THROUGH THICK AND THIN
Much of the power in a squash racket comes from the ‘trampoline effect’ – the rapid stretch and rebound of the string bed as it contacts the ball. The more resilient the string bed, the more power it generates. Thin string is naturally more resilient than thick string; and string strung at low tension can stretch more than string strung at high tension. So if you want to increase power in your game (and who doesn’t?), there are two ways to approach it: use thin string, or have the racket strung at the low end of the tension range. The other side of the coin is control. The more the string bed stretches on impact, the harder it is to control direction and spin on the ball. This is especially the case on off-centre hits, where the strings stretch more on one side of the ball than the other, making an off-centre ‘trampoline’. Control is also affected by a second phenomenon: what I call ‘dwell time’. The more the string stretches, the longer the ball remains in contact with the racket face. With a stiff string bed, the ball bounces off the racket face at a single instant. The player can anticipate the instant of contact, and adjust the racket angle accordingly. But with a stretchier string bed, the ball is ‘carried’ by the racket as it swings through many degrees of arc. It’s difficult for the player to know exactly when the two are finally going to part company, so it’s harder to make the proper adjustments. Using thicker string or stringing at higher tension will produce a stiffer string bed and enhance control over the ball – just the opposite, naturally, of the recipe for power. But here’s another factor to consider: at the same tension a thin string is stretched more than a thick one, so the thin string behaves as if it’s tighter. If you’ve been playing with 17 gauge string, strung at 27lb tension, and you switch to thinner, 18 micro-gauge, to obtain more power, you’ll probably want to reduce tension to 24lb or so. At 27lb the thinner string would feel too tight, and you’d actually sacrifice power compared to the thicker string. (For jargon junkies, we’ll call this phenomenon ‘relative tension’.) By changing the tension, you can adjust the amount of power or control that you get from any string, thick or thin. But that doesn’t mean that thick and thin strings can be made to behave identically. Thin strings penetrate the surface of the squash ball a bit deeper on impact, and this tends to enhance control. And thinner strings generate less resistance through the air, so the racket can be swung a bit faster, for more power. Neither of these factors has a big influence, however, and generally only highly skilled players can detect them at all. On the other hand, thicker strings are more durable and they hold tension longer, so they can save you money. Thin or thick strings; low or high tension; each variable affects the way your racket performs. Pick the set-up that best suits your needs.http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/magazine/string_matters.htm
Much of the power in a squash racket comes from the ‘trampoline effect’ – the rapid stretch and rebound of the string bed as it contacts the ball. The more resilient the string bed, the more power it generates. Thin string is naturally more resilient than thick string; and string strung at low tension can stretch more than string strung at high tension. So if you want to increase power in your game (and who doesn’t?), there are two ways to approach it: use thin string, or have the racket strung at the low end of the tension range. The other side of the coin is control. The more the string bed stretches on impact, the harder it is to control direction and spin on the ball. This is especially the case on off-centre hits, where the strings stretch more on one side of the ball than the other, making an off-centre ‘trampoline’. Control is also affected by a second phenomenon: what I call ‘dwell time’. The more the string stretches, the longer the ball remains in contact with the racket face. With a stiff string bed, the ball bounces off the racket face at a single instant. The player can anticipate the instant of contact, and adjust the racket angle accordingly. But with a stretchier string bed, the ball is ‘carried’ by the racket as it swings through many degrees of arc. It’s difficult for the player to know exactly when the two are finally going to part company, so it’s harder to make the proper adjustments. Using thicker string or stringing at higher tension will produce a stiffer string bed and enhance control over the ball – just the opposite, naturally, of the recipe for power. But here’s another factor to consider: at the same tension a thin string is stretched more than a thick one, so the thin string behaves as if it’s tighter. If you’ve been playing with 17 gauge string, strung at 27lb tension, and you switch to thinner, 18 micro-gauge, to obtain more power, you’ll probably want to reduce tension to 24lb or so. At 27lb the thinner string would feel too tight, and you’d actually sacrifice power compared to the thicker string. (For jargon junkies, we’ll call this phenomenon ‘relative tension’.) By changing the tension, you can adjust the amount of power or control that you get from any string, thick or thin. But that doesn’t mean that thick and thin strings can be made to behave identically. Thin strings penetrate the surface of the squash ball a bit deeper on impact, and this tends to enhance control. And thinner strings generate less resistance through the air, so the racket can be swung a bit faster, for more power. Neither of these factors has a big influence, however, and generally only highly skilled players can detect them at all. On the other hand, thicker strings are more durable and they hold tension longer, so they can save you money. Thin or thick strings; low or high tension; each variable affects the way your racket performs. Pick the set-up that best suits your needs.