Why Does It Always Feel Like Your Strings Are Losing Tension?

You’re not “dropping pounds” — your stringbed is softening, and DT is telling you the truth.

Many players walk into a stringing shop saying the same thing:

“Coach, my racket must’ve lost a lot of tension.
The shuttle feels dull and sticky now.”

But when we actually measure it, the string tension (lbs) often hasn’t changed that much.

What has changed significantly is DT — Dynamic Tension.

And that’s what your arm is feeling.

What Really Changes After You String a Racket

Right after stringing:

• DT is high

• The sound is crisp

• Shuttle speed feels fast and direct

After stress relaxation and repeated hits:

• The outer layer of the stringbed softens

• DT gradually drops

• Impact feels more muted and “grippy”

Add time into the equation:

• Oxidation

• Humidity

• Friction between strings

The same string at 3 months and 6 months can feel like a completely different setup.

Same Tension on Paper, Totally Different on Court

Let’s say both rackets are strung at 24 lbs.

🔴 Chasing sound by blindly increasing tension

• First few sessions: extremely hard

• Quickly becomes tiring

• Higher risk of wrist or elbow injury

🟢 Reasonable tension + tracking DT

• First sessions: clean and crisp

• Then enters a smoother, more stable sweet phase

• Easier on the arm, more consistent control

This is why sound alone is a bad judge.

You Think You’re “Dropping Tension” — But Here’s What’s Actually Happening

A. What you feel is DT, not lbs

DT reflects stringbed stiffness during impact, which changes faster than static tension.

B. Stress relaxation happens slowly

Strings don’t suddenly collapse.
They relax over time, especially early on.

C. Repeated hitting softens the surface layer

This is key.

The stringbed becomes:

• More elastic

• More sensitive

• Slower in perceived rebound

Your brain interprets this as “losing tension.”

Same 28 lbs — Played vs Not Played

Imagine two rackets:

• Racket A: Strung and stored for a year, rarely used

• Racket B: Strung and played regularly for a year

Both experience oxidation and humidity.

But only Racket B gets:

• Repeated impact

• Surface-layer softening

• Much clearer DT reduction

Racket A may feel dry and brittle.
Racket B feels softer and more muted.

Same tension number.
Very different feel.

The Big Misconception

❌ My racket suddenly lost 5–6 lbs.
✅ In reality: gradual softening, often felt as ~1–2 lbs change

The “huge drop” is usually an exaggeration created by perception, not physics.

What Happens If You Keep Chasing Higher Tension?

Same 24 lbs — Two Mindsets

Blindly going higher

• Session 1: very hard, very tiring

• Session 3: stiff and dead

• Session 5: only hardness left

Choosing a reasonable tension

• Session 1: crisp

• Session 3: smoother

• Session 5: stable and comfortable

One path burns your arm.
The other gives you consistency.

The Real Takeaway

What you feel as “tension loss” is usually:

• The stringbed softening

• DT gradually decreasing

• Normal aging, not sudden failure

So:

• Don’t judge only by sound

• Use your arm and DT readings to track change

• Protect your wrist and elbow first

• Think in DT logic, not just lbs numbers

Your strings aren’t betraying you.
They’re just aging—like everything else that gets used properly.