5.0 Players, what are your strings of choice?

FIRETennis

Professional
This question is directed to the advanced players here, which strings do you prefer and how long do they last?

I use a Pure Aero Tour 16x19 leaded to 350g / 345 SW and my favorites are:
Tourna Big Hitter Silver7 Tour 17 / 1.25 - 6-8h before breaking
Luxilon ALU Power 1.25 - 8-10h before breaking

Been considering switching to the 16 / 1.30 gauge of the Tourna because I do get some premature breakage sometimes at the top of the hoop on a big serve although I do prefer the feeling of the 1.25.

What are your favorites?
 

dr. godmode

Hall of Fame
I play with GrappleSnake Tour Sniper. 1.25mm breaks at 12 on mishits for me sometimes but that's my own fault, not the strings. 1.30mm is a bit much for my racquet (VC95 16x20 Densish pattern), but I'd definitely need 1.30mm in a Pure Aero, the pattern is so open.

Not a fan of ALU tbh. I tried the Red special edition one and it was underwhelming.
 

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
I play with GrappleSnake Tour Sniper. 1.25mm breaks at 12 on mishits for me sometimes but that's my own fault, not the strings. 1.30mm is a bit much for my racquet (VC95 16x20 Densish pattern), but I'd definitely need 1.30mm in a Pure Aero, the pattern is so open.

Not a fan of ALU tbh. I tried the Red special edition one and it was underwhelming.

Wait, you don't like ALU but you never tried it?

J
 

FIRETennis

Professional
I play with GrappleSnake Tour Sniper. 1.25mm breaks at 12 on mishits for me sometimes but that's my own fault, not the strings. 1.30mm is a bit much for my racquet (VC95 16x20 Densish pattern), but I'd definitely need 1.30mm in a Pure Aero, the pattern is so open.

Not a fan of ALU tbh. I tried the Red special edition one and it was underwhelming.

Interesting... I coincidentally have the same problem with Tourna Big Hitter 7 Silver Tour 1.25 which is also made in Germany like GrappleSnake.
 

dr. godmode

Hall of Fame
Interesting... I coincidentally have the same problem with Tourna Big Hitter 7 Silver Tour 1.25 which is also made in Germany like GrappleSnake.
Its definitely not to do with the string. Theres a lot of pressure up there with no supporting crosses. I've broken all kinds of strings at 12 and it's just from mishitting. Best practice is not to shank lol.
 

Big Bagel

Professional
I don't have a usual setup right now as I don't play competitively at the moment, so I just try a lot. My favorite setups have been Lux gut/Tecnifibre Pro Red Code Wax, Lux gut/Dunlop NT Max Plus, full LXN Smart (I was a little surprised I liked this as much as I did), and full Head Experimental (Lynx Tour I think I heard it will be called).
 

blai212

Hall of Fame
have u tried tourna silver 7 tour mains with ALU crosses? i think that could be solid hybrid


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Back in my D1 days I was using VS touch 16 mains/ALU rough crosses. I don’t play many serious matches now, but when I do I still use that setup. Nothing really comes close in my opinion in terms of performance for the first 4 hours.

80% of matches are mixed doubles with my wife now though, and I use a full bed of VS touch 16 for that. I don’t need the extra spin control for doubles and the plush feel and better touch more than makes up for any loss in control.


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FIRETennis

Professional
Its definitely not to do with the string. Theres a lot of pressure up there with no supporting crosses. I've broken all kinds of strings at 12 and it's just from mishitting. Best practice is not to shank lol.

The Tourna ones I use do feel thinner than other 1.25s and it's the only string this happened with. They do look strangely similar to the Grapplesnake ones. Another poster mentioned in another thread about Tourna breaking during stringing and in the first hour. I agree the best practice is to hit the sweet spot every time :)
 

ron schaap

Hall of Fame
Back in my D1 days I was using VS touch 16 mains/ALU rough crosses. I don’t play many serious matches now, but when I do I still use that setup. Nothing really comes close in my opinion in terms of performance for the first 4 hours.

80% of matches are mixed doubles with my wife now though, and I use a full bed of VS touch 16 for that. I don’t need the extra spin control for doubles and the plush feel and better touch more than makes up for any loss in control.


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For that kind of social mixed doubles you could just as wel use your wifes frying pan. Much cheaper too than stringing up super expensive gut that breaks even while looking at it. ;):happydevil:
 

AMGF

Hall of Fame
Winter indoor playing: lux gut/alupower soft (or Irukandji). This lasts me a solid 12hours.

Summer outdoor: Yonex PTP full bed. Lasts me 4-6hours. If not broke after 6h I cut it.

