Do the senior circuit guys use poly now?

[dominikk1985]

I just saw a vid where mac states he still plays gut. but how about the other guys? Im not talking so much of the guys retired 3 years ago but the guys who retired before poly became main stream? any of them using poly now or are they still using their old kind of strings?

[Rabbit]

Most of them apparently do. Magnus Larsson told me that he used gut when on the tour, but changed to poly because he couldn't keep gut in the court. This was due to the fact that he didn't play as much.

[TennisCJC]

Sampras has been playing poly lately. Courier use a syn gut main/poly cross setup. I think Agassi played poly in later years on tour and still is playing poly as senior.

McEnroe needs the feel and power from gut but he could probably use a gut main/poly cross hybrid at low tensions.

[big ted]

i think lendl uses a poly or poly hybrid

[boramiNYC]

Originally Posted by TennisCJC

Sampras has been playing poly lately. Courier use a syn gut main/poly cross setup. I think Agassi played poly in later years on tour and still is playing poly as senior.

McEnroe needs the feel and power from gut but he could probably use a gut main/poly cross hybrid at low tensions.

Doubt JMac can use poly hybrid. He'll lose too much power which he needs desperately from his funky strokes. even in very low tension poly just kills most of the power.

[drakulie]

Lot of guys hybrid with gut.

[TennisCJC]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

Doubt JMac can use poly hybrid. He'll lose too much power which he needs desperately from his funky strokes. even in very low tension poly just kills most of the power.

With a low tension gut/poly hybrid; Mc's slice serve would be even more wicked. He does need help from the baseline and I think the gut mains would give him enough kick while the poly cross will keep it in the court.

[big ted]

mcenroe said he doesnt volley as well with poly thats why he doesnt use it

[loci]

i think it's fair to say that the former pros have tried everything. how can they not? it's in their blood. it's fair to say that the older, retired players (borg, connors, mcenroe) are not taking huge cuts at the ball like the current pros because they're physically more fragile or softer than their playing days, so using the poly can be more of a detriment to their game. poly is really hard on the arm and i have tried it once (strung at 60 lbs ) and the feel was totally different. my strokes are very long and generate a great deal of pace, but i could not move the ball with the poly. the string bed felt dead. stringing at lower tensions would help, but again, in my mind, when you've played gut and multifilaments, the poly response is just too harsh.

[Cup8489]

Originally Posted by boramiNYC

Doubt JMac can use poly hybrid. He'll lose too much power which he needs desperately from his funky strokes. even in very low tension poly just kills most of the power.

Lol mcenroe hits harder than 99% of all poly users in the world. He's using gut because it works for him. he certainly can generate enough swingspeed to be capable of using poly, just doesn't like the feel at all.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by Cup8489

Lol mcenroe hits harder than 99% of all poly users in the world. He's using gut because it works for him. he certainly can generate enough swingspeed to be capable of using poly, just doesn't like the feel at all.

What feel???

[TennisCJC]

Originally Posted by Cup8489

Lol mcenroe hits harder than 99% of all poly users in the world. He's using gut because it works for him. he certainly can generate enough swingspeed to be capable of using poly, just doesn't like the feel at all.

Yes, an intelligent analysis. I have seen McEnroe play live in the 80s, 90s, and about 2 years ago. I agree his swing speed is faster than 99% of all poly users in the world. Yes, he likes gut but if were trying to compete now with current ATP players, I could see him going with gut mains/poly cross at low tension. Not saying he should switch now as he beat Sampras recently on the senior tour so I guess he is doing pretty well with what he is using.

[jankustra]

there is a line between players like borg, connors, MAC or Lend. They were best players with wood made rackets... so they spend a lot of time with natural gut and very dense string pattern. they used speed of oponent stokes...thats why they use natural...

[corbind]

Originally Posted by big ted

mcenroe said he doesnt volley as well with poly thats why he doesnt use it

Seems quite reasonable.

[TennisCJC]

Originally Posted by jankustra

there is a line between players like borg, connors, MAC or Lend. They were best players with wood made rackets... so they spend a lot of time with natural gut and very dense string pattern. they used speed of oponent stokes...thats why they use natural...

Have to respectfully disagree.

Lendl had very high swing speeds on FH and BH. His FH is was better than Murray's and Nadal's as far as power. He ABSOLUTELY could crush a FH. He also had a very heavy hard topspin BH with high racket speeds. I have no doubt he would be using a poly hybrid if he were a young man today. Lendl strung gut at 70 lbs which also indicates he would lean toward poly as he wanted a stiff controllable stringbed. An old Lendl could enjoy a poly hybrid.

Connors also had great racket speed and actually did not play much with a wood racket. He used a frigging stiff piece of steel T2000. His 2 HBH hit cross court mostly flat but with a touch of top had hi-swing-speed. He normally left the ground as he threw his whole body into the shot. Again, could see him using poly or poly/hybrid like Blake and Agassi to control his aggression.

McEnroe - yes, I'll concede he was a wood racket player and when he first went pro he had feather light goundstrokes. But, Nestor the Canadian doubles specialist is playing gut/poly hybrid strung at 40/38 - yes, gut at 40 lbs. Yes, an old Mc is not going to change but a young Mc trying to compete could (maybe would) use a setup similar to Nestor.

A young Borg and probably an old Borg would probably love poly. He strung his wood and wood/composite Donnay's at 80 lbs with gut. He liked his racket to feel stiff as a board. He also hit full hi-swing-speed strokes with more topspin than anyone in his era. Strong indicators that he would love poly strings.

These guys in their 50's have higher swing speeds than 90%+ of rec/league players using poly.

[High street sw19]

Some do some don't. Most play gut or soft multi's like TF in a hybrid.

[BLB]

I am the same age as Mac and I can tell you from experience that poly is hard on our middle-aged elbows. Gut works for Mac and poly/Luxilon does not for feel reasons too. Not many players in our age group are going to be happy using Poly or Lux in my opinion. It is just too hard on our body. The hybrid string jobs help to soften it some, but not completely.

[[d]ragon]

Chang's been mostly using BC 16

[TennisCJC]

Originally Posted by BLB

I am the same age as Mac and I can tell you from experience that poly is hard on our middle-aged elbows. Gut works for Mac and poly/Luxilon does not for feel reasons too. Not many players in our age group are going to be happy using Poly or Lux in my opinion. It is just too hard on our body. The hybrid string jobs help to soften it some, but not completely.

I am a 1-2 years older than Mac and I really like gut/poly or multi/poly or syn gut/poly hybrids are moderately low tensions around 52 on the mains and 48 on the poly cross. I had some pain at higher tensions but it plays with excellent control at the lower tensions - poly adds a lot of spin and control.

[cluckcluck]

Saw Sampras last night. He was using full poly.