In 2016, the British professional tennis player Andy Murray was ranked as the world's number one. It was an incredible achievement by any standard – made even more remarkable by the fact that he did this during a period considered to be one of the strongest in the sport's history, competing against the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to name just a few. Yet five years previously, he had been regarded as a talented outsider who entered but never won the major tournaments.

2016年，英国职业网球运动员安迪·穆雷(Andy Murray)被评为世界第一。无论以何种标准衡量，这都是一项令人难以置信的成就，更令人惊叹的是，他在被认为是网球历史上最强大的时期之一取得了这一成就，与拉斐尔·纳达尔、罗杰·费德勒和诺瓦克·德约科维奇等人竞争。然而，五年前，他被认为是一个有天赋的局外人，参加了重大比赛，但从未赢得过冠军。

Of the changes that account for this transformation, one was visible and widely publicised: in 2011, Murray invited former number one player Ivan Lendl onto his coaching team – a valuable addition that had a visible impact on the player's playing style. Another change was so subtle as to pass more or less unnoticed. Like many players, Murray has long preferred a racket that consists of two types of string: one for the mains (verticals) and another for the crosses (horizontals). While he continued to use natural string in the crosses, in 2012 he switched to a synthetic string for the mains. A small change, perhaps, but its importance should not be underestimated.

在促成这一转变的变化中，有一个是显而易见的，并且被广泛宣传:2011年，穆雷邀请了前头号球员伊万·伦德尔加入他的教练团队——这是一个有价值的补充，对球员的比赛风格产生了明显的影响。另一个变化非常微妙，几乎没有人注意到。像许多球员一样，穆雷长期以来一直喜欢用两种线组成的球拍:一种是主线(垂直)，另一种是十字线(水平)。虽然他继续在十字架上使用天然线，但在2012年，他改用合成线作为主线。这也许是一个小小的变化，但其重要性不应被低估。

The modification that Murray made is just one of a number of options available to players looking to tweak their rackets in order to improve their games. 'Touring professionals have their rackets customised to their specific needs,' says Colin Triplow, a UK-based professional racket stringer. 'It's a highly important part of performance maximisation.' Consequently, the specific rackets used by the world's elite are not actually readily available to the public; rather, each racket is individually made to suit the player who uses it. Take the US professional tennis players Mike and Bob Bryan, for example: 'We're very particular with our racket specifications,' they say. 'All our rackets are sent from our manufacturer to Tampa, Florida, where our frames go through a . . . thorough customisation process.' They explain how they have adjusted not only racket length, but even experimented with different kinds of paint. The rackets they use now weigh more than the average model and also have a denser string pattern (i.e. more crosses and mains).

穆雷所做的修改只是球员们为了提高比赛水平而调整球拍的众多选择之一。英国专业球拍弦乐手科林•特里普罗(Colin Triplow)说:“专业的巡回赛选手会根据自己的具体需求定制球拍。”“这是性能最大化的一个非常重要的部分。因此，世界精英们使用的特定球拍实际上并不容易向公众开放;相反，每个球拍都是单独制造的，以适合使用它的球员。以美国职业网球运动员迈克·布莱恩和鲍勃·布莱恩为例，他们说:“我们对球拍的规格非常挑剔。”“我们所有的球拍都是从我们的制造商送到佛罗里达州坦帕市的，在那里我们的球拍架要经过一个……彻底的定制过程。他们解释说，他们不仅调整了球拍的长度，甚至还尝试了不同种类的油漆。他们现在使用的球拍比一般型号更重，也有更密集的弦模式(即更多的交叉和主)。

The primary reason for these modifications is simple: as the line between winning and losing becomes thinner and thinner, even these slight changes become more and more important. As a result, players and their teams are becoming increasingly creative with the modifications to their rackets as they look to maximise their competitive advantage.

做出这些修改的主要原因很简单:随着输赢之间的界限变得越来越模糊，即使是这些微小的改变也会变得越来越重要。因此，球员和他们的球队在修改球拍方面变得越来越有创意，因为他们希望最大限度地提高自己的竞争优势。

Racket modifications mainly date back to the 1970s, when the amateur German tennis playerWerner Fischer started playing with the so-called spaghetti-strung racket. It created a string bed that generated so much topspin that it was quickly banned by the International Tennis Federation. However, within a decade or two, racket modification became a regularity. Today it is, in many ways, an aspect of the game that is equal insignificance to nutrition or training.

