My Journey with String

My journey with string goes back as far as Maria Bueno, the Brazilian Grand Slam champion from the 1960s. For the last several years, there has been an explosion of new strings and new string combinations as part of the always evolving polyester revolution. So much has changed and continues to change that the average player can be befuddled by the range of options and claims. String has fascinated me for decades, and over time I have probably tried as many configurations as anyone, including most of the newer polyester strings and some bizarre combinations of my own. In this article I want to sketch out some of the details of my personal journey with string. Then I want to suggest some guidelines and possible string combos for both power players and spin players at the club level. A Little History My first string job was piano wire, coated with rusty engine oil, in the mid 1960s! I saw Maria Bueno and Rod Laver play in Oakland California, so that should date me somewhat! That piano wire was ribbed, so that the ribs grabbed the ball, and created vicious spin. I was about ten years old and hitting spin like...