The Church of Polystringism-- Alidisperanza's PT Thread

[mad dog1]

Originally Posted by alidisperanza

Between the following for my open frame. Thoughts?

PolyStar Energy
B7/Hollow Core
Iontec/Hollow Core

PolyStar Energy makes a REALLY nice cross string. when paired up w/ a stiffer main, it really makes the string bed plush.

[alidisperanza]

B7/Iontec

So, I finally popped this string. It lasted a decent ammt-- definitely longer than the B7 by itself. 6ish hours of good quality hitting.

Overall consensus: not a terrible combination but ultimately, I prefer the two strings in full beds. I found that this string was a bit tricky in that it played better at lower speeds. When I had the time to sit and hit rolling topspin, it hit very well. When I had to contend with a more penetrating ball, the strings responded but the stroke was more linear.

See above for more details



Interesting turn of events. I did/do NOT like Iontec/ Hollow Core and it's beginning to make me question a few things. I got a chance to hit with it the other day and it simply does not have any of the great characteristics I've come to expect from a full bed of Iontec or even from a synthetic gut.

First and foremost my questions:
Is iontec a picky hybrid string?
Did I string it too tight at 50/53?
Should I have continued with the "Jet" method?

What I found:
The stringbed is very board-like and super low powered. If I wouldn't know what tension it was strung at, I would have guessed 56.

After popping my B7/iontec hybrid, I picked up this frame for a hit and my first ball didn't make it to the net. It bounced, then hit the net. There is literally NO power here. I'm guessing that the plasticky coating on the hollowcore doesn't allow for the iontec to slide back and forth properly to generate that easy spin.

Second. It feels like a 2x4. There's no pop, no dwell time, just board. I suppose someone who likes crisp, direct, feedback may like this but it's not for me after having played low tension poly. My strokes were complete and total mush. The ball was barely hitting the service line and my hitting partner was getting annoyed.

Overall, really shocking-- Even my hitting partner tried it after he popped his frame and he was making faces. I'll try hitting it again but as is, it's a no go. Perhaps dropping to 50/50 will yield better results.

[Up&comer]

^^ I know what you are talking about. I string full poly at 40, and when I do a hybrid when my arm is acting up, I do power poly/MCS at 45 and that's about as tight as I can without it feeling too low powered.

[pvaudio]

No, the problem is you strung Hollow Core in the first place. That is sinfully terrible string.

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by Up&comer

^^ I know what you are talking about. I string full poly at 40, and when I do a hybrid when my arm is acting up, I do power poly/MCS at 45 and that's about as tight as I can without it feeling too low powered.

Originally Posted by pvaudio

No, the problem is you strung Hollow Core in the first place. That is sinfully terrible string.

Coming from playing in the mid 50's, most string should be just fine. This is something really different.

@ Dave, I played Hollow Core when it first came out and it wasn't terrible. Apparently It's not a great string in hybrids.

[pvaudio]

Ugh I cannot stand that stuff, it plays like plastic in my frames. I wouldn't use it as a cross, for sure. Iontec def. likes to be strung low, but crossing it shouldn't be an issue.

[fortun8son]

I know that mad dog1 tried Iontec w/OGSM and says the fullbed plays better.
Perhaps it IS a picky string.

[alidisperanza]

Two new developments:

I hit for a tick with the Iontec/ HC combination last night and while I still have to work much harder to hit the ball, it hits a very solid flat ball when you connect. A friend of mine noticed that while my % of quality shots wasn't favorable, the ones that were penetrated the court very well. It's amazing the difference between this string bed and the others I've been playing. I can literally hit the exact same shot and with one string the ball clears the net by a few feet and bounces a little past the service line while the It/HC tags the bottom of the net. The elasticity of poly at the lower tension is incredible.

