String for Steam 99s?

[Buford T Justice]

Originally Posted by cluelessmoose

How many of you guys are playing the stick stock just out of curiosity? I replaced the base grip with a babolat syntec, added an over grip, and added 8 grams of lead at 12 o'clock bringing the sw to ~155-160 and balance to 2pts hl.

I like it bog stock. I just added a Super Grap overgrip and some headtape. Initially, I almost added some weight (as I was swinging too early especially on BH side) but decided to just adjust to the lower weight.

[wmilas]

I play with it stock. My favorite Bab overgrip and its good to go. I find it pretty stable headwise on off center shots. Its actually more stable than my old yonex stick. Its no players midsize for sure, but its pretty good.

Ok so I played with the topspin cyberflash last night strung at 50 for 2.5 hours. solid rallys and volleys then 2 sets of dubs. Was way more comfy than I thought, and way more powerful. Needs to be strung at 54 ish for me. If I had all day long to set up my shots I could spin it in no problem. On the run groundstrokes tended to go long. Volleys and reflex volleys were a tad long, but since I'm used to the bouncyness of gut, they weren't flying all that long. Feel was still pretty good, better than I thought.

There was not as much spin as a gut/poly hybrid Its a shame cause that was what drew me to the stick. Still lots of spin, more than my previous stick. I do have to say that I think with a little more tension the reduced spin will be a more controllable spin.

What I'm amazed about is that I just got over a bout of T.E. The cyberflash didn't jar my elbow at all. Pretty comfortable actually.

The lux 4g should be here today. I'll string it tonight and play with it Fri.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by wmilas

Ok so I played with the topspin cyberflash last night strung at 50 for 2.5 hours. solid rallys and volleys then 2 sets of dubs. Was way more comfy than I thought, and way more powerful. Needs to be strung at 54 ish for me. If I had all day long to set up my shots I could spin it in no problem. On the run groundstrokes tended to go long. Volleys and reflex volleys were a tad long, but since I'm used to the bouncyness of gut, they weren't flying all that long. Feel was still pretty good, better than I thought.

not sure what you were expecting???

[wmilas]

Well I was expecting a soft string as, if you went back and read, have had T.E. Poly strung at 50 in a yonex RDiS is murder. I did not expect the stick to be as soft as it feels considering it stiffness is as high as it is.

When its strung with gut it did need to be strung that much higher. Apparently, with poly, it does.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by wmilas

Well I was expecting a soft string as, if you went back and read, have had T.E. Poly strung at 50 in a yonex RDiS is murder. I did not expect the stick to be as soft as it feels considering it stiffness is as high as it is.

When its strung with gut it did need to be strung that much higher. Apparently, with poly, it does.

The 99s really requires poly strung at a minimum of 56. The recommended tension range from Wilson is 55-65, so even 60 would just be mid. If you have TE issues, I would recommend trying the Donnay Pro One 97 16x19.
Similar stick, but lots more comfortable.

[cluelessmoose]

Played 3 hours with signum pro poly plasma 1.33 today at 55lb. It was wonderful. Hardly any tension loss and strings snaped back even at the end. The string plays great too!

[JackB1]

Prince Beast now comes in a 15L gauge (1.35).
This could be a great choice for the 99S.

[Ross K]

Gentlemen of the steam room

Have heard interesting feedback on 99s being great @ low 40's with TB 16g full job. I wouldn't go as low as that but hope to play 99s next week w/TB in mid-late 40's.

[wmilas]

Originally Posted by Ross K

Gentlemen of the steam room

Have heard interesting feedback on 99s being great @ low 40's with TB 16g full job. I wouldn't go as low as that but hope to play 99s next week w/TB in mid-late 40's.

From experience I wouldn't try anything in the 40's; too much power. Poly doesn't act like you expect it to in this frame.

[wmilas]

Played with 4g for an hour on Friday. Just baseline rallys with a hitting partner. Didn't like it. At all. Felt a bit mushy at first. After 30 minutes felt very mushy. Was hitting with someone that doesn't hit with a lot of power, so I was generating all my own. Was a effort to keep the swing speed up to keep the ball spinning.

I hear the tension maintenance on 4g is great... but its not worth it for me. I don't like the feel at all.

So far Topspin Cyberflash is the way to go. I'm going to try some Dunlop ICE in it next.

[DavidNERODease]

My brother and I are in early testing with the 99S...

Test 1: (before any forum research) Sonic Pro 17g Orange @ 49lbs on a lockout/crank machine. My brother prefers a pretty loose set up and this was too soft for him after one match. It was too soft for me to even bounce the ball around the house. Snap back was totally gone.

Test 2: Sonic Pro 16g Black @ 55lbs on a constant pull machine. Still felt amazingly soft - was okay for one match but it was too springy for me after that. I hit a couple impressive topspin shots but it never really had any magic. My brother still wants to try it at this tension but snap back is already degraded considerably. I knew less crosses would make a differerence but holy smoke.

