Well I did say I would find out some more info about strings.  So I spoke to the Dad of two boys who are doing extremely well (No. 1 U/17& U/15 Boys) at recent Aust Junior Titles. So he says:

• Technifibre -  is the best but breaks easily, may only last 3/4 matches.  It is a multi fibre composition, a bit like gut as it freys much the same, strings has a rough feel, gives excellent speed and great feel especially for cutting the ball.  It is the most expensive at about $39AU a restring. 
  
• Ashaway -  comes in about 3 different types and most prefer the Red Shiny one.  Retail restring costs about $36AU.  Lasts longer.
• Synthetic - restring retails at about $24AU
• Gut - restring would be about $50AU. 

Tension - is usually about 11/12kg.
So the nitty gritty is:

• If you string your own minus $20 off the price.
• If you are good enough to be sponsored, string your own, and get the strings at cost, so it is a proposition to use Technifibre. A portable stringing machine that will do the job costs minimum $200AU.  Pro model about $700AU.

I would give gut a try for durability, as that could be a good comprimise.

For those who do not get a feel, like playing a musical instrument, when they hit the ball, maybe save your money until you learn more finesse, as all the finer control probably will not really be appreciated until then.

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Not sure if people were clear on this one, but it was ME that was breaking strings every week, but one of the juniors I coach. I asked where the strings keep breaking and most of the time they break in the middle of the racket. A few times they've broke on the edge, which could be down to an awl cut or some frame nicks, but most of them going in the middle? Not really sure.

 

Out of interest. He broke his prince racket about 2 weeks ago, and has been using a wilson ntour for the past 2 weeks. He hasn't broke the strings in that yet - It has Ashaway Supernick in it!

ADZ

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Hey, I am even more convinced it is the cold weather.
I just spoke to Marion Jackman (14 yrs runnerup to Heather Mackay in World Champs), who recently leased a squash complex.
She has never broken strings, certainly not before breaking the frame, including over the counter sales too, so mostly just replaced the racket.  Basically that is my story too.
By the time the racket had a few dings at 10.10am on the frame it would not take a new restring either.

Just one more reply to come from a male top player before we come to a conclusion on this one.

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This breaking strings like this is all new to me.....must be the cold climate is all I can say!! 
And, maybe that is not as silly as it sounds, as many synthetic products do go very britle as they dry out. 
How old are the strings?  How long has the Agent had them in stock?   Did you buy them on special?
The sun will sure warp a racket and twist and break strings too in Australia especially if you leave it in the car.

The other things I would look at are

•  where are the strings breaking?  Example in the middle or near the frame where maybe a hole has not been cleaned out or where two strings go through the same hole
• Is the stringer stabbing the string with the awl.

I will go to higher opinion on this as I know a young fella who has just made the No. 1 in the Aust Junior Team and his Dad (a former top player) manages a centre so I will pick his brains in the next couple of days.  I will talk about the tensions as that may have some bearing on it as well.

Talk again soon

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Exactly, it's all down to preference.

The 305's were being used by one of the juniors in my club. Now he's learned how to hit the spots off the ball it's all he seems to want to do! He was having 305s put in and every other time I speak to him he's broken the strings! He uses the Prince More Dominant racket and doesn't have the strings overly tight. In honesty I'm not sure how he manages to break them so often, but he broke a set of Dunlop Dura-Ace strings when he borrowed a racket off me. I've used those things for months without breaking them before (and I play about 10-12hrs a week!!). He went thrrough an almost new racket-set in 15 minutes!! It must be some sort of mis-hitting in his swing!!

RIPPA?!?! ADVICE ON SWING CAUSING STRING-DAMAGE PLEASE?!?!

ADZ

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WHAT ??? TF 305 green lasted only a few hours of play ?! I played with these strings and they broke after 60-70 hrs of play (playing about 3-4 times a week). Nowadays I play with Ashaway Supernick - I bought them two months ago and they are still in perfect shape. Couldn´t the problem be rather in your tension ? (My tension is 10/9 kg) I suppose that higher tension leads to less durability.

Btw, TF305 compared to Ashaway : in my opinion TF305 is a bit better than Ashaway. More power, same feel I think. But surely it´s question of personal preferences :-)

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Well, as promised in another post, I'll put my (rather limited) experience of different string types here....

1) Ashaway Supernick (used in Head Ti140 racket). These strings have a lovely touch and give very good power, but durability is questionable. Not recommended for players who tend to slice or hack at the ball, as excessive string movement caused tends to break these strings easily.

2) e-Squash DuraWeave (used in e-Squash Carbon3 racket). I don't hit the ball overly hard, and play quite a bit of touch and placement in my shot selection. Despite this I broke TWO sets of these strings within 2 weeks (and then broke 3 rackets within the month!). Not a good experience. Strings seemed to have no feel on the ball (hense poor touch). Durability was obviously poor. Power was good but not the best encountered.

