Ashaway 100% Zyex monofilament

[Torres]

Originally Posted by mikeler

They never returned my e-mail for tension recommendations.

Probably because there's a million different combinations depending on personal preference, racquets, string patterns etc

Just finished a drill session at the club. Very interesting and unusual string. Not what I expected at all. Comments to follow.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Torres

Probably because there's a million different combinations depending on preferences and racquets.

Just finished a drill session at the club. Very interesting and unusual string. Not what I expected at all. Comments to follow.

Good point. It felt pretty good the few minutes I hit with Dynamite Tough.

[Player#1]

In the absence of information, I bought a set of the string.

No good! It will not tolerate high tensions very well; It snapped during stringing at 72lbs. It held up at 65lbs, but feels too loose when I hit with it.

The string itself has incredible feel, ball pocketing and elasticity... I just can't string it tight enough to use it.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Player#1

In the absence of information, I bought a set of the string.

No good! It will not tolerate high tensions very well; It snapped during stringing at 72lbs. It held up at 65lbs, but feels too loose when I hit with it.

The string itself has incredible feel, ball pocketing and elasticity... I just can't string it tight enough to use it.

Hybrid it with poly, either in the mains or crosses.

[Player#1]

Sorry, I left out my setup.

I hybrid it with polyfibre black venom in the crosses.

The setup feels better than a full bed of black venom at 65lbs, but I play better with higher tensions, so black venom at 72lbs plays better for me than monogut zx at 65lbs in the mains and black venom in the crosses at 72lbs.

At 65lbs, it does have some of the same feel as gut; It ends up feeling halfway between a high end synthetic gut and gut.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Player#1

Sorry, I left out my setup.

I hybrid it with polyfibre black venom in the crosses.

The setup feels better than a full bed of black venom at 65lbs, but I play better with higher tensions, so black venom at 72lbs plays better for me than monogut zx at 65lbs in the mains and black venom in the crosses at 72lbs.

At 65lbs, it does have some of the same feel as gut; It ends up feeling halfway between a high end synthetic gut and gut.

It's hard for me to relate as I string much lower than you, but your impressions are interesting nonetheless. Thanks. How does the ZX hold up in the mains compared to gut or syngut? Using ZX in the mains with a copoly cross (kind of a poor man's gut/copoly) is one of the things I'd like to try.

Possible uses of Monogut ZX:

1. Full bed. With it's very low stiffness, it may be an alternative to natural gut or powerful multis, but because of it's very slippery surface it may not require much string straightening.

2. As a cross with natural gut mains. This would, going by the lab numbers, be nearly as powerful as full gut, but the slippery ZX crosses should allow the natural gut mains to slide and snapback, generating more spin like gut/copoly does but with a softer feel and more pop than gut/copoly.

3. As a main string with a copoly cross. Using a flat copoly cross like Gosen Polymaster might allow the ZX main to slide and snapback much like gut mains do but the flat cross would reduce notching and hopefully preserve the life of the stringbed.

4. As a cross with a textured copoly main. Using it here to soften up the stringbed like copoly/syngut or copoly/multi, but ZX is not as stiff as either syngut or multi, so copoly/ZX should be even more comfortable and powerful. Also, ZX is more slippery than any syngut or multi, even teflon coated Prince Recoil, so it should excel in the crosses, allowing the copoly main to slide and snapback close to as well is it would in a full bed.

All theory at this point, but we're starting to get some reports on all four setups.

[PBODY99]

. Zyex MonoGut
1. Full Bed you are correct. It will start to move later than any string bed that doesn't have poly in it.
3. Crossed with 4G very little notching
5. As a cross with 4G, very comfortable, little notching
This is my experience with the frame in my signature.
I have not tried a shaped poly with this yet.

[Player#1]

Originally Posted by corners

It's hard for me to relate as I string much lower than you, but your impressions are interesting nonetheless. Thanks. How does the ZX hold up in the mains compared to gut or syngut? Using ZX in the mains with a copoly cross (kind of a poor man's gut/copoly) is one of the things I'd like to try.

