Do you prefer full Natural Gut or hybrid of NG with...

[sidzej]

As the title says, please respond to the question:

Do you prefer full bed of natural gut or you prefer to hybrid the gut with other strings?

If you prefer hybrid, please explain briefly your reasons:

Is it purely cost issue (ie. you would prefer full bed in terms of playing characteristics, but you want to save $ on your setup)

or

Is it also a playability issue (you want to tame down power of nat gut, get extra spin, etc...and that's why you hybrid with poly, syn gut, multi...)?

 

[rudester]

I have been experimenting with full natural gut and hybrid with a poly for years, I do believe that i prefer the Hybride for spin and control, however i have a hard time reconciling the fact that the poly will lose tension very quickly and the natural gut maintains playability for a long long time. So what i have decided to use full natural gut in most cases and if i have a tournament coming up i will hybrid. Just seems like a waste to use a half set of gut when the other half of the setup will not maintain playability as long.

 

[smack that]

natural gut and lux alu rough with gut in mains = <3

 

[scotus]

I have a sensitive arm.

So I use full natural gut for drills and hitting around.

But I use gut/poly hybrid for matches, so I can have a better margin for errors.

 

[jim e]

I use a full bed of VS gut, as I am not your typical string breaker, as I hit a relatively flat ball, so the strings last a great long time for me.I prefer the feel, comfort, and power of all gut, and with this set up, the strings plays well until it breaks and thats a long long time for me.

 

[Ron Insana]

Natural gut on the mains to provide the dominant feel, power and spin; an expensive co-poly on the crosses to provide a firm string bed to prevent the gut from trampolining. I just tried natural gut for the first time this week (Babolat VS 16) and I actually find it too springy and soft. I can't really make use of the power because if I hit out, the ball will fly out of control. I am only trying gut for its consistent playing characteristics. I am looking for a different, stiffer brand of gut with better control.

 

[ClubHoUno]

I prefer Vs nat gut mains and Luxilon Alu Power in the crosses.

This is my 'go to setup' in all my racquets. During cold winter months, I sometimes use a full job of VS NAT GUT, but I much prefer the Gut Lux blend.

I break a full nat GUT job in 12-15 hours, and a hybrid of VS TEAM nat gut mains and Luxilon Alu Power crosses last me 8-10 before I cut it out.

Remember that when you play a copoly in the crosses only with a nat GUT in the mains, the tear and wear on the Luxilon poly in the crosses is minimal, so it will stay fresh for longer time that way.

So for me a full nat GUT job is not that more economical to use compared to a gut mains/poly cross hybrid.

 

[nomie]

Gut mains with a control string like Head FXP control, which is a poly/nylon combo with good durability to match the gut, to reign in the gut's power a bit.

 

[flashfire276]

natural gut and lux alu rough with gut in mains = <3

Best hybrid ever made!!!

Honestly guys, Natural gut (I personally recommend Babolat VS) and Luxilon BB Alu (Rough or Power) is probably the best set up ever thought of. Just a bit pricey though....

 

[sidzej]

It seems there is a clear preference for gut/co-poly hybrid so far. This hybrid might actually be more expensive than full gut, as you need to cut it out when your co-poly goes dead (ca. 10 hours). Especially if you use expensive co-poly, such as Lux...

As the cost is not really an issue, I am looking for a comfy setup (for my TE history) while maintaining as much control as I can.

I've tried so far:

- full gut (at low tensions only and it was way too powerful)
- gut with synt gut (my prefered setup so far)
- gut with co-poly (much better control, but I am worried to use it frequently as I had TE problems last year)

It seems that I could still try full bed of nat gut at higher tension (ca. 54 lbs), I have got VS Team 17g, Tonic 15g and Gaucho 16g (feels more like 15g) or I can take a risk and try again gut/co-poly (softer one) strung at lower tensions (46 lbs).

I don't have many co-poly's to choose from, but I should find at home at least MSV Focus, Black code, SPPP, CyberBlue, PLII and Spiky Shark. If I exclude textured ones, I am left with SPPP, CyberBlue and PLII.

 

[ClubHoUno]

It seems there is a clear preference for gut/co-poly hybrid so far. This hybrid might actually be more expensive than full gut, as you need to cut it out when your co-poly goes dead (ca. 10 hours). Especially if you use expensive co-poly, such as Lux...

As the cost is not really an issue, I am looking for a comfy setup (for my TE history) while maintaining as much control as I can.

I've tried so far:

- full gut (at low tensions only and it was way too powerful)
- gut with synt gut (my prefered setup so far)
- gut with co-poly (much better control, but I am worried to use it frequently as I had TE problems last year)

It seems that I could still try full bed of nat gut at higher tension (ca. 54 lbs), I have got VS Team 17g, Tonic 15g and Gaucho 16g (feels more like 15g) or I can take a risk and try again gut/co-poly (softer one) strung at lower tensions (46 lbs).

I don't have many co-poly's to choose from, but I should find at home at least MSV Focus, Black code, SPPP, CyberBlue, PLII and Spiky Shark. If I exclude textured ones, I am left with SPPP, CyberBlue and PLII.

If you have had TE trouble, avoid poly mains by all means.

Use nat gut mains and poly crosses.....instead. String the gut 4-5 lbs higher than the poly cross.
Poly mains feels dead sooner than if you hybrid the same poly in the crosses with nat gut mains.....

Try out different poly's and decide which one you prefer. For durability avoid a textured poly in the crosses.
90% of the spin comes from the mains anyway and the the textured poly will cut into the gut mains and ruin it faster, than if you use a smooth poly in the crosses.....

Hyperion is a soft muted feeling powerful poly you could try.
Luxilon alu power and Rough are more crisp feeling but stiffer on the arm.

