WT Pro / MSV Co Focus 1.23 Midnight Blue
Stringing: As I hinted at above, the Co Focus is extraordinarily smooth and soft. While many polys have these attributes, rarely does it translate to stringing. Here, however, it does. This is definitely one of the easiest polys to weave that I've ever used, this thread both included and aside. No friction burn against the gut either, and super easy to tie off. Wonderful. Strung at 49/47.
Groundstrokes: This truly is a magnificent setup from the baseline. There is access to excellent control and power off of both wings. That coupled with the excellent feel that gut provides, and you definitely have the confidence to swing out. This setup, however, shines more brightly than anything tested thus far in one area: spin production. A member here stated that this provides effortless access to spin. I do not agree with this at all, because if you do not employ a proper stroke, high RHS will end up taking the ball long. However, he also said that his wife used it and her shots were disrupting her opponent's rhythm because they were spinning like they hadn't before. This, however, I do agree with. As I said in an above post, the spin that this setup produces is simply comical. Honestly, just try it for this alone because you will not believe me when I say that the ball actually looks different in the air than with your prior string setup. I've played with this for sufficient time now against the same opponent, and still when I take an aggressive cut at the ball and put it deep in the court, his timing is significantly off (late to the point of shanking on the throat at times). The reason for this is that unlike even with my B5E/WT Pro stringbeds, the pace of the ball once it bounces is retained to a sensational degree. Shots that would normally sit up slightly to allow a nice smooth stroke from across the net yields hurried rhythm and erratic timing.
As you likely know, I don't put much weight on spin production. I do employ a lot of topspin and slices, and it's necessary for me to serve, but I don't emphasize it when selecting a string. Here, however, I do not see how more is possible with my current skill level. The spin isn't like Spiky Shark or Blue Gear where the ball sits up a lot and just spins. This is spin like BHBR or Tour Bite in that the balls are simply heavy, heavier and heaviest. While it's not like you won't miss, this actually gives you the confidence to try angles that you otherwise would not both risking. Not all go in, and many are out, but I ended up trying over and over again to find the right combination of RHS and forward movement to get it right. When it all comes together, you actually end up having more fun on the court. Due to this last sentence, this receives the highest rating in this entire thread.
Overall: 10/10
Serves: Much the same as the groundstrokes. For anyone who uses spin regularly on their serve, then you will be grinning. For anyone who typically hits flat, you'll still be impressed although that's not the main attraction here. As you can likely see in the video in the first post (this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh3zvsvGGDc and more importantly, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvncTk2A2LA&feature=related ), my serve isn't exactly super fast. It does, however, tend to get stuck in the net rather often and it's not because of the speed. Rather, I employ a large amount of spin on every serve to increase accuracy and percentage, and this likes to dig into the net a lot. With my motion and the power and spin produced by these strings, I have never served better or with more confidence.
Overall: 10/10
Volleys: Volleying with WT Pro/Co Focus is much like using any natural gut mains setup. Obviously you get good feel from the gut which lets you place the ball how you want it, but do be careful. Strung at this tension, power is much higher than you would expect even for the lightest of touch shots. THe first few times you try to hit such a shot, you'll be disappointed. All this means, however, is that you get to expend less energy to hit the same shot with different strings. This alone doesn't make your shots better, but it does improve your hands. You quickly learn that you really need to have control over the racquet, because once you do, no volley is difficult. Overheads, yeah. No need to discuss aside from the glorious sound that is made.
Overall: 9.5/10
Durability: Here's the surprise of the review: this is more durable than poly mains and the same gut in the crosses. It does make sense, however, but the wear pattern you see on the gut is more akin to a fullbed of multifilament like NRG2 or X-1. The gut frays all around the hitting area and is untouched outside of it. Unlike with poly mains which shred the gut everywhere as they displace, the gut is definitely lasting longer and the poly is not near death. Since gut, unlike poly, plays about the same until it breaks, this makes this hybrid incredibly cost effective. There was no obscene tension loss either, and the break-in period was easily under an hour.
Overall: 9.5/10
Some people accuse me of hyperbole in my reviews. I contest that as I simply write how I am in person. I'm a fairly loud guy who likes to put down exactly what I'm thinking rather than what other people may want to hear. It's with that said that I put my full backing into this review. I honestly did not ever expect to find something better than B5E/WT. Even the WT/B5E hybrid that I re-did after the first broke was not much better than the same poly in the mains. Here though, the MSV has the absolute perfect feel to get the most out of this frame and the gut is fabulous as usual. COnsidering that the hybrid will cost you under 20 bucks a frame and will last about twice as long as any poly bed, and you sure do have a winner. I don't put a lot of weight on spin production, but that's a great feature of this hybrid. More than that, you get from the gut great feel and power, and yet the poly damps it to yield excellent control and durability. Fantastic, and there's no other words for it.
Overall: 10/10
