Modern Material Allows For Thinner, More Playable Strings
Ashaway Racket Strings Made from Zyex®FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Rankin
105 Hemlock Drive
East Greenwich, RI,
(401) 884-4090
tomr@trankin.com
07/12/04 - When the Zyex Project Team (Gloucester, UK) manufactured a new high-temperature, engineering grade polymer known as PEEK (polyetheretherketone) in 1987, the R&D department at Ashaway Racket Strings saw the potential. While Zyex went to work refining the raw material, Ashaway developed a way to incorporate the material into their braiding process. Years of effort on both sides paid off with a line of thin, high performance racket strings that offer a unique combination of playability, liveliness, tension stability, and durability.
"We had the know-how and background to work with this material when it came on the market," said Steven Crandall, Vice President of Marketing at Ashaway Racket Strings. "We adapted our proprietary multifiber processing techniques—which we've used for years to make medical and ophthalmological suture thread—to manufacture racket strings from Zyex®."
Tennis, racquetball and squash racket strings made with this highly technical material offer a wide variety of benefits previously unattainable in a single string. The strings made from Zyex fibers exhibit playing characteristics closest to natural gut, such as responsiveness. However, unlike gut, this synthetic material will also maintain high performance levels in extreme temperature and humidity conditions and has high tension stability.
"Zyex does not lose tension as quickly as nylon, or gut for that matter, so a racket should be strung at 10-15% less initial tension than nylon to achieve the desired result at playing time," Crandall explained. "Zyex also maintains a set tension for long periods. That means professional players can rely on their backup rackets to be in prime playing condition if they need to switch mid-game. Also, amateur players don't necessarily have to restring at the beginning of a new season just because their strings have gone flat sitting in the hall closet."
Zyex's durable, slender fibers allow for the construction of ultra-narrow gauge racket strings, which offer superior feel and ball control. "Improvements in filament denier, purity and packing density now make it possible to manufacture strings in narrower gauges, for a string that offers power and durability in one," said Crandall.
Ashaway achieves these narrower gauges with a three-layer construction that incorporates a thin but highly packed multifilament Zyex core, a braided nylon covering to provide additional strength for a long-playing life, and a special coating to unify the structure and eliminate movement and "sawing" at the crosses. This construction combines playability, liveliness, dynamic stiffness and durability for thin strings that provide superior grab and feel for top spin and touch shots.
Ashaway's Zyex fiber family of strings includes: the Dynamite® line of tennis strings, available in 16- and 17-gauge; the PowerNick® line of squash strings, available in 17- and 18-gauge; and the PowerKill® line of racquetball strings, available in 16- and 17-gauge.
Ashaway Racket Strings are made by Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co., the only U.S.-based manufacturer of string for squash, tennis, racquetball, and badminton. Operated by the Crandall family since 1824, Ashaway has been making racket strings since 1949, and is responsible for several important technical innovations. Ashaway is the Official String of the United States Racquetball Association and the International Racquetball Tour. Ashaway is also the Official String of the Professional Squash Association and Women's International Squash Players Association. Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co. also makes braided products for medical and industrial applications.
For additional information on Ashaway Racket Strings, contact: Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co., P.O. Box 549, Ashaway, RI 02804 USA. Telephone: (800) 556-7260 (U.S. only) or
+1 (401) 377-2221. Fax: +1 (401) 377-9091. Email: sales@ashawayusa.com.
Website: www.ashawayusa.com.
Links:
www.ashawayusa.com
