Squash String Selection Guide

How to choose a squash string

Start with the gauge. Squash strings are sold by gauge number: 18 is the thin one (1.10 to 1.18 mm), 17 the thick one (1.24 to 1.25 mm), and 17L sits between at 1.20 mm. The makers say the same thing about it: Ashaway offers its 18 gauge for a softer feel and control and its 17 gauge for durability and string life, and Tecnifibre notes that the larger the diameter, the more resistant the string.

Then the construction. A multifilament is built from many fine fibres and is the softer-feeling kind. A monofilament core, as in Ashaway's PowerNick, is stiffer; Ashaway offers it for power and durability.

Mind the tension. Each maker gives a maximum stringing tension, shown on every card. Ashaway advises stringing its Zyex strings 10 to 15 per cent looser than a nylon string.

The scores on this page compare the strings we carry with each other. Our estimates, on 0 to 100. They start from the scores published by String Doctor, a stringing service, and from our own experience stringing these strings; they are not the manufacturers' figures and not laboratory measurements. See every set in squash string sets.