NEED STRING:spinny and easy on the arm

[dbcontrol]

Hey guys, after a string thats gonna treat my arm right due to previous injury and one that will provide me with ample spin potential. Im about a 5.0, a lot of spin, slice and top, all court game, not too worried about durability. Any help greatly appreciated.

[Bryan Aldridge]

Prince Topspin Plus 16 seems like it may work. It grips the ball quite well and is fairly soft. Don't expect it to last too long though...

If your looking for something softer, Alpha Gut 2000 17 is good, but breaks fast.

I also think Dunlop max comfort is an excellent value here.

What Racquet are you using?

[nViATi]

Prince Topspin Plus 16 seems like it may work. It grips the ball quite well and is fairly soft. Don't expect it to last too long though...

If your looking for something softer, Alpha Gut 2000 17 is good, but breaks fast.

I also think Dunlop max comfort is an excellent value here.

What Racquet are you using?
"Biography:
All Court
Current Racquet:
Babolat Pure Control Standard Team
Current String/Tension:
60lb Wilson Enduro Tour
Location:
Brisbane, Australia"
( i checked his profile)

[legolas]

prince topspin 16

[SageOfDeath]

NG (10 character limit)

[matchpoint54]

Yeah, try Prince Topspin 16. It's pretty soft and gave me a lot of spin.

[diredesire]

Natural gut is the string you should be using if price is not an issue. Its remarkably durable if you take care of it, although depending on the weather/climate in your area, this may not be the season to make the switch ;)

If it's cold and wet where you're at, try Technifibre NRG2 or Laserfibre Supreme

If those are a little on the expensive side, there is always Tecnifibre 515 SPL, as well as some Wilson sensation/NXT strings to try

[Radical Shot]

Big Banger Ace. It gives the spin and is very soft.

[Kevo]

I wouldn't call Ace soft. It certainly does give the spin though.

[LafayetteHitter]

How is Ace 18 compared to Alu 16? I've been thinking of giving Ace a whirl.

[Radical Shot]

I have been a long time user of ALU, but as soon as my last reel of it runs out, I'm going ACE all the way.

Side by side in my Pro Staff 6.0 85, Ace transforms this racquet like no other string, including ALU which I never thought could be outdone. By comparison, ACE is smoother, every big as crisp, more comfortable while still retaining a great feel, control and power. The best part for me is the incredible bite you can get on the ball to deliver lots of spin when you need it.

Ace doesn't last as long, but that's OK for me. I string my own racquets, and I usually cut ALU out (all polys in fact) when they go dead.

Give Ace a go and see if it works for you.

[dbcontrol]

thanks for the help guys. I was looking at the Technifibre NRG 2 string, any other opinions on how it plays? Haven't really considered prince topspin. Gut is out of my price range i feel. Big banger ACE seems like a consistent suggestion, may perhaps check that out.

[fishuuuuu]

I really like Gosen OG Micro 18. It's only about 3 dollars a set.

[dbcontrol]

How does Big Banger ALU rough play? It seems a popular choice and to offer spin. Is it particularly harsh on the arm, considering I'm already playing with a relatively stiff frame (babolat pure control standard)

[diredesire]

How does Big Banger ALU rough play? It seems a popular choice and to offer spin. Is it particularly harsh on the arm, considering I'm already playing with a relatively stiff frame (babolat pure control standard)

If you're looking for an arm friendly string, all luxilons are OUT.

The ALU, IMO, is the most friendly on the arm, the TiMO and Ace come after that. It might have been the frame i played with it in, but i HATED the ace when i had it in my frame. Extremely muted, spin potential was not as good as the gauge of the string would suggest, and the feel was pretty horrible. It was pretty harsh on my arm, arguably TiMO is harsher... I loved TiMO the best, but it is fairly uncomfortable on the arm. The control is unparalleled and the feel is less muted than all other BB strings.

IMO Alu isn't as great a string as people make it out to be. It plays slightly muted, the power is good, spin is good, but feel isn't all that great. It's the most comfortable of the three i mentioned by a long shot, though.

IF arm comfort is truly one of your criteria, you need to look at a soft synthetic, most likely a multifilament. Gut is obviously the best bet for arm safety, and you actually might consider hybriding it. If you buy one set of Tonic ~$24 and a set of Forten Sweet 16 ~$3 you have 2 hybrids at 13.50 a pop. That is a great price for the performance you're bound to get. That price is near the price of a full set of NRG2 ($12.50)

Gut is an extremely durable string given good conditions and good care. If you're a pretty big string breaker, it won't last much much longer than a good multifilament/syn gut, but a few string savers can really prolong the life. I think if you're willing to make the initial investment and take good care of the gut (don't leave it in your trunk overnight, don't get it wet, keep it at room temperature whenever possible), i think that might be the best route.