The second interesting development is that I've been playing the 16g B7 to give me some insight on whether I want to buy a reel of this or Iontec Black. Initially strung at 50, I wasn't a huge fan. The pocketing that I found on my initial plays just wasn't there the way it was the first two times. While the string was nice to play, it didn't have the magical characteristics that I was expecting. Saturday, I played beach tennis all day but happened to bring my tennis racquets to the courts as well. Silly me left them in the 90+ degree car. Needless to say the tension dropped and when I picked the B7 frame up last night for 4.5 practice it felt terribly loose. I was ready to switch out to a fresh frame until I actually hit a ball. It.Played.Great. After a little bit of adjustment in warmup I played some of the best doubles I've played in years. Something just clicked and I was able to put the ball on court with a low percentage of errors. Most importantly, the string bed was comfortable and I was able to hit my serve however I wanted with confidence. I was able to maintain about a 65% 1st serve at 100+mph flat without any double faults in 2 sets. I was so jazzed

The moral of my rant: I'm more confused than ever on which reel I want to buy(ItB or B7). I might just spring for both...

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Ugh I cannot stand that stuff, it plays like plastic in my frames. I wouldn't use it as a cross, for sure. Iontec def. likes to be strung low, but crossing it shouldn't be an issue.

I'm confused more than ever with this string...It just doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by fortun8son

I know that mad dog1 tried Iontec w/OGSM and says the fullbed plays better.
Perhaps it IS a picky string.

I get the feeling the HC is "locking" into the string bed. Not quite like a multi would but it definitely sticks in there.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by alidisperanza

Two new developments:

I hit for a tick with the Iontec/ HC combination last night and while I still have to work much harder to hit the ball, it hits a very solid flat ball when you connect. A friend of mine noticed that while my % of quality shots wasn't favorable, the ones that were penetrated the court very well. It's amazing the difference between this string bed and the others I've been playing. I can literally hit the exact same shot and with one string the ball clears the net by a few feet and bounces a little past the service line while the It/HC tags the bottom of the net. The elasticity of poly at the lower tension is incredible.

The second interesting development is that I've been playing the 16g B7 to give me some insight on whether I want to buy a reel of this or Iontec Black. Initially strung at 50, I wasn't a huge fan. The pocketing that I found on my initial plays just wasn't there the way it was the first two times. While the string was nice to play, it didn't have the magical characteristics that I was expecting. Saturday, I played beach tennis all day but happened to bring my tennis racquets to the courts as well. Silly me left them in the 90+ degree car. Needless to say the tension dropped and when I picked the B7 frame up last night for 4.5 practice it felt terribly loose. I was ready to switch out to a fresh frame until I actually hit a ball. It.Played.Great. After a little bit of adjustment in warmup I played some of the best doubles I've played in years. Something just clicked and I was able to put the ball on court with a low percentage of errors. Most importantly, the string bed was comfortable and I was able to hit my serve however I wanted with confidence. I was able to maintain about a 65% 1st serve at 100+mph flat without any double faults in 2 sets. I was so jazzed

The moral of my rant: I'm more confused than ever on which reel I want to buy(ItB or B7). I might just spring for both...

LOL that's some pretty shitty power if I'm honest

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

LOL that's some pretty shitty power if I'm honest

Made the B5E/ogsm I was complaining about look like it was out of a Pure Drive...My friend goes to me "what happened to your man-card? Did you buy a matching skirt?"

[alidisperanza]

Popped the 16g B7 in roughly the same time it took for the 17g As much as I like this string, I'm going to have to go with Iontec purely on a durability and price point basis.

[alidisperanza]

Updates:

Hit the Yonex Vcore 98D and 95D using the following strings (more on these later):
-Big Hitter Silver Rough
-Wilson Spin Cycle
-Boris Becker Bomber
-Yonex 850P

Bought 2 95Ds.
It's amazing the quality control on these frames. I had the opportunity to pick out of 3 brand new frames literally still in the shipping box from the factory and they measured within 1g of each other, balanced exactly the same, Flex the same etc... Un.Believable


Many thanks to Arche3 for sending me a set of 0s/4s to try out so that's something to watch out for. To the best of my ability, I will video tape every hitting session to give people an idea of what's going on.

