Give me a tension suggestion for Klip Legend 17

[JavierLW]

As you can see in my signature I have been using Wilson NG strung at 60#. This always felt great to me especially after a day and had remained playable for as long as 4 months (I play 3 times a week).

I no longer can get that at a reasonable price so I am going back to try out the mid-priced NG strings.

My first try was Legend 16. I strung it at 59#, and after the first day it seems to be plenty responsive but I feel that it's still a little stiff/lowpowered compared to what Im used to.

I ordered a package of Legend 17 to try in my other racquet. I notice from the specs on the racquetsportsindustry and from some of the comments on here that it's not a whole lot different in stiffness.

How much lower do you think I should string it, if at all if I want it to be a bit closer to how the Wilson NG felt? (Wilson sort of feels just like VS at least to the untrained player such as myself)

I also put 100 string savers in the Legend 16 setup, but I did that because I was doing that with the Wilson and I didnt want to change too many factors at once. It worked with the Wilson because the string was so soft anyway it didnt hurt to firm it up some and it kept the strings from moving at all.

But I also dont want to waste money stringing my racquet 7 times before I finally get it right either..... (or getting stuck playing with setups I dont like in real matches since my last Wilson NG racquet "POP!!!ed" on me the other day after 4 months of use)

[JavierLW]

bump

Basically Im trying to figure out how the difference in stiffness between Wilson NG (or VS) can be offset by tension.

Im also trying to confirm if there is any difference between Legend 16 and Legend 17 as far as stiffness and power goes.

[NoBadMojo]

Originally Posted by JavierLW

bump

Basically Im trying to figure out how the difference in stiffness between Wilson NG (or VS) can be offset by tension.

Im also trying to confirm if there is any difference between Legend 16 and Legend 17 as far as stiffness and power goes.

legend 16 and 17 play the same..the feel is slightly different. legend plays more crisp than VS and less powerfully

[ag200boy]

Originally Posted by JavierLW

I no longer can get that at a reasonable price so I am going back to try out the mid-priced NG strings.

why not switch to babolat VS?

its still ~35

[JavierLW]

Originally Posted by ag200boy

why not switch to babolat VS?

its still ~35

Because I dont want to pay $35.

(im not saying it's not worth it, just that $35 is more then I want to spend)

[JavierLW]

Originally Posted by NoBadMojo

legend 16 and 17 play the same..the feel is slightly different. legend plays more crisp than VS and less powerfully

Thanks, I might just string it the same anyway just to see how it "feels" different.

It seems fine at 59, at least when I swing out on the ball. I can tell it's still natural gut and it's resilient compared to a multi, but the lack of power was noticable.

So since it's significantly stiffer then VS, does it stay that way for longer?

With the Wilson or VS Gut it was great after the first day but near the end of it's life (3-4 months for me), it lost enough tension that because of how soft it was to begin with it became hard to control the ball any longer. It rarely broke on me though (except for the final batch which poped on it's own after 4 months but was getting unplayable anyway).

What's the experience long term with Legend? (I do understand you probably dont use a full job though, and you probably break a lot more strings then I do)

[W Cats]

Have you tried hitting the Legend 16 without the string savers? I was under the impression that string savers increase the tension a bit. I don't know by how much. If it increases it by a pound or two you could at least rule out that tension for your next string job.

[JavierLW]

Originally Posted by W Cats

Have you tried hitting the Legend 16 without the string savers? I was under the impression that string savers increase the tension a bit. I don't know by how much. If it increases it by a pound or two you could at least rule out that tension for your next string job.

No, I havent gotten that far into it yet, but I might try it. (or just lower the tension more to accomidate that)

Like I said, I was using them in the Wilson NG / VS / Tonic+ string though. It probably did add tension but that wasnt a bad thing for those strings because they need something to firm them up.

So my theory still would be if there are the same string savers in the Legend at about the same tension and it's stiffer, it's the string, not the string savers.

(unless they magically do more in the Legend string)

I probably dont need quite that many string savers but since Im using a full job of Gut it does help to make it last longer and it keeps the strings for moving all over the place. Once I put the pattern one cross too low and it actually started to serious fray right where it was missed.

I might start taking some out of the pattern to play around with that but I dont want to change too many things at once. (and I do want some of them in there because they help keep the strings from shreading each other unless that's not really as much of an issue with pure Legend as it is with VS)

[NoBadMojo]

Originally Posted by JavierLW

Thanks, I might just string it the same anyway just to see how it "feels" different.

It seems fine at 59, at least when I swing out on the ball. I can tell it's still natural gut and it's resilient compared to a multi, but the lack of power was noticable.

So since it's significantly stiffer then VS, does it stay that way for longer?

With the Wilson or VS Gut it was great after the first day but near the end of it's life (3-4 months for me), it lost enough tension that because of how soft it was to begin with it became hard to control the ball any longer. It rarely broke on me though (except for the final batch which poped on it's own after 4 months but was getting unplayable anyway).

