Players Are Concerned About Spraying Racquet Strings

Written by: Staff on 25th June 2012

Players Are Concerned About Spraying Racquet Strings

epa03281286 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia returns to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 25 June 2012. EPA/GERRY PENNY |

A senior band of former Wimbledon champions and world no.1’s are calling on the International Tennis Federation to address the issues of high-tech strings and the growing practice of spraying them with silicone because the huge top spin being generated is making old values of serve and volley obsolete.

Grand Slam champions like John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Pat Cash all believe the advancements in copoly or slippery strings, that slide, stretch and then snap back all in a fraction of second, applying an extra spin-boosting torque on the ball and so generate extra spin, are making traditional tennis tactics tantamount to suicidal.

Now the spraying of silicone allows even greater lubrication for the strings to slide and the snap back effect is effectively turning the tennis racket into a mini-trampoline. “We’re at the stage now where a good player feels he won’t be rewarded for hitting a good approach shot before moving in to deliver a crisp volley and surely that’s not right,” said Cash, the Australian who won the Wimbledon men’s title 25 years ago by playing an attacking style. “The game’s values are gone.

“A lot of the other guys from my era feel exactly the same. I know Mac does and so does Mats. I was talking to Lendl the other day and he maintains string technology has gone way too far and it’s getting unfair. He made the point that in golf some of the oversized sprung drivers were banned from the game. Now he thinks tennis rackets with strings and silicone sprayed on should be the same.”

McEnroe subscribes to the same point of view. “To some degree these strings taking away the art of the game. But these top players right now are still pretty artistic. Now you are actually rewarded for hitting harder because the sweet spot is so much bigger and the strings are such that the spin is so great that the harder you swing the more spin you generate. This is why you’re getting these guys that seemingly play very similar styles.”

The ITF maintain they stringently monitor all string technology and insist the practice of silicone spraying is not illegal. Dr. Stuart Miller, the ITF’s Head of Science and Technology for the last 11 years tests every racket and string manufactured in his Roehampton laboratory with accurately calibrated equipment. In addition high-speed video footage and advanced computer software analyses the spin generated by all the leading players.

“When we feel the need to step in and do something, we will do,” insisted Miller, who also made the point that current day players perform with rackets 12 and a half inches wide whereas Cash and McEnroe used 9 inch wide rackets. “At the moment no string is deemed illegal and most manufacturers demand a stencil to be painted onto the strings. We appreciate spraying silicone may increase the snap-back of the strings and we are looking at this practice.

“Following the outlawed Spaghetti racket of the late 1970’s, there were levels of spin set that we deemed excessive and we are very accurately monitoring the current game to ensure nothing exceeds those levels.”

Topics: Ivan Lendl, John Mcenroe, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Sports, Tennis Federation, Tennis News, tennis racket string, Wimbledon