Also looks like I may have earned the no. 2 doubles spot on my 4.5 team.

[alidisperanza]

2x 95D's and a 98D

One 95 is a demo but I plan on keeping it for a while (muahaha) and I have 1 more 95D in the mail.

[alidisperanza]

String: Wilson Spin Cycle 16L
Frame(s): Yonex Vcore 98D
Tension: 50 Constant pull


Stringing:
This stuff is a true anomoly to me. I unwound the set and it literally was linear. I could take this stuff and lay it out from one end of my friends' store to the other and it would sit in a straight line. No coils, no nothing. I was so happy and so psyched to string it...then I strung it. Those infernal twists corscrew around one another and it is a royal PITA to have to stop, unwind them, and make sure it doesn't happen again. Aside from that, it's perfectly fine to string. Terrible sound when fanning crosses

Groundstrokes:
I've played this string twice now in a PS 6.1 95 and in the 98D and I have to say I was a bit surprised and underwhelmed at the 98D's performance. The reason I chose to string this stuff is becuase I could literally feel it gripping in the 6.1 95. Not so much in the Yonex. For my personal taste, there is definitely a necessary break-in time to this string. The first few hits left me wondering if I did something wrong since the last string I played in this frame was becker bomber (a very neutral poly). After about 30 mins of hitting it settled a lot better. Even better yet was after letting it sit in my 88 degree car (oops). Having said that, Spin is still good though. I'd say that the biggest advantage to this string lies in creating angles. That whippy, diagonal-ish, shot when trying to hook a ball does pretty nasty things. Slices are favorable here too, when you drive the ball, it sticks to the court but buyer beware; at this tension it's really, really easy to make that ball fly and float.

Volleys: about average here for volleys. Nothing special, and nothing really negative to report about. I really can't think of anything that stands out in my mind.

Serves:
This is where I found this string to be even more strange. If you really wind up and into a kick serve, the ball does really, really, silly things. I mean, you can see the lateral gyration of the ball while it's spinning through the air. Unfortunately, this extra "hang time" gives players time to lock onto the ball. My buddy, while noting that the ball was spinning ridiculously, said that it really wasn't "effective." "Pretty," but manageable after he got a look at it once or twice. Slowing down the mph and really cutting into the ball produces an effective slice out wide. By the same margin, someone who really likes to create the short angle out wide on their serve may enjoy this string.

Durability/tension:
So far so good. I played a very casual 1.5-2 hrs with these strings so far and I don't see any significant notching to speak of. Tension has dropped a bit (especially after the heat of the car) and has made the stringbed more playable (for me, at least).Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to see this playest through the death of the strings becuase I'm enjoying the 95D too much and have to give this one back. Oh well, not a bad compromise. I'm not too sure I would play this string again though. It was interesting but ultimately didn't stand out in any way that the Tourna line doesn't already cover.

Groundstrokes: 3.5-4/5
Serves: ~4/5
Volleys: 3.5/5
Spin: 4/5 -sometimes a bit silly
Power: 3.5-4/5 about average
Comfort: 4/5
Tension: N/A -definitely better after the break in period
Durability: N/A

Another note: strings look a sickly white-- definitely don't jive with the vibrant red of the Vcores

[alidisperanza]

String: Tourna Big Hitter Silver Rough
Frame(s): Yonex Vcore 95D
Tension: 48


Stringing:

No issues @ 48lbs. As with all these infernal twisted strings, you'll find that you'll get a "corkscrew" every now and again that doesn't want to untangle with a bit of a flick. Not an issue though. Definitely stiffer than B7 and I'd say a bit stiffer than Blue.