It’s really humid here in the summer and gut/poly goes to hell in a few hours only. Ptp plays smooth with good control and spin and costs close to nothing in reels. I prefer it over a full bed alu, maybe there’s something wrong with me.
 

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
Winter indoor playing: lux gut/alupower soft (or Irukandji). This lasts me a solid 12hours.

Summer outdoor: Yonex PTP full bed. Lasts me 4-6hours. If not broke after 6h I cut it.

It’s really humid here in the summer and gut/poly goes to hell in a few hours only. Ptp plays smooth with good control and spin and costs close to nothing in reels. I prefer it over a full bed alu, maybe there’s something wrong with me.
Ptp is the yellow one?

J
 
For that kind of social mixed doubles you could just as wel use your wifes frying pan. Much cheaper too than stringing up super expensive gut that breaks even while looking at it. ;):happydevil:

There’s some truth to that, but the whole point is to save my elbow instead of forsaking it to a 20lb lump of cast iron!


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J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
Yes...or black (technically 'graphite').

Blech, I tried that stuff and it was the worst string I ever used, but then I got a few demos from TW strung with it and it actually played pretty ok, which lead me to believe that it just didn't play nice in my dense pattern frame and was ok in more open ones.

J
 

McLovin

Legend
Blech, I tried that stuff and it was the worst string I ever used
Yes, I recall you commenting on it in another thread...your racquet demo thread maybe?

I was a big user of it for a long time (@downs_chris got me hooked on it). Really liked it as a cross to Natural Gut. But I recently came across Laserfibre Native Tour and have switched to a full bed of it.

Native Tour isn't for everyone. I'd put it in the same category as the new RPM Power. And if you've read the thread on that playtest, you'll understand why its not for everyone. Different (softer) feel, not as much spin as your normal poly, but good power. I hit fairly flat, so losing a few RPMs isn't as big a deal for me.
 

AMGF

Hall of Fame
Blech, I tried that stuff and it was the worst string I ever used, but then I got a few demos from TW strung with it and it actually played pretty ok, which lead me to believe that it just didn't play nice in my dense pattern frame and was ok in more open ones.

J
Could be the reason. When I played 18x20 my full poly string of choice was the cyclone.
 

Doubles

Legend
have u tried tourna silver 7 tour mains with ALU crosses? i think that could be solid hybrid


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Waste of ALU to use it in the crosses in this instance. BHS7T is a good enough string on its own, imo. If you really wanted to cross it with something round I would opt for a cheaper solution like Cyber Flash or Big Hitter Silver or something similar.
 

downs_chris

Professional
Yes, I recall you commenting on it in another thread...your racquet demo thread maybe?

I was a big user of it for a long time (@downs_chris got me hooked on it). Really liked it as a cross to Natural Gut. But I recently came across Laserfibre Native Tour and have switched to a full bed of it.

Native Tour isn't for everyone. I'd put it in the same category as the new RPM Power. And if you've read the thread on that playtest, you'll understand why its not for everyone. Different (softer) feel, not as much spin as your normal poly, but good power. I hit fairly flat, so losing a few RPMs isn't as big a deal for me.

what are we talking about? poly tour pro? love it!

ohh....5.0 players...i can respond in here until 1/1/2020!
 
16 gauge (1.30) VS gut mains + 17 gauge (1.25) RPM

once I am through the current sets will try

17 gauge gut mains and 18 gauge RPM crosses
 

g4driver

Legend
Opps, missed that one however I am interested in 5.0+'s string setups.

16 4.5 men were bumped to 5.0 in Charleston SC who weren't able to appeal down. I string for eight of those 16 players on my Alpha Ghost, so I can give you their setups and frames. 3 of those 8 were previously rated 5.0 and now back to 5.0
Their initials are in parenthesis behind the tension.

Five of those eight players use 1.30mm Volkl Cyclone Tour (Anthracite)
~Babolat Pure Control Tour (16x20) (50) (SC)
~Aero Pro Drive (16x19) (54M/50X) (EL)
~Pure Strike 2nd Gen (16x19) (55) (AH)
~Prince Textreme Warrior 100 (16x18) (57M/55X) (PC)
~Prince Textreme 95 (16x19) (50M/48X) (TS)

Yonex Ai 98 (16x19)
~ Solinco Hyper G 1.30mm/ Head Hawk 1.25mm (52M/50X) (WS)

Head Graphene XT Prestige MP (18x20)
~ Babolat Hurricane Pro Tour 1.25 (57) (DH)

Donnay Xencore 99 (16x19)
~Solinco Revolution 1.30mm (52M/50X) (RS)

So to all the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 guys who say 1.30 mm Volkl Cyclone Tour doesn't work, doesn't hold tension, or is a garbage, I present five 5.0 USTA rated men who disagree. All use VCT 1.30mm with 16x19 frames except for the one using a 16x18 and one using a 16x20 pattern. Their names are easily confirmed on the USTA website.
 

