin potential, I must say that I liked the grip I had on the ball with this one. However, because my racket was a bit too light for me, I didn’t get the chance to test it in an intense rally.

Things we like:

• Grip and feel on the ball (making it a good option for someone who’s looking to knife slice those backhands)
• Stiffer feeling for good ball placement (however, a bit tough on the arm maybe)
• Overall durability

Frequently asked questions about tennis strings for intermediate players

Tennis strings are definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution. You’ll have to be prepared to do some proper research upfront, but also willing to do the leg work of testing and experimenting. Consider it part of the game. However, there are some frequently asked questions I might be able to help you with.

What is the best tension for intermediate players?

Difficult to say and I’m afraid again I have to disappoint you that there is no quick answer to this question. However, as my customer base is probably filled for the majority with intermediate players, chances are you could benefit from their findings too. We keep track of all the desired tensions in the shop and our current customer average (please note: on all of our tennis strings) is set to 24 kilograms. Anything up and above that, you could consider higher tensioned and anything below that, naturally, lower tensioned. The benefit of tensioning higher being, of course, more ready for control oriented type of play, like long rallies at higher speeds and forces. The benefit of tensioning lower would be to get some more ‘free’ pop or power on the ball. However, this effect has been researched and test results have shown these effect to be somewhat more limited than the results you get when stringing for control. Intermediate players will benefit from sticking more or less to the average mentioned above, which should result in a good blend of power and control.

What gauge of tennis string is best for intermediate players?

Again, difficult to say, but I would stick the average here too. From our customer base, we know this to be around 1.25mm. You could definitly choose to deviate from this average, for example, when you have a smaller head size with a tigher string pattern, which allows you to go for a thinner gauge. The other way around is probably advised too.

Rackets seem pretty straightforward in the shop. You think you buy a frame with some chord and you step on to court to give it a heavy swing. That’s it, right? Well, I can’t argue with you that you have the basics spot on. But the devil is, as always, in the details. Why is it that some old school rackets look brand new, for example? Why do some 2021 frames look like… well, 2012? It’s because in the differences of taking care of your racket and storing your racket is just a part of that.

The best way to store a racket is to put in your racket bag and put in a cool, spacious place. Before you put it away, make sure it’s cleaned out properly and the strings are put in place. If you broke a string and need to restring, you can decide to cut out the strings already, because this will prevent the frame from warping. This will also help with cleaning.

If you’re strings are fine, but it’s the end of the seasons you might want to cut out the strings too. I recommend restringing at the beginning of every seasons (regardless of playing frequency) because strings tend to dry out and lose tension while being put away. If you cut the strings diagonally in both directions, you’re fine.

But what’s the best way to store a racket when it’s high season? What if you are in the store and you want to buy a new frame? What’s the best way to protect it? You’ll find that a lot of tennis players will carry around large racket bags, with enough space to put away even 12 rackets. They probably like to walk around like professionals, but there is a bit more to it. They prefer the space, not for having 12 freshly strung rackets, but to store their accessories efficiently. Of course, you would want to store some tennis balls, but don’t forget stuff like water bottles, towells, caps, wrist bands, grips. Maybe you want to take normal shoes to court, because you don’t want the clay to mess up your car. Got some lunch with you too? You see, accessories might take more space than you thought, especially once you start to play more and more intense.

Now there are quite some racket bags out there and I’ll write another article on that, but for now I would just stick with the basic advice of only go for a single racket bag if you’re totally new to the game and you just want to test the water. If not and you’re a bit more advanced, try to find a racket bag where you can fit at least 6 to 9 rackets in. Again, not that you need that amount of rackets, but it’ll give you the space to put away your most important accessories.

Ok, so you have chosen your perfect new stick to play with! Congratulations! It can be somewhat of a journey to find that next frame and once you have found it, you just can’t wait to get to court and start play testing it, and rightly so. However, sometimes you get the feeling that playing with your new frame will set you back quite a bit, especially if your new purchase was more or less based on on impulsive decision. It takes a bit of time to accustom to your new weapon so in this article I’ll walk you through some tips you can try to get used to your new racket as quickly as possible.

