Let’s talk about tennis string gauge. Many new players get confused by the whole tennis string gauge thing. Gauge refers to the thickness of the string. The most common gauges for tennis string are 15-18. Here is where players often get confused, the thickest string is a 15 gauge string and it gets thinner from there with the 18 gauge tennis string being the thinnest. Each gauge also has a half-size designated by an L (meaning light). So a 16L is thinner than a 16 gauge tennis string but thicker than a 17 gauge tennis string. There are a few 19 gauge tennis strings out there, but I would not start out with those.
Of course what goes along with this issue of thickness, is durability. The thicker the tennis string, the longer it will last. Which means a tennis racket with the 18 gauge tennis string in it will likely be restrung more frequently. While the higher gauge string may not be as durable, it does have, what players call, a better feel for the ball. Thinner strings tend to “bite” the ball better giving you a little more control and feel of the ball. For many players, this desire to have the “feel of the ball” often overrides the cost of restringing.
So what gauge is best for you? Well that really is a personal preference. I would recommend starting out with a 16 or 17 gauge and see how that goes. If you find that you are not breaking strings after 2 months of consistent recreational playing than you might want to try a higher tennis string gauge to try to get that better feel of the ball. If you are breaking strings frequently, then you might want to try a lower gauge to keep from breaking the bank.
Many players recognize a big difference in playability in tennis string gauge. If you are not happy with your racket, I would recommend trying a lighter gauge string before investing several hundred dollars in new tennis racket. You may find out that it’s not your racket that you aren’t happy with! It might just be the tennis string gauge.
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