In praise of Kevlar/ZX hybrid!!!

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
If I had only I had strung the Kevlar 8-10lbs tighter it would be less stiff..no thanks.
You do realize that in a kevlar/zx setup its the tension of the zx that determines the stringbed feel and not the tension of the kevlar? Even I, a person that likes low-powered really stiff stringbeds, was usually using a softer feeling kevlar/zx stringbed than what you tried because my zx cross was usually around 40 lbs (yours was 8 lbs tighter).
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
You are indeed blessed to get to hit with such players on a regular basis and to have the skills and fitness to do so. Good for you. Have a nice life.
@graycrait: This is a really fun thread thanks to positive-energy posters like you. And ironically, the extended debate spurred on by a certain negative poster has undoubtedly encouraged many more folks to give this very unique and addictive string hybrid a try.
 
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USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
You do realize that in a kevlar/zx setup its the tension of the zx that determines the stringbed feel and not the tension of the kevlar? Even I, a person that likes low-powered really stiff stringbeds, was usually using a softer feeling kevlar/zx stringbed than what you tried because my zx cross was usually around 40 lbs (yours was 8 lbs tighter).

Have a question for you. I string Gut/poly at 59/56 with Max Power 1.25 crosses. If the cross tension determines the stiffness of the stringbed then why is this set up not stiff while the Kev/Zx at 50/48 is unbearably stiff? I can tell you. Kevlar mains as opposed to Natural Gut mains. Go string Gut/Zx at 50/48 and you will have a much softer set up than Kevlar/Zx.
You guys have convinced yourself’s that Kevlar mains are not a source of string bed stiffness. Not the case.
 
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ashridge

Semi-Pro
What's your opinion on monogut zyex as a substitute for natural gut?

I've used both ZX and NG in a full bed and I didn't find them really much the same at all. Stringing both at a tension I could get some control, the ZX felt more "crisp" and had better pocketing, more spin, a smaller sweet spot.
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
Have a question for you. I string Gut/poly at 59/56 with Max Power 1.25 crosses. If the cross tension determines the stiffness of the stringbed then why is this set up not stiff while the Kev/Zx at 50/48 is unbearably stiff? I can tell you. Kevlar mains as opposed to Natural Gut mains. Go string Gut/Zx at 50/48 and you will have a much softer set up than Kevlar/Zx.
You guys have convinced yourself’s that Kevlar mains do not provide stiffness even if you string them at high tension. Not the case.
Of course gut/zx at 50/48 will be much softer than kevlar/zx at 50/48 (aside from the fact that prestretching adds about 10 lbs to the effective tension). But kevlar/zx at 60/40 will feel similarly soft to gut/zx at 50/48.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Kevlar is ridiculously stiff no matter how you look at it and a great way to hurt yourself. Have no use for it.
 
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USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
I've used both ZX and NG in a full bed and I didn't find them really much the same at all. Stringing both at a tension I could get some control, the ZX felt more "crisp" and had better pocketing, more spin, a smaller sweet spot.

The Zx string I find interesting and is a good substitute for poly. Would rather have kids playing full bed Zx than poly that is for sure.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Of course gut/zx at 50/48 will be much softer than kevlar/zx at 50/48 (aside from the fact that prestretching adds about 10 lbs to the effective tension). But kevlar/zx at 60/40 will feel similarly soft to gut/zx at 50/48.

And the reason the Gut/Zx is softer than Kev/Zx is the stiffness of Kevlar not the 48lb tension of the crosses. There are a number of strings that can be used as mains that produce tremendous play without the mess that is created with Kevlar.
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
And the reason the Gut/Zx is softer than Kev/Zx is the stiffness of Kevlar not the 48lb tension of the crosses. There are a number of strings that can be used as mains that produce tremendous play without the mess that is created with Kevlar.
There is a good reason why many people enjoy playing with kevlar/zx. When the mains are much tighter than the crosses with this combo, there is much less resistance to main string movement within the stringbed plane. This creates a unique cushioned feel with an exaggerated snappy snapback effect usually only found with fresh poly, but without the very short playability duration of poly.

Almost everyone posting in this thread has experienced that cushioned snappy feel. You have not.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
I have not tried

There is a good reason why many people enjoy playing with kevlar/zx. When the mains are much tighter than the crosses with this combo, there is much less resistance to main string movement within the stringbed plane. This creates a unique cushioned feel with an exaggerated snappy snapback effect usually only found with fresh poly, but without the very short playability duration of poly.

