Cold Weather Tennis and Stringing Periodicity

Hey Everyone,

I hope you had a fantastic holiday and are ready for the new year. If you live in a cold climate area, playing tennis can be somewhat of a challenge. The colder the weather, the heavier the air is. If your a power player, you may notice a significant drop in winners and you may also notice that your once heavy balls are landing shorter and giving your opponent time to get to them. Don't worry, there are a few things that you can do to get back your power.

There are several factors in play. Obviously, the colder the weather, the slower the ball moves because the air is thicker and provides more resistance. Another factor is the string bed. The warmer the weather, the more lively the strings play. When playing in colder weather, you should be ready to tweak your racquet to help you achieve better play.

What I recommend is that you lower your overall tension by 3 to 5 pounds. I know that sounds extreme, but in colder weather, you will want the added power of the lower tension. One of the biggest misconceptions I run into is the thought that the lower the tension, the loss of control. Now, this is true to a certain extent, it really depends on the strokes of the player. If you hit the ball flat, than this is true. However, if you hit with topspin or heavy topspin, the less taught the stringbed, the more dwell time on the strings which can actually enhance your ability to create spin and give you more margin of error on your strokes.

Another tweak you can make is to add a little lead tape to your frame. Where to add the lead tape depends on what you are looking for. If you want to learn more about lead tape placement, click here. Why lead tape you may ask? Lead tape will add a little more weight to your frame which will constitute a little more plow through from your racquet to help the ball move through the cold dense air. The balls that were landing short will go a little further and thus make it harder for your opponent to attack. Of course, if you add too much lead tape, you could reduce your racquet speed which could result in timing issues, early fatigue and swing path issues. To know how much lead tape you should add, you should try just one layer of lead tape to start with. If you need more, you can always add more, but if you need less, you can shorten the length of tape you are using.

Another factor to consider is changing your string for the colder weather. If you are a poly or co-poly user, then consider dropping tension by 5 to 10 pounds or switching your main to a synthetic gut or multi-filament and put your poly as the cross string. This combination will give you a little more pop without sacrificing control. As a matter of fact, Roger Federer uses Natural Gut in his mains and crosses it with Luxilon. Just another option for the cold weather.

Regardless of which method you choose above, just know that the Pro's are always experimenting with strings and tension and so should you. You should have two racquets as your match sticks and one racquet that you can experiment with. 3 racquets will give you the performance you desire and the experimentation you need.

Until next time,

Dan Schank
USRSA Master Racquet Technician
President, String Rx, LLC