Silver 7 Tour user tries Black 7

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
After some eye opening matches recently, I've decided to give Tourna Black 7 a try. My normal string is 17 gauge Silver 7 Tour, which I string at 47/43 or thereabouts.

Tennis Warehouse to the rescue - I ordered both the 17 and 18 gauge versions, because of the understanding that the gauges don't exactly match between the two string types.

uc


Strung it up at 51/46 with the 17 gauge as a first try. It quite different than Silver 7 Tour. It's thicker, more plasticky feeling, with more coil memory. It does elongate a little bit more when pulling tension, but not that much. I pulled 50 pounds tension on a one foot section and let it sit for a minute. Repulling tension required an extra 5 mm.

uc


RacquetTune says 47.6 pounds right off the string, using my default string factor that is not representative of the string (I only use RacquetTune to track tension loss, not for absolute numbers). My other racquet with Silver 7 Tour near the end of it's life is at 41.5 pounds. It would have started off somewhere in the 44.5-45 pound range.

Will hit with it tomorrow. Not sure what to expect based on the way different feel of the string. Hoping for roughly the same spin capability and a bit more free power, and I'll deal with the lower level of control.
 

blai212

Hall of Fame
I believe the v7 blade which is super muted benefits from a CRISP poly setup. HG 1.20 mains with a smooth round cross like polaris/SPPP would be my choice for a great feeling setup. Mayami tour hex, SPPPhex, TB would be some other crisp string setups that also might work well too.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
I believe the v7 blade which is super muted benefits from a CRISP poly setup. HG 1.20 mains with a smooth round cross like polaris/SPPP would be my choice for a great feeling setup. Mayami tour hex, SPPPhex, TB would be some other crisp string setups that also might work well too.

That would be true, but this is the SW104, which has the v7 Blade paintjob but is structurally identical to the v6 SW104 with Countervail and all.

I've only had one brief hit with the SW102, but I did take a pic recently of my strung SW104 on top of a new SW102.

uc
 

Tmano

Hall of Fame
After some eye opening matches recently, I've decided to give Tourna Black 7 a try. My normal string is 17 gauge Silver 7 Tour, which I string at 47/43 or thereabouts.

Tennis Warehouse to the rescue - I ordered both the 17 and 18 gauge versions, because of the understanding that the gauges don't exactly match between the two string types.

uc


Strung it up at 51/46 with the 17 gauge as a first try. It quite different than Silver 7 Tour. It's thicker, more plasticky feeling, with more coil memory. It does elongate a little bit more when pulling tension, but not that much. I pulled 50 pounds tension on a one foot section and let it sit for a minute. Repulling tension required an extra 5 mm.

uc


RacquetTune says 47.6 pounds right off the string, using my default string factor that is not representative of the string (I only use RacquetTune to track tension loss, not for absolute numbers). My other racquet with Silver 7 Tour near the end of it's life is at 41.5 pounds. It would have started off somewhere in the 44.5-45 pound range.

Will hit with it tomorrow. Not sure what to expect based on the way different feel of the string. Hoping for roughly the same spin capability and a bit more free power, and I'll deal with the lower level of control.
I used the Black 7 in my Dr 98 and i really liked it! Softer than Silver 7 tour but with some more power good spin if you need it and great directional control. The edges are not that pronounced so they will fade quickly at least that was for me but it is still very playable for 8 hours. Then you will notice lack of control and balls go a little too deep, not much but about 10-15 inch and that's time to get rid of it.
It reminded me of MSV hex soft.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Okay, so... Wow! I hit against a ball machine for almost 90 minutes with it. I warmed up with Silver 7 Tour, then switched over.

First of all, tension as measured by RacquetTune dropped from 47.6 to 45.9 from sitting overnight. After 85 minutes of mostly moderate hitting with some harder shots, it's now at 44.7 pounds. So not nearly as bad as I thought would happen.

The first few hits with Black 7 were eye opening from the sound. There was a sharp, high frequency harmonic that made it seem like I just crushed it, even though I was just swinging moderately. I didn't feel that through my hand though. The amplitude of the impact shock was reduced from Silver 7 Tour despite that sound. Power levels are up a noticeable but not a huge amount, and comfort is also increased a noticeable but not huge amount. Launch angle is a little bit lower and it doesn't feel like Black 7 grabs the ball quite in the same sharp manner that S7T does, but it still generates all the spin I need. There's also not quite the same pocketing feel, though it may be because the Black 7 is tighter. I'm glad I strung it at the tension I did - I think I would prefer it a little bit looser but most likely Black 7 will drop through my preferred tension sweetspot.