Almost everyone posting in this thread has experienced that cushioned snappy feel. You have not.

High differentials and squashing frames is not something I would ever be interested in doing. I’m not exactly in the minority among tennis players when it comes to this. The Kev/Zx requiring this type of stringing and adding tremendous weight to compensate makes it an unsavory set up along with the fact that Kevlar mains are sub par with respect to playabitly, feel, and the least powerful string made.
 
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travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
High differentials and squashing frames is not something I would ever be interested in doing. I’m not exactly in the minority among tennis players when it comes to this. The Kev/Zx requiring this type of stringing and adding tremendous weight to compensate makes it an unsavory set up along with the fact that Kevlar mains is sub par with respect to playabitly, feel, and the least powerful string made.
Every time you string gut/poly at 55/53 lbs without prestretching the poly, 10 hours of hitting later the frame will have squashed more than a frame will squash from kevlar/zx at 60/45.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Every time you string gut/poly at 55/53 lbs without prestretching the poly, 10 hours of hitting later the frame will have squashed more than a frame will squash from kevlar/zx at 60/45.

Sorry but you are wrong. Have put the racquet back on the stringer many times to replace the poly crosses and don’t have to adjust the stringer.
 

TypeRx

Semi-Pro
FYI -- demo'd a Wilson Clash Tour a couple weeks ago with Sensation 16g multi (55 lbs) and loved the feel but had trouble managing the power when swinging out. Ended up purchasing one and strung it up with Volkl Cyclone 17g 50 lbs thinking it would help tame the power. It did, but funny enough it still felt a bit too powerful and didn't generate as much spin as I thought it might. So, strung with Kev 17g/ZXP 17g at 75/45 lbs last week. I've since played 6-7 hours with it and it feels absolutely great. Not only can I now swing out and control things, I also am getting more spin than I do with the same string setup in my Volkl VS-8 rackets. It is noticeable by me and my opponents. And, things are as comfortable as ever.

That all said, I am still not 100% sure I will keep this racket but it is just one more example of Kev/ZXP being a winning combination for me.

Just a quick update on this -- I am now at ~35 hours of play with the Kev/ZXP I mentioned above. I have noticed in the past 5 hours or so that the stringbed has appeared to drop in tension and the Kev is about ready to go...but still hasn't. I continue to experience fantastic spin and comfort but the string bed is a little more powerful than I like right now. I was going to cut it out (just the Kev to unweave the ZXP and reuse in the future) but will just play until it breaks....just because. I also acquired a second racket and strung it with Kev/ZXP at 75/50. I think I like 75/45 better. So far I only have ~5 hours on this new racket.

I've now used Kev/ZXP in the 2015 Babolat Pure Drive+ (x2 rackets), the 2018 Wilson RF97A (x2 rackets), the Prince CTS Graduate 90 (x3 rackets), Volkl V-Sense 8 315g (x3 rackets), and Wilson Clash Tour (x2 rackets). The lowest tension I've tried is 60/40 and the highest is 75/50. I've found all setups to be comfortable, provide great performance, and durability which is not the case with many of the other strings I've tried (nearly a dozen polys, NG/poly, poly/SG, multi, poly/multi, full SG, full ZXP, ZXP/poly, poly/ZXP. And most importantly, I haven't cracked any of my rackets, my elbow, or my shoulder.

:cool:
 

skydog

Professional
I have been enjoying 68 x 50 lbs for a few months now and it has replaced my go to 64 x 52 lbs as my baseline set up in my Prince Tour 98 ESP’s. Probably going to experiment a little bit more when I string up one this afternoon as I am thinking of dropping the ZX tension down a few pounds. My cold weather set up is 64 x 50 lbs which I have pulled out of the bag a couple times in the past month and I do enjoy the feel it offers when the balls are deadened in the colder temperatures. My goal is to replicate that feel with the control I have experienced with the Kevlar at 68 lbs.

Should be fun, as always.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
There is a good reason why many people enjoy playing with kevlar/zx. When the mains are much tighter than the crosses with this combo, there is much less resistance to main string movement within the stringbed plane. This creates a unique cushioned feel with an exaggerated snappy snapback effect usually only found with fresh poly, but without the very short playability duration of poly.

Almost everyone posting in this thread has experienced that cushioned snappy feel. You have not.

Will have to continue to suffer along with VS Touch/4g and there is no way will ever need any more spin and snapback out of a set up. Maximum spin and snapback is not always the most important factor in producing the best tennis. Hitting through the court with pace and controlling the ball are far more important. With high differentials one has to sacrifice some control for spin. Serve, return, attacking the mid court ball, and volleys all suffer as well as drop shots. To each his own.
 

