Hi, I recently got a new racket which was strung at 26lb. I found it really difficult to exert power when smashing or clearing. Hurts my wrist too. My old rackets were ~23lb. Isn't higher tension suppose to have more power? I'm just wondering if it's worth it for me to keep trying or should I just give up and use a lower tension. Thanks!
It does give more power, if your technique and explosiveness can handle it. It also results in more strain on your shoulder and wrist muscles. I would suggest slowly raising the tension of your racket, maybe one pound at a time, and eventually work your way up to a higher tension. Also, i suggest getting a "softer" string to reduce injury.
Your switch from 23lbs to 26lbs is too great. dffhkhksg is right. You should work your way up gradually.
From what I've read before - higher tension gives you more control, and only the same amount of power as lower tensions. Higher tension also means that the sweet spot is smaller so I wouldn't be surprised if you have to exert more power if you aren't consistently hitting the sweet spot, or aren't using the right techniques.
higher tensions give a harder feel, making it harder to hit. But for people who can handle it gives more power.
Higher tension doesn't mean better. Proper tension is different for every player. And now you know 26 isn't for you.
If you don't hit the sweet spot properly and consistently, higher tensions will result in much less power as well as bad (hard) feel. The amount of power when you swing also plays a big role in the accessibility of the power from use of high tension
It certainly does... and also helps with stroke consistency. When I went up from average of 25lbs to 32lbs, I realized that I wasn't hitting in the narrower sweet spot of the higher tension string bed consistently. You're also more likely to hit off center from the sweet spot if your wrist is not sufficiently relaxed. So in essence, you do learn to relax the wrist and achieve some level of stroke consistency. Just my opinion but I believe it is better to start of with tensions between 26-28lbs and practice the correct stroke technique, without exerting. Once you achieve this stroke consistency, gradually move close towards the baseline to hit longer strokes. The key is not to indulge in smashes and baseline-to-baseline strokes immediately until you've built up sufficient power and accuracy.
I look at it this way... if you have powerful arms, you don't need to exert as much to hit a stroke or smash, and you're naturally more relaxed knowing that you have enough power... and this in turn helps with stroke consistency.
I would suggest using a lower tension. No point get hurt / sore to continue with higher tension than you are comfortable with.
High tension has become a form of bragging on this forum. Like how weight lifters brag about how much they can bench press. A lot of competition level players string below 28lb. And here you recommend 26-28 for learning? What I find is high tension can be addictive in that when you hit it right, it's usually a glorious shot. Only downfall is if you hit it wrong, it's a glorious fail. High tension amongst non-elite players usually means they'll fail more often and lose games due to lack of consistency. Players with inappropriately high tension are easy to defeat. You don't have to hit outright winners against them, just hit well enough to get them to scramble, eventually they'll miss the sweetspot and return something horribly easy for you to finish.
Ive been plaing now 6 years at 23/24 lbs and I only upped to 26lbs after my coach said I should play at that, that Im good enough. I have found my power has increased because my technique is good and Im hitting sweet spot but I find if i mishit, the shuttle definately doesnt go as far as when I had 23lbs. The higher the tension, the smaller the sweetspot so therefore technique has to be good the higher the tension.
All my rackets are strung at 26lbs and 27lbs , it depends on condition on court which tension is more appropiate beween those two . I started at 23lbs then move up gradually , you will know when it is time to move up as that tension become too comfortable and you feel that you have the techique/ and needed more power from using +1lb of tension . I would not recommand tension higher than 23lbs , unless you have good techique on all shots (not just the overhead smash), as your other shots would suffer as a result.
Different players prefer different string tension. The common belief is... String Tension = Ability. Which is laughable at best. I remember just a few month a go, where I left my unstrung racket with a friend, asking him to hand it to a stringer. "Tension?" He ask "23" "Only 23?! Really?" "Err... Yeah.... That's my normal tension."
Higher tension requires, no, make that demands, better technique. Ie clean consistent crisp focused strike, with proper forearm pronation/supination. The sweetspot is smaller, but it is concentrated, meaning if you hit it right there, it'll be much more explosive and powerful. Having a smaller sweetspot also means the other areas of the tighter stringbed is perfect for soft high feel and touch shots such as short low serves and pushes and improved accuracy for drives. However, you have to also consider the racket frame and shaft (and string type and gauge) as part of the system too. If you have a 96 hole frame with an extra stiff shaft with zymax 62, you're asking for trouble if you don't drop a few pounds.
