String performance life Nat Gut v Multi v Syn v Poly v Kevlar

[Lawn Tennis]

I'm trying to get a clear basic idea as to how long tennis string performance maintains for each string type.

Natural Gut is know to be the best in performance life, while Poly perhaps the worst. Will you list each string type and its typical performance life in hours of play and/or number of days and/or weeks? Yes, for some it breaks first so you can't tell, but hypothetically give your best guess please. Assume 16 guage.

For instance, this is my experience:

Type: Performance life - Breaks

Natural Gut: forever - 5 hrs

Multi: 2 months - 15 hrs

Syn Gut: 6 weeks - 5 hrs

Poly: 3 days; 5 hrs - never

Kevlar: N/A - N/A

 

[TaihtDuhShaat]

Kevlar - 50 hours of hitting

 

[mikeler]

Kevlar - 50 hours of hitting

When I used Prince Pro Blend (kevlar/syn. gut), the performance would drop off sharply at about the 15 hour mark.

 

[davedomart]

If you're talking about Alu or Rpm Blast, 5 hours is accurate. But many other polys play well for 15 + hours.

 

[TaihtDuhShaat]

When I used Prince Pro Blend (kevlar/syn. gut), the performance would drop off sharply at about the 15 hour mark.

Maybe that's why I keep losing! I use the kevlar mains with 1st. generation poly crosses, and the control slowly declines over the life. Usually after 6 weeks or 40 hours I'll cut the strings due to loss of control, or I'll wait a little longer for the kevlar to snap. I love the muted feel of kevlar when it's broken in, though. I blame the poor tension maintenance of the poly crosses for the lack of control at the end though. The kevlar feels great until it frays.

 

[mikeler]

Maybe that's why I keep losing! I use the kevlar mains with 1st. generation poly crosses, and the control slowly declines over the life. Usually after 6 weeks or 40 hours I'll cut the strings due to loss of control, or I'll wait a little longer for the kevlar to snap. I love the muted feel of kevlar when it's broken in, though. I blame the poor tension maintenance of the poly crosses for the lack of control at the end though. The kevlar feels great until it frays.

I played with Pro Blend for years. Whenever I'd go on a losing streak, I'd get my racket restrung and then life was good again. Pay attention to your results on court, you'll probably find that the kevlar and/or poly are not playing the same somewhere between the 10 and 20 hour mark, possibly even earlier.

 

[scotus]

I played with Pro Blend for years. Whenever I'd go on a losing streak, I'd get my racket restrung and then life was good again. Pay attention to your results on court, you'll probably find that the kevlar and/or poly are not playing the same somewhere between the 10 and 20 hour mark, possibly even earlier.

Is it possible that the syn gut crosses in the Pro Blend lost playability rather than the Kevlar mains?

 

[JT_2eighty]

I'm trying to get a clear basic idea as to how long tennis string performance maintains for each string type.


For instance, this is my experience:

Type: Performance life - Breaks

Natural Gut: forever - 5 hrs

Multi: 2 months - 15 hrs

Syn Gut: 6 weeks - 5 hrs

Poly: 3 days; 5 hrs - never

Kevlar: N/A - N/A

Hmm, it's too hard to draw a blanket conclusion as some gut is more durable than others. If you want the most durable gut, try Pacific Tough. It's not as soft as VS, but to me has been the best price/performance gut with #1 durability compared to about 6 other mainstream guts I've tried. Also, racquet plays a huge role, using a flexy 18x20 can keep string alive for much longer than a stiff or open (16x19) will.

Otherwise, here's my chart for your discussion (in the YT Prestige Pro):
Type: Performance life - breaks
Gut: Forever - 5-7 matches (tough gut 16L)
Multi: 3 matches - 3-4 matches (gamma professional)
Syn gut: 4 matches - 4-6 matches (gamma syn)
Poly: 1 match - too long to know (1st gen, i.e. Luxilon ALU)
Poly: 5 matches - 8-10 matches (polystar turbo, 2nd gen very soft textured poly)
Kevlar: until it breaks - lost track of matches

 

[mikeler]

Is it possible that the syn gut crosses in the Pro Blend lost playability rather than the Kevlar mains?

Absolutely. There was no way to pinpoint if one or both strings had lost tension. Since the Kevlar was in the mains and that effects playability the most, I had always assumed it was the Kevlar going dead.