The mains/crosses gut issue

ohcaptain

ohcaptain

Rookie
Hi,

People say Federer is the only player using gut in the mains, while all other players that use gut put them in the crosses.

I never understood that Federer idea, once at first sight mains should be tougher string, so not gut.

Now some stringers information seem to show more and more players are using gut in mains.

Anyone has an idea if this is true?!
And also what's the advantages/disadvantages of either option?

Thanks.
 
N

NLBwell

Legend
The gut in mains vs. gut in crosses are for different purposes.
The gut in the crosses is to take a poly stringbed and to make it more comfortable and slightly more powerful. Since the mains are the primary factor, the gut crosses kind of change the flavor of the poly string job.
The gut mains/poly crosses is different than a full gut string job. Mains ride across the poly crosses like on rails instead of the whole stringbed flexing on a full gut job. The springiness of the gut gives power (though less than full gut) but the stretching and snapping of the gut across the poly can give great amounts of spin.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Joker uses gut in mains.
fish uses gut in mains.
tsonga uses gut in mains.
dimitrov uses gut in mains.
mayer uses gut in mains.
nishikori uses gut in mains.
serena uses gut in mains.
venus uses gut in mains.
radwanska uses gut in mains.
and so on.....


putting gut in crosses is a waste of gut as any less expensive multi will do the same thing,,,,,soften the string bed.
putting gut in mains gives more:
-power
-comfort
-spin
-control
-plays better longer
 
Doubles

Doubles

Legend
drakulie said:
Joker uses gut in mains.
fish uses gut in mains.
tsonga uses gut in mains.
dimitrov uses gut in mains.
mayer uses gut in mains.
nishikori uses gut in mains.
serena uses gut in mains.
venus uses gut in mains.
radwanska uses gut in mains.
and so on.....


putting gut in crosses is a waste of gut as any less expensive multi will do the same thing,,,,,soften the string bed.
putting gut in mains gives more:
-power
-comfort
-spin
-control
-plays better longer
Click to expand...
Radwanska uses gut mains? From the pictures I remember seeing of her she was using what appeared to be Hurricane Feel, with gut crosses.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Doubles said:
Radwanska uses gut mains? From the pictures I remember seeing of her she was using what appeared to be Hurricane Feel, with gut crosses.
Click to expand...

Sorry, when I strung for her last year at Cincy, she was using RPM mains, Gut crosses. 23 kg.

her sister too. (Ursula)

some others

Alexa Glatch (spelling) vs/pht
Bopana- vs/alu power rough
Yunghan Chan-vs/alu


also, Nishikori is actually 4G/Gut
 
Bash and Crash

Bash and Crash

Semi-Pro
201301192317838247789-p2.jpeg


looks like Maria is also
 
R

rkelley

Hall of Fame
drakulie said:
[snip]
putting gut in crosses is a waste of gut as any less expensive multi will do the same thing,,,,,soften the string bed.
putting gut in mains gives more:
-power
-comfort
-spin
-control
-plays better longer
Click to expand...

Just a clarification question: Gut in the mains gives more power, comfort, etc. than . . . what? All gut? All poly?

I use poly in the mains (Lux rough) and a Babolat Xcel ("comfort") in the crosses. I've never tried it the other way around. The Xcel always breaks first.
 
W

Wilander Fan

Hall of Fame
Ive tried both and gut in main is much more playable. Jumpier ball and not as grabby if you have a verticle stroke but still very grabby if you hit across the ball. Gut in the crosses was horrible but it might be a different story on different tensions. High tension gut crosses mixed with low tension poly crosses? The best all around set up I found is poly/multi hybrid...poly mains and multi cross. Very soft and grabby but wears out very quickly. The gut main and poly cross seems to last the longest.
 
Rogael Naderer

Rogael Naderer

Semi-Pro
rkelley said:
Just a clarification question: Gut in the mains gives more power, comfort, etc. than . . . what? All gut? YES All poly? YES

I use poly in the mains (Lux rough) and a Babolat Xcel ("comfort") in the crosses. I've never tried it the other way around. The Xcel always breaks first.
Click to expand...


Babolat Excel is not gut, the hitting experience would not be as good as gut.
 
D

Deleted member 74648

Guest
And usually with a gut or multi main and poly crosses it will tend to break quicker. At least for me
 
Rabbit

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
Rogael Naderer said:
Babolat Excel is not gut, the hitting experience would not be as good as gut.
Click to expand...

As someone who has "tested" this, I will disagree with this in full. First, one cannot state a player experience to an absolute. Second, crosses do little more than hold the mains in place, using gut for this is a waste of gut, IMO. Third, I have done both and truthfully preferred the multi set up in the crosses as it was even "softer" than the like gut setup.
 
B

byealmeens

Semi-Pro
I agree that many pros use gut in the mains for more spin. However, most pros are not as concerned with durability as the average player. They often switch racquets several times during a single match … some at each ball change. Many polys cut through gut mains fairly quickly, especially with the additional string movement of the poly cross. Also, multis and/or synthetics do not hold tension nearly as well as gut. Using gut as a cross produces a much more consistent stringbed and in my opinion, one that stays playable for a longer period of time.

So, I’m not sure if gut as a cross is a waste of money. I think it depends on the player, what they require from their set-up, how often they re-string to get it, and of course, what they can afford. I once had a poly main/gut cross string job that felt very good even after a full 8 months of use … but with synthetic I probably get about a month at the max.
 
