We've made videos about beginner and intermediate rackets in the past, but strings are very important, too. And with summer just around the corner, I figured this would be a perfect time to talk about why, and also which ones you should go [Music] for. Hey everybody, it's Luca from Rackets and Runners. So, a very common scenario for a racket stringer at a retail store is a beginner who walks into the store looking to buy a new racket and then is like, why aren't there any strings? You look at the wall of rackets and about 90% of them aren't actually strung, which can be very confusing if you were just hoping to grab one off the wall and go out to the court for a hit. Well, the reason they're not strung is because getting the right string is arguably just as important as getting the right frame. Because, think about it, the strings are what's actually making contact with the ball. Now, some rackets do come pre-rung, but they tend to be lower quality frames. And then the strings themselves are usually pretty bad. They're factory strung. They've been transported all over the world, so they don't play very well. For some beginners, that isn't going to be too much of an issue. But if tennis is going to become an important hobby of yours, or if you're looking to improve as a player, then I would highly recommend going for an unstrung racket and choosing the right strings. There is a ton of variety when it comes to strings, and a good stringer will help you choose them. If you have no idea, but in this video, I'm going to give you a good baseline for understanding exactly what you need to know for your level. String tension is also quite important. Tension is how hard the stringer actually pulls the string. We measure it in pounds or in kilos. And I will tell you which tension you should go for as well. Now, of course, any of the string setups I talk about today, you can string up in your racket if you visit us in store. And of course, if you buy a racket online, we'll string it up however you'd like. I'm going to start with beginners, then I'll move on to intermediates. I'm also going to make a video in the very near future about the best strings for every type of advanced player. In that one, I'll go into a lot more detail about specific strings, string setups, and scenarios, but that's going to be for another day. For now, let's move on to the best strings for beginners. One thing that's very important to understand when talking about beginner tennis players is that there are usually two types of beginners. There are those of you who are getting a racket to just go out and play a couple of times with friends during the summer, and then there are those players who are taking the game a bit more seriously with the hope of progressing over time. If you're the player who just wants to go out and hit a couple of times, you may actually want to consider the cheaper racket that comes pre-rung. And again, we do carry those. But like I said, those rackets are good, but nothing special, and they come with pretty mediocre strings. So, if you are okay with spending a little bit more, you'll get a much more premium product, and you'll be able to actually choose your string. At that point, you should look for a forgiving string that also lasts a long time so that you don't have to worry about reringing it all the time. Synthetic gut is perfect in this situation. It's fairly soft and elastic, and that makes it more powerful, and it opens up the sweet spot to make the racket a bit more forgiving, but it's not so soft that it'll die on you super quickly. It's also fairly resilient to the heat and the cold. So, if you do go a while without playing tennis, and say you leave your racket in a closet for the winter, your strings should be okay the next time you play. Now, there's nothing too special about synthetic guts playability. There's not a ton of power, spin, control, or whatever it may be. It's just a very well-rounded string, so it's a great place to start. There are a variety of different synthetic guts from Head, Wilson, Prince. Every brand basically makes their own, but honestly, the playability doesn't vary all that much. In fact, I'd go as far as to say pick whichever one you want based on color, which I will not be saying for the rest of this video. But that is one of the great things about synthetic gut or sin gut as we call it in the industry. It comes in a ton of colors, which is awesome for beginners who may not prioritize specific playability, but just want to like the look of their racket. And that's totally fine. Tennis is about having fun. So, why not like the look of your racket? Now, let's talk about string tension. And to be honest, there's no point in over complicating things too much here. Go with something middle of the road. Either what your stringer recommends if you are buying the racket in person or what the racket itself actually recommends. Most beginners will be buying some sort of 100 square inch power racket. And generally speaking, the recommended tension range on those is 45 to 55 lbs. I always think 52 pounds is a great place to start. Higher tension gives you more control, and because you've chosen quite a soft and powerful string, more control is good to make sure that you don't launch the ball all over the place. Now, if you are that beginner who's taken the game a bit more seriously to progress, maybe you're even taking lessons, I would go for a multifilament string instead of a synthetic gut. Multifilaments or multis as we call them are even softer than synthetic guts. So they're more powerful, more forgiving and they provide you with quite a bit better ball feel. Having a better feel for the ball will allow you to better understand that point of contact. We call this feedback and feedback tells you what you did well, what you did not so well and that communication from the string bed is essential as you try to get better. Multis have more feedback than sin guts. So in that regard they are a bit more premium. The drawback with multis is that they're not as durable. They are a little bit more sensitive to the elements and they're softer and softer strings break down a little bit quicker, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Rering your racket is maybe not something you expected when you first thought about playing tennis, but it's very important to keep your string bed fresh, especially once you get to a higher level. Getting used to the fact that you have to rering your racket is actually a good thing. And don't worry, at the beginner level, it's not like you're going to be tearing through strings every week, but yes, you should regularly rering your racket. The rule of thumb is rering your racket as many times a year as you play a week. So, if you play twice a week, rering it twice a year. And yes, because multis aren't as robust as sing guts, they will break down more over time, even when you're not playing. So, it's a good idea to rering your racket at say the start of summer if you haven't played all winter. So like right now at Rackets and Runners on Oaken 23rd if you live in Vancouver. Now there's a lot more variety to choose from with multifilaments and they're kind of sorted into tiers with the best feeling, the most powerful and the most forgiving up at higher prices. And then as you go down in price, they just get a little bit less premium. Honestly, most beginners will be more than happy with cheaper multis. Wilson Sensation, Head