3) Dunlop Dura-Ace (used in most Dulop rackets - I have ICE Tour Beachill model). Personally I love these strings. They need to be broken-in slowly at first to avoid breaking them too quickly. Once broken-in, the power is very good, touch in above average (but not as good as the ashaway listed above). Durability is possibly the best I've ever seen from any string. A set of these normally needs to be replaced due to over-stretching more than breakage. I change a set every 4 to 6 months. BUT I cannot find like for like replacements in the UK/Europe. This means I have to replace these strings with........

4) Head Ti-Boast (used as a replacement for the Dunlop Dura-Ace in the ICE tour racket). These (after many hours searching), appear to be the closet match to the Dura-Ace strings. Similarly they need to be broken-in slowly (so don't use a new set in a match without using them for 1/2 hour before hand!). Once broken-in, the strings give a nicer touch than the Dura-Ace, but power is slightly less. Durability appears to be good, but I haven't yet had cause to change a set of these strings. I have "converted" 3 other club players from Technifibre (5), Ashaway (1) and Bow Brand(6) strings (detailed in this list).

5) Technifibre 305 neon green (Used in two different Prince rackets). These strings do give extreme power when used in a Prince racket (longer downstrings help?). Touch is pretty average and poorer than the TiBoast, Dura-Ace and Supernick (listed above). Durability is VERY poor on these strings. I know of someone who was breaking a set every 6 to 8 HOURS on court (1 set a week!?!? - HOW?!?). Have since tried them with Bow Brand and TiBoast with the latter being better for durability.

6) Bow Brand Powerplay (used in Dunlop HotMelt Pro Carbon and Prince TT). These strings have a similar touch to the Ashaway supernick and power is very good. Durability is definately better than most mentioned above, but not quite as good as the Dura-Ace or the Ti-Boast. Well worth a look if you like to feel the ball on the string-bed, and an excellant choice for someone who mixes power with touch-play.

 

Don't forget that the above is only my limited experience with the strings and different people have different opinions. I AM NOT A STRING EXPERT!

 

I hope that this might have helped someone (somewhere!)

ADZ

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I'm using Tecnifiber 305 and i'm very happy , Ashaway PowerNick 18 is another good one and E-squash too but I still prefer the 305 (It's used for Power , White , Thierry and many others )

Problably  Tec 305 is the most used Strings, if you go for others strings with more durability  they can perform ok at the begin but will lose the qualities and you will play with a "dead" racket.

Tec 305 will last until the end with all the qualities

Hope this helps

Fonseca

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Okay, let's try now about the strings.
Arthur, in my opinion, Ashaway PowerNick 18 strings are really TOP class, though are very sensitive and volnuerable, so no wonder you are forced to restring the racket often. In my case those stringing lasts for maximum 20 hours of game. Thanks godness I am smart enough to have two of Wilson nCode strung exactly the same.

According to my experience with the other strings, you should check DURABLE e-squash strings. Oliver and QM do pretty decent strings as well. One of my favourite strings was Head Perfect Power (coloured white). Obviously you can check out TF 305, the ones used by Lincou and Power.

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Sorry folks, it should not give you trouble any more

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I have changed these posts over although the bug is yet to be fixed - it is chopping off the last integer of the number 1001 to 100. I will check it out now.

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:-)

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Slavi I was going to be smart and cut and paste it, as Ithought, and guess what it is a BUG so I have
told our webmaster Raymond and he is going to fix it when he is back to his computer.

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Cut and Pasted from Slavi's comment that got misplaced.
As you want to go for durability - I advice E-squash strings. Absolutely stunning ones. just check the offer from www.sportdiscount.com
(e-squash strings are used by the most of the British national Squad, Anthony Ricketts etc).

I know your pains with Ashaway PowerNick :-D. I am forced to restring the rackets every 30 hours on court.

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BOTH OF THE ANSWER SHOULD HAVE BEEN APPEARING SOME OTHER PLACE THAN HERE! RAYMOND, please HEEEEEEEEEELPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

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Well, I do n ot understand the forum bugs but I did just answer for that question, Arthur. My recommendation for durable strings was e-squash™ PowerFibre™ STRING taken from www.sportdiscount.com

I used to play with esquash racket and strings and i have to say "respect" to that product.

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As you want to go for durability - I advice E-squash strings. Absolutely stunning ones. just check the offer from www.sportdiscount.com
(e-squash strings are used by the most of the British national Squad, Anthony Ricketts etc).

I know your pains with Ashaway PowerNick :-D. I am forced to restring the rackets every 30 hours on court.

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