Which poly string is the most spin friendly?

Here are some suggestions from the list of strings I've used until now. Since spin potential is your first priority so I won't mention other cons & pros.
Babolat: RPM Blast > RPM Team
Signum Pro: Tornado > Plama Hextreme ~ Thunderstorm.
Solinco Tour Bite.
Dunlop Black Widow:
Luxilon: 4G > Alu Power Rough.
Tecnifibre Black Code.
Pro Supex Blue Gear.
Pro's Pro Blackout.
Ashaway Kevlar (this one is not poly I guess, but still very spin friendly).
Kirschbaum Spiky Shark.

PaulC said:

V-Torque 18 > Tour bite / Tour bite soft for spin at low tensions buddy!!



Why no love for the super-cool neon-green? Think of it as the ultra Star-War Lightsaber that can blind your opponent under the sun!!! :twisted:



-- My pals can't even spot the tennis ball off my frame every now and then :twisted:

Click to expand...

VT has all the good spec but may blind myself before my partner does! Hahahaa, honestly i will give it a try but for long i cant really stand it! Black Shark is so far my first to try, and thanks for all others given my comment, and for the dead feel that i am looking for, blackshark seem to be my choice, getting it restring at the moment and will let u all know how i like it after weekend

PMChambers said:

I'm not a string expert but used a few mentioned and did a few comparisons.

I currently have Kirschbaum Black Shark 17 having gone from Volkl cyclone 16 and Volkl V-pro 16, I do have the Volkl in reels so will continue to use it.

Black Shark 17 plays a more spinny than Cyclone but it was also a gauge thinner. It's has more spin potential so worth a try. Generally if you want more spin go for a stiffer, deader string with low coefficient of friction. I'm not sure how they measure spin potential but it could just be frictional co-efficient which shaped polys do better in as they tend to slide on less contact area, until they wear off!

Kirschbaum Black Shark 17 was 4 for $20 on TW a few months ago, at $12 it's a rip, but maybe worth a try for comparison. I'm really enjoying it over cyclone and it looks bit better for spin than Black Widow. I string at 56-58lb in a full co-poly, I like dead strings though.

...........................Stiff.....Energy..Spin Pot
Black Shark 17.....198.......84...........7.4
Black Widow 17....217.......88...........5.4
Cyclone 16...........197.......84...........6.2
V-Pro 16.............234.......87...........5.0

Click to expand...

I remember Cyclone 18 was on top of that list for a long time but I don't remember what the spin potential figure was.

Sander001 said:

I remember Cyclone 18 was on top of that list for a long time but I don't remember what the spin potential figure was.

Click to expand...

I think it was 6.7 or something

Ah, i found it, it's 7.1.

Question: so if i put blackshark and then put let say a feel string to hybrid it, would that decrease the spin factor? I would think so but by how much? And what is a good hybrid string for "spin" string?

Tinmactennis said:

Question: so if i put blackshark and then put let say a feel string to hybrid it, would that decrease the spin factor? I would think so but by how much? And what is a good hybrid string for "spin" string?

Click to expand...

It will decrease spin quite significantly and the playability duration as well. What you are discussing is adding a softer string in the crosses for feel and comfort. Black Shark by itself has one of the lowest coefficients of friction (little string to string friction leading to good string snapback which enhances spin), but put a soft string like a multifilament in the crosses and you'll have one of the highest coefficients of friction (little string snapback). Recent research shows that string snapback is a significant component for spin creation (one of the most important ones in fact). By decreasing the snapback, you are greatly decreasing the spin. Furthermore, the increased friction will lead to the Black Shark cutting open the crosses, which further increases friction and decreases playability. If maximum spin is what you are going for, I generally do not suggest hybriding like this… In order to maximize spin, it makes more sense to put a stiffer and smooth string in the crosses, as this may maximize the snapback of the mains.

SpinToWin said:

It will decrease spin quite significantly and the playability duration as well. What you are discussing is adding a softer string in the crosses for feel and comfort. Black Shark by itself has one of the lowest coefficients of friction (little string to string friction leading to good string snapback which enhances spin), but put a soft string like a multifilament in the crosses and you'll have one of the highest coefficients of friction (little string snapback). Recent research shows that string snapback is a significant component for spin creation (one of the most important ones in fact). By decreasing the snapback, you are greatly decreasing the spin. Furthermore, the increased friction will lead to the Black Shark cutting open the crosses, which further increases friction and decreases playability. If maximum spin is what you are going for, I generally do not suggest hybriding like this… In order to maximize spin, it makes more sense to put a stiffer and smooth string in the crosses, as this may maximize the snapback of the mains.