TypeRx

Semi-Pro
Will have to continue to suffer along with VS Touch/4g and there is no way will ever need any more spin and snapback out of a set up. Maximum spin and snapback is not always the most important factor in producing the best tennis. Hitting through the court with pace and controlling the ball are far more important. With high differentials one has to sacrifice some control for spin. Serve, return, attacking the mid court ball, and volleys all suffer as well as drop shots. To each his own.

Got it and thanks. Appreciate that you tried this setup (after a great forum member went through the expense and hassle of sending it to you) and you provided your feedback, which wasn’t all that surprising. The well was poisoned many moons ago.

Now that you have experienced this hybrid setup and obviously strongly dislike/hate it, feel free to leave this thread for the rest of us that can stick to the topic “in praise of Kevlar/ZX hybrid!!!”
 

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
Sad for who and what? Learned to trust my better judgement. Knew it was a horrible idea to put this string in my racquet. My friend that is a 5.0 player and trained with me that day saw the racquet strung with Kevlar and said “I wouldn’t do that”. He is also a doctor.
Gave it a go at low tension and other than control and durability this set up is sub par to full poly, gut/poly, poly/gut, poly/syn gut, and poly/multi in all categories of playability, comfort, feel and power. For these reasons, we will never see Kevlar/Zx used at higher levels of tennis whether that be juniors, collegiate players or professional. Anyone using this at the recreational level is rolling the dice with your health.
if you didnt do it right then you can't draw any conclusions. Said another way, yeah how you did it is terrible.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
if you didnt do it right then you can't draw any conclusions. Said another way, yeah how you did it is terrible.

You have a string that in your estimation can only be strung at high tension with a high differential after major pre-stretching on both strings. Squashing the frame is needed to pull all of this off. If people have problems then the problem is they didn’t pre stretch correctly or they didn’t string it tight enough or with a high enough differential. Oh yeah, if it hurts their arm they didn’t add enough weight to the frane. Regardless of whether they play with a 12.0+ frame or not. Total ridiculousness. You guys are great salesmen to convince people this is what they need to do to have a good string set up. Kinda like the old snake oil salesmen.
 
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Shroud

G.O.A.T.
You have a string that in your estimation can only be strung at high tension with a high differential after major pre-stretching on both strings. Squashing the frame is needed to pull all of this off. If people have problems then the problem is they didn’t pre stretch correctly or they didn’t string it tight enough or with a high enough differential. Oh yeah, if it hurts their arm they didn’t add enough weight to the frane. Regardless of whether they play with a 12.0+ frame or not. Total ridiculousness. You guys are great salesmen to convince people this is what they need to do to have a good string set up. Kinda like the old snake oil salesmen.
Who is doing the selling here? You didn't follow the recipe!! So yeah news flash, you won't have the same experience.

And you are a coach? You can't see how one needs to do things the specific way to get the results??
 

TypeRx

Semi-Pro
I can say with absolute clarity and integrity that I have nothing, absolutely zero, to gain from anyone using this string setup.

I am sure that is the case for pretty much everyone here as well. No salespeople, no commissions, no sponsorship, nothing. Just a desire for people here to enjoy tennis as much as they do and share what they have found works well for them and their game. If they try it and it doesn’t work, they move on. It’s not a big deal. We have all tried strings/rackets/socks/shoes/dampeners/LOL that we don’t like for whatever reason - share your experience and keep on keeping on. Trolling not needed.

For you to insinuate anything else is pretty sh***y, and says more about you than them/I.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Who is doing the selling here? You didn't follow the recipe!! So yeah news flash, you won't have the same experience.

And you are a coach? You can't see how one needs to do things the specific way to get the results??

Have never seen a string set up that could only be strung one way, requiring pre stretch of both strings, with an extreme high differential, squashing the frame, adding weight to compensate for the stiffness of the string. No string set up has one recipe. Have players that string full poly, poly/syn gut, poly/multi, gut/poly at different tensions, different differentials and different weight frames from mostly 10.9-12.9. They all have their own style of play and differences in what they like in terms of tensions. None require a specific recipe to be playable and not cause harm. They only have to be concerned about not going too high with tension. You will get more people hurt with this set up than any other. That is how Kevlar has always been. Total ridiculousness.
 
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v-verb

Hall of Fame
And I use it strung at 35 lbs Kev/ 35 lbs ZX. And it WORKS beautifully for me. Spin, control, decent power.

