The starting point
Check the guidance for your exact racket and string. Choose a baseline with your stringer, record it, then change one thing at a time and compare how it plays.
A useful tension depends on your racket, your string and what you want to feel differently. The number is a starting point for a repeatable setup, not a promise about your next match.
Find your frame’s recommendation.
Check the recommended range on the frame or in the manufacturer’s stringing instructions. Match the model and version: similarly named rackets are not always the same frame. For example, Yonex lists stringing advice with its PERCEPT 100 specifications. Use the guidance for your own frame.
Bring that guidance and your chosen string to your stringer. If you already like a setup, record it before changing anything. For a first restring, ask for a sensible starting tension for that combination within the manufacturer’s guidance.
The material matters as much as the number.
The same reference tension does not make every string feel alike. Laboratory testing of tennis strings has measured substantial stiffness differences between string materials.
If you switch material, do not automatically carry over your previous setting. Discuss the new string with your stringer. For a softer feel, consider the string itself as well as tension: Babolat’s string guide identifies multifilaments and natural gut among its comfort-oriented options.
Record the brand, model and gauge, and keep the unit with your tension: pounds (lb) or kilograms (kg). For a hybrid, note the string and tension for both mains and crosses. “Polyester” alone is not enough to reproduce a setup.
Choose one thing you want to feel differently.
Are you looking for easier depth? A different ball flight? A less firm response on contact? A specific question makes your next test easier to judge.
Tension is not a simple power or accuracy switch. In an on-court study by Bower and Cross, lower settings produced more long balls and higher settings produced more net errors. The study used one racket model and one nylon string; it does not establish an ideal setting for every player.
Use those tendencies to form a question, then test your own response. One poor session cannot tell you that tension was the cause.
Change one thing. Keep useful notes.
Our suggested method: agree on a modest tension adjustment with your stringer while keeping the racket, string model and gauge the same. If you change string material too, treat it as a new setup rather than a test of tension alone.
Repeat familiar groundstroke, serve and return drills, then take the setup into normal play. Keep conditions similar where practical. Note different balls, a windy court or anything else that might affect the comparison.
After each session, ask:
- Was it easy to find my usual depth?
- Did the ball’s flight match what I expected?
- How did the response feel on contact?
- Which misses kept repeating?
- Would I choose this setup again?
The aim is a comparison you can explain to your stringer. A tennis match log can keep those observations together.
Compare setups at a similar age.
The tension requested from your stringer is the machine’s pull setting, not a permanent reading inside the racket. Cross and Bower’s measurements show tension changing during and after stringing.
Record the restring date and approximate playing time. Comparing a fresh restring with an old setup changes more than the original tension setting.
Keep the combination that works for you. At the next restring, your notes help you decide whether to repeat it, adjust one thing or try a different string.
Keep the context
Your setup, in one place.
In Racket Theory, save your racket, strings, tension and stringing date. Add match notes, then use that context with Player DNA to explore String Advisor.
String Life is an estimate for planning. The app does not physically measure your string tension or condition.
See how it worksYour next restring
String AdvisorA suggestion for your next stringing.
Not a measurement of your strings today.
Sources & further reading
Where the guidance comes from.
The testing method above is our editorial recommendation. The equipment and research references are listed here so you can read them in context.
- Yonex: PERCEPT 100 specificationsAn example of model-specific stringing guidance.
- Cross et al.: string testing (PDF)Laboratory testing of tennis strings, 2000.
- Babolat: choosing a tennis stringMaterial characteristics and feel.
- Bower & Cross: playing study (PDF)String tension effects on tennis ball rebound speed and accuracy during playing conditions, 2005.
- Cross & Bower: tension study (PDF)Measurements of string tension in a tennis racket, 2001.