Click to expand...

Great stuff mate thanks for that. So what is some example for stiff/smooth string? If blackshark work well by itself, i guess no point of hybrid it unless the feel is not what i prefer?

Tinmactennis said:

Great stuff mate thanks for that. So what is some example for stiff/smooth string? If blackshark work well by itself, i guess no point of hybrid it unless the feel is not what i prefer?

Click to expand...

Well Black Shark by itself is already pretty stiff so you'll be hard pressed to find anything stiffer that fits the bill (without making for a uberstiff setup )… Two string I can think of are L-Tec Premium 4S and Luxilon 4G (L-Tec would probably be better due to a lower coefficient of friction).

Yeah, hybriding is for those who do not like the feel of a full bed, but I think you'll like a full bed of Black Shark to be honest.

Otherwise, it is possible to use a softer string in the mains (something like Sonic Pro Edge, Tour Bite Soft, Black Widow, etc.) and using a slightly stiffer string in the crosses (my favorite would be Solinco Outlast 16).

But look at the data for yourself, it makes for quite an interesting read!

http://twu.tennis-warehouse.com/learning_center/COFreporter.php

Thats great stuff to read mate, i guess hybriding is not what i needed then since i like the dead feel, however is great to know why and how to do it.

lostinamerica said:

To each their own. I prefer something a little more toned down. I use a Wilson Steam and the Red/White/Black is obnoxious alongside the green color.

With all the fashion talk out of the way, I really encourage everyone to try the stuff. In my opinion it is the best poly out there. Any person I have got to try, changed to it. I've had to give set away for people to try it because they were sold on TB or TB-Soft. I like both strings but TB is a lot harsher and TB Soft has just a little too much power for my liking. This is a low powered string. If you struggle to get power, it will not be for you. I struggle to find the court; I hit the ball plenty hard. In a freshly strung set, I have a hard time hitting long.

As for durability, I am a frequent string breaker. It lasts about 4 hours which is above average for me. TB and TB Soft do about the same. Durability is so different from player to player, it is hard to say. I use a spin effect racquet and a frequent string breaker. I am not a good person to determine how long this lasts. I can say it is longer than synthetic and less than kevlar.

Click to expand...

I have three Steam 99S frames and have been using Cyclone Tour 16g , Cyclone Tour/ Silverstring 125mm (17g) and Cyclone Tour/ Head Hawk 17g, Pacific Tough Gut 16g/ Head Hawk 17g, and a recent Ashaway Monogut 1.22 playtest. My go to setups have been Cyclone Tour, Cyclone Tour/Head Hawk, but Marvel and the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier changed all of that for me.

I personally like Cyclone Tour more than Cyclone, but Cyclone works for my Steam 99S pretty well. I don't break as quickly as lostinamerica, but I do break the Cyclone, Cyclone Tour and V-Torque around the 12-14 set mark consistently.

I tried the Blue V-Torque / Weiss Cannon Silverstring 125mm as a joke when Captain America came out. It was a joke. A fluke string job. I was completely surprised. The ball pocketing and control was the best I have ever found in a Steam 99S. Better than Pacific Tough Gut 16/ Head Hawk 17g, better than YPPT 130, YPPT 125 mm and better than Cyclone 16g and Cyclone Tour 16 or any hybrid of Cyclone or Cyclone Tour.

VTourque / Head Hawk feels pretty soft to me and I have an bouts of TE in the past. I feel even strung at 57/54, I have more power than I want with this setup. I can still hit crazy tospin and slice the ball with these new strings, but the ball pockets like I have never felt in a Steam 99S.

But since I string my own frames, and a Steam 99S takes me exactly 13'4 of string for the crosses (40 feet / 3 = 13' 4"). I still toss 20 inches of the crosses after I tied off. When I was using a 1/2 pack (20') for the crosses, I I was tossing 7.5' of string even when I was using 20' in the crosses. So I realized I could get three sets of crosses from one 40' Pack in a Steam 99.

Lostinamerica, try my method of cutting a pack into thirds for your crosses. It will save you some coin if you buy crosses by the pack. You can use 5 packs of string and string six Steam 99S frames without using a starting clamp.

Using 3 packs for the mains and 2 packs for the crosses will yield you six complete string jobs in a Steam 99S, saving you one pack every 6th string job.


