This is a good point Corners. I'm above my pay-grade here, but what about comparing the medium tension /fast swing tension loss of Revenge (19.2 lbs) to ZXM (24 lbs). Polys lose a ton of tension, but remain stiff in the lab. I'm not sure what the implications of this are. What struck me when stringing it was the elongation. For me this thing stretched as much as Gamma Professional - way more than most polys I've strung (save perhaps TBHB7). I'm intrigued by MZX.
Yeah, the Zyex has low static stiffness, so it elongates a lot when tensioned slowly. But that low stiffness also means it doesn't stiffen up in dynamic situations, like when struck with a ball or hammer. Polys are stiff to begin with, are stiff after tensioning and get even stiffer during impact.
But what I meant with the Zyex vs. gut is that the zyex loses more tension than gut, so when tested it appears to be even less stiff than it is, because it ends up getting tested at a lower tension than a gut. Hopefully I'm explaining this right. Anyway, the point is that your chart made MZX look just as flexible as gut. Its not, but it's only a little stiffer than the chart has it. Rather than 105.7 it's more like 120. Syngut is around 200. Revenge is about 300. The new 17g version should be even less stiff.
Regarding tension loss, TW University tests show that MZX loses tension like a poly. But Ashaway claims it loses less tension than syngut. I don't think the TW University tests accurately reflect real-world tension loss. It seems extreme to me. But I don't know who to believe regarding MZX.
In the book Technical Tennis, the authors talk about how loose strings generating more power is overrated. They estimated that halving the stiffness of your strings nets you about 3 extra mph. Since dropping the tension of a syngut by 10 pounds only reduces stringbed stiffness by about 20%, you'd only get about 0.6 extra miles per hour, at the expense of some control. But gut is half as stiff as syngut, so if you can control a full bed of gut you'll get a nice 3 mph by switching from syngut to gut. And if you happen to switch from Revenge to gut you'll get a whopping 6 mph extra on your 1st serve. Sounds nice. MZX might get you 5 mph. So if it can be controlled it could be a great string.
I asked TW Chris about it today in the Q section and apparently he finds it too lively. I'm going to give it a go when the weather turns. I think it should work at the right tension.