Possible uses of Monogut ZX:

1. Full bed. With it's very low stiffness, it may be an alternative to natural gut or powerful multis, but because of it's very slippery surface it may not require much string straightening.

2. As a cross with natural gut mains. This would, going by the lab numbers, be nearly as powerful as full gut, but the slippery ZX crosses should allow the natural gut mains to slide and snapback, generating more spin like gut/copoly does but with a softer feel and more pop than gut/copoly.

3. As a main string with a copoly cross. Using a flat copoly cross like Gosen Polymaster might allow the ZX main to slide and snapback much like gut mains do but the flat cross would reduce notching and hopefully preserve the life of the stringbed.

4. As a cross with a textured copoly main. Using it here to soften up the stringbed like copoly/syngut or copoly/multi, but ZX is not as stiff as either syngut or multi, so copoly/ZX should be even more comfortable and powerful. Also, ZX is more slippery than any syngut or multi, even teflon coated Prince Recoil, so it should excel in the crosses, allowing the copoly main to slide and snapback close to as well is it would in a full bed.

All theory at this point, but we're starting to get some reports on all four setups.

I have only used it for a couple of hours, but at this point it appears the durability will be similar to that of a soft poly.

I would probably switch over to this string if I could string it tighter without breaking it.

I seem to get a little more spin with this setup (difficult to judge because of the change in tension)

The other thing of note I found with this string is that it was stretching more than gut while stringing at high tension.

[corners]

Originally Posted by PBODY99

. Zyex MonoGut
1. Full Bed you are correct. It will start to move later than any string bed that doesn't have poly in it.
3. Crossed with 4G very little notching
5. As a cross with 4G, very comfortable, little notching
This is my experience with the frame in my signature.
I have not tried a shaped poly with this yet.

Thanks for your notes PBody!

Would you care to write a little more about the performance of the three setups you've tried? I would be most interested in...

1. In a full bed, how is the spin and control? Given its very low stiffness, I would expect it to be quite powerful. If the spin and control is good it seems that it would be a great alternative to gut.

3. As a main with 4G crosses, how was the spin compared to gut/copoly?

5. As a cross with 4G mains, did you get more pop and/or than you would with a syngut or multi cross?

[corners]

Originally Posted by Player#1

I have only used it for a couple of hours, but at this point it appears the durability will be similar to that of a soft poly.

I would probably switch over to this string if I could string it tighter without breaking it.

I seem to get a little more spin with this setup (difficult to judge because of the change in tension)

The other thing of note I found with this string is that it was stretching more than gut while stringing at high tension.

You know, given this string's very low stiffness numbers, and the fact that the stiffness doesn't really increase very much at high tensions - which is very unusual; aside from Zyex, only natural gut is like this - it would seem that stringing tight would be the logical thing to do with this string. But Ashaway recommends dropping tension like with a poly. Doesn't make sense. Given your experience with snapping at high tensions, I wonder if their tension recommendation isn't more to do with that. Maybe Zyex doesn't have the tensile strength to handle high-tensions.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Torres

Probably because there's a million different combinations depending on personal preference, racquets, string patterns etc

Just finished a drill session at the club. Very interesting and unusual string. Not what I expected at all. Comments to follow.

What word, Torres?

[Torres]

Originally Posted by corners

What word, Torres?

Well, I was going to try and get some more time with this string before posting comments, but my initial impression based on about an hours drilling is as follows:-

Firstly, people need to put aside any preconceptions they have about strings because its characteristics of Monogut ZX aren't like any other string I've ever played it. Equally accurate though would be describing this string as having the characteristics of all sorts of other different strings rolled into one depending on how you hit the ball. It really is that unusual.

Initial thoughts are as follows...

Lift.
The BLX 6.1 95 18x20 is a pretty flat hitting stick. Have played with it for years. Balls tend to take on a fairly low trajectory over the net, even with a full bed poly. You really have to work the stick to generate a high ball trajectory over the net. I was really surprised how much 'lift' the ZX gave to the ball. It was very easy to generate more of an up/down ball trajectory even with that 18x20 pattern. Very surprised by this. It seems like the strings stretch and then spring back into place to put rotations on the ball, with the string's power giving the ball length and depth. If you want a 'high launch angle', its there. Equally, if you want to flatten out the ball, you can do that easily as well. There's wide range of variation that you can easily put on the trajectory of the ball.

