natural tension gut advice

[mirceam]

i want to try natural gut on one of my racquets. what tension do you recommend?

now i use:
Luxilion Alu Power strung @ 48/46 lbs on my Yonex Vcore Xi 98
Dunlop Black Widow strung @ 48/46 lbs on my Yonex Vcore 98D

the Black Widow has more than 39 hrs and i didn't break it. I hit hard but more flat . I'm not a string breaker

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

It's really up to you, just factor in that gut will give you more power.

Honestly, I would recommend your first gut at the same tension as your usual poly setup. Just so you can see for yourself the difference in power. Then you can judge for yourself how much to adjust.

[slowfox]

I say try full gut at 53 or 54 lbs. Don't do it low like your polys.

[mirceam]

i know that gut has more power. this is what i don't like about poly , after 8 hrs you lose power , playability and comfort .

i was thinking to try gut at 56 lbs but how much power has gut over poly?

[ramos77]

which racquet?

[fortun8son]

The recommended tension will be marked on the frame.
Go for the middle with the crosses 5% lower.

[benraschke]

I have read many articles on natural gut and they recommend you don't string gut any higher than 55lbs. The less tension the more play time you will get.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by benraschke

I have read many articles on natural gut and they recommend you don't string gut any higher than 55lbs. The less tension the more play time you will get.

The 55lbs limit is for the cheap econo gut. You can use brand name gut to pull a car if you want to.

[2handsbothsides]

Originally Posted by slowfox

I say try full gut at 53 or 54 lbs. Don't do it low like your polys.

Agree with this, go up at least 10% from your poly.

[ramos77]

Better to string a little tighter first, then go from there.

Nothing worse than stringing NG too loose, you cannot control the ball.. If it's too tight it will loosen up a bit....

I would try 58

[netguy]

What NG are you thinking about?

[AlfaAce]

I play two Babolat PD2012s:

1) 17G Wilson Nat Gut 62#.... LOVE IT!

2) 17G Babolat Nat Gut 62#.... LOVE IT!

You should expect that nat gut will loose about 8-10% of its tension within a week or two (whether you play it or leave it in the closet)... but then the tension stabilizes pretty much until the strings break... all the while NEVER loosing feel, playability or comfort.

I don't like it when my NG drops below 55#. That's why I started stringing at 62# instead of 60#. By the time the tension stabilizes my tension is about 56-57# until the strings break.

[kcjim]

You can get the feel of gut and the spin of poly by using gut in the mains and poly crosses. Just a suggestion. I use 58lb on my gut mains, 54 on my black code crosses, and it feels great on both my prince nxg 92sq in and my fischer mpro 105sq in. both are flexy racquets. for a full gut setup, i would string at minimum 58lbs. and would lean towards 62lbs for a full gut setup. It feels great at high tension, and the greater tension controls the power of the gut.

[mirceam]

i want to use babolat gut. should i try tonic + ? it a big difference between tonic and vs?

[jnd28]

For a first foray into gut the tonic will be fine. I would go with the 16g however. But that is just me. I would echo the comments regarding stringing it at higher tension. 58 - 62. You will not lose any feel for the life of the string job. People say that gut us too expensive - and it is more costly initially. But unless you are a string breaker it lasts significantly longer than any other string type. I think that it actually improves as time goes by and is at its best right before it breaks!
JND28

[netguy]

Since you have two racquets that are pretty similar spec. wise, I would string both at the same time with NG. one @ 57 pounds and the other one @ 62 pounds. Change them every 6 - 8 games and see what tension fits you better.

[ultradr]

Originally Posted by mirceam

i want to try natural gut on one of my racquets. what tension do you recommend?

now i use:
Luxilion Alu Power strung @ 48/46 lbs on my Yonex Vcore Xi 98
Dunlop Black Widow strung @ 48/46 lbs on my Yonex Vcore 98D

the Black Widow has more than 39 hrs and i didn't break it. I hit hard but more flat . I'm not a string breaker

Have you used nylon? If yes, what tension?

Assuming you are using 10% lower on poly compared to nylon, I'd say go 15-20% higher.

In my case, I needed 20 hours of (match) playing time in order to get used to playing characteristic of natural gut before I get fully confident with it.

Then I had couple of zoning experiences with it. Pure nirvana it was.

[mirceam]

i use nylon on other racquet. On the Babolat PDR GT . Ideal was nylon 10% higher.

I will go with 58 lbs. probably i will strung with VS Touch.

[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by ultradr

Have you used nylon? If yes, what tension?

Assuming you are using 10% lower on poly compared to nylon, I'd say go 15-20% higher.

In my case, I needed 20 hours of (match) playing time in order to get used to playing characteristic of natural gut before I get fully confident with it.

Then I had couple of zoning experiences with it. Pure nirvana it was.

Yes. +10% poly to multi, +10% or so multi to gut (depends on which gut).
So, starting at 47, my first guess would be 57 lbs. Go up or down from there depending on what you like/don't like about the stringbed.

For a 98sqin racket, I'd go to mid-60's for gut and it would feel comfortable and powerful, but I'm about 5 lbs higher on my poly tensions. Don't be afraid to go higher than the initial 57 if you want more control, it will still be powerful and comfortable in the 60's. (Some guts break a lot at higher tensions, so if you go much over 57, you will have to get a high quality gut.)

[Steve Huff]

If it were mine, I go 56/53 for full gut. You may want to decrease the cost a bit by doing a gut hybrid. Then, you'd have enough gut for 2 rackets. You could use a synthetic in the crosses (or a multi). I'd still probably try 53# to start with. You could even put your regular poly in the crosses. If you do that, I'd drop the tension to 53/45.