Groundstrokes:
I was skeptical about the 95D until I hit it with this setup the other night. Great directional control, great response on the ball. It was what solidified my decision to buy a pair of these frames. When this stuff is fresh, it's wicked how much topspin you can put on the ball. I was hitting with the D1 buddy of mine and the ball trajectory looked exactly like his-- coming up to shoulder height. Both of us were surprised at how many balls were landing within 1' of the baseline. At the same time, it's also really nice to open up and flatten out the ball. A little bit tricky at times because the 95 is, inherently, a somewhat powerful frame but oh boy does it sing. The ball skids through the court The stiffness of the string complements the frame beautifully especially when hitting a 1hbh. As the string came towards the end of its life, you could tell that playability changed. I wasn't able to make the ball jump to shoulder/ head height anymore but found it much easier to drive the ball. The freebie baseline shots I was able to hit prior were much more difficult to pull off. Don't get me wrong, even towards the end, this string is very playable but it lacks the "ooooh" factor.

Volleys:
Great, crisp, volleys. Great response off the string bed and very easy to impart spin on the ball. This setup is FANTASTIC for hitting overheads. It's truly something wicked the pace and action you can put on the ball. Off hits are NOT forgiving and produce a fluff ball if they do go over. Stemming from this, if you don't hit a "proper" volley, you may have trouble with the balls coming back. "Blocked" volleys sit there unless you put them in a great spot.

Serves:
SO much fun to serve with this combination. At first, I was having a little difficulty finding the ball and snapping in but the more I hit, the better it got culminating in tonight. The first 2 hours of play the extra action the strings produce is incredible. My average serve was so much more effective that it wasn't even necessary to hit the balls-to-the-wall flat serve. What I noticed is that this combination doesn't quite hit the "silly" kick/action serve that the Wilson Spin Cycle/ 98D did. Personally, I think this is a good thing. There's so much extra spin on that ball that it doesn't really do anything. Topspin serves here bounce hard off the court causing errors. Once the strings loosened up a bit I was able to really dial in the flat bomb. I had the chance to play 2 doubles matches today and didn't drop serve once. Whether it's adjusting to the new frame, or it's the string, I hit a massive ammt of aces today. I normally have quite a bit of success serving but not pure aces; this stuff gave me aces. Really, really fun to toy around opponents.

Durability/Tension:
5 hours. About the average I've been getting. I must say that this stuff held on pretty well for the time it played. The first two hours and the last two hours were particularly rigorous hitting ending in serve/return practice with some of the bigger hitters on my 4.5 team. Popping was due to notching of the mains. The quality of the ball I was able to hit definitely changed around the 2-3 hour mark. It wasn't terrible to adjust to but every now and again I'd find myself hitting a ball square and wondering why it was out. Not too much shifting over-all but it was clear once the strings were "giving up"

Groundstrokes: 4/5
Serves: 4.5/5
Volleys: 4/5
Spin: 4/5
Power: 4/5
Comfort: 4/5
Tension: 3.5-4/5
Durability: 3.5/5

31.5/40

Definitely a fun playtest. I can see why some people liken this string to Lux Rough. I can't make a definite comparison since It's been quite a while since I've played it not to mention I've never played it at 48# but there are definitely some similar qualities from what I remember. The biggest one is the sheer court penetration that the string helps produce off the bounce: It's fantastic. On that note, I may have to revisit AluRough sometime in the near future.

[alidisperanza]

String: Luxilon Savage black
Frame(s): Yonex Vcore 95D
Tension: 48


Stringing:
No issues at 48 but this string feels particularly "plasticky." I was a bit surprised at Lux. Normally their strings are stiff but usually not plasticky. If I'm remembering correctly, the string physically feels pretty "hard" too. I'll double check once I get home from work to make sure.