Back to the V-Torque / Weiss Cannon setup: the joke was that the setup produces more control than a full bed of Cyclone Tour, Cyclone Tour / Silverstring or Cyclone Tour / Head Hawk. The bad news is I snap the mains around 12-14 sets, but hey that's ok. It cost me $2.49 for the mains, and $5 for the crosses. $7.5 for a Steam 99S is a pretty sweet deal IMO.

I have found V-Torque 16g / Head Hawk 17g (13' 4" to be exact), gives my Steam 99S frames the magic string setup I have been seeking for the past nine months. I am not tossing the Cyclone Tour any time soon since I got 12 free packs from the nice folks at Volkl, but I just placed a second order from TW for V-Torque in both Green and Blue. I ordered 36 packs for $4.99 a pack which is $179.64 for 72 sets of mains. I believe in V-Torque and really appreciate Volkl and TW offering it in the plastic bags for cheaper than the nice paper retail packaging.

And if someone is looking at my neon green V-Torque/ White Head Hawk Strings in my Red/White/Black Steam 99S instead of the ball, well I am certainly happy about that.

My wish: V-Torque in 15L available in bright red.

One of the best deals going IMO.

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Volkl_V-Torque_16_String_-_Poly_Bag/descpageACVOLKL-VT16PB.html

This is a good discussion. I have been using the Wilson Six One 95 18x20, w Volkl Cyclone 18g in mains and Isospeed Control + 1.30 in crosses(53lbs/53lbs). I just tried V-Torque 18g in the mains and my mainstay Isospeed in the crosses(53lbs/53lbs).

The V-Torque seemed more powerful, but I can't say that it was more effective at producing spin. I'll continue to compare the strings over the next 2 weeks, but I'm guessing that the Cyclone 18g will be the poly string I continue to play with.

I'm also going to try some of the new Prince polys(XT, XC, XS) and the Kirschbaum Black Shark. I'm keeping an open mind and willing to test more strings, but if they don't work out, I'll still have the Cyclone 18g to fall back on.

I would have said cyclone for a cheaper option

I wish it was last summer and Cyclone reels were still on sale... would love to try some.

Black Shark / SPPP hybrid has fantastic spin and nice crisp feel [56lbs on Blade 98S], the only issue with this combo is tension maintenance IMO. Plays great for 3-4 hours before breaking. Unfortunately, if left in bag for a few days it loses a ton of tension.

Currently trying out TB again with SPPP hybrid @ 57lbs, hopefully get some better tension maintenance.

Another string I've been really impressed by is Gamma Moto, just ordered it in a reel. It has great spin, a medium stiffness feel, and supposedly has great tension maintenance, anyone have any experiences with it vs others mentioned in this thread?

I use yellow spiky shark in my babolat apd. What is the difference compared to Black Shark?

crash1929 said:

I use yellow spiky shark in my babolat apd. What is the difference compared to Black Shark?

Click to expand...

I personally prefer Black Shark... I'd say it depends on the individual though. I tested Black Shark side-by-side with Spiky Shark and I found Black Shark to play better in every area... Better ball pocketing, better touch, more control and more spin. But the opinions on these two strings greatly differ, so try them out for yourself.

SpinToWin said:

I personally prefer Black Shark... I'd say it depends on the individual though. I tested Black Shark side-by-side with Spiky Shark and I found Black Shark to play better in every area... Better ball pocketing, better touch, more control and more spin. But the opinions on these two strings greatly differ, so try them out for yourself.

Click to expand...

I tried the Black Shark 1.30 in the mains of my Wilson Six One 95 18x20(w my trusty Isospeed control +1.30 in crosses). Great spin, control, feel and no problems after 8hrs with durability or tension loss. But I'm still not sure that it is better than Cyclone in the long run. I need more time to compare.

I have used Spiky Shark in the past and IMO, Black Shark is in a completely different class. I agree, it's much better in all areas.

I tried Pro hurr tour at 52 lbs, Mondo spin from this one. it is bit harsh on the arm but lower tension seem to alleviate that problem but also feel is not good on this string. but spinwise, MONDO spin

Whats the best string to hybrid with the shaped poly if u want more soft feel yet maintain the playability? any specific string other than natural gut? Any suggestion guys?

I strung up a Dunlop M4.0 with a full bed of Ytex Octo-Twist @ a reference tension of 47lbs. You really need to try this string if you are looking for BIG SPIN! I personally have never heard of Ytex until I received a USRSA email, then noticed it on the Tennis Warehouse website. I have hit Black Widow a bunch, the octo-twist is more spin.

RPM Blast 18G. best spin ever. loved it on groundies, but i couldnt serve with that stuff to save my life.