But it's not for everybody and that's fine. It doesn't hurt my sensitive arm, shoulder, wrist. I do hit pretty hard and serve in the high 80's - mid 90's

So USPTARF97 tried it and didn't like it and that's all good
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
And I use it strung at 35 lbs Kev/ 35 lbs ZX. And it WORKS beautifully for me. Spin, control, decent power.

But it's not for everybody and that's fine. It doesn't hurt my sensitive arm, shoulder, wrist. I do hit pretty hard and serve in the high 80's - mid 90's

So USPTARF97 tried it and didn't like it and that's all good

Lower tension was where I considered going with it and then the Kevlar police showed up insisting I didn’t string the Kevlar tight enough and didn’t string the Zx low enough. Need to add weight to an already 12.5 oz frame. Didn’t follow their directions. Hit with it a few hours and its stiff, underpowered and very taxing on the arm. Very similar to Kevlar set ups I hit with 30+ years ago. Wouldn't spend money on these strings to try them again. Much better set ups out there that are suited to my game.
 
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skydog

Professional
First hit with the 68 x 48 lbs went well. Not a drastic difference in performance than the 68 x 50 lbs, but a bit softer feel with maybe a tad more power. Will have to see how it goes for the next few weeks to see if I like it better.

Since switching to the Kevlar / Zyex hybrid a few years ago (switching from poly and/or poly hybrids) I have gotten rid of my TE problems, improved my control, improved my spin generation, improved my volleys, improved my drop shots, improved my top spin lobs, improved my kick and slice serves, improved my top spin and slice backhand, improved my service returns, and tamed the 16 x 16 string eater called the Prince Tour 98 ESP. About the only negative I have found is that my service speed feels down a few mph, but my first serve percentage is up so it’s a wash to me. I made the mistake of listening to folks who said it was bad for my arm and did not try it for the longest time assuming it would wreck my arm. Thanks to the folks in this thread, I learned a ton from people who were actively playing and experimenting with this hybrid and eventually decided to give it a go. I am forever grateful for all of your pioneering efforts and the patience to answer my questions when I was just starting out.

The experiment continues...
 

graycrait

Legend
I got a pair of these (Prince Michael Chang Ti Longbody 95") from @dak95_00 today. These rackets are 95", 28" long, 14x18 but with 8 string throats, not the "typical" 6 string Prince throats I am used to with the Prince 90 series 14x18.

Before I got an answer on the status of the strings I restrung both, one with Wilson Revolve 16 at 50/53 and the the other Ashaway Kevlar 16g x Ashaway ZX Pro 17g at 65/55, both with a NEOS 1000 lockout. Did I have fun tonight. Got to hit against UTR 10+ gal and 12+ guy. Both rackets played great. Serves were really nice. Both weigh 11.4oz. Serve power is seductive but I was able to execute good drop volleys as well as standard ground strokes and a couple of shots I have not hit as hard with such confidence before. Their coach calls me a sandbagging 4.5 but having never played USTA who knows and at my age who cares.

If you have had one hanging in the basement or garage for 20+ yrs take it out for a spin with some decent strings. I thought I could do about the same things with either racket regardless of strings. But for me the poly is just a week long string, while the Ash Kev x ZX will be a month or better.

ixnNz2B.jpg

cf4giMQ.jpg
 
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I got a pair of these (Prince Michael Chang Ti Longbody 95") from @dak95_00 today. These rackets are 95", 28" long, 14x18 but with 8 string throats, not the "typical" 6 string Prince throats I am used to with the Prince 90 series 14x18.

Before I got an answer on the status of the strings I restrung both, one with Wilson Revolve 16 at 50/53 and the the other Ashaway Kevlar 16g x Ashaway ZX Pro 17g at 65/55, both with a NEOS 1000 lockout. Did I have fun tonight. Got to hit against UTR 10+ gal and 12+ guy. Both rackets played great. Serves were really nice. Both weigh 11.4oz. Serve power is seductive but I was able to execute good drop volleys as well as standard ground strokes and a couple of shots I have not hit as hard with such confidence before. Their coach calls me a sandbagging 4.5 but having never played USTA who knows and at my age who cares.