Stiffness/comfort, string bed feel, and unusual sweetspot characteristics.
As mentioned earlier, I feared that I had strung this at too high a tension. Well, I was right and wrong in equal parts. The 6.1 does not have a very big sweetspot. It also gets smaller, the higher the tension you go or the stiffer the string that you use. The ZX accentuated those characteristics. Hit the ball in the middle of the sweetspot and there's ALOT of give. This string feels very soft and buttery right in the middle of the stringbed. It's like the ball really sinks into the middle of the stringbed and then springs out. It's a pretty plush sensation and there's alot of power from the stringbed there. However, when you don't centre the ball and instead hit outside that center sweetspot, its unforgiving and the power dies. It feels slightly boardy/tinny when you hit outside of the sweetspot (though it could the symptom of the tension I used). But at no time were the strings uncomfortable (despite them seeming like a washboard off the stringer), no matter what part of the stirngbed you used to strike the ball. The difference between the middle of the stringbed and the area of the strings away from the sweetspot / towards the frame is very marked in terms of difference in power, 'give' and forgivenss. There's a very big range of difference going on here (though it may have been due to the tension I used). It's a very unusual characteristic.

Power.
Vast difference between the centering the ball in the sweet spot and anything immediately outside the sweetspot. Nail the sweetspot and you can boom the ball. Anything outside the sweetspot and the ball dies. ZX seems to accentuate the characteristics of the 6.1 stringbed which isn't generally that forgiving. But my soft polys don't perform like that - obviously there is a difference between inside the sweetspot and outside the sweet but the different is nowhere near as marked with the soft co-polys (BHBR16) that I usually use with the 6.1. With the ZX, the differenced in power between inside the sweetspot and outside the sweetspot is very marked. The Monogot ZX seems to reward good technique. Hit the ball well, and that power from the middle of the sweetspot is controllable. Mis-time it, for example, hitting the ball too flat when jammed on a return and the ball lands 3ft behind the baseline.

Comfort.
Very comfortable string. There's alot of give to it. Ball feels like it really sinks into the stringbed before springing back out. Complete opposite of a stiff poly like Luxilon 4G.

Spin.
The jury's still out on this I'm afraid. Really need some more time with the string, but I didn't feel like was hittng a poly-esque heavy ball. There was ball speed and depth, but my opponents seemed to be swinging away at balls I was hitting towards them, and sending it back aggressively, instead of it being me putting them under pressure with the type of balls I normally hit with a full poly bed. In that sense, it seems to play a bit like a a multifilament or natural gut. But really I need some more time with the strings to figure this out, so its a tenative view at this stage because it could be explained by me simply getting used to the string and not hitting as aggressively towards opponents as I might usually do with a full bed poly and getting used to that high power central sweetspot in the stringbed. Need more testing time with regard to the issue of spin.

Power modulation.
Some strings allow for a limited range of power no matter how hard you hit the ball. For example, Babolat Revenge, Luxilon 4G, Weiscannnon Silverstring etc. Other strings allow for a vast range of power depending on how hard you hit the ball eg. natural gut. ZX has a vast range of potential power. You want to smack the ball through the court with a ton of ball speed, and you can do it (subject to being able to control it and keep the ball in the court). You want to take all the pace off the ball and hit the most delicate of drop volleys and you can do it. This is like having a 'big volume knob' that you adjust ad infinitum in terms power rather than a power 'on/off switch'. In that sense, its alot like natural gut.

