String finder

What do you wantyour string to fix?

Pick the problem. We rank all 789 lab-measured strings against it, show you which measurement drove each pick, and tell you what your racquet changed. No signup, no scores we invented.

1 The main thing you want to fix

More spin and shape Heavier topspin, more margin over the net Easier on my arm Elbow, wrist or shoulder soreness More control, less launch The ball is flying long on you More power and depth You are working too hard for pace Plays the same for longer It goes dead a week after stringing Lasts longer before it breaks You are snapping strings too often Best feel and touch Volleys, slice, drop shots, feedback

And a second priority, if you have one

Weighted at 60% of the main one, so it breaks ties rather than taking over.

2 Your racquet — optional

Three questions, all skippable. Only these three specs move a string recommendation in a way this data can defend — weight, balance and grip size do not, so we do not ask.

String pattern

Count the main (vertical) strings where they enter the throat.

Head size

Usually printed on the frame or the throat.

How the frame feels

Stiffness rating (RA) if you know it — but the feel is enough.

3 Anything to rule out? — optional

Not a racquet spec, but the single thing that changes these lists most. Natural gut wins the comfort, power, feel and tension-hold rankings outright and costs several times what anything else does — worth ruling out if you were never going to string it.

Anything to rule out?

Rules the material out before ranking rather than penalising it, so the fit percentages stay honest about what is left.

What each need is actually ranked on

No opinions and no playtest scores. Each need is a weighting over the same lab measurements published on every string page, applied to all 789 strings across 44 brands.

More spin and shape: Ranked on spin potential, with credit for gripping the ball hard while sliding freely against itself — that combination is what lets the mains snap back and brush the ball.
Easier on my arm: Softest string beds first. Energy return is weighted up so the result is soft and lively rather than soft and dead, and tension loss down because a bed that drops tension fast turns boardy long before it breaks.
More control, less launch: Firm, low-powered string beds first. Spin carries a small weight because shape brings the ball down as effectively as a lower launch angle does.
More power and depth: Highest energy return first, softened by a preference for lower stiffness — a soft bed that hands energy back is where free depth comes from.
Plays the same for longer: Least tension shed under the test protocol, with a nudge toward strings that stay lively as well as staying at tension.
Lasts longer before it breaks: The database publishes no durability figure, so this is scored on proxies: thickness, low string-on-string friction — sawing at the crossings is what actually severs a main — and material, because polyester genuinely outlasts nylon in a way these numbers cannot express.
Best feel and touch: Lively, soft and stable — the combination that lets you feel the ball sit on the bed instead of rebounding off a board.

Does your racquet change which string you should use?

Yes — but only three specs do, and a database of racquet models would not tell you anything these three questions do not.

String pattern — the big one: An 18×20 pins the main strings and suppresses snapback, so the string has to supply bite the pattern will not give you. A 16×19 already spins, and chews through strings faster, so tension hold and notching resistance matter more than chasing further spin.
Head size: Longer main strings deflect further, so a 100+ in² frame supplies its own power and wants a lower-powered string to keep the ball in. Under 98 in² the opposite is true — the string has to give back the power and comfort the frame gives up.
Frame stiffness: Frame and string stiffness add up at the elbow. A stiff, powerful frame with a firm polyester is the combination behind most string-related arm trouble, so a stiff frame removes the firmest quarter of the database outright rather than ranking it down. A flexible frame absorbs shock itself and tolerates far more string.
What does not matter: Static weight and swingweight shift the answer so slightly that the three above drown them out. Balance point, beam width, grip size and length change nothing about which string suits you. We do not ask for them.

Where this ranking is weak

Worth knowing before you trust it. The database publishes no durability figure, so lasts longer before it breaks is scored on proxies — thickness and string-on-string friction — rather than on measured breakage. And no tension figures are published at all, which is why every tension line on a result is a nudge relative to what you already string at, never an absolute number. Tension almost certainly matters more to how your setup plays than the choice between two strings ranked a few places apart.

Or browse all 789 strings