TW Review of new Luxilon 4G string --Good as Gold

[TimothyO]

Originally Posted by drakulie

LOL.



anyway, quick update on the gut/4g hybrid.

After 5 hours of hitting, thru 3 days, tension has dropped from 32ert to 28 ert, which equates to 5 to 6 lb drop in tension. string is performing really well, and is extremely comfortable,,,, almost like it's breaking in more and feeling better each time I play with it. I did note when comparing it to my other frame strung with vs gut/alu power, that it is not as powerful or spinny, but is more comfortable.

Drak,

Can you offer a comparison to Pro Hurricane Tour with respect to spin potential and control? On paper 4G would appear to offer less spin potential and more control but field experience always trumps data.

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Absolutely flawless response

Great post... I found the string to have a lack of power.. great control and a lack of spin production. A another really bad price/performer from Lux. Would not stock it or play with it. There are about 500 bettter strings of there for less money. Any of the Tourna Poly offerings blow this stuff away. Give me BHB7 or just plain old Big Hitter Silver in a Hybrid (Syn Gut) over -4G ..

[Nostradamus]

Originally Posted by SteveI

Great post... I found the string to have a lack of power.. great control and a lack of spin production. A another really bad price/performer from Lux. Would not stock it or play with it. There are about 500 bettter strings of there for less money. Any of the Tourna Poly offerings blow this stuff away. Give me BHB7 or just plain old Big Hitter Silver in a Hybrid (Syn Gut) over -4G ..

Can you possibly tell me why then so many ATP tour players love this string. and also serena williams love this string too. Wonder why ?

[Doubles]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

Can you possibly tell me why then so many ATP tour players love this string. and also serena williams love this string too. Wonder why ?

Because any string is good when you only use it for an hour at a time.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

Can you possibly tell me why then so many ATP tour players love this string. and also serena williams love this string too. Wonder why ?

I would appreciate you telling me just all of these top tier ATP players who use 4G over any of the Big Banger offerings. You do realize that there are pros still using Lux BBO, BBOR, ALU, ALUR, ALUFl and BBTiMo, right?

[mrmo1115]

Originally Posted by TimothyO

Drak,

Can you offer a comparison to Pro Hurricane Tour with respect to spin potential and control? On paper 4G would appear to offer less spin potential and more control but field experience always trumps data.

Same here Drak

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

Can you possibly tell me why then so many ATP tour players love this string. and also serena williams love this string too. Wonder why ?

I have no idea... I am not a pro. I playtested the string in two frames for about 30 hours. Maybe the pros have contacts with lux? I evaluated the string based on my game and my impressions. It may be a great string for a select class of players. I was not impressed. As I indicated, not a good price/performer. Its like $16.95 a set right? Sorry not twice as good as Tourna Big Hitter Blue Rough or BHB7...as a matter of fact.. it as not as good as either of those and is twice as much. Just like TF X-1... really bad for the money. Now if someone is paying for the string and I only have to use it for an hour... sure X-1 all the way. As PV said.. I would not take this string if it was offered to me for free.

[TimothyO]

Steve,

Did you use it full bed or hybrid?

I intend to give it a try due to reports of low tension loss, comfort, and relatively high stiffness.

It seems perfect as a cross for gut mains which need a stiff, low tension-loss cross to tame their power and to "age" at a similar rate.

Perhaps, in light of recent research into low friction gut/poly hyrbrids, that's the target?

As for pro use of specific strings I doubt they'd use something strictly for sponsor dollars, at at least those at the top. Frames and strings are crucial to their careers and some pros have even paid big bucks to get out of hardware contracts and play with different hardware. If 4G was really that terrible in performance would a millionaire pro like S. Williams risk her fame and fortune so she could get free string that costs $8 per half set? I really doubt she risk the public humiliation of repeated losses while using a terrible string just to score free string.

Now, I could see top pros ignoring durability issues if they felt performance was that much better. I've tried other Lux strings popular among pros and never dound one that I liked due to poor durability. But based on low tension loss reports and reviews, 4G seems perfect for the rec/consumer market which values durability, especially those of us who enjoy gut mains. If those reports of low tension loss and long term comfort are accurate then Luxilon will have struck gold.

[000KFACTOR90000]

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[Prostaffer]

@Drakulie

I'm finding the same thing as you are. I notice the tension is dropping, but it is still playing well. Not like the drop off of a cliff you get with other polys.

I strung two racquets with a set of 4g in the crosses. One set of mains is NXT Control (i love the comfort of that string) and the other has NXT Tour.

I'm just looking for a little more power and spin to maximize this string. Maybe I should drop the tension? Both racquets are 100 sq in. One is at 60/58 and the other at 58/56...

This string is so comfortable I'm thinking of doing something crazy...like a poly poly hybrid...thoughts?