Control.
Bit too early for me to be definitive about this but I didn't feel that the string was uncontrolled, provided you hit with the ball with good technique, either with a low>high path or turn your hand over through the stroke. That said, my comments on control may be influenced by having strung it in a control orientated stick. As mentioned earlier, if you're late hitting the ball and don't put some topspin on it, it can fly because of its inherent power. Its not forgiving of crude strokes or wild swings that a lower powered poly would be. It rewards good technique. In fact, I'd suggest that good technique, footwork/positioning and timing is a pre-requisite to get the best out of it. It doesn't seem as wild as some high powered multifilaments I've seen but again, that could be due to the racquet it was strung it. I have to admit that I don't think I've ever strung with the 6.1 with a full multifilment, so I don't really have a point for comparison. Directionally, the ZX seems pretty precise, but I qualify that again mentioning the racquet that it was strung in. Need some more hitting time with it, as well as probably trying it in a larger headed, open patterned stick. I suspect though that its unlikely to suit something like an APDC but I could very easily be wrong because its an unusual string.

Feel
This is a hard one to describe. It's soft but not soft. You can feel the ball but its not like the feel that you get from a multi, a synthetic gut or a poly. The stringbed sort of 'gives' and the ball sinks in but with a sort of a plasticine 'give' to it. It doesn't feel like other strings. Its a long time since I played with full bed natural gut, but from memory, I think its a bit like 1.25mm VS Team. The harder you hit, the more it seems to give before catapulting the ball out again. But then, it doesn't feel like natural gut either - it doesn't have that elastic spring - its more like a mechanical spring. It's hard to describe. All I can say is that it has its own unique feel.

Volleys
Volleys were good in terms of feel but adversely affected by that differential going on between the middle sweetspot (soft/plush) and the area immediately outside the sweetspot (slightly boardy/tinny/power dying). Again, it may have been a mixture of the the string, the tension used and the 6.1 small sweetspot producing slightly unforgiving results on anything less than perfectly centered volleys.

Durability
The string didn't break on me during play, but I only played for an hour or so. That said, I did manage to snap the end of the string off when tying off the last knot during stringing despite pulling in the direction of the knot. I doubt that it will have the durability of a poly.

[mikeler]

I had to put Dynamite back in my bag today after 2 sets. It was starting to bug my wrist.

[scotus]

Originally Posted by mikeler

I had to put Dynamite back in my bag today after 2 sets. It was starting to bug my wrist.

Mikeler,

Which Dynamite was that? Tough, Soft, gauge, tension?

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by scotus

Mikeler,

Which Dynamite was that? Tough, Soft, gauge, tension?

Tough 16. Like Torres, I ignored the recommended drop in tension. The pain was very minor. I just did not want to take any chances. I played 1 set of singles and 2 sets of doubles yesterday with no issues. I'm not planning on cutting it out just yet.

[scotus]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Tough 16. Like Torres, I ignored the recommended drop in tension. The pain was very minor. I just did not want to take any chances. I played 1 set of singles and 2 sets of doubles yesterday with no issues. I'm not planning on cutting it out just yet.

Perhaps with a little more tension loss, it would feel more comfortable.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Torres

Well, I was going to try and get some more time with this string before posting comments, but my initial impression based on about an hours drilling is as follows:-

Firstly, people need to put aside any preconceptions they have about strings because its characteristics of Monogut ZX aren't like any other string I've ever played it. Equally accurate though would be describing this string as having the characteristics of all sorts of other different strings rolled into one depending on how you hit the ball. It really is that unusual.

Initial thoughts are as follows...

Lift.
The BLX 6.1 95 18x20 is a pretty flat hitting stick. Have played with it for years. Balls tend to take on a fairly low trajectory over the net, even with a full bed poly. You really have to work the stick to generate a high ball trajectory over the net. I was really surprised how much 'lift' the ZX gave to the ball. It was very easy to generate more of an up/down ball trajectory even with that 18x20 pattern. Very surprised by this. It seems like the strings stretch and then spring back into place to put rotations on the ball, with the string's power giving the ball length and depth. If you want a 'high launch angle', its there. Equally, if you want to flatten out the ball, you can do that easily as well. There's wide range of variation that you can easily put on the trajectory of the ball.

