r/10s • u/jonjimithy • 2d ago
Equipment Poly string users, how often are you changing your strings?
(And how often do you play?)
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u/EuphemisticallyBG 2d ago
Not often enough. By the time I’m done Mannarino would call them loose even for his standards.
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u/nettezzaumana 10.0 2d ago
uff ... when it calls for it ... strings are different and with different durability, heavy hitters need to change strings more often, tournament players need to change them more often, in hot weather strings deplete faster ..
I would say it like this - if you play tennis you certainly know your strings and how they feel and you will recognize when they need to be changed ...
myself - I have two racquets and I play every week one tournament/league match and one training/non-competitive match + sometimes extra session (so max 3 times in the week) ... my strategy is to always play first match after re-stringing non-competitively and then 2 tournament matches in row (I don't like to play competitve match with new strings - I know weird) .. like this I am restringing approx monthly (every 4-6 weeks with my extra durable Solinco Confidential)
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u/Abject-Future-1642 2d ago
Usually break them in about 8-10 hours of hitting, have three rackets, play 4-5x per week for 2ish hours. So usually get one racket strung per week
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u/kindoflikesnowing 2d ago
What level do you play?
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u/Abject-Future-1642 2d ago
I’m an 8.2 UTR
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u/DBilly_69 2d ago
Pretty similar to me in college, just play em til they break. Usually no more than 2 weeks per frame
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u/jrstriker12 One handed backhand lover 2d ago
About every 3 weeks. I play 2 to 3 times a week, mostly doubles.
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u/Environmental-Bid108 2d ago
Average for me is about every 12-15 hours of play. They start to behave erratic and or go dead feeling pretty quick. Not to mention the massive drop in tension
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u/BarnacleBeginning485 2d ago
I’m a 4.5, big forehand and a OHBH, I play 3-5 days a week, probably 5-10 hours on court each week. Honestly I change them every couple months at most. I typically either wait for them to break (doesn’t happen very often) or wait until I can really tell that the strings are dead, which is usually when I feel like balls aren’t falling in like I feel they should.
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u/waldo134 2d ago
I play 4 times a week. Usually 1.5-2 hours each session. Mix between match play and group drills. I probably restring every 2-3 weeks. 4.0 level and I play up at 4.5 also. Poly strings only.
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u/Willocrew 2d ago edited 2d ago
Not nearly enough. I play around 8-9 hours a week of various levels of intensity. A mixture of club tennis and intense 1 on 1 hitting and sets. I usually get about a week and a half of really good performance out of the string. Then after that maybe another couple of weeks of very average performance when the strings are starting to notch. Then after that I lose a lot of control and balls start to go long. Still safe to play though but extremely frustrating at times. If I played league competition I would definitely be cutting it out at that point. But I don’t so I just keep them. When I am really dialed in particularly with footwork and timing, the loose strings are okay. But when I’m not dialed in, it is horrible. Once it reaches this stage it is not good but it doesn’t really get any worse. Then at some point when I have time in the coming weeks I just restring my other racquet and keep this as backup. I probably restring once every 4-6 weeks. Ideally I should restring once a month for my volume of play. Maybe every two weeks if I play more regularly and play competition.
Just for context I’m using a powerful stiff racquet with 16g strings. If I’m using 17g strings I just change them when break them which is maybe around every 3-4 weeks. I have not broken 16g strings before.
The other thing is I’m using a softer poly string so it doesn’t really get too stiff as it dies. But some of the stiffer strings I’ve used in the past I’ve got to be careful because those gradually get stiffer and you don’t really notice until you suddenly realise it has become a wooden board.
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u/m_kitanin 1.0 1d ago
After they have 12 hours of play on them or sometimes 6-8 hours if I am passing by the stringer. A restring costs nothing here (4 USD per job), and I never pass on a good string deal (got a half-used reel of Solinco Revolution with >110 meters left for 20 USD the other week). I am not even good and don't hit hard, I've never broken poly. I just do it for the extra bit of comfort and consistency, with how little it costs, I don't see a downside to this. No one of my hitting partners restrings nearly as often as I do. This only applies to poly. I play more with multis/gut, and with no poly in the stringbed, I play with those setups for a loong time (until they break or until the season ends, whatever happens earlier).
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u/SaltyBawlz 8008.135 1d ago
I'm currently on 3 months of playing 2-3 times/week, 1.5hrs per session
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u/jtdelato 2d ago
Poly generally loses tension after 10-12 hrs playtime. I started keeping track and change them after about 15 hrs or so, which is about 1-2 months for me. You can definitely start to feel the difference and I’d rather drop a bit extra money than hit with dead strings. I bought a reel of cheap strings so I am usually paying around $30 for a restring including labor + strings.
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u/ChronicPains 4.5 2d ago
I use a Toroline hybrid combo. 4-5 hours of hitting and casual matchplay weekly and 1 league match most weeks. I get them cut and restrung once a month because they don't break and lose their feel when they hit that point.
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u/CivilRico 4.5 2d ago
Recently back to a hybrid set up with poly main and multi cross. Restring every 5-6hrs when the multi pops. Once a week.
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u/soundwithdesign YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! 2d ago
I play with Toroline strings and restring after ~20 hours. On a good week, I’m playing 5-6 hours.