球拍的修改主要可以追溯到20世纪70年代，当时德国业余网球运动员维尔纳·菲舍尔(werner Fischer)开始使用所谓的意大利面线球拍。它创造了一个产生太多上旋球的线床，很快就被国际网球联合会禁止了。然而，在十年或二十年之内，球拍的修改成为一种规律。今天，在许多方面，这是一个与营养或训练同等重要的游戏方面。

Modifications can be divided into two categories: those to the string bed and those to the racket frame. The former is far more common than the latter: the choice of the strings and the tension with which they are installed is something that nearly all professional players experiment with. They will continually change it depending on various factors including the court surface, climatic conditions, and game styles. Some will even change it depending on how they feel at the time.

修改可以分为两类:对球拍床的修改和对球拍架的修改。前者比后者更常见:弦乐的选择和它们安装的张力是几乎所有职业球员都尝试过的东西。他们会根据各种因素，包括场地、气候条件和比赛风格，不断地改变它。有些人甚至会根据他们当时的感受来改变它。

At one time, all tennis rackets were strung with natural gut made from the outer layer of sheep or cow intestines. This all changed in the early 1990s with the development of synthetic strings that were cheaper and more durable. They are made from three materials: nylon (relatively durable and affordable), Kevlar (too stiff to be used alone) or co-polyester (polyester combined with additives that enhance its performance). Even so, many professional players continue to use a 'hybrid set-up', where a combination of both synthetic and natural strings are used.

曾经，所有的网球拍都是用羊或牛肠子外层制成的天然肠子串成的。20世纪90年代初，随着合成琴弦的发展，这一切都发生了变化，合成琴弦更便宜，更耐用。它们由三种材料制成:尼龙(相对耐用且价格合理)，凯夫拉(太硬而不能单独使用)或共聚酯(聚酯与增强其性能的添加剂结合)。即便如此，许多职业演奏者仍然使用“混合设置”，即使用合成弦和天然弦的组合。

Of the synthetics, co-polyester is by far the most widely used. It's a perfect fit for the style of tennis now played, where players tend to battle it out from the back of the court rather than coming to the net. Studies indicate that the average spin from a co-polyester string is 25% greater than that from natural string or other synthetics. In a sense, the development of co-polyester strings has revolutionised the game.

在合成材料中，共聚酯是迄今为止使用最广泛的。这非常适合现在的网球比赛风格，球员们倾向于在球场后面拼抢，而不是来到网前。研究表明，共聚酯纤维的平均纺丝比天然纤维或其他合成纤维的纺丝高25%。从某种意义上说，共聚酯线的发展彻底改变了这项运动。

However, many players go beyond these basic adjustments to the strings and make changes to the racket frame itself. For example, much of the serving power of US professional player Pete Sampras was attributed to the addition of four to five lead weights onto his rackets, and today many professionals have the weight adjusted during the manufacturing process.

然而，许多球员超越了这些基本的调整，以弦和改变拍架本身。例如，美国职业球员桑普拉斯(Pete Sampras)的发球能力很大程度上要归功于他在球拍上加了4到5个铅块，如今许多职业球员在球拍制造过程中都对铅块进行了调整。

Other changes to the frame involve the handle. Players have individual preferences for the shape of the handle and some will have the handle of one racket moulded onto the frame of a different racket. Other players make different changes. The professional Portuguese player Gonçalo Oliveira replaced the original grips of his rackets with something thinner because they had previously felt uncomfortable to hold.<

对框架的其他更改涉及句柄。选手们对拍柄的形状有个人的喜好，有些人会把一种球拍的拍柄装在另一种球拍的框架上。其他玩家会做出不同的改变。葡萄牙职业选手gonalalo Oliveira用更薄的东西替换了原来的球拍握把，因为之前的握把感觉不舒服。

Racket customisation and modification have pushed the standards of the game to greater levels that few could have anticipated in the days of natural strings and heavy, wooden frames, and it's exciting to see what further developments there will be in the future.

球拍的定制和修改已经将比赛的标准推向了更高的水平，这是在自然球拍和沉重的木制框架的日子里很少有人能预料到的，未来会有什么进一步的发展令人兴奋。