[drakulie]

Originally Posted by TimothyO

Drak,

Can you offer a comparison to Pro Hurricane Tour with respect to spin potential and control? On paper 4G would appear to offer less spin potential and more control but field experience always trumps data.

Been a while since I played with the PHT, but I would definitely say better tension maintenance. Comfort is about the same with an edge to the 4g. Spin I would give to the pht. But remember, I've only been using it in a hybrid, so everything is very preliminary. Hope that helps.


Pro staffer, I would never hybrid poly with poly. Makes no sense as there would be thousands of possible combinations. You are better off going full bed or hybriding with a gut or multi.

[purple-n-gold]

The Tourna strings do not come close to 4G. They play decent for maybe 2 good sessions and then fall off considerably. They are budget polys and play like such. 4g has been in raq for 3 weeks now and I still am not considering cutting it out, playing a league match with it today.

[Prostaffer]

I knew it was crazy! I'm just on the hunt for a little more with this string. It is comfortable for sure. I guess I'm just used to seeing the ball dip or dwell on the strings longer. I'm not the flattest hitter in the world and it seems these strings were designed for that kind of player. This string is so close to being a winner for me I'm experimenting all over the place!

[TimothyO]

Drak,

Yes, that's very helpful, thanks!

I'm having one of my 4D 200 Tours strung with VS Touch / 4G 1.30. Looking forward to trying it Thursday or Friday. Picked 4G 1.30 so I can compare directly to PHT 16 in same configuration.

Ditto on the poly/poly hybrid. Tried a few and saw no real benefit.

[mrmo1115]

Originally Posted by TimothyO

Drak,

Yes, that's very helpful, thanks!

I'm having one of my 4D 200 Tours strung with VS Touch / 4G 1.30. Looking forward to trying it Thursday or Friday. Picked 4G 1.30 so I can compare directly to PHT 16 in same configuration.

Ditto on the poly/poly hybrid. Tried a few and saw no real benefit.

I use PHT/VS Touch and I haven't gotten to test out the 4G/VS Touch very much but I do have it strung. I won't be able to hit the courts for a while because of an injury so if you can compare maybe how you like the 4G compared to the PHT that'd be great.

[Prostaffer]

ESPN even making note of Serena and her switch. I rarely see ESPN getting technical outside of the paint job article from a few years back...
http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen12/s...ntional-serena

[TimothyO]

Serena settled on a combination with Wilson natural gut in the mains (the strings which go from the top to the bottom of the racket) and Luxilon 4G in the crosses (the horizontal strings).

Goran Hofsteter, who has been assigned as Serena's stringer in the U.S. Open stringing facility for the past seven years, was surprised to find her ordering something other than the usual. But, he said, Serena's racket had become increasingly powerful as new models were released, creating more reason to change the strings.

"With these new rackets today … basically, it's way too much power, so you have to put some other string in to control it. And this one works very good," he said.

The Williams sisters rarely go it alone, and this is no exception -- Venus has also made the switch, and is using the same Wilson gut-Luxilon 4G combo. Her U.S. Open stringer, Yat Kong, feels the change makes sense.

"She has all the power that she needs, so she needs more control," he said. "It's also a very dense string pattern, so there's more string per square inch. It makes the racket head much stiffer. You get more control, but not as much power. That means a player has to be able to swing out."

That pretty much sums up the quest I've been on: a cross that can tame the power of gut mains while exploiting the low friction benefits of a gut/poly hybrid.

The challenge in this quest is twofold: a string that can tame gut's power without killing the arm and one that doesn't die in an hour or lose tension at a rate far in excess of the gut.

Hopefully 4G does those things. On paper the stiffness and low tension loss seem right there. And in spite of the high stiffness rating there have been many positive comments on its comfort, at least for a co-poly.

[drakulie]

In regards to the Williams changing to 4g, one thing I love about being behind the scenes is the little things you find out. For example, Serena switching to 4g because she wad told by Wilson that federer is using it. Lol.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by purple-n-gold

The Tourna strings do not come close to 4G. They play decent for maybe 2 good sessions and then fall off considerably. They are budget polys and play like such. 4g has been in raq for 3 weeks now and I still am not considering cutting it out, playing a league match with it today.

Gosh you really have no idea how absurd you sound.

[purple-n-gold]

Really now, how so.

I have used ALL of the Tourna strings and NONE of them play anywhere close to any Luxilon string I've used as far as playability and tension maintenance are concerned. Granted I've only used BBO, ALU, ALUR, M2 Adren., Adren.R , and Savage. So maybe Lux does have a string in there family that is a worse performer than Tourna but I have not found it.

I'm not knocking Tourna, they have great products but to for some to say this string is bad and this one is better is all a matter of preference.

Sometimes you feel like a burger and other times a T-bone.