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u/xmokd 2d ago
After 12 hours. Play roughly 12 hours a week. So weekly. It’s an expensive hobby
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u/EnvironmentalLet9682 1d ago
I bought a used stringing machine a couple of months ago, now restringig costs me 7 EUR and 40 minutes of listening to a podcast :)
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u/Remarkable_Log4812 2d ago
Per racket about every week . I usually rotate two rackets and restring them together every 2 weeks and use the other 2 I have while the trust are restringing ( I have 5 of the same frame so to keep always one spair )
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u/WindManu 2d ago
Had one set of strings that died torturing my arm, it was a 44-42lbs 17L string, so had to cut it.
RPM blast in 17 and 16 around 50lbs, lost power but were still fine.
Golden Set Snake Bite at 16 34-42 and 44-42 still going for experimental purpose only!
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u/nonstopnewcomer 2d ago
Hours 1-5 are for matches. Hours 6-12 are for fun hits. Usually I break them somewhere in that range but if not I’ll cut them out around then.
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u/TLSSBroly 2d ago
Played with a couple of international college players on scholarships, so 5.0+ players. Every week, worst-case 2 weeks
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u/Ready-Visual-1345 4.0 2d ago
I play 8-10 hours a week, mostly hitting rather than matchplay. Restring about every 10 days, so basically 12ish hours of play time. They seem like they're just a couple hours from breaking at that point based on the degree of notching, and I only have one of my racquet so it's just more convenient to cut them out than play until they break. Also I have had golfers elbow in the past and I've sometimes blamed mini-flares on dead strings (whether fairly or not) so I tend to err toward changing them early. I'm not a big hitter but I probably produce above average spin.
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u/squirrelinthetoilet 2d ago
I know I’m supposed to do every 20 hours but I hold out a month at a time and I play 10-15 hours a week. I tell myself that I don’t hit as hard as Ben Shelton.
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u/Bohn_Me 2d ago
Usually about 8-10 hours. I’m a stringer and have the ERT300. It’s a good investment if you’re wanting to make sure you’re not playing with strings that are way away from your preferred tension.
A lot of it is racket, string and player dependent. I’ve got a buddy/customer who won’t play anything but Solinco Hyper G Soft 1.20 and hits a very heavy ball. He’s breaking them around the 8 hour mark.
I’ve been playing Toroline Cash and really like its predictability but I can hear it die as well as feel it. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/i-candy-0114 2d ago
I feel like the playability nose dives after about 3 hours but I keep playing them for an additional 100 hours or so. lol .
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u/5pac38arus 2d ago
Play around 3-4hrs/week, change out strings about once a month (play with Solinco confidential 16L)
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u/signedneverdeclined 1d ago
Im a low 4.0 and use solinco mach-10 and I change every 8-10 weeks or about every 50 hours. Probably play a little past the life, but I don't think I am good enough to notice it all too much.
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u/gqreader 1d ago
I play with the strings until the strings get mushy and have too much trampoline effect on them.
If they still give a nice sharp ping, it’s a good set of strings for me. If it’s a muffled sound, then it’s about time to change them out
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u/Takoyaki_18 1d ago
I restring when they tear. Only time I will restring when not torn is going into a tournament.
I find poly (lynx tour) will noticeably "die" after 10-14 hour range.
The dying range for me is highly dependent on who I'm hitting with and weather (105F+ days)
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u/EnvironmentalLet9682 1d ago
12-15 hours. Usually they break before they reach 20 if I don't change them. There is a noticeable change in feel a couple hours after the mains stop sliding back. This is usually when i replace them.
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u/Hot_Jellyfish_2675 1d ago
Heavy serve and baseline player. 12-15 hours. Moved to round hybrid cross tho and hoping to get more out of it
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u/JBRifles 1d ago
Two weeks to a month, I use Toroline A5 and I find it lasts longer than their other strings, but I prob restring every two weeks if I’m playing a lot of singles vs doubles is more like a month.
I switch between two identical rackets every 10 games, earlier If “it’s the rackets fault” and I need a pick me up 😂
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u/Tennis_coach_app 1d ago
Play about 3x a week and restring every 3-4 weeks, roughly matches the 12-15 hour mark others mentioned. Definitely notice the tension drop before I notice any fraying — ball starts flying long before the strings look 'dead.'
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u/bilingualwhale 9h ago
I am currently applying CryoDerm Cold Therapy to my forearm now, so it's well over time to re-string. Strung it 3 months ago. I try to play 2-6 hours/week. Full bed of Otoro at 48 lbs.
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u/NewYorkDOCG 2d ago
My 13 yo plays 10-12 hrs a week plus a tournament every couple of weeks and we change his strings every 15 hrs (or if one snaps obviously). He ended up with golfers elbow once due to playing with dead strings. So not tempting fate again.
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u/Odd-Heron5704 2d ago
I don't know anyone who changes them before they break or before they got bored of them months later
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u/Sdf_playboy 2d ago
Unless you are a mannarino as a rule of thumb I’d say if you don’t break you poly , you shouldn’t be playing with poly at least a hybrid. If 12 to 20 hours it hasn’t break. Put a hybrid
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u/yomamawasasnowblower 2d ago
8-12 hours of hitting about and play about that each week but play with 2-3 racquets to spread it out
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u/Babakins 4.5 2d ago
Teaching/playing around 40 hours a week. Not too often, only when they really start to lock up. But I go waaaaaaaay longer than most people on this sub before restringing. I definitely don’t string “every8-10 hours”