Ashaway 100% Zyex monofilament

[corners]

Originally Posted by maggmaster

Started using this string in my exo 3 tours. I like it a lot. So far I am 12 hours in with only slight notching and it does provide excellent spin. I am having an issue with my serve, I can't seem to find the groove with this string and I have been hitting a fair number of serves. Anyone have any suggestions?

What kind of serves are going long? Flat serves? Kickers? The former could be due simply to greater speed, especially if you're coming from a low-powered copoly string. The latter could be a result of greater speed and less spin than you're used to.

[maggmaster]

Yea I mostly hit kickers, I have not been having issues with flat serves. It is odd because I feel like I am getting a lot of spin and I see the ball come off the court well but its just a bit long. I will string one up at 57 today.

[julianashaway]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

How would you pre-stretch 15 seconds on a lock-out stringer?

You can't do 15 second pulls on a lock-out machine. Just don't crank it too fast.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by julianashaway

You can't do 15 second pulls on a lock-out machine. Just don't crank it too fast.

So hold it 15 seconds before locking out. Will try this technique.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

So hold it 15 seconds before locking out. Will try this technique.

I just did slow pulls (not 15 seconds) and allowed the string to sit 15 seconds before clamping. If you just pull it for 15 seconds it won't be at full tension, so I don't know if that would be better than the way I did it.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by mikeler

I just did slow pulls (not 15 seconds) and allowed the string to sit 15 seconds before clamping. If you just pull it for 15 seconds it won't be at full tension, so I don't know if that would be better than the way I did it.

Time to dig out the drop weight stringer.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

Time to dig out the drop weight stringer.

Nah, it played great for me. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on it.

[corners]

Originally Posted by maggmaster

Yea I mostly hit kickers, I have not been having issues with flat serves. It is odd because I feel like I am getting a lot of spin and I see the ball come off the court well but its just a bit long. I will string one up at 57 today.

Remember that a high, explosive bounce with a kicker can be caused by either lots of spin or lots of speed. The best, highest-bouncing kickers I ever hit were with a gut/syngut 18 setup strung at 50 pounds. Not particularly spin-friendly, but the extra speed meant that the ball exploded off the court.

So it could be more speed, or less spin, or both, that's making your kicker land long. Hard to tell. But ZX, because it is so flexible and deflects a lot during impact, also will hold the ball longer - longer dwell time - than most strings. When the ball is on the strings for an extra millisecond, it will travel a greater distance on the stringed, which can significantly change the launch angle from what you're used to, because the racquetface is moving and rotating during that millisecond. So it might be this also - the launch angle is higher than you're used to, and so your serve lands deeper than usual.

Tightening the strings will help with that, but even at your current tension I would think that you could adjust to the launch angle, speed and spin with a little more playing time logged.

[mikeler]

Wow, now the red reels are no longer available on TW and the red sets don't even appear on the site anymore. These babies must be moving like hot cakes!

[mrmike]

What is the reason for the red being preferable? Does it play that much different from the natural?

[corners]

Originally Posted by mrmike

What is the reason for the red being preferable? Does it play that much different from the natural?

Some players have reported that the red is more slippery and/or that it is slightly stiffer.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by mrmike

What is the reason for the red being preferable? Does it play that much different from the natural?

Since I did not try out the natural version, I don't know if they are all that different. It just seemed like the red got more love in the playtest thread.

[Torres]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Wow, now the red reels are no longer available on TW and the red sets don't even appear on the site anymore. These babies must be moving like hot cakes!

I don't understand why TW have got rid of the red sets. I would have thought that the 'man in the street' would be more likely to buy a jazzier looking red string than a more common brown/beige string particularly given the price.

Red reels are still available it seems, just out of stock.

I wonder if there's a supply issue going on with this string, or whether TW are simply holding back on their purchase orders? I'm surprised that TW aren't holding more stock given the current interest in this string and the recent playtest etc.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Torres

I don't understand why TW have got rid of the red sets. I would have thought that the 'man in the street' would be more likely to buy a jazzier looking red string than a more common brown/beige string particularly given the price.

Red reels are still available it seems, just out of stock.

I wonder if there's a supply issue going on with this string, or whether TW are simply holding back on their purchase orders? I'm surprised that TW aren't holding more stock given the current interest in this string and the recent playtest etc.

I just bought 3 sets on the big auction site. My intention was actually to buy a half reel today from TW but it was not available. There is also a wholesaler that has quite a bit available. It is out there, just not on TW. Perhaps all the discussion on the TTW forums wiped them out temporarily. So good for Ashaway, TW and Julian. Thinking of trying out B5E with Monogut crosses. I know B5E is not your string but those two together could be "it" for me.

[Torres]

(Continued from #942 and #952)

Had a brief hit with the natural gut/ZX setup earlier this evening.

The racquet in which its been strung in has been sitting in my car for the past 9 days in hot temperatures without being used. The setup is still playing perfectly well. Doesn't feel like its lost tension much if at all since the last hit. Still playing very nicely. You can feel the comfort of the gut when hitting the ball, and if you hit harder, you get more crispness coming through. Doesn't feel like the gut is trampolining either.

If you want a long last lasting, natural gut based setup that offers comfort, feel, power, forgiveness etc, I'm pretty sure this is going to be best setup you can have - I think it plays better than full bed gut, and is longer lasting that a gut/poly setup.