Stiffness/comfort, string bed feel, and unusual sweetspot characteristics.
As mentioned earlier, I feared that I had strung this at too high a tension. Well, I was right and wrong in equal parts. The 6.1 does not have a very big sweetspot. It also gets smaller, the higher the tension you go or the stiffer the string that you use. The ZX accentuated those characteristics. Hit the ball in the middle of the sweetspot and there's ALOT of give. This string feels very soft and buttery right in the middle of the stringbed. It's like the ball really sinks into the middle of the stringbed and then springs out. It's a pretty plush sensation and there's alot of power from the stringbed there. However, when you don't centre the ball and instead hit outside that center sweetspot, its unforgiving and the power dies. It feels slightly boardy/tinny when you hit outside of the sweetspot (though it could the symptom of the tension I used). But at no time were the strings uncomfortable (despite them seeming like a washboard off the stringer), no matter what part of the stirngbed you used to strike the ball. The difference between the middle of the stringbed and the area of the strings away from the sweetspot / towards the frame is very marked in terms of difference in power, 'give' and forgivenss. There's a very big range of difference going on here (though it may have been due to the tension I used). It's a very unusual characteristic.

Power.
Vast difference between the centering the ball in the sweet spot and anything immediately outside the sweetspot. Nail the sweetspot and you can boom the ball. Anything outside the sweetspot and the ball dies. ZX seems to accentuate the characteristics of the 6.1 stringbed which isn't generally that forgiving. But my soft polys don't perform like that - obviously there is a difference between inside the sweetspot and outside the sweet but the different is nowhere near as marked with the soft co-polys (BHBR16) that I usually use with the 6.1. With the ZX, the differenced in power between inside the sweetspot and outside the sweetspot is very marked. The Monogot ZX seems to reward good technique. Hit the ball well, and that power from the middle of the sweetspot is controllable. Mis-time it, for example, hitting the ball too flat when jammed on a return and the ball lands 3ft behind the baseline.

Comfort.
Very comfortable string. There's alot of give to it. Ball feels like it really sinks into the stringbed before springing back out. Complete opposite of something like Luxilon 4G.

Spin.
The jury's still out on this I'm afraid. Really need some more time with the string, but I didn't feel like was hittng a poly-esque heavy ball. There was ball speed and depth, but my opponents seemed to be swinging away at balls I was hitting towards them, and sending it back aggressively, instead of it being me putting them under pressure with the type of balls I normally hit with a full poly bed. In that sense, it seems to play a bit like a a multifilament or natural gut. But really I need some more time with the strings to figure this out, so its a tenative view at this stage because it could be explained by me simply getting used to the string and not hitting as aggressively towards opponents as I might usually do with a full bed poly and getting used to that high power central sweetspot in the stringbed. Need more testing time with regard to the issue of spin.

Power modulation.
Some strings allow for a limited range of power no matter how hard you hit the ball. For example, Babolat Revenge, Luxilon 4G, Weiscannnon Silverstring etc. Other strings allow for a vast range of power depending on how hard you hit the ball eg. natural gut. ZX has a vast range of potential power. You want to smack the ball through the court with a ton of ball speed, and you can do it (subject to being able to control it and keep the ball in the court). You want to take all the pace off the ball and hit the most delicate of drop volleys and you can do it. This is like having a 'big volume knob' that you adjust ad infinitum in terms power rather than a power 'on/off switch'. In that sense, its alot like natural gut.

Control.
Bit too early for me to be definitive about this but I didn't feel that the string was uncontrolled, provided you hit with the ball with good technique, either with a low>high path or turn your hand over through the stroke. That said, my comments on control may be influenced by having strung it in a control orientated stick. As mentioned earlier, if you're late hitting the ball and don't put some topspin on it, it can fly because of its inherent power. Its not forgiving of crude strokes or wild swings that a lower powered poly would be. It rewards good technique. In fact, I'd suggest that good technique, footwork/positioning and timing is a pre-requisite to get the best out of it. It doesn't seem as wild as some high powered multifilaments I've seen but again, that could be due to the racquet it was strung it. I have to admit that I don't think I've ever strung with the 6.1 with a full multifilment, so I don't really have a point for comparison. Directionally, the ZX seems pretty precise, but I qualify that again mentioning the racquet that it was strung in. Need some more hitting time with it, as well as probably trying it in a larger headed, open patterned stick. I suspect though that its unlikely to suit something like an APDC but I could very easily be wrong because its an unusual string.

