I try 12 kg / 24 lbs tension (Mannarino-style!) - Pros and cons of playing with low tensions

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[billydavidperez]

I noticed you copy Mannarino’s haircut too

[LiamApilado]

I haven't seen this kind of comparison anywhere else nor have a tried it, very nice

[andyyzf]

Had a shoulder injury - started dropping the tension, was amazed the difference it made in softening the feel of the racquet. Worked well to reduce the harshness of the poly on my shoulder. Good advice about stepping it down - found different sweet spots in tension for different racquets. Dropped about 5 pounds per adjustment. Has worked well with a hybrid setup too - am a person who relies a lot on touch, no loss when dropping tensions. Thanks for the article, great advice!

[livefreeandhappy]

McEnroe was the pioneer of low tension. In the old wood racket days rackets were usually strung at 65 to 70 lbs. Mc’s racket was strung at 40 lbs. while Borg strung his at 80 lbs.

[trujr]

Jonas
I have also gone from 52lbs down to 44. One noticeable difference is that when strings start out low e.g. 44, by 2 or 3 week they feel dead to me. But when I string at 48 after same time they hold up better. weird. this happened to me w Babolat RPM Spin and Luxilon Smart which says it's 44lbs. maybe it's the elasticity thing.

[teddymikefunk]

I play with Pure Aero too, I string myself my racquets, and due to a tennis and golfer elbow on my right arm, I decreased gradually the tension, from 50 lbs to 32 lbs in 3 months.
It Took me around 3 months to adjust, and to feel the new launch angle.
But I am now playing at my best level now with 32 lbs, hit a lot of spin, no more issues with elbow pain, lot of control, game changer for sure (my string is the TF black code )
Update july 2022: I string my racquets at 23lbs since 4 months. Feel amazing!

[andrewchristopher]

I play with a shaped poly and multifilament cross at 34-38lbs. I find a lot more of the benefit to be in the stability and consistency at swinging softer, but using my body weight and timing to move forward into all my shots. Mannarino is a great example of keeping his feet planted, but driving and moving forward into all of his shots. I think you could benefit more by jumping less into your shots, and keeping your feet grounded, and thinking more about that backfoot driving your body forward. Just my thoughts, but your forehand at 6:47 was the best of them all. perfect example of what i mean.

[przemekpluta]

Jonas! Your review inspired me. So I strung my Wilson Clash Pro with Solinco Tour Bite Soft at 14kg!!! Despite laughs and jokes that I had to listen to at my stringing specialist (btw the same place where Hubert Hurkach strings when back in Poland)
I played a local league game, so stress and pressure were there. Testing such radical setup with no match pressure could be misleading.
it went really well.
First off all my sensitive arm doesn't hurt after 2 hours on the court. This was only possible with lighter rackets and multi strings.
I had pretty much same level of control, I go for bigger targets anyway and play spin with semi western grip. Received more, free power for sure. My balls landed deeper, first flat serves were bombs, several surprisingly good shots when simply blocking the ball.
On the downside? Not much to be honest. I felt it was harder to put spin on my second serve. Didn’t dial in on dropshots, most ended up in the net.
I will continue for now to use this setup. Curious how it performs when tension further drops and what happens if there is an aggressive, heavy heater on the other side of the net.

[shawnzorf]

At the very opposite end, Marcelo Ríos used to play with a full bed of VS Team gut with tensions over 33-34 kg. He has obviously dropped down in his senior years, and he currently plays with the Yonex VCore Pro 97 330.

When the guys still used to play with higher string tension, Filippo Volandri regularly played with 12-14kg, and Daniel Nestor played at an insane 6kg (!!!). Another guy who currently plays with very low tension is Kukushkin.

[kkrekula]

Your swing looks better with this setup. Interesting tes!

[amaurybignard]

It is crazy how much your game has improved lately! Keep up the good work

[superjinx]

String pocketing: i realised that when used balls get soft, everyone seem to control better. Rallies get longer. However, with a brand new can of balls, almost every hit flies around. Tough to control or predict. So aiming for string types that give more string pocketing seem to be the better solution. Not sure if this applies to other players too.