I’ve found that the best way to get used to a new racket is to playtest it a couple of times per week, while sticking to a specific exercise. As a rule of thumb, you should be playing your frame at about 75 percent of your power and speed. Focus on building a rally. Maybe you’ve done this before, but it requires you and your sparring partner to focus on hitting the ball between the service line and baseline and also aiming with a margin of about 50 centimeters from the lines. You can use line markers or pions to set up. 

It is obvious that the first couple of try’s you’ll need to adjust or are hitting the ball with too much pace. The great thing about this exercise is that it forces you to speed up your groundstroke preparations. This means that you’ll lose a bit of your old habits, and start swinging away faster. It’ll compensate a bit for the slower pace of swinging, when adjusting to a more head heavy racket for example. While this may not be your typical rally because you might focus a bit more on keeping the points short while playing matches, it should force you to abandon your playing comfort zone and thus, give you a better overview of what type of play your new stick has to offer.

If you want to play points, you can, but you can start by playing ‘elevens’, skipping the overhead serve. Just bring the ball into play and from the second touch, the ball is free to score the point. However, if you play outside of your own, newly set up line markers, you’ll lose the point! Keep repeating this until one of you scores eleven points and then try again.

Another tip is to call around. Maybe you have a sparring partner you play with every week, but he or she also has a familiar type of play that you can probably dream by now. Not so great when adjusting to a new frame. It’s better to be forced into uncomfortable rallies that require you to adjust. So give a couple of other players at your local club a call or maybe you can even book a single lesson with your club trainer and ask if you can focus on playing a lot of rallies. It may costs you a bit more but you’ll definitely find a good sparring partner in a club trainer. In short, try to play as much with as much variation as possible.

A final tip is to try to switch things up in regard to your string set up. On of the most overlooked aspects of buying a new frame is that you’ll probably need a new string or at least might need to adjust your current string set up (and tension). If you switch to a midsize head, with a 18×20 pattern, you might to ditch the poly strings, high tensions or try a hybrid set up at first. In any case, it probably does not make sense to play with the same setup as before so be sure to get some advice from your favourite stringer and start to experiment with some variables.

Now let’s hope you have found your rythm and you can see your game improving by buying this new frame. Of course it could be that you have actually found that after all this play testing you can’t really seem to get the hang of it. That’s a pity, but also a part of tennis and racket sports. It’s just part of the game. Don’t be too hard on your self and just try to sell the racket on Ebay or another marketplace and switch back to your old racket temporarily (if you still have them). You just have to realise that if you don’t play test in the first place, you never have the chance to improve your gear at all!

What about you? What are your experiences with play testing new frames? And did you have any bad buys? Be honest, we’ve all been there! Just write down your thoughts in the comment section down below.

As avid racket sports players, we’ve all experienced this before: you just bought a completely fresh frame and can’t hide your enthusiasm to take it out to court for a first official test drive. But… of course you don’t want your shiny new weapon to come back with you after training, all banged and scratched up. That’s where you enter a crossroads: do you take the time to protect your new frame or do you consider it a waste of time? While there are things to be said of being in one of those classic racket care groups, in this article I’ll walk you through the best options to protect and maintain your new racket from the start.

In short, for the best way to protect and maintain a good condition of your racket, I would advise you to play with bumper guard tape (as the name suggests, placed on top of your racket bumper guard on top of your frame) and buy a couple of sets of replacement grommets right from the start if your tennis frame is worth more than 100 euro’s or if your squash or badminton frame is worth more 60 euro’s. This is a rule of thumb that ‘guesstimates’ whether it is worth your time maintaining your frame in good condition.

Now I’ve seen quite a few rackets pass through my shop and the conception of two groups actually seems to fit pretty good: there are rackets that are being taking care for really good and there are rackets that are being mistreated but there are little to no rackets that have done just the basics. It seems to be an all or nothing approach. And that’s a shame because with just a bit amount of time, you can actually make the life span of your racket really last.

