Badminton String Gauge Explained: 0.61 mm to 0.70 mm

Last checked: August 2026 · Written by the player-led team at Badminton House

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What the number on the packet means

Gauge is the string's diameter, printed in millimetres directly on the spec sheet. Across the manufacturer product pages checked for this guide, most badminton string gauges run from about 0.61 mm (the crosses in a hybrid string set) to 0.70 mm; one Durability-labelled string checked runs notably thicker, at 0.86 mm.

Because the string itself is so thin, a difference of one or two hundredths of a millimetre is a large proportional change in cross-section, which is why gauge sits on its own line on every spec sheet rather than being rounded off. The table below groups the checked range by the category label manufacturers print next to each gauge.

Some spec sheets also print a second label: a gauge number such as 20, 21 or 22, alongside or instead of the millimetre figure. A thicker string is typically the lower number and a thinner string the higher one, but no manufacturer page checked for this guide published an exact millimetre-to-gauge-number conversion. Treat the millimetre figure as the reliable one and a printed gauge number as a rough cross-reference, not a substitute.

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What gauge actually changes on court

Gauge changes three things: how much the string bed stretches and rebounds off contact, how much material there is to resist abrasion, and which marketing category a manufacturer prints on the packet. Only the abrasion effect is closer to a measurement; the feel description and the category name are the manufacturer's own wording, not an independent test result.

Two manufacturers file their ranges the same way. One manufacturer's own gauge breakdown groups its thickest strings under Durability, its middle gauge under Control, and its thinnest strings under High Resilience. Another manufacturer's Durability category page lists only strings at 0.68 mm or thicker, up to 0.86 mm for the thickest one. Neither company publishes a break count or a wear-test result next to those labels: Durability, Control, Quick Repulsion and High Resilience are catalogue categories built around a gauge, not lab results, and gauge in millimetres is the one part of the label you can check yourself with a caliper.

The "trampoline" language brands use for thinner gauges describes a real mechanical effect: a thinner string stretches and rebounds more per hit, which is also why it wears out faster. What none of the sources checked for this guide provide is a number for how much longer a thicker string actually lasts on court. Treat a specific percentage claim about string life as marketing until it names a test method, because none of the manufacturers whose own spec sheets were checked here published one either.

Gauge is only one construction variable. Core material, jacket weave and coating change feel and wear too, sometimes by more than gauge alone changes them; our guide to string construction and filament types covers those separately from diameter.

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Why gauge and tension interact

Gauge and tension push in the same direction, so combining them compounds the effect. A thin string strung tight is the shortest-lived setup in the matrix below; a thick string strung at a lower or moderate tension is the longest-lived, and the reason is mechanical, not a manufacturer opinion.

This interaction is documented outside marketing copy. A stringing-supplies manufacturer's own breakage guidance states that breakage is common "due to the increasing popularity of thinner strings and high stringing tensions" together, and that lower tension reduces the problem "as will the use of a thicker string," treating the two as separate, additive fixes rather than one universal answer.

The mechanism behind that is straightforward. An independent stringer's guidance on badminton strings explains that at the same tension setting on a stringing machine, "a thinner string is stretched more than a thick one, so the thin string behaves as if it's tighter." Dropping to a thinner gauge without lowering the tension setting effectively raises the tension you are playing with, even though the number on the machine has not moved.

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Choosing a gauge from your breakage history

Your own breakage history is a better guide than a general recommendation, because it already reflects your swing, your mishit rate and how hard your regular games are played. Three patterns cover most players: strings that snap within about three weeks, strings that last a full season, and strings that almost never break.

Change one variable at a time. If gauge and tension both move on the same restring, a string that lasts longer will not tell you whether the extra life came from the thicker string, the lower tension, or both, and you are guessing again at your next restring.

If frequent breakage is your main problem and you would rather follow a specific recommendation than a gauge range, our guide to the most durable badminton strings names durability-focused picks; this guide stays on gauge as the one variable.

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What gauge cannot fix

Gauge only changes how much material is available to wear through. It does not fix a mishit habit, a rough or chipped grommet, or a racket that is holding tension unevenly. A thicker string on a racket with one of those problems still breaks in the same place, just after a few more sessions.

Location matters more than diameter for where a string actually fails: most breaks happen on one of the four central main strings, within an inch or two of the racket's head, and a mishit outside the sweet spot loads a section of string that was never built to take that impact. Moving to a thicker gauge slows the wear underneath a clean swing. It does not stop a swing that keeps finding the frame instead of the sweet spot, and no gauge change will fix a grommet that is already cutting into the string on every cross.