You should also consider Luxilon TIMO and WeissCannon Silverstring. Proline II is also pretty good.
Luxilon Big Ace is also a very nice thin smooth CoPoly.

Buy some poly sets and test them out before you decide.

 

[martini1]

I use VS and ALU Power at the moment. ALU power as main. I found the ALU power starts loosing some tension rather quickly, as the outside ones are already moving around a little bit. Before that I had the VS Hurricane pro set. I don't break strings and just restrung after about a year. I have a bag of tonic NG and I may try that as a full set next time.

 

[mrmo1115]

Pro Hurricane Tour 16/ VS NG 16

 

[vincent_tennis]

Gut Mains with Lux Crosses @ 52 in k90, awesome bite, power and control.

 

[meowmix]

Simply because it's cheaper than full gut, my vote goes to gut+synthetic cross.

 

[Mig1NC]

Simply because it's cheaper than full gut, my vote goes to gut+synthetic cross.

How does that compare to a full bed in terms of longevity and playing characteristics?

 

[Rabbit]

I am looking for a different, stiffer brand of gut with better control.

Sounds like Pacific Classic or Tough Gut, you should give them a try.

I have been playing full gut again now for over the last year and I love it. When last I restrung my C10s, I did them with a hybrid. I took a lesson and used one of those frames. My impression was that it played a bit firmer, but long term, we'll have to see. It is going to be difficult indeed to beat a full gut set up.

I have been using Pacific Classic at 61, but my hybrid was Classic in the mains at 58 and Xtreme in the crosses at 55. I'm still going to give Imperial a whirl at 58. I do love the look and Imperial is as comfortable/powerful as Prime.

 

[meowmix]

How does that compare to a full bed in terms of longevity and playing characteristics?

The gut is lasting me a nice long time... I think my current Wilson NG/E-force fluid 18 has around 12 hours on it. I'm starting to worry that I might snap the strings... but it's the crosses that are probably going to give out on me first. If you do a synthetic gut hybrid, make sure that your crosses are relatively soft- a thin stiff string will cut into your gut.

As for playability... it's a heck of a lot better than anything other than full gut. You don't quite get that full pocketing that you have with full NG, and you don't have all of that rich feel, but it's not bad at all. Considering that I'm (basically) paying 1/2 price for 90% of the feel, I'm quite willing.

 

[drakulie]

Nothing beats a full set of full gut. But alas, it doesn't last me very long.

 

[t3Nn1sn0ob]

I play with the PS ltd GT and I've tried VS team 17g mains with revenge 17 and that wasn't too bad but nothing beats PHT 17 with VS team 16

 

[greenfan]

For the first time I used the hybrid Babolat VS Gut + PHT. Gut on crosses and PHT on mains.

 

[sidzej]

I still play mainly with hybrid of nat gut in mains and Gosen OG (or soft non-textured co-poly) in crosses. As I've just broken one of my hybrids today, I want to finally try a full bed of gut.

I have got a set of Tonic Longevity and VS 17 Team. Which one should I use for a full bed setup?

My first thought is to go with VS17 Team and keep cheaper Tonic for hybrids with co-polys...

 

[David123]

Natyural gut mains and poly corsses

 

[Lambsscroll]

I like it with kevlar. I also like Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 17 with Ashaway kevlar 17. Its a playability issue with me. I like a tight string bed for control since I have my own power. Gut gives me the feel I need and surprisingly X-one multi also gives me nice feel.

 

[spdskr]

I keep one racquet strung will full gut and two with gut mains and co-poly crosses. Which setup I use for a match depends on my opponent and how my wrist feels. If I anticipate frequent trips to net or my wrist pain is acting up, I use the full gut racquet. Conversly, if I'm playing a baseline basher and my wrist feels good, I opt for the hybrid frames.

 

[sidzej]

Spdskr: What racquet and tension do you use in your full gut setup? In full gut setup, do you string crosses tigther/looser or equal to mains?

 

[tennisdad65]

Full gut only
I am not a string breaker (flat hitter , s&v player). Plus I string around 40 lbs and use string savers. A set lasts me around 3-4 months, @4-6 hours / week . i.e. 60-100 hours.

 

[Bigtime]

I have used full Tonic, VS and Klip Legend. Want to try Pacific (blue-spiral) next. I'm not a string breaker so gut is more economical for me. I also like the feel & comfort.

 

[spdskr]

Spdskr: What racquet and tension do you use in your full gut setup? In full gut setup, do you string crosses tigther/looser or equal to mains?

I use Wilson 6.1 95" strung with full gut at 55 lbs for both mains and crosses. I also add a few string savers to prolong the life of the gut. Pacific Classic Gut is my favorite string for full gut jobs.

 

[sidzej]

I strung my Fischer M Tour SL with full bed of VS Team 17g at 56 lbs. I really liked the feel of the full gut! Serving, volleys, groundies, drop shots, everything was there with a very nice arm-friendly feel at relatively high tension (for me)...The only (major) issue for me is, that I broke the string (mains in the centre) after 3 hours of play. This would become very expensive. I am going back to hybrids...and most likely back to Tonic or even GG

 

[sidzej]

Update on my previous post and experiments with gut setups and especially gut hybrids.

I really love the full gut setup, but I need to string it bit too high (as I am using racquet size 100 and open string pattern 16*19). This also leads to shorter lifetime and I break the gut in ca. 10 hours at max.

As I am playing a lot nowadays and my fitness is getting better, I decided to try co-poly in hybrid with gut again. This time I went for recommended combination of gut in mains (Tonic) and WC Silvestring 1.20 in crosses. I must admit, this is an excellent setup. The best of all gut-copoly setups I've tried so far (I tried SPPP, Blue Gear and PL2). I will give it a full try and play one or two tournaments with this setup. If I get no problems with elbow, I will use it from now on...