Feel
This is a hard one to describe. It's soft but not soft. You can feel the ball but its not like the feel that you get from a multi, a synthetic gut or a poly. The stringbed sort of 'gives' and the ball sinks in but with a sort of a plasticine 'give' to it. It doesn't feel like other strings. Its a long time since I played with full bed natural gut, but from memory, I think its a bit like 1.25mm VS Team. The harder you hit, the more it seems to give before catapulting the ball out again. But then, it doesn't feel like natural gut either - it doesn't have that elastic spring - its more like a mechanical spring. It's hard to describe. All I can say is that it has its own unique feel.

Volleys
Volleys were good in terms of feel but adversely affected by that differential going on between the middle sweetspot (soft/plush) and the area immediately outside the sweetspot (slightly boardy/tinny/power dying). Again, it may have been a mixture of the the string, the tension used and the 6.1 small sweetspot producing slightly unforgiving results on anything less than perfectly centered volleys.

Durability
The string didn't break on me during play, but I only played for an hour or so. That said, I did manage to snap the end of the string off when tying off the last knot during stringing despite pulling in the direction of the knot. I doubt that it will have the durability of a poly.

Thanks a lot for your report Torres! And sorry to have rushed you!

It sounds like a very interesting string indeed. The small sweetspot aspect is not what I would have expected to hear, but very interesting observation, and not a particularly encouraging one. That ZX gives such a deep pocket in the center but feels more boardy than copoly on the periphery is very strange. I hope you'll have time to post and update after some more playing time.

I'm leaning toward trying gut/ZX and copoly/ZX and comparing them to my normal setup of gut/copoly when the weather allows me to do some playtests. Reports on copoly/ZX seem to be the most positive so far, but my fondness for gut/syngut makes me think gut/ZX would be even better, provided I can get the tension right. We'll see.

[corners]

Originally Posted by mikeler

I had to put Dynamite back in my bag today after 2 sets. It was starting to bug my wrist.

Sorry to hear that Mikeler. Dynamite, on paper, is more flexible than any multi on the market so your experience is surprising, on paper. But the real world is where it counts. One thing to keep in mind is that Dynamite, because of it's very high-friction braided nylon coating doesn't move much. When main strings move, even if they don't snap back like copolys, dwell time increases and shock is reduced. So ZX might be a better fit for sensitive wrists.

[Torres]

Originally Posted by corners

more boardy than copoly on the periphery is very strange.

It feels a bit boardy/tinny on the periphery like a dead poly but without the stiffness or discomfort, if that makes any sense? It's like a describing piece of cardboard your toaster might come in - its boardy but not stiff or uncomfortable if you were to use it to hit a tennis ball. Hard to describe because this Zyex stuff seems to have its own characteristic. I think it would be less noticeable if I had strung it at a lower tension, but then that central sweetspot would probably start becoming really powerful.

Like you I suspect a poly/ZX or ZX/poly hybrid mix could well work. Also - as you originally suggested - I suspect that with a larger open patterned stick, it might be an idea to do longer pulls during stringing (I strung the ZX in the same way as usual) though I've no idea how that would affect its sweetspot characteristics. Anyone with an interest would probably need to experiment with pull speeds/times and possibly prestretch to see what might give the optimum results. Materials engineers would probably have a field day describing the tensile strength and stiffness of this string and how that changes depending on its length between two points....

[corners]

Originally Posted by Torres

It feels boardy on the periphery like a poly but without the stiffness or discomfort, if that makes any sense? It's like a describing piece of cardboard your TV might come in - its boardy not stiff or uncomfortable if you were to use it to hit a tennis ball. I think it would be less noticeable if I had strung it at a lower tension, but then that central sweetspot would start becoming really powerful.

Hmmm, I see what you're saying. It kind of sounds like it would be best for someone with slower swingspeed, where that central sweetspot power would actually be welcome. And that's kind of how Ashaway is marketing it. It might also behave differently in an open pattern, well, I guess every string does, but ... I think I'm going to have to try it in a full bed head to head with natural gut in a full bed to really get a handle on this stuff. So that's four tests just for this string, uggh. Still very curious about this stuff though.