Groundstrokes:
While I can't really grudge this string, I can't laud it either. It plays about average for a poly. Decent spin, decent control on flat strokes. Comfort is good but the feel of the stringbed is not quite to my liking. I can tell that I'm hitting with a polyester It feels rather plasticky. What I wasn't happy with is the shift in response from the string. Despite being a co-poly, this string has a marketed change in the way it hits. Of all the polys I've strung this way and tried recently, this is the only one that I can truly say has "died." Hitting tonight was very difficult because I simply could not "find" the range of my strokes. If the ball is hit harder/ with spin, the strings respond slightly better because you can use the pace to your advantage but I found that I simply couldn't play against one of my backboard team-mates because I couldn't adjust/ get the feedback I needed. Strokes that were struck nicely and felt good-- shots and angles that you rely on when you play a jackrabbit-wall-- were just going out. The same went for my serve. All this at the 3-4hr mark? no thank you. Other strings have changed on me but ultimately it was just a matter of adapting or they popped. These, not so much.

Volleys:
Decent response. I would venture to say that there's a bit of an unpredictable pop as the strings settle in. I found myself erring on the side of caution and snapping down instead of trying to drive the ball as deep in the court as I could. Can't complain though. Nice response on emergency shots too.

Serves:
At first, I felt like a God serving with these strings. I was able to adjust, dial in, and go. Any mistakes I made on my first serve, I was able to correct to put even more juice or spin on my second serve. My team captain went so far as to call the sound of the strings "unholy" because if I would hit the ball flat, it would sound like the racquet were fragmenting and splintering into pieces. Tonight, starting with the 2-2.5 hr mark, the strings felt entirely different. Granted, I didn't have a great serving night but there was no veritable feedback from the strings. Normally, I rely on the feedback/ predictability of the strings to correct my errors so that I can keep a high mph serve going. Not the case here. @ the 3 hour mark, these strings held nothing for me. 1st serves were spraying, average second serves were deep from inches to a foot-- Not something I'm used to.

Durability/Tension:
Not happy. the strings haven't popped but they're definitely notched and 1.5 of the ~4 hours was some very VERY lazy and slow doubles. The change in playability and feedback is simply not acceptable. This may be a cut-job.


Groundstrokes: 3.5/5
Serves: 3.5/5
Volleys: 4/5
Spin: 3.5/5 It doesn't last
Power: 4/5
Comfort: 3.5/5 Comfortable but the "feel" is very off.
Tension: 3.0/5 Loss of tension is expected-- disconnect, isn't
Durability: N/A

Really a disappointing play. I've had the set lying around forever and haven't gotten around to trying it. I'm glad I didn't lose any sleep over it. At 12.00, I really don't see this as being a value. Adrenaline, in my opinion, played better for cheaper. If the string managed to hold the properties, I would say it's not half bad but for my personal playing style, the disconnect in feedback is simply unacceptable. Since I don't have wicked racquet head speed, I NEED the feedback and control from the strings to adjust my game when playing slow paced/ backboard tennis. Savage simply didn't have it.

[alidisperanza]

String: L-Tec 0s/4s
Frame(s): YouTek Radical Pro
Tension: 48


First page will be mostly pictures. The rest will follow.



0s diameter


4s smallest diameter

[alidisperanza]

String: L-Tec 0s/4s
Frame(s): YouTek Radical Pro
Tension: 48

Stringing:
I didn't do anything out of the ordinary here-- since I've been stringing all poly with the published "Jet-Jaycee" method, I figured it would be befitting to do so again here. Conveniently, this is the "prescribed" method of stringing for this company.

It's definitely nice to have the extra length to this string-- I think it's a great thing for companies to do this, even if you end up cutting off the extra so as to not encumber stringing. My first reaction to this string was, "Holy cow, it's hard." Even snipping the ends to facilitate stringing through grommets takes "effort." I use the term effort becuase my clippers cut through pretty much everything by barely touching them-- this stuff is hard enough for me to notice. If I had to venture a guess, this is where the "extended life" comes from. I noticed particularly with Boris Becker Bomber, that the strings are highly resistant to notching becuase of forementioned "hardness." L-tec blows Bomber out of the water with regards to this. The upside is that the strings do slide into place nicely becuase of it.

[alidisperanza]

Reserved for more L-Tec stuff