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The softer the string bed, the less shock reaches your arm. Three levers, roughly in order of how much they matter:

1. The string itself — this is the big one. A multifilament is the most forgiving thing you can put in a racquet (Velvet, Satin). A solid-core Synthetic Gut is the next step up in firmness and still far kinder than polyester.

2. Go hybrid if you want to keep the spin. Put the polyester in the mains only and a softer string in the crosses. You keep most of the bite and lose most of the harshness. How hybrids work →

3. Drop the tension. A few pounds lower lengthens the dwell time and lowers the peak force going back into your elbow. Tension explained →

One honest caveat: if you are playing a full bed of co-polyester and your arm is complaining, tension alone usually will not fix it. The string is the bigger factor.

40 feet (12.2 m) covers virtually every tennis racquet. Golden Set sets contain 40 ft.

From a reel:

• A 660 ft (200 m) reel strings roughly 16 racquets.
• A 360 ft (110 m) reel strings roughly 9 racquets.

A hybrid uses about 20 ft of each string rather than 40 ft of one, so a reel goes about twice as far.

Gauge is simply the string's thickness. Confusingly, a higher gauge number means a thinner string — 17 gauge is thinner than 16.

Thinner strings bite the ball better and feel livelier, but break sooner. Thicker strings last longer and feel firmer. Most players start at 16 or 17 and adjust based on how fast they break strings.

Full guide to gauges →

Start inside the range printed on your frame, usually on the inside of the throat. Where you sit in that range depends mostly on the string: polyester generally wants the lower end, synthetic gut the middle, multifilament the middle to high end.

Looser gives you more power, comfort and string life. Tighter gives you more control and lets you swing harder for spin. Move in 2 lb steps and change one thing at a time.

Full guide to tension →

Two good reasons:

It costs less. If you bring your own string, most stringers charge labour only — typically $10 to $20 — instead of marking up the string as well.

You get the string you actually want. Most shops carry a narrow selection. Supplying your own means your racquet comes back with the string you chose, at the gauge you chose.

A single reel also lasts a long time: 16 restrings from a 660 ft reel, so the per-restring cost drops sharply. See the cost per restring →

In principle, the dye in a string can change its mechanical behaviour very slightly. In practice the difference is far too small for a player to feel.

Pick the colour you like.