Know Your String - Natural Gut

 Know Your String - Natural Gut

This post is an extension of the original "Know Your Strings" post, focusing solely on natural gut.

Overview

Natural gut has the name it does because it is made from animal intestines. While that may seem gross, it is incredibly forgiving and is still considered the "gold standard" in strings. Natural gut is known to provide a nice "pocket," basically meaning it has good feel all across the string bed. This occurs because the string is incredibly soft and flexible, and the outer coating allows it to slide against itself. This combination allows for significant string movement at contact, especially when compared to other string types. This movement allows for greater access to spin and power. 

Options

There are a handful of companies that make solid natural gut options. Babolat makes the majority of the gut used today, and their gut is typically considered to be the best on the market. Klip is another option that will be more budget-friendly; you may not find it to be quite as playable as Babolat's options, but it is significantly cheaper and still a high-quality string.


Klip 15L            Klip 16


Stringing

Stringing natural gut can be difficult. If you string your own rackets, know that you will need to take your time to avoid "burning" the string and avoid kinks in the string; these mistakes drastically reduce the longevity of gut. If you have your rackets strung at a pro shop or through someone else, make sure they know how to string natural gut. 

Tension 

Following the recommended tension range on a racket is a great starting spot. Since gut is soft and forgiving, you can experiment with the middle- to high-end of the range and still avoid a stiff feeling. Overall, the preferred tension will depend on what feels best for you.

Setup

If you do choose to try natural gut, I would hesitate going thinner than 16 gauge (1.30 mm). 15L (1.35 mm) or 16 (1.30 mm) will be a little more durable and still be very playable. I would recommend the following setups:
  • hybrid with poly for anyone at or above 6.0 UTR. The polyester string will provide added durability for harder hitters, and the gut will provide forgiveness to the arm. As far as mains/crosses go, it comes down to your personal preference. Federer is known to have strung natural gut in the mains and poly in the crosses. Many other pros go for the opposite setup. 
  • full gut for anyone at or below 6.0 UTR. This would be better for players who typically don't break strings often. Players with slightly slower swing speeds and/or less access to spin could benefit from a full gut setup.

Who needs natural gut?

Anyone who is looking for the most playable soft string on the market AND has disposable income to get their rackets restrung often will benefit from natural gut. Whether it's in a hybrid setup or full gut, the benefits to natural gut cannot be denied. My personal recommendation would be giving it a shot if you:
  • hit relatively flat; significant spin production will shed through gut in a hurry.
  • have had wrist, elbow, or shoulder injuries or pain



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