I haven't mentioned either the extreme pocketing ability of gut. It's pretty out of this world. If spin is what you want, pocketing is definitely an important aspect of string. It's either dwell time/pocketing or extremely stiff strings for that extra "bite"

[dbcontrol]

hmmm, although arm friendliness is important, i've only ever had minor arm pain, just tryin to be careful. How would my current string (wilson enduro tour) rate on the arm friendliness scale? My major concern is playability, mostly spin potential, for my next reel of string.

[diredesire]

hmmm, although arm friendliness is important, i've only ever had minor arm pain, just tryin to be careful. How would my current string (wilson enduro tour) rate on the arm friendliness scale? My major concern is playability, mostly spin potential, for my next reel of string.

Ah, you're playing with enduro tour. As far as the luxilon's go, i'd rate it similarly to Alu, it's a poly, so it's not high on the arm friendliness scale, although there are plenty of strings out there that are worse.

If you're looking to buy reels of string, i think Gosen OG-Sheep Micro Generic reels in Natural color are the way to go, i think the colored versions are slightly stiffer and are less resilient (this is judging by the 17 gauge varieties only).

If you are liking your poly jobs, you should look into trying the Gosen Polylon SP, it looks to be a great value string. I need to put some time on my strings before really giving an in depth review, though.

It really depends, i suggest not limiting your choices by buying a reel unless you feel the savings (which are typically not much) is really worth it. I'm not really positive what to suggest to you anymore, as i figured arm friendliness was high on your priority list, and then finding out you already play with a poly :)

[Zverev]

Head RIP Control is great at spin and pretty easy on the arm.
Durability is not great for me, but I am using 17 gauge.
If someone doesn't mind 16 gauge, things might be different, durability wise.

[dbcontrol]

Sorry diredesire, didn't mean to confuse!! So you say that Big Banger ALU is similar to enduro tour? What about the rough? How does it play in comparison? Again, this string (BB ALU rough) seems to be a popular choice, what's so outstanding about it? My coach uses it and it lasted him a long time and he says it plays like a dream. Any comments?

[diredesire]

Sorry diredesire, didn't mean to confuse!! So you say that Big Banger ALU is similar to enduro tour? What about the rough? How does it play in comparison? Again, this string (BB ALU rough) seems to be a popular choice, what's so outstanding about it? My coach uses it and it lasted him a long time and he says it plays like a dream. Any comments?

Not a problem. I'm currently having a bit of arm pain, so i'm in the mindset to recommend arm friendly strings ;)

I'd say the BB Alu is very similar to the Enduro Tour, IMO, the Enduro Tour is Wilson's attempt at cloning the BB Alu, but now that they're the exclusive distributor, i imagine you'll eventually have to make the switch anyways ;)

The rough, IMO, is not very different from the Original Alu, the texture eventually wears off anyways. The spin potential gain is really next to none, as the POTENTIAL for spin from all BB strings is excellent. They dont move much after they've settled in after stringing (they get very very tiny indents/notches in the string and they seem to "hook" onto each other). If you're looking to buy a reel i don't see any gain in buying a reel of rough over a reel of original. I'd go with whatever sounds cooler, or is cheaper ;P

As far as the BB series, IMO, the Alu is the way to go for your criteria. I played the best with TiMO, but i can't possibly see myself switching to it for long term usage. Simply put, the control was absolutely unreal, but the comfort level was sub-par. The Alu is the most all around string in the series, IMO. I don't have extensive play time with the original, but from what i have read, the Alu is better than the original in all aspects. I find it funny that some people find that Ace is such a great string, because i didn't like it much at all. I've only played with it twice, but i dont feel the need to go back to it. I don't really like super-thin strings, so that may be the culprit. Anyways, don't rely solely on my accounts of these strings, that's the great part about the boards!

[theace21]

I like Gosen Sheep Micro 17. I bought a couple sets of 18, but I not tried it yet.

[dbcontrol]

Many thanks for all the assisstance guys. Probably will go with the ALU power rough. However if anyone could provide a comparision between the ALU power and the rough it would be greatly appreciated, thanks again.

[Radical Shot]

Here's my review after extensive testing of ALU vs ALU Rough.

Results = No difference!

That's it. Go with Ace.