When somebody discusses Control they usually mean the ability to put the ball wherever they want.
Feel is a combination of control and comfort. It’s a connectionwith the ball. It’s very subjective. Feel can be stiff or soft with faster or slower response time. The softer the feel, the less information you get from hitting the ball (less feedback / moremuted). Less information can lead to smaller „subjective” control (how confident you feel with each swing)
Main specs of control oriented tennis strings:
1. Material: polyester (stiffest material with good snap backproperties)
2. Stiffness (number): range for control oriented strings isusually from 170 (softest) to 260 (stiffest)
stiffer strings offer:
more control,
less power (smaller trampoline effect),
less comfort,
less forgiveness,
3. Energy return % (efficiency) : usually from 80 to 90% . Youcan see it as a limiter. How much „potential” energy you want to have „unlocked”.
Combination of stiffness and energy return % can give us verydifferent results. You can have a low powered experience with soft string but with low energy return % and you can have the same feeling with very stiff string and very high Energy return %.
From our experience stiffness number is bigger indicator of power potential.
You can see energy return % as alternative to string tensionadjusting. You can have stiff string at very low tension orsofter string at higher tension.
We noticed that strings with bigger energy return % are moresensitive to lower tension setups.
4. Gauges – most common are 1.20, 1.25 and 1.30. At Mayami we often offer something in between like Tour Hex(1.23 and 1.28). On professional tour the most commonthickness of the string is 1.25.
Thicker versions are stiffer and also because the spacesbetween the strings are smaller the launch angle decreases. This is a huge game changer in performance.
This means the possibilities are almost endless. Do you want Thicker strings (stiffer) with smaller stiffness (softer) and high energy return % or maybe the other way around ? Or maybe…. Yes.. we all been there and it takes some time to understand what’s working the best for our technique, racquetand game style… sooooooo many variables. So much fun 😊
TIP: even after so many years in the industry we stillrecommend to demo the string. You never know until you try. Numbers are just numbers and the combination of string specsis so complex that it all comes down to simple but most important factor – players. That’s why Mayami develops allthe strings in cooperation with the coaches, professionals, amateurs and influencers.
Our 5 polyester strings are all control oriented but the philosophy of Mayami is to never sacrifice comfort orforgiveness.
list of Mayami polyester strings from stiffest to softest:
Maymi Tour Hex, Mayami Magic Twist, Mayami Hit Pro, Mayami Big Spin, Mayami Hepta Power