Velocity MLT, Babalot Excel, those are great strings. It's only once you develop a bit more of a preference that you should look into the more expensive multis. If you do want to spend a little bit more, the more premium multis I recommend are Wilson NXT and Technafiber NRG. These are extremely powerful and very forgiving, so you will get a little bit more out of them, but again, they're not necessary. Tension for a multi is similar to what I said for a Singut, middle of the road. That gives you the best blend of power and control. So, right around that 52 lb mark. Now, let's move on to some intermediate string recommendations. So, at the beginner level, you don't really know what you like or don't like. But once you get to that intermediate level, you may have developed some sort of style and you might be better at some things more than others. One of the most common things you'll have figured out if you're an intermediate player is whether you naturally generate a lot of power or if you struggle to generate power. If you do struggle to generate power, I would stick with a multifilament string. Like I said, they give you a lot of free power. And if you consider yourself an intermediate, I would assume you're not having too much trouble with control. And if you are sticking with multifilaments at this point, I would go for the softer, more premium ones. Like I said, they give you a little bit more than the cheaper ones, and you're probably happy to spend slightly more on your string setup. Now, now that's for those intermediates who have more control than power. Some intermediates may be whacking at the ball pretty hard at this point, and moving away from a full bet of multi could be exactly what you need, especially for control. This is where I introduce you to the term hybrid string bed. You see, the strings go two ways, top to bottom and side to side. And those two strings don't actually have to be the same. Some of the best players in the world use hybrid string beds, but you don't have to be the best player in the world to get something out of a hybrid. It can also be a great tool for an intermediate who's struggling a little bit with control, but has plenty of power. Multis are great because they're super forgiving and powerful, but that power can be a little bit over the top for some players. This is where the polyester string comes in. Polyester strings are much stiffer than maltis and stiffer means less power and therefore a higher sensation of control. That higher control basically allows you to whack into the ball a lot more without the string springing it out as much. The other thing that's great about polyesters is that they are very spin friendly. At this point, once you're an intermediate, it's a very good idea to start incorporating spin into your game because spin is crucial for control in modern tennis. Adding top spin to a powerful shot is what helps the ball dip. And that's why you see the pros on TV absolutely destroying the ball, but it always seems to go in. Polyester strings respond much better to spinny technique. So, they'll kind of nudge you in the right direction as you start to incorporate that into your game. Now, do be careful moving into polyester strings because they open up a massive Pandora's box. There are literally thousands of different polies out there, each with their own unique playability, but try not to get too caught up in all that. I know if you're an intermediate, you're probably starting to get pretty addicted to tennis and you're watching some nerdy YouTube reviews about good strings, but try not to go down that rabbit hole quite yet. Developing your technique is so much more important than the marginal differences you're going to feel going from one polyester to the next. So, it's actually better to keep things quite standard here. And I also want to emphasize that you should not go for a full bed of polyester yet. Poly are stiff, so they make your sweet spot a little bit smaller, which makes your racket more punishing. and they can also be a little bit uncomfortable. So easing your way into their playability is very important. The multifilament's power and especially its softer, more forgiving feel is still going to help you. And you are a better player at this point, but you're still not Carlos Alcarez. Getting a bit of help from your string setup is a good thing. So now let's talk about some of those more standard polies you should go for. Headhawk Touch is one of my favorite polies to use in a hybrid because it's round and it's neither too stiff nor too soft. You can also go for Yonx Poly Tour Strike, Luxalon Element, or whatever classic round poly your stringer recommends. The reason you don't want to go for something shaped like Hyper G or Lynx Tour is that shape strings in a hybrid destroy the much softer multifilament. That shape digs into the multi, so it'll break it much quicker and that's a hassle that's just not worth it. Now, which string goes where? Let's talk some more terminology here for a second. The north to south strings are called the mains. The east to west strings are called the crosses. For an intermediate hybrid, I always recommend putting the poly in the mains because the mains account for about 70% of your string bed's playability. That means you'll maximize those benefits for control and spin without going too extreme with a full bed of polyester. And then for tension, you want to string the poly a little bit looser than the multi to make up for that big difference in stiffness between the two strings. I know that might sound counterintuitive because the whole reason you're going for a poly is to have a stiffer string, but it's so much stiffer that lowering the tension on the poly will make your string bed feel more cohesive. So, I usually recommend 50 lbs for the polyester mains, 52 lbs for the multifilament crosses. I know I haven't gotten into too much detail about tensions, but when you're a beginner or an intermediate, it's best to keep things kind of middle of the road. You're still developing as a player, and rackets are kind of designed with that middle tension in mind. So, I always say to stay in that range until you've developed a real preference, which should only come later. So, that's about it for my recommended beginner and intermediate string setups. The only other thing I want to talk about is string gauge, but only to address it because I really don't want you to worry about it yet. String gauge refers to how thick the string is. And the most standard thicknesses are 16, 16L, and 17 gauge. I know it's weird, but the higher the number, the thinner the string actually is. So, 16 is the thickest, then 16L, then 17. And those numbers loosely translate to somewhere between 1.3, 1.25, and 1.2 millimeters thick. With multis and sing guts, because the strings are softer, go for something thicker. So 16 gauge or 1.3 mm. And with poly's, I always say go for something between 1.2 and 1.25, which is usually 16L and 17. In the next video, I'll talk about more complex string setups, and I'll get into a lot more detail about string gauge then. But at a lower level, just keep it nice and simple, as has been the theme throughout this discussion. With that said, that is going to be the end of this video. Thank you so much for watching, and remember that if you want to try any of these string setups, you can come visit us in store to rering your racket. Or you can buy a racket online at racketsandrunners.ca.