Gosen Polymaster I & II

[Meaghan]

Had a packet of polymaster 1 sitting in the string bag for some time. I bought it along with a number of other strings in a package deal from a friend.

It has sat in the bag mainly because it looked like the bog standard rubbish you get with some pre trung rackets. Iwas running low of my normal string Solinco Tour Bite so I was looking for something to go in one of my rackets incase I needed it for a match.

Gosen polymaster 1&2 (also more spin frienly powermaster and softer compositemaster) are flat rectangular co-poly strings. On the thin side their gauge is around 1mm and the thick side its up to 1.46mm. Supposedly this flat shape gets more dwell time on the ball and more spin. It interests me that thicker strings are more control orientated and the fact that I have an open pattern, western grips and generate good topspin, that this could be a good blend.

When i took it out of the pack it seemed rather elastic so I strung it slightly tigher than normal @ 60lbs. In the morning it felt like it may have lost a little tension but it may be that this co poly has a little elastic give when depressed. I had a little hit against the wall and tbh it didnt feel anything special so I didnt hold out any hopes.

Day of match practise I pulled it out of the bad and thought I'll have a little knock before the big boys get here and to my surprise from the very first hit it felt lovely (I suppose Ive got to make comparisons against my normal string Tour Bite and the fact that I like polys, generally stiffer the better. Played Alu for a long time and have tried a load of strings and cant get along with the softer polys in general).

Describing a string is hard but it felt smooth, not in construction but slightly buttery, muted (which I like), it sounds silly but I used to play x1 in a Rebel and the feel was not unlike that (this could also be a factor of my racket and ra of 49). Tour Bite has a lovely grab to your hot that makes you feel like you have lots of dwell time and control. This doesnt have that grab feel but it did generate the spin I normally get, no better, no worse. What I did find was I had a different trajectory, with TB its grips and loops up, here with PM1 it seemed to dwell then shoot off the strings slightly lower and give me a more penetrating ball, sometimes TB can sit up on you and to players who like that it can be meat and drink for them. It was giving me a little easier depth and when i was hitting out the spin would bring it in for me, angles also were great, something TB is exceptional at.

Overall in the control and spin dept. it matched up well with TB. Power was similar it just felt on groundsrokes I got a little more pop because it felt a little flatter. It wasnt, it was just the nature of how the ball came off the strings.

During a few sets I felt really comfortable with this string, I wasnt scared it was going out on me, nor was I afraid to play my shots. This is important, everyone knows when they get something in the racket they dont like their game can start to go to pot, pulling out of shots etc.....
Where this string imressed me most was volleying and touch, drops etc. For a poly it simply excells. Now feel is a subjective thing and on a personal level i like the deadened feel of a poly. My volleys were more pentrating. I can have the problem of putting a volley away and often find Im getting it back in play when it should be point over. Here tho they were going away, I felt really good at the net.
Touch was fantastic, midweek I had a game of singles against my doubles partner whos 6'6 big serving lefty and it was a couple of good serving sets. But I was volleying and drop shotting for fun, mixed up with a more penetrating fh and came thro pretty comfortably to win.

My third session (4-6hr mark) was a league match, won one, lost one on a windy evening..... but the string held up well and was still going strong. Imo little tension loss from the first session.

I am atm in the process of trying to buy a reel but having a few problems, Ive got contacts in Germany but they have not answered my questions. One outlet has the reels for sale but there is no prices anywhere!!....if anyone can help in EU it would be most appreciated.

Here is a link to Gosen EU and their flat string selection http://gosen-strings-europe.com/Strings.aspx?cid=1

[Meaghan]

Am i the only one to have used this string??.....granted it looks crap but its certainly worth a trial. TW sells it. Is $13 expensive in US?

[Tennis Is Magic]

Originally Posted by Meaghan

Am i the only one to have used this string??.....granted it looks crap but its certainly worth a trial. TW sells it. Is $13 expensive in US?

$13 is on the low upper-end of string costs for polys/multis. Alu Power/RPM/ are $17, PHT is $15.