If you have had one hanging in the basement or garage for 20+ yrs take it out for a spin with some decent strings. I thought I could do about the same things with either racket regardless of strings. But for me the poly is just a week long string, while the Ash Kev x ZX will be a month or better.

ixnNz2B.jpg

cf4giMQ.jpg

Have you tried the MC LB 110? Probably my second favorite Prince frame behind the POG OS! [emoji109]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Username_

Hall of Fame
am i the only person who plays with kevlar without prestretching it?

i play fine with my kevlar/poly and i don't ever prestretch

:unsure:
 
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graycrait

Legend
@BounceHitBounceHit , I've never seen a MC LB 110. If I ever get my hands on one I certainly will give it try.

@Username_ , I've strung Ash Kev x ZX many times with and without pretretching. What I found that without prestretching the Ash Kev the tension loss is humongous, especially after hitting an hour or so. I'm no 30lb tension poly user. I think I could counter this high initial tension loss with seriously high initial reference tension or pulling each main 2-3 times at preferred reference tension and I have done that. However, I have an easy method for prestretching the heck out of the Ash Kev so I use it. When I stretch with my winch I pluck it like a guitar string making sure it has my preferred tonal quality:)

I think, based on my opinion and my racket swinging, such as it is, that prestretching the ZX seems to help maintain the playing bed that I like longer. I do vacillate on whether it is really necessary with the ZX. Now days I just give it an extra 15" or so but am still surprised at how much even prestretched ZX stretches on my old NEOS 1000.

I've only played Ash Kev x poly a couple of times. I have never prestretched poly, figuring it goes dead fast enough without "artificial" help. I wouldn't play Ash Kev without Zyex. If Zyex didn't exist I would probably use Nat Gut x poly and likely replace the poly crosses at least once.
 
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tomato123

Professional
I've lurked these forums enough (way more than I should haha) to know that guys like Shroud and travlerajm can get a good amount of grief at times for sharing their "crazy" racquet setups and ideas, but from what I've seen, they also meet and play with a lot of other forum users who try these supposed racquet monstrosities in person and I've yet to see any reports of arms falling off or the like, and it seems the other way around, they meet in person, try these crazy racquets and find that it actually plays well, even if it's not something they would do themselves or promote.

I tried Kevlar/zx with relatively high differential a few times and thought it was great, but for me I just can't get a consistent string job each time I put it on, and I know it has to do with the inconsistency in prestretching both strings and I get enough longetivity from gut/poly on my 18x20 frame. If I played with a more open pattern racquet like the 14x18 Prince 93P I would definitely want to revisit this combo and maybe I'll finally put in the effort to figure out an efficient way to get that thorough prestretch.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
I've lurked these forums enough (way more than I should haha) to know that guys like Shroud and travlerajm can get a good amount of grief at times for sharing their "crazy" racquet setups and ideas, but from what I've seen, they also meet and play with a lot of other forum users who try these supposed racquet monstrosities in person and I've yet to see any reports of arms falling off or the like, and it seems the other way around, they meet in person, try these crazy racquets and find that it actually plays well, even if it's not something they would do themselves or promote.

I tried Kevlar/zx with relatively high differential a few times and thought it was great, but for me I just can't get a consistent string job each time I put it on, and I know it has to do with the inconsistency in prestretching both strings and I get enough longetivity from gut/poly on my 18x20 frame. If I played with a more open pattern racquet like the 14x18 Prince 93P I would definitely want to revisit this combo and maybe I'll finally put in the effort to figure out an efficient way to get that thorough prestretch.

Gut/poly and full poly I am able to produce the same set up over and over. It’s also ready to go right off of the stringer. Would be hard to compete with a string that plays well 3hrs in. Have players that string during a match needing a higher or lower tension. Presents a logistical problem there. The only strong opposition you see to this is people getting hurt. Overly heavy frames cause shoulder and back problems if one is training daily and Kevlar setups can hurt some one in any number of ways. To each his own but there can be tennis ending consequences to using Kevlar and also stringing poly at a high tension. It’s not by mistake that we don’t see Kevlar on the college circuit where it once was very popular. Experience.
 

tomato123

Professional
Gut/poly and full poly I am able to produce the same set up over and over. It’s also ready to go right off of the stringer. Would be hard to compete with a string that plays well 3hrs in. Have players that string during a match needing a higher or lower tension. Presents a logistical problem there. The only strong opposition you see to this is people getting hurt. Overly heavy frames cause shoulder and back problems if one is training daily and Kevlar setups can hurt some one in any number of ways. To each his own but there can be tennis ending consequences to using Kevlar and also stringing poly at a high tension. It’s not by mistake that we don’t see Kevlar on the college circuit where it once was very popular. Experience.