[sjjapp]

Years ago I seem to remember coming across a study on this re lower tension and power, and if I'm remembering this right it doesn't so much increase actual power but it does increase the depth from more launch, which feels like power to the user and a deeper ball feels more powerful to your opponent as well. This has actually been my personal experience as well. If anything, I feel I hit harder in the high 50s (lbs) but I get more consistent depth and feel (yes, I get more feel (lets remember that feel is subjective to the individual)) and comfort at lower tensions. While I feel I hit harder in the high 50s I'm also more likely to drop it short when I don't get to swing through how I want, whereas a lower tension helps dramatically (for me) for those shots like on the run or when you have less time on the ball. I also like the increased launch angle and feeing of more pocketing/spin.

I'm currently testing 45lbs and it's working great. Dropped from 49 recently. It was actually a tad 'easier' to hit winners at 49lbs but the feeling of extra time on the ball, better feel, and general increased security greatly outweighs it for me at the moment.

Interestingly, at 49lbs I'd break strings in 90m to 3 hours of hitting. at 45lbs it's improved string durability immensely. I'm going to try going lower when I next break strings and see what happens.

[melonbarmonster]

Your forehand looks great with this setup.

[amaurybignard]

It seems just by watching your videos that your level is way better when you are playing with tweener frames like this pure aero or the twistpower instead of more control oriented racquets. I had the same experience because I've been looking for a new racquet for a year and a half and I tried almost every racquet existing but mostly players frames (Gravity tour, cx 200, blade, pro staff, tf40, prestige) and it took time to realize that with more powerful and spin-oriented (I ended going with the Yonex ezone 100) my game was better and I was hurting my opponent: my serve was better thanks to the added power and eventhough my balls were not as accurate at the beginning when I started using more spin I could easily see that they were landing deeper on the court and that my opponent had more trouble getting a good ball back. So I think lots of players play with too demanding frames and they would benefit a lot from using more powerful racquet in order to win more matches and play a better tennis

[tedneanderthal]

Mannarino's forehand is aimed for bigger targets but he really can't place the ball with pinpoint accuracy. Basically, on he forehand he is a pusher. However, his backhand is another story and he hits and places the ball well - that's his weapon.

[gese]

Muy buen video!! Gracias por compartir esta info tan objetiva!! Tengo 64 años y juego 16 horas por semana, (4 prácticas de 3 horas cada una) desde hace años. Desde hace unos meses empecé a experimentar con tensiones muy bajas. No puedo decir exactamente qué valor porque coloco los encordados a mano, sin máquina. Me encanta el resultado de las tensiones bajas aunque extraño un poco la agresividad de las bolas enviadas con tensiones más altas. Pasé momentáneamente a tensiones medias y derivó en una tendinitis en el codo, así que asumí que las tensiones bajas son lo mío, sin duda! Siempre digo que primero está la salud y después lo competitivo...no entiendo la liviandad con la que se naturalizan las lesiones y cirujías. Bajemos las tensiones!! Saludos desde Argentina.

[TotalTennisGeek]

I string at 45 lbs and completely agree. The loss of control is quite minimal, in my experience, unless I am having an off day. Then it is true that more balls fly than I would like. BUT the feel and sound make me very happy. Being able to hit out is also a plus. I am OK with the ocassional loss of control. The serve is also more powerful, and I can also hit spots. Big fan!

[gak]

Interesting how many club players are very sceptic almost afraid to drop they string tension below 20kg.Having tons of smart excuses why not doing it.Some of my tennis buddies even think that I'm disrespectful towards them by beating them with racket strung at 10kg. Anyway every racket respond to different tension and different string differently, it'll might take a lot of time and understanding your own shots before finding a holly grail setup that work for you and your racket, its worth trying! Lower your tension and see what it does to your game, you might beat someone you had never beaten before! Stay safe!

[przemekpluta]

i love your experiment. will copy soon. hope it will help with my arm and wrist pain