Might try PHT or Juice 16g @ 60lbs next.

[cluelessmoose]

[pQUOTE=wmilas;7206897]Played with 4g for an hour on Friday. Just baseline rallys with a hitting partner. Didn't like it. At all. Felt a bit mushy at first. After 30 minutes felt very mushy. Was hitting with someone that doesn't hit with a lot of power, so I was generating all my own. Was a effort to keep the swing speed up to keep the ball spinning.

I hear the tension maintenance on 4g is great... but its not worth it for me. I don't like the feel at all.

So far Topspin Cyberflash is the way to go. I'm going to try some Dunlop ICE in it next.[/quote]

Please let me know how hitting with the ice goes. I have a feeling it will be similar to polylon ice.

[wmilas]

Hit with the stick that had the Cyberflash in it today for about 75 minutes. Most of the time were hard volleys being banged at me from the baseline with about 20 minutes of down the line drills from the baseline. If I had to guess I'm about halfway through snapping the mains. The crosses have grooved hard and wont move. The mains are moving like crazy. I really like the way it feels for volleys. Nice and soft for a poly. I have almost 4 hours on it.

If I break it at hour 8-10 I'll be pretty happy as that's when I'd must likely cut it out anyways.

[cluelessmoose]

Originally Posted by wmilas

Hit with the stick that had the Cyberflash in it today for about 75 minutes. Most of the time were hard volleys being banged at me from the baseline with about 20 minutes of down the line drills from the baseline. If I had to guess I'm about halfway through snapping the mains. The crosses have grooved hard and wont move. The mains are moving like crazy. I really like the way it feels for volleys. Nice and soft for a poly. I have almost 4 hours on it.

If I break it at hour 8-10 I'll be pretty happy as that's when I'd must likely cut it out anyways.

The racket really does feel great at net, doesn't it? Before playing with it I thought the racket would lack control at the net due to such a crazy string pattern. What gauge of cyber flash did you play?

[syke]

I have the Yonex PolyTour Pro 1.30 in my 99S, it has been holding up pretty well, with no crazy notching after 2 hours.

[Rare]

I've found my golden egg when it comes to this racket, what i use is:

Yonex poly tour pro 125 Mains.
Babolat pro hurricane 120 crosses.

I'm not really a stringbreaker, and it lasts about 4-6 hours before i cut them out, but it might go somewhere around 8-10 before it snaps(depends on the quallity of my hittingpartners).

The hard babolat crosses cut into the softer mains, so the snapback still happens even after 2-3 hours.

I must say that the spin is incredible, ive stunned numerous players with both my crosscourt forehand, where i sometimes put an higher arch and some sidespin on, it just explodes off court.

Same goes for my onehanded backhand, it just amazing how much spin it adds.

Rare

[Rare]

Oh, forgot, i string at 51 Lbs.

comming from a kblade tour strung at 30 lbs

[Ross K]

Rare - Interesting set up ^. What are your thoughts re PTP as a full job?

Originally Posted by syke

I have the Yonex PolyTour Pro 1.30 in my 99S, it has been holding up pretty well, with no crazy notching after 2 hours.

syke - What tension here please with the PTP?

[Rare]

I tried PTP, at 56 thinking the softer string would have more dwelltime in the stringbed, giving a softer feeling.

I was wrong.

For me, it was lowpowered, i had to really swing at about 90% power for it to hit deep in the court.
The spin was mediocre.
The crosses started moving, and notching(because they have equal force, they both cut into eachother).
Because this frame "eats" strings, you really have to have a softer main then cross, or else it will play like "****".

I just thought of something, with my setup, the snapback becomes more of an slideback, cause the mains slide back to place.

If you use a cross that is softer then the main, it might cut the other way, and the mains will either "snap" back, or notch.

If someone has the time to test it out, report back to me

Need to buy myself a second 99s...

Rare

[syke]

Originally Posted by Ross K

Rare - Interesting set up ^. What are your thoughts re PTP as a full job?




syke - What tension here please with the PTP?

So far I have tried 4 different strings on the 99S (all strung at 54 lbs).
Technifibre Black Code - Good spin & feel but poor tension maintenance & it notches way too fast. A liitle too powerful for my liking. Broke in the 5 hours mark.

PolyTour Spin - Good spin, nice pop, great feel. Better than BC in terms of durability, but not by much.

PolyTour Pro - Moderate spin. PTS has better pop and feel. Power is just right. Although it may not the best in any department, it is consistent and predictable. Durability is pretty good after 2 hours (in comparision with the other 3 strings)

Gosen Polylon - Didn't like the feel of it. It simply didn't bring out the racquet's characteristics. They were cut out after 2 hours.