If you watch The Tennis Channel, then you’ve undoubtedly seen the commercial for the String Thing. The string what? You know, the commercial where former world #8, ex-reality star, and all around good guy, Mark Philippoussis, says the unofficial slogan, “It’s a no brainer.”
So what exactly is The String Thing? And more importantly, does it work? And even more importantly, why would you want one?
As tennis players, I’m sure we’ve all tried to straighten out strings with our fingers, but not only did it take a while, the string never got as straight as we wanted. This simple device claims to do what your fingers never could, actually straighten your strings in just seconds. A few vertical swipes on the string bed and voila!
We were sent samples of this product weeks before it came out so we could test it out ourselves. So does it work? The short answer is yes. The long answer: it really depends on the type of string. We found that polyester strings didn’t need straightening; they pop back into place after each hit all on their own. Every other type of string like: multi-filaments, nylons and natural gut needed the String Thing treatment.
So why buy a String Thing? One word: spin. If you want to optimize the spin potential on your shots, then you want your strings to move at the moment of impact with the ball, and then snap back into place as the ball leaves the stringbed. If the string is already out of place, then you won’t get that snap back action, which means less spin.
Constructed from nearly indestructible plastic, made in the USA with versions for both dense and open string patterns, and at only $19.95, the String Thing is definitely worth trying out. Really, it’s a no brainer.