[edwincen]

Thanks for ypur review, you gave me some information of that string when i look it around and don't find any.
I almost trying gosen egg power but my shoulder injured before i hit with it, sadly..

[Mig1NC]

Kind of bumping an old thread here.

Has anybody else tried this?

Full bed? Hybrid?

[Shaolin]

Re-bump....has anyone else tried this string? Looking to possibly try it but would like to hear more opinions.

[corners]

I think ashaway dyna mite mains crosssed with polymaster mains would be good to try as a potentially GOAT poor man's Fed setup.

[Shaolin]

Thanks corners I might give that a try.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Shaolin

Thanks corners I might give that a try.

If you do, please let us know how it goes. Playtesting for me is shut down until spring.

The reasons why I think this combo might be good:

1. We know that gut/copoly plays great. And it also seems to get spinnier as it ages. This might be because, as the copoly crosses cut into the gut mains, the gut releases natural oils, lubricating the intersections. Using a flat string like these Gosens might actually be counterproductive - they might not cut into the gut mains at all and so the oils might not be released. (Although I'd still like to try gut/polymaster)

2. Dynamite in a full bed doesn't last long. The strings have very high-friction surfaces so they tend to tear each other up pretty fast.

3. So, using a slippery copoly in the crosses and soft, powerful and high-friction Dynamite in the mains might be as good or even better than gut/copoly. The Dynamite mains will grab the ball, slide, and then snapback with a lot of energy. Like gut/copoly but a lot cheaper.

4. But Dynamite won't release those natural oils, so we want the crosses not to bit into the mains. The flat Polymaster should allow the Dynamite mains to ride and slide without cutting into it too much.

5. Dynamite in a full bed has very high string-on-string friction. But in a hybrid with Cyber Flash the interstring friction is similar to RPM Blast in a full bed. Polymaster II is twice as slippy as Cyberblash, so Dynamite mains should slide very nicely on the super-slick Polymaster.

But this is pretty much 100% geargeek speculation.

[Sander001]

I've tried Polymaster II for a few hours today. I usually play in the 60's but the cold weather has made things very stiff feeling and the Polymaster packaging recommends max tension of 55lbs so I went with that.

It's a quality string with good spin, control and normal power for a poly. Feel wasn't lively but the cold temp may have something to do with that. Still, it was comfortable and I'll be giving it much more court time, and hopefully indoor too.

[sansaephanh]

Thanks! I was really wondering about these strings!

[nathannguyen]

Great strings! The flat construction is seriously awesome. It's very easy to generate spin, and the mains would always snap back straight. My flat serves made very loud popping sounds and they were pretty flat, but my second serves were dipping and kicking. I would definitely take these to a tournament and be sure that they will not pop on me, in fact, I've never notched these strings!

I wish more string companies would come out with flat strings.

[lys540iwgn]

My favorite racquet has Gosen Polymaster II strung at 48# in the mains, hybrided with Prince synthetic gut at 62# in the crosses. I've used it for 8 months now and like it a lot. My doubles partners across the net don't like that racquet but the one on my side likes it fine

It gives my serves a ton of kick, especially the second serve. My groundies tend to dip in with these strings. Volleys are crisp. I've tried regular poly's, and other spin polys, but I prefer this one. I have shoulder/wrist issues with regular polys, wanted something a little softer with spin and this works great for me.

The recommended tension for this string is 45-55#. It's better than Gosen's Comfort Poly and priced accordingly. This is the poly I tend to recommend to friends.

[racertempo]

Bump.....and other people use this string and have some feedback. Not much feedback out there on this string.

[corners]

Originally Posted by racertempo

Bump.....and other people use this string and have some feedback. Not much feedback out there on this string.

I just got three sets today but won't be able to test them until late March. When I do I'll post here.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by corners

I just got three sets today but won't be able to test them until late March. When I do I'll post here.

Are you going to try it in your 99s? I have mine arriving today, I got Polymaster as well as Powermaster (which is not sold by TW unfortunately). I plan to try them in my 99s and 105s in the next month.