Top Tennis Strings
How often should you restring?
Sooner than most people think, especially with polyester. Strings can lose their playability well before they break.
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A common rule of thumb: restring as many times a year as you play per week. Play three times a week, restring about three times a year. Treat it as a minimum, not a target, especially with poly.
Signs a set is done
- Strings shift and stay out of place instead of snapping back.
- The ball flies more or less than it used to with the same swing.
- The bed feels flat, boardy or harsh.
- Visible notches, fraying or fuzz on the mains.
- Your arm or wrist feels more after sessions than it did on fresh strings.
By string family
- Polyester: go by time and feel, not breakage. Poly often goes dead long before it snaps.
- Multifilament: restring when fraying gets heavy or it breaks.
- Synthetic gut: many players play it until it breaks. Fine if your arm is happy.
- Hybrid: follow the mains string. Poly mains go dead first.
Planning around matches
- Many players restring a few days before a big event so the string settles but is still fresh.
- Have a second racket strung the same way, so a break mid-match is not a crisis.
- Keep a simple log: date, string, gauge, tension, hours played. Patterns show up fast.
- Store rackets indoors. Keeping them out of hot cars is cheap insurance for tension and frame.
My strings have not broken in a year. Is that fine?
Only if they still play well. Strings that never break can still be well past their best, especially poly.
Do juniors need to restring as often?
Juniors on soft multis tend to break or fray them, which forces the issue. Juniors on poly should restring on a schedule because dead poly is hard on young arms.
More on timing at String Tension Guide
More stringing guides
String types compared
Poly, multi, syn gut, natural gut and hybrid side by side.
Tension by player type
Where to start inside your frame's range.
Spin, control or comfort
What actually changes, and sets that fit each goal.
Why strings break
Causes, and how to make a set last longer.
DIY or pro restring
What a restring involves and when to hand it off.
Want it strung for you? Mobile Racket does pick-up and drop-off restrings in Wake and Harnett Counties, NC. You can bring your own sealed set. How it works · Book a restring.