So first things first and let’s take a closer look at racket tape or bumper guard tape. It’ll cost you just a couple of dollars but it can be a real life saver. The reason you’ll want to stick it to the top of your frame is to protect the bumper guard itself from heavy scratching, but also prevent clay from getting in to your top strings. I’ve actually seen frame with so much clay on the upper strings and grommets that it will surely cause string breakage. It will not only damage your string itself (probably more on natural or synthetic guts than poly) but also dry out your bumper guard and grommet system very fast, which will then deteriorate rather fast, break off and cause more string breakage from the get-go, because you’ll stringer has to apply tension to the strings, while being directly forced onto the scratched and dented frame. Not good…

My second tip includes buying a set of replacement grommets of your preferred frame right from the start. The reason why you might want to follow this approach is because of the availability of these grommets. A couple of years down the road and when you might actually need to replace them, chances are you won’t be able to find them on the market anymore or with a lot more trouble of finding them. So why not just buy with your new frame in the first place there and then? Now not every shop or retailer might be able to sell those parts with the frame, but if you do a quick Google Search for [racket brand and type + “grommets bumper guard”] you’ll quickly come across some online retailers with a lot of inventory.

Let’s move on. The next advise has to do with replacement grips, which you can apply yourself or maybe is done in your favourite, local shop. As your frame ages and you have replaced more and more grips, the adhesive tape residue will tend to grow and cause trouble when you apply a new grip. If it is a lot of messy gunk, you’ll find you cannot get a good flat replacement grip on there. So, there’s no way around it: just take your time to remove everything up until the (yellow) polyurethane handle so you can start building up your grip again. Remember that stringers in your shop usually don’t take the time or the effort to clean this up for you, so they just stick on another grip as best as they can. A shame if you consider the little time required just to keep it clean. It’ll also prevent your frame from looking nasty because of adhesive tape residue. I’ve actually have had customers who expect me to clean their messy, sticky black replacement grips that already are falling apart and then want a nice, shiny white(!) replacement grip on top of there. Not the smartest combination but if you still insist: just take the time to clean it properly. You can use some sticker remover for this but only little as it can damage the polyurethane.

Once your grommets start to go back in quality, due to the frequency of stringing you have a couple of options. First, you can just let the process unfold and then replace your grommets entirely after, let’s say, a year or two. Second, you have the option of replacing grommets individually if you notice one has completely broken off, so that restringing would cause the string to touch the frame directly. You can find replacement grommets that have a good chance of fitting your frame on sites like Alibaba Express or the more experienced shops, but a cost effective way of maintaining your grommets is to buy this set at Racket Depot UK, which is you can cut to your own liking. It may seem a bit complicated, but just measure quickly how much you would need for protecting the string on the inside of the frame, cut it, place it in the drill hole and you’re there.

If you want think it’s time to replace your complete grommet set and bumper guard, start with taking everything out and giving it a good clean. It’ll make the process of placing your new grommet set a lot easier. When cleaning your frame, you might want to try to blow out any left-over clay with some an air compressor, if you can. I do this regularly for my customers in the shop, but especially when I replace grommet sets. The grommets can stick out if you leave anything there or they just won’t fit at all. Now, if this is your first time of applying the grommets, take your time and be prepared for a bit of a hassle. You’ll find that it can be quite tricky to get the grommets stick through the holes, with the pressure of the plastic guard squeezing it out every time, on both sides. There a couple of tips here to make life easier. First, try to use an awl, helping you guide them trough the drill holes. The second tip would be to have a couple of tie wraps nearby, as they can function as an extra pair of hands, while you get going on the next section of the bumper guard.

Ok, so you’ve saved up some precious money and did manage to buy your (first) racket stringing machine. Congratulations! This makes you part of the club and now you can start building your skillset. However, one skill you’ll have to master is one that has not much to do with tennis, badminton or squash but rather with mechanics and machine parts. It is an inevitable part of stringing: stringing machine maintenance. In this article I’ll walk you through some options to source the best replacement parts for your machine.

There is no way around it, we’ll start our way with the somewhat unpleasant user interface design of Amazon. Gamma actually has quite some machines on there, just like Tourna and Klipper. They also got some basic accessories like a tension meter and dust cover from Gamma. There are also some flying clamps that should work on a lot of table top machines (like Pro’s Pro). Another part that has to be replaced often is the L-shaped cantilever, which you can also find there. There is also a nice floor stand from Gamma, which I’ll do a review on soon. One thing you don’t want to neglect is getting a pair of badminton racket load adapters, which spread the tension across a badminton frame. If you don’t use it, chances are you’ll probably crack a frame. Not the end of the world if is it your own, but you’ll really want to avoid that when working with client frames.