Last edited:
ohcaptain

ohcaptain

Rookie
byealmeens said:
I agree that many pros use gut in the mains for more spin. However, most pros are not as concerned with durability as the average player. They often switch racquets several times during a single match … some at each ball change. Many polys cut through gut mains fairly quickly, especially with the additional string movement of the poly cross. Also, multis and/or synthetics do not hold tension nearly as well as gut. Using gut as a cross produces a much more consistent stringbed and in my opinion, one that stays playable for a longer period of time.

So, I’m not sure if gut as a cross is a waste of money. I think it depends on the player, what they require from their set-up, how often they re-string to get it, and of course, what they can afford. I once had a poly main/gut cross string job that felt very good even after a full 8 months of use … but with synthetic I probably get about a month at the max.
Click to expand...

8 months!? %) man... I suffer to go longer than 2 weeks :|
 
Last edited:
N

NLBwell

Legend
Gut as a cross does have positive benefits. Whether it is worth the cost to you depends on how sensitive to it you are and your financial situation.
 
T

TennisCJC

Legend
Many pros use gut mains with poly crosses as other state above.

Gut crosses are better than syn gut or multi crosses but since the mains determine about 75-80% of how a racket plays, it seems like a big waste of money to me.

Gut mains/poly cross is a great stringbed for me, but too expensive. I now use multi mains or syn gut mains with poly crosses.
 
Borrelli

Borrelli

Semi-Pro
ohcaptain said:
8 months!? %) man... 2 suffer to go longer than 2 weeks :|
Click to expand...

8 months for poly mains? Not sure if your used to hitting with a sledge hammer or what? Most poly goes dead rather quickly, especially if it's in the mains, feels like hitting with a board. Not sure how you don't feel that?

TennisCJC said:
Many pros use gut mains with poly crosses as other state above.

Gut crosses are better than syn gut or multi crosses but since the mains determine about 75-80% of how a racket plays, it seems like a big waste of money to me.

Gut mains/poly cross is a great stringbed for me, but too expensive. I now use multi mains or syn gut mains with poly crosses.
Click to expand...

I actually cut my crosses out when the poly goes dead and just restring the crosses to get another 2-3 weeks out of my gut mains. I don't break strings all that often so I can get away with it. I've also used syn gut mains when things get tight and it's not bad at all.
 
M

mrmo1115

Hall of Fame
Drak and others can you confirm that one of the few pros that does gut crosses is Murray? Although many of you have posted that its a waste of time and money to put gut crosses I've always gone that way and I've done it for almost 6-7 years now. I just felt like the gut always softened up my poly mains, but in a way that no other multi could do. I felt with a multi the bed would feel too powerful. I don't do it for the durability I just do it because it's the best way for me to get the characteristics of the PHT I love minus the stiffness if I were to string it full bed.

I've been using the Roddick hybrid of PHT/VS

However, I am going to listen to what many of you guys have said about doing gut in the mains and I will be trying that as my next string job. I am extremely eager to play that and see how it feels.


mikeler said:
I like poly in the mains better than gut in the mains. It is all about individual preference.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. It is just up to the person. There is no right way. I don't believe its a waste of money/time to string the gut in the crosses. It's felt right to me forever.
 
Last edited:
フェデラー

フェデラー

Hall of Fame
drakulie said:
Joker uses gut in mains.
fish uses gut in mains.
tsonga uses gut in mains.
dimitrov uses gut in mains.
mayer uses gut in mains.
nishikori uses gut in mains.
serena uses gut in mains.
venus uses gut in mains.
radwanska uses gut in mains.
and so on.....


putting gut in crosses is a waste of gut as any less expensive multi will do the same thing,,,,,soften the string bed.
putting gut in mains gives more:
-power
-comfort
-spin
-control
-plays better longer
Click to expand...

Kei actually puts gut in the crosses. As does Muzza and Doggy. Just makes me wonder why they choose those set ups over the advantages that having gut mains entails.
 
T

TennisCJC

Legend
フェデラー said:
Kei actually puts gut in the crosses. As does Muzza and Doggy. Just makes me wonder why they choose those set ups over the advantages that having gut mains entails.
Click to expand...

Poly mains/gut cross will have slightly more control than gut mains/poly cross. I played the Wilson BLX 6.1 95 in 16x18 string pattern. I felt like it needed poly mains to temper the liveliness of the stringbed. So, I used poly mains with a soft cross string to tone it down a bit. I think this is the "typical" reason that you would go poly/gut instead of gut/poly.
 
Crisp

Crisp

Professional
My personal preference is the gut in the cross. I have tried both ways and for me it felt better with gut in cross. I guess you should all experiment and see what you like for you, not because someone told your your fave pro does it that way.
 
C

courtking

Semi-Pro
i've been playing VS Gut Main, ALU Power Rough cross last 7 years and it's the best set up for me.. power, spin and control. I strung it very loose VSGut 40lb and ALU cross at 36lb.. put on string savers and I think the whole string bed will go up another 5lb.. perfect setup on K90, KPS88 or St. Vincent.. I also tried put the VSGut cross and honestly as some one stated above it's a waste of $$ since u only feelt the stiffness of poly but not take advantage of the power and touch of the gut..
 
RFRF

RFRF

Semi-Pro
drakulie said:
Joker uses gut in mains.
fish uses gut in mains.
tsonga uses gut in mains.
dimitrov uses gut in mains.
mayer uses gut in mains.
nishikori uses gut in mains.
serena uses gut in mains.
venus uses gut in mains.
radwanska uses gut in mains.
and so on.....


putting gut in crosses is a waste of gut as any less expensive multi will do the same thing,,,,,soften the string bed.
putting gut in mains gives more:
-power
-comfort
-spin
-control
-plays better longer
Click to expand...
correct AAAAAAAA++++++++
 
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