Agree that this is a highly niche setup, another very important factor is that, to my knowledge, the Kevlar/zx setup can be complemented by a heavily weighted racquet with high swingweight (which is another controversial topic altogether) which acts to offset the impact on the arms.

It's certainly reasonable that those who find the setup uncomfortable should absolutely stop playing with it at the first sign of discomfort, and hopefully from there, they can decide if they like the playing characteristics enough that they are willing to experiment some more to see if there are ways to offset the stiffness, or decide it's not for them and stop altogether.

Edit: Looks like the weight thing has already been discussed. Apologies to the rest of the posters for adding to the circular conversation. Going to withdraw myself now!
 
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USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Agree that this is a highly niche setup, another very important factor is that, to my knowledge, the Kevlar/zx setup can be complemented by a heavily weighted racquet with high swingweight (which is another controversial topic altogether) which acts to offset the impact on the arms.

It's certainly reasonable that those who find the setup uncomfortable should absolutely stop playing with it at the first sign of discomfort, and hopefully from there, they can decide if they like the playing characteristics enough that they are willing to experiment some more to see if there are ways to offset the stiffness, or decide it's not for them and stop altogether.

Edit: Looks like the weight thing has already been discussed. Apologies to the rest of the posters for adding to the circular conversation. Going to withdraw myself now!

Even if all things were good I wouldn’t be able to add that weight to an RF97 and then make it through a 3 set match. It’s a club already. Cheers
 

Username_

Hall of Fame
I tried kevlar on a lighter racquet. Felt it in my elbow.
Guess I can conclude for me personally that my elbow needs a heavy racquet to counter the harshness Kevlar brings.
 
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USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Players are looking to produce their best tennis right off the stringer in a 2-3 set match. Full poly 48-52, seeing everywhere with an occasional 54 or 55. No hybrid, no differential, and no Kevlar.
Luxilon is still the string choice of the majority of high level players.
Just some info on what we see with the juniors, collegiate and 4.5+ players.
 
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Username_

Hall of Fame
Players are looking to produce their best tennis right off the stringer in a 2-3 set match. Full poly 48-52, seeing everywhere with an occasional 54 or 55. No hybrid, no differential, and no Kevlar.
Luxilon is still the string choice of the majority of high level players.
Just some info on what we see with the juniors, collegiate and 4.5+ players.
I'm well aware of your stance on kevlar and this is why I'll say this:

I use kevlar only cuz its resistant to notching, not prone to breakage as easily, and maintains tension after it drops a massive amount before it plateus. that's it.
My racquet however is 370grams strung though so i don't feel any pain from it. I do feel it a little in a racquet that's around 345 grams strung though.

As for whether it's soft as people make it out to be in this thread, I don't think it is either.
The high differentials seem to be personal preference. I hated it and voiced my opinion in the other thread so I don't do high differentials.

Nothing beats a fresh full bed poly off the stringer.

TL;DR:
Kevlar becuz i'm a cheap, lazyass dude who wants to save money that can't be bothered going to string as often (only possible with heavy racquet IME)
 

v-verb

Hall of Fame
me. 35 lbs Kev/ZX. So far my fave string combo. Lots of spin, zero arm or elbow pain, good power with the ZX
 

graycrait

Legend
I really do think the racket plays a large part in this string combo in terms of feeling the comfort and other positives of the hybrid. I have a couple of stiff "wide body" Prince rackets that this hybrid feels harsh in but at the same tension in my 95" Prince Michael Chang Ti LBs this combo feels very controlled and comfortable. This hybrid seems always to feel comfortable in Prince narrow beam graphite rackets.
 

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
me. 35 lbs Kev/ZX. So far my fave string combo. Lots of spin, zero arm or elbow pain, good power with the ZX
Ok but your using 85-93 frames 19 mm beam if I remember correctly.

Kevlar doesn't have any rebound/trampoline properties at any tension. So what your dialing in with tension( for the mains) is trajectory and snapback.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
 

graycrait

Legend
Ok but your using 85-93 frames 19 mm beam if I remember correctly.

Currently I have Ash Kev x ZX strung in 16 rackets I have at hand in these sizes: 116, 107, 95, 93. Oddly, the two most muted rackets I have strung with Ash Kev x ZX are the: Prince Spectrum Comp 90 (which is actually a 93" 14x18) and a Prince Michael Chang Ti LB MP (95"). No vibration and so comfy. The same stringbed in a CTS Lightning, CTS Approach or Graphtech DB 90 has a bit of acceptable harshness.
 
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