Classis Frames and tight natural gut

[Frankc]

In some ways, nothing will ever feel so crisp and special as a wood frame of choice freshly strung with tight good gut. Thin natural gut seems to ring true for many of us. I remember that G. Malloy remarked after another Senior USTA Title that nothing beats thin, tight gut. Somewhere else I saw one pro from an earlier era bemoan that even earlier world class players had access to better natural gut. I remember well as regionally elite players that I knew in the wood era managed to get a set or two of special thin, top level stuff every so often. They would save it for big tournies - and definitely keep the package guarded closely. A good friend of mine, a talented engineer and player, maintains that natural gut by its composition is best suited to the standard head size and tight stringing pattern, if tight gut is your love. He goes on that perhaps only up to a size 85 (max) with a very tight pattern is gut, by nature, at its best.

Is thin, tight gut overrated for your love of the game? Is gut at its best in the smaller head sizes? By the way, it was special watching G. Malloy win the 65s Nationals many, many years ago. His precision with a mid sized woodie ( not sure if a Prince Woodie or a Golden Ace) and thin gut was an exhibition in precision. Brutal patterns and placements...

For me, I cannot find a better feel than a smaller, flexier frame and thin top quality gut - quite tight - especially serving...
Would appreciate your thoughts - is thin gut the gold standard?

 

[joe sch]

Agree and quite unknown to many players is that the other end of the spectrum is also quite wonderful, i.e. thick gauge gut and loose tension.
Im writing about 14..15g strung at like 40lbs.
Infact, sorta like playing a spaghetti strung racket but it has control.

 

[LeeD]

Well, tighter than 60 on MaxPly's wore out the head of those rackets within 2 string jobs, sometimes less.

 

[Frankc]

Yes, the feel of 18 gauge or thicker gauges is definitely unique. I remember well how some of our very best regional players went either way - tight 18 gauge on woodies or not so tight 15 gauge on woodies. With my local play, I liked the thicker gauge camp - a special feeling -almost a lot of string power that propelled the ball with great feel. You sorta had to time the flex of the wood platform with the string flex - very dynamic.

One of the best doubles regional players was a big server and used a heavy Maxply with real tight thin gut. He carried three frames for very real reasons - but that was some heavy serve.