Okay, so I kept seeing Mannarino play, you know? The guy with the really flat shots and that kinda effortless style, but he gets the job done. Got me curious. Then I heard about his racquet setup, specifically the crazy low string tension he uses. Like, seriously low. People were saying it’s like playing with a trampoline.
I thought, this sounds ridiculous, probably feels awful. But part of me, the tinkering part, just had to try it. You know how it is. You see something weird that works for someone, and you gotta see for yourself. So, I decided to copy his setup, or get as close as I could.
Finding the Gear and Stringing It Up
First step, figuring out what he actually uses. Turns out it’s not some super fancy, brand new model most times. He seems to stick with older stuff he likes. Finding the exact frame wasn’t the point for me, though. It was the string tension. I needed something flexible enough to handle it.
I took one of my older frames, one I wasn’t too worried about messing up, down to my usual stringer. Now, telling him I wanted it strung somewhere in the 20s lbs range… well, he looked at me like I had three heads. He usually strings mine in the 50s! He warned me it’d feel weird, control would be gone, might even damage the strings faster. I told him, yeah, I know, just wanna try this Mannarino thing.
He shrugged and did it. Picking up the racquet afterwards felt… strange. Squeezing the strings, they felt mushy, super loose. It was definitely different.
First Hits and Feeling It Out
Hitting the court was the real test. The first few balls? Wow. Felt like launching rockets. The ball just exploded off the strings with almost no effort. That trampoline comparison? Pretty accurate. It pocketed the ball like crazy. Power was easy to find, maybe too easy.
But control? Oh man. That was a whole other story. My usual shots were flying long, like way long. Trying to hit angles felt super unpredictable. Spin was harder to generate too, because the ball didn’t stay on the strings the same way. Everything felt kinda vague, like I wasn’t totally connected to where the ball was going.
I spent a good hour just trying to adjust. Had to really shorten my swing, focus on hitting flatter, more like Mannarino does, I guess. It forced me to change my game quite a bit just to keep the ball in the court. It was definitely a learning experience.
- Pros: Easy power, very comfortable feel on the arm, unique ball pocketing.
- Cons: Control is tough, hard to generate heavy spin, requires big swing adjustments.
Final Thoughts
So, after messing around with it for a few sessions, I kinda get why someone like Mannarino might use it. If you hit flat, have amazing timing, and can guide the ball with feel rather than brute spin, maybe it works. It definitely saves the arm.
For me? Probably not sticking with it. It was fun to try, a real eye-opener into how different setups can feel. But I rely on spin and feeling connected for control, and that low tension just took too much of that away. It’s wild to think he competes at the highest level like that. Shows you how much personal feel and adaptation matters in this game. Definitely an interesting experiment, glad I tried it, but I’ll be going back to my normal setup next time I restring.