FIRETennis

Professional
16 4.5 men were bumped to 5.0 in Charleston SC who weren't able to appeal down. I string for eight of those 16 players on my Alpha Ghost, so I can give you their setups and frames. 3 of those 8 were previously rated 5.0 and now back to 5.0
Their initials are in parenthesis behind the tension.

Five of those eight players use 1.30mm Volkl Cyclone Tour (Anthracite)
~Babolat Pure Control Tour (16x20) (50) (SC)
~Aero Pro Drive (16x19) (54M/50X) (EL)
~Pure Strike 2nd Gen (16x19) (55) (AH)
~Prince Textreme Warrior 100 (16x18) (57M/55X) (PC)
~Prince Textreme 95 (16x19) (50M/48X) (TS)

Yonex Ai 98 (16x19)
~ Solinco Hyper G 1.30mm/ Head Hawk 1.25mm (52M/50X) (WS)

Head Graphene XT Prestige MP (18x20)
~ Babolat Hurricane Pro Tour 1.25 (57) (DH)

Donnay Xencore 99 (16x19)
~Solinco Revolution 1.30mm (52M/50X) (RS)

So to all the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 guys who say 1.30 mm Volkl Cyclone Tour doesn't work, doesn't hold tension, or is a garbage, I present five 5.0 USTA rated men who disagree. All use VCT 1.30mm with 16x19 frames except for the one using a 16x18 and one using a 16x20 pattern. Their names are easily confirmed on the USTA website.

Thank you for such a comprehensive answer.
g4driver, as a fan of the Volkl Cyclone, do you believe that has an influence the choice of strings for your clients or was it a natural progression to VCT for them based on testing various strings?
 

g4driver

Legend
Thank you for such a comprehensive answer.
g4driver, as a fan of the Volkl Cyclone, do you believe that has an influence the choice of strings for your clients or was it a natural progression to VCT for them based on testing various strings?

For all of those guys, I blindly give them three string setups and tell them nothing about the strings. I can find find a post describing the process.

They pay nothing for a string or labor until they pick a string setup.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
What g4driver described is basically what the majority of D2 and D1 players are using. Full poly in the low to mid 50’s.
In my PS97 frames that are far from stock using BHS7T at 52lbs.
In the RF97’s VS/4G at 56/53-58/55.
 

fjcamry

Semi-Pro
I play with GrappleSnake Tour Sniper. 1.25mm breaks at 12 on mishits for me sometimes but that's my own fault, not the strings. 1.30mm is a bit much for my racquet (VC95 16x20 Densish pattern), but I'd definitely need 1.30mm in a Pure Aero, the pattern is so open.

Not a fan of ALU tbh. I tried the Red special edition one and it was underwhelming.

My head graphene speed pro is an open 18x20 and 1.30 works great in it. I got my first 2 frames second hand from another player who used it really well with kirschbaum proline ll 16g full bed and when I bought it used I never changed my string of choice or racket since 2014. Never gave up on kirschbaum proline ll and have it in 18, 17, and 16g. Skipped 16L though . I like the 16g most


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g4driver

Legend
What g4driver described is basically what the majority of D2 and D1 players are using. Full poly in the low to mid 50’s.
In my PS97 frames that are far from stock using BHS7T at 52lbs.
In the RF97’s VS/4G at 56/53-58/55.

How would you compare 1.25mm BHS7ST to 1.25mm Solinco Tourbite to Volkl Cylcone Tour (VCT) 1.30mm

I think you have played with 1.30mm VCT previously. My guess is VCT is softer than 1.25 BHS7ST and 1.25 STB and less tension drop on the BHS7ST and perhaps more spin but that is strictly a guess.
 

FIRETennis

Professional
How would you compare 1.25mm BHS7ST to 1.25mm Solinco Tourbite to Volkl Cylcone Tour (VCT) 1.30mm

I think you have played with 1.30mm VCT previously. My guess is VCT is softer than 1.25 BHS7ST and 1.25 STB and less tension drop on the BHS7ST and perhaps more spin but that is strictly a guess.

I'm currently stringing Volkl Cyclone Tour (VCT) 1.30mm so I will test it side by side with 1.25mm BHS7T (which is my current string).
I do find 1.25mm BHS7T close to the perfect poly, however what annoys me is that it's not durable and breaks very easily especially on very slight mishits near the top of the hoop after a few hours of hitting.
It's just too annoying to have to restring randomly between 2h and 8h.
I tried going up in gauge to 1.30mm but it almost feels like a different string with less spin, much stiffer, less feel and comfort.