What's the experience long term with Legend? (I do understand you probably dont use a full job though, and you probably break a lot more strings then I do)

that's the besrt way if feasible..change one thing at a time. in this case, the string leaving the tension the same

i've played legend straight up a few times altho have used it in a hybrid for the past couple years. also have played VS quite a bit. Durabilitywise, you should find the legend to be more durable than VS and it does retain it's crispness longer than VS. Both play well until they break..VS breaks sooner for most people

[hoodjem]

Wilson Natural 16 Natural Gut 1.31 102
Wilson Natural 17 Natural Gut 1.26 103

Klip Legend 16 Natural Gut 1.28 113
Klip Legend 17 Natural Gut 1.27 113

Klip Legend will play a little crisper than Wilson gut. To save money, you might consider BDE Rally Natural Gut 15L at $23.99, or Pacific nat gut:
Pacific Classic Gut 16 Natural Gut 1.30 106

Here are the VS gut ratings:
Babolat VS Team Thermogut 17 Natural Gut 1.26 102
Babolat VS Touch Thermogut 16 Natural Gut 1.30 107

Or you might lower the tension at least two pounds.

[SunDog]

I have been using Legend 17 in my mains for several years now (ever sinced TW raised the price of Bow) in my Volkl Racquets (C-10 pros and DNX 9s). I string the mains at 23.6 Kg (52 lbs) and the Wilson Stamina crosses at 25.4 Kg (56 lbs).

I am a 4.0 male with a horribly western grip - so I am essentially all topspin - quite limiting. I love the Legend from start to finish. To me it feels extra good right before it pops. I only put string savers in at the places that I see wearing through. By the time it breaks - I usually have somewhere between 4 and 8 string savers installed.

I play an average of 3-4 times per week - and lately it seems like the Legend is lasting for ever. I went 2.5 months in one of my frames (I alternate two) from October to December.

[Azzurri]

Javier,
I have also played all three guts (Klip L, Wilson NG and Babolat VS 17). I have actually found 57#'s on the Klip 17 to be nice. I was stringing the Babolat 58 and 60#'s and found it to be nice. So for me 57#'s was a good set up. I have also hybrid many a string and will probably settle on VS main and Cyber Flash cross or Gosen 17 cross (just when I feel like having a softer string bed). I have strung Klip at 60 or 62 #'s and it was too boardy. But 57 or 58 seems like a nice tension for the Klip.

I tried the BDE Performance at 52#'s and it was a ball launcher. Little feel, no ball pocketing. I have hit with gut for quite some time now and have a good grasp on the feel of a few different nat gut strings. I still think you can't beat the Klip for the money. I have gotten 4 sets of VS for less than $25 so I will go with that. Since I never break strings these will last for a loooong time in my racquet. The 4 sets with hybrid should last me 2 years.

[JavierLW]

Originally Posted by W Cats

Have you tried hitting the Legend 16 without the string savers? I was under the impression that string savers increase the tension a bit. I don't know by how much. If it increases it by a pound or two you could at least rule out that tension for your next string job.

Well I ended up doing this today anyway (at least with Legend 17).

I wasnt planning on playing tennis today but I had to pick up my racquet which was strung with Legend 17 at 59# (the same I had the Legend 16 at).

Then someone wanted me to fill in for them in a drill and I didnt have any string savers on me even if I wanted to put them in so I decided to just try it. (I figure I could of always put them in later)

It was an amazing difference. Although sadly it's hard to tell what the difference between 16 and 17 gauge is though and how much of it is lack of string savers.

Anyways I really like this setup, I was still getting the right amount of pop on the ball and the balls made an excellent sound when I hit the ball as well (with the string saver's and with Wilson NG, it was always very muted).

Sadly though I think this will be my last batch for awhile. My stringer got hurt so the store that strings my racquets is going to charge me $20 to string Natural Gut versus $13 to string anything else.

I have a full job of IsoSpeed Pro Classic in another racquet (strung at 63#) and Ive had a lot of success with that as well, and even though Legend is better, Im not sure it's $45 vs $23 better.

(although I do feel it's worth it over NXT or Biphase, which are way too stiff to even compare to Legend's 113 stiffness)

Someday I'll buy my own stringing machine and then I'll probably go back to Natural Gut, but I have other prioritys right now. Hopefully I can get back to it within the year though.

[charliefedererer]

Just wanted to make two comments.
The first is, "Have you tried the Klip Armour Pro?" I mention this because after switching to it from Babolat and Pacific, I found it much easier to string and longer lasting, almost certainly due to its white coating. I didn't see much of a difference, but Tennis Warehouse recommends stringing it at 2-3 pounds less because of playtester feedback. When you do get your stringer, you'll notice that most gut is harder to string (it kinks and frays easily), but not the Armour Pro.
The second comment was on the effect of string savers. Like everyone, the only reason I use them is to decrease the notching at the intersection between the main and cross strings that leads to string breakage. But like you, I definietly notice a difference they have on the feel of the string bed. Since they take up space, they have a tendency to increase the tension of the string. I think they also decrease the ability of gut to "pocket" the ball as much, as they increase the friction between the strings, not allowing the strings that actuallly strike the ball to indent as much. Both of these effects may lead to increased control, however.