Tennis Strings On Other Sports Rackets? (4 Sports Compared)

Many racket sports require strings on their rackets, such as tennis, badminton, squash, racquetball, and you name it. I started my racket sports journey with badminton, but I love tennis and others as well.

After a while, I started to think about whether you can use tennis strings on other sports racquets as it would make things easier and even cheaper as I thought buying a reel of string. So, is it possible to use tennis strings on other sports racquets?

You can use tennis string for racquetball and squash rackets as they are found in the same thicknesses. However, tennis strings are meant for higher tensions than racquetball and squash, and the string pattern is different. This isn’t ideal. You can’t use tennis strings on badminton at all.

That being said, selecting the right kind of strings for your racket is very important, as the choice affects your speed, power, control, spin, comfort, feel, and durability.

Below you can see the tension and thickness ranges meant for each racket sport, which will give you a good general idea of why you can or can’t use tennis strings for other racquet sports.

Racket tension ranges for tennis, racquetball, squash, and badminton.

• Tennis racket tension range: 40-65lbs / 18-30kg
• Racquetball racquet tension range: 24-36lbs / 11kg-16kg
• Squash racket tension range: 22-36lbs / 10-16kg
• Badminton racket tension range: 17-30lbs+ / 8-14kg

Racket thickness (gauge) range for tennis, racquetball squash, and badminton.

• Tennis racket thickness range: 1.05mm – 1.41mm / 15-18 gauges
• Racquetball racket thickness range: 1.16mm – 1.35mm / 17-18 gauges
• Squash racket thickness range: 1.10mm – 1.30mm / 16-18 gauges
• Badminton racket thickness range: 0.66mm – 0.70mm / 21-22 gauges

In addition to the optimal tension and required thickness, there is the matter of string bed. The stringing will also vary as the racket head shape varies between tennis, racquetball, squash, and badminton. If you were to use the same methods for other sports as in tennis, the outcome wouldn’t be good.

For example, stringing a tennis racket is quite straightforward. However, badminton rackets need to have much more narrow string beds than tennis rackets. This would naturally affect your playing experience.

Now that you have learned the basics, I will go more in-depth into each racket sport and explain whether you can use tennis strings for it. Let’s start with racquetball.

Make sure that the tennis strings are within the thickness (gauge) range of the sport you are intending to use them for because the string needs to fit through the grommets.

Can You Use Tennis Strings for Racquetball Racquet?

You can use tennis strings for a racquetball racquet as they can be found in the same size range. Tennis strings are meant to be strung to 40-65lbs tension, whereas racquetball racquet to 24-36lbs. As the range varies completely, tennis strings in a racquetball racquet will decrease your performance.

For example, suppose you are a fan of power in racquetball (low tension and thin gauge), and you choose tennis strings that are meant for high control in tennis (high tension and thick gauge). In that case, the tension gap can be over 30lbs, making your desired playstyle very difficult, and you would not be satisfied.

That’s why racquetball strings are often the best choice, but there are some great tennis strings for racquetball.

You can use the same string choice guidelines for racquetball as you use for tennis. If you can find strings with a narrow gap between the optimal tension and gauge compared to your playstyle, you can find great tennis strings for racquetball as the size and materials are the same.

The great thing is that tennis strings will easily withstand the tension required for racquetball, as they are meant for higher tensions. This makes it possible to use tennis strings in racquetball racquets if you are smart about it.

Can You Use Tennis Strings for Squash Racket?

You can use tennis string for a squash racket because both strings can be found within the same gauge range. However, tennis strings are meant to be strung at higher tension, so be sure to adjust it accordingly for optimal squash tension within 22-36lbs.

As with racquetball strings, you must choose wisely by using proper string choice guidelines to take the optimal rules for squash into account. Refer back to the string thickness and tension part earlier in the article.

For example, you can find tennis strings at 15 gauge, and the squash range is between 16 to 18 gauges. So, don’t string 15 gauge strings to your squash racket, as the outcome will be far from ideal for squash.

Can You Use Tennis Strings for Badminton Racket?

Tennis strings on a badminton racket is a bad idea and often impossible. Tennis strings are twice the thickness of badminton strings, which would drastically worsen the playing experience and make the string job impossible, as there are many shared grommet holes in badminton stringing.

In addition, badminton strings are strung at the tension of 17-30lbs, whereas tennis strings to 40-65lbs. This gap is too wide in addition to the bigger thickness and stringing method.

There is much to learn about badminton strings and stringing. If you are interested in it, I highly encourage that you read my article about it as I have explained everything!

In conclusion, using tennis strings in a badminton racket is not possible.

Read also: Why Do Badminton Strings Break? (7 Reasons)

Can You Use Other Racquet Sport Strings for a Tennis Racket?

Generally, you can’t use racquetball, squash, or badminton strings on a tennis racket because the required tension for a tennis racket is considerably more than other sports strings are capable of. If you used other racket sport strings for a tennis racket, they would perform poorly and break very fast.

Technically, you could try to use the thickest squash or racquetball strings that are meant for 35lbs of tension on a tennis racket and string them to the lowest tennis tension of 40lbs. In this case, they could last quite well and even perform decently.

However, if you have better strings at your disposal and wouldn’t take an unnecessary risk of time, effort, and money, why would you?

Oh, and when it comes to badminton strings. They would probably snap on the first stroke you made as they are considerably higher in gauge (thinner) and meant for way less tension than tennis strings.

All things considered, I highly advise that you use only tennis strings on your tennis racket.