Here are my notes from my "personal string tests":
Solinco Tourbite 16L 1.25mm vs. 1.25mm BHS7T - very crisp, good spin, stiffer than Tourna, less comfortable even than HyperG, no notching after 1h. Average feeling, OK spin, OK touch but nothing wow. Some elbow pain after 2h of hitting. Still virtually zero notching after 4h. Opponent said balls weren't as heavy as with the Tourna. Could not get sharp ball dip. It's a nice string but not really wow. I could see how the Soft is more. Decent tension maintenance. Very little notching.

Solinco Hyper G 16L 1.25 vs. 1.25mm BHS7T - Definitely stiffer, more "plasticky", lost 1kg (2lbs) tension overnight vs BHS7T which usually loses 0.5kg (1lb), way less visible spin, ball doesn't dip in as sharp as with the Tourna, missing the easy access to spin on kick serves thus landing a bit long with the Hyper-G. Bit of elbow discomfort.
 
D

Deleted member 54265

Guest
I'm currently stringing Volkl Cyclone Tour (VCT) 1.30mm so I will test it side by side with 1.25mm BHS7T (which is my current string).
I do find 1.25mm BHS7T close to the perfect poly, however what annoys me is that it's not durable and breaks very easily especially on very slight mishits near the top of the hoop after a few hours of hitting.
It's just too annoying to have to restring randomly between 2h and 8h.
I tried going up in gauge to 1.30mm but it almost feels like a different string with less spin, much stiffer, less feel and comfort.

Here are my notes from my "personal string tests":
Solinco Tourbite 16L 1.25mm vs. 1.25mm BHS7T - very crisp, good spin, stiffer than Tourna, less comfortable even than HyperG, no notching after 1h. Average feeling, OK spin, OK touch but nothing wow. Some elbow pain after 2h of hitting. Still virtually zero notching after 4h. Opponent said balls weren't as heavy as with the Tourna. Could not get sharp ball dip. It's a nice string but not really wow. I could see how the Soft is more. Decent tension maintenance. Very little notching.

Solinco Hyper G 16L 1.25 vs. 1.25mm BHS7T - Definitely stiffer, more "plasticky", lost 1kg (2lbs) tension overnight vs BHS7T which usually loses 0.5kg (1lb), way less visible spin, ball doesn't dip in as sharp as with the Tourna, missing the easy access to spin on kick serves thus landing a bit long with the Hyper-G. Bit of elbow discomfort.

I am testing out different poly strings at this moment, I am looking for a poly my arm can handle and with good playing characteristic (feel, power, spin etc - durability not a first priority)

You and some of the other guys comments at BHS7T thread made me want to try this string out, and WOW this is a great string almost bought a reel after my first hit....

I have a set of VCT 1.18 that I will string up soon to compare, but now @g4driver got me thinking about the 1.3 version might be better - how does the VCT 1.18 and 1.30 compare in arm comfort ?

Right now my two favorite polys are: Isospeed Baseline Spin (1.20) and Tourna BHS7T (1.25), but I have a lot of string testing coming up (I have matched frames so I play my setup back to back)

Cheers, Toby
 

g4driver

Legend
I have a set of VCT 1.18 that I will string up soon to compare, but now @g4driver got me thinking about the 1.3 version might be better - how does the VCT 1.18 and 1.30 compare in arm comfort ?

Cheers, Toby

@Toby14

my .02 Please return the VCT 1.18 and exchange it for 1.30 VCT, or simply throw it in the trash. Do not string it in your frame. VCT is only playable in the 1.30mm version if you are a 3.5+ rated guy and hit with any topspin whatsoever. The 1.25mm loses tension so quickly it is like a completely different string compared to the 1.30mm VCT. I can imagine how quickly the 1.18mm version would lose tension.

I have been using VCT 1.30mm since 2014 and have bought/strung over 20 reels of VCT since then. I had a friend purchase it against my advice then asked me to swap his 1.25mm reel for a reel of my 1.30mm when he complained of the tension loss and string movement. I told him to throw is reel of VCT 1.25mm in the garbage as I had absolutely no use for it whatsoever. People don't seem to get it, so they buy the 1.25mm VCT version thinking it plays like other 1.25mm strings.

VCT 1.30 works well for three now 5.0 players with a history of TE. (SC, AH, and PC have all had issues with their elbows and don't like stiff strings/frames) Saw AH last night after hitting with a bunch of 4.5 & 5.0 guys. AH uses VCT 1.30mm in Pure Strike 2nd Gen 16x19 frames, after using Head Velocity 1.30mm in his Babolat Pure Controls for the past year. He has no issue with VCT 1.30mm and he is coming from a multifilament.
 
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