Talking of sweetspot, it does feel like it makes it bigger. There's more forgiveness when missing, but control isn't any worse. The ball goes where I'm expecting it to. When I first used S7T, I noticed what I thought was a big of non-linearity where volleys felt like they had more rebound speed than I would have expected. I think Black 7 also has this characteristic - low volleys were a bit on the tough side to get in but I had the ball machine speed set up almost to max, with maximum topspin and the height set to just skim the net.

All in all, though, I could easily switch to this string. The 17 gauge Black 7 is thicker than the 17 gauge S7T, and S7T retains much of its spin capability and launch angle even though the edges wear smooth. S7T also retains playability until the hour or so before it breaks. If Black7 also keeps its playability, I'll probably get a reel and strongly consider switching to this string.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Played with Black7 for another 85 minutes today, finishing up with Silver 7 Tour. The response has changed - launch angle is lower and that feeling of bite on the ball has decreased as well. The impact is more springy feeling and that has affected my confidence in the control. Power levels and comfort seem unchanged. Despite only about three hours of play, it's notched somewhere around a quarter to a third of the way through. I'm expecting it will break in the 6-8 hour range, well less than the roughly 12 hours I get from S7T when it doesn't shear break on me.

My last five minutes with the S7T that is near end of life was more to my liking, with a firmer feel and that sharp feel of the strings biting into the felt of the ball. Because the Black7 now feels a bit springy, it also feels like that pocketing sensation is decreased.

I'll continue playing with it to see if playability changes further.
 

blai212

Hall of Fame
in my experience, i noticed black 7 to feel softer, more powerful but shorter lifespan as with most softer strings…could try compensating this by hybriding with good tension maintenance cross. Unless you’re looking for more power/comfort, s7t is probably the better choice because of longevity (unless you dont mind restringing frequently)
 

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
B7 plays good when it’s fresh but does not retain its playability for long. For me it lasts 2 sessions and then it gets launchy and I have to cut it out.

S7T retains its playability for much longer.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
@blai212 @mad dog1 Yes, that's what I'm finding - that the playability of the Black7 doesn't last for that long. With S7T as controlled/stiff as it is, I'm now considering trying it a couple of pounds lower than where I've been using it. Even though RacquetTune says that my old S7T is in the 40 pound range, it still has much better control and no mushiness/launchiness like Black7 that is 7-8% tighter.
 

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
@blai212 @mad dog1 Yes, that's what I'm finding - that the playability of the Black7 doesn't last for that long. With S7T as controlled/stiff as it is, I'm now considering trying it a couple of pounds lower than where I've been using it. Even though RacquetTune says that my old S7T is in the 40 pound range, it still has much better control and no mushiness/launchiness like Black7 that is 7-8% tighter.
B7 is more springy and elastic than S7T. What I don’t like about B7 is that the springiness is not linear and is unpredictable. The response of S7T is very linear.
 
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cameron9713

New User
@blai212 @mad dog1 Yes, that's what I'm finding - that the playability of the Black7 doesn't last for that long. With S7T as controlled/stiff as it is, I'm now considering trying it a couple of pounds lower than where I've been using it. Even though RacquetTune says that my old S7T is in the 40 pound range, it still has much better control and no mushiness/launchiness like Black7 that is 7-8% tighter.
I played with B7 for a few years prior to S7T and had a similar experience. It's a bit softer and more forgiving but the crispness and playability of S7T is something I've come to appreciate. I've been trying a variety of strings but keep gravitating to S7T.
 

satchmo_d

Rookie
My son just changed from BHB7 17 ga to Silver 7 (not tour) 16 at the advice of his coach. He’s been playing BHB7 for a couple years and I was surprised that he was open to the change as he’s usually a “don’t mess with what works“ kind of kid. I strung up the silver and it definitely didn’t feel as soft as the BHB7. He came home raving about the increase in feel but did admit a slight loss of spin, which is expected given the silver is a round poly. The sound is definitely different with the silver, as someone mentioned earlier.
 

SteveI

Legend
Great thread. Many have reported the lack of bandwidth with the BHB7 17G.. as it gets a bit launchy after a much shorter time than BHS 7 Tour. Both are really nice strings. I found the 16G version of BHB7 to be a bit more stable than the 17G..as you might expect. The 17G and 18G work very well in Blade 98s with the 18 x 20 patterns.

I love the free power of the BHB7 over the Tour and the softness. I am no longer much for a big hitter compared to most on this site, so I strung the Tour with much less tension (for a softer stingbed and more free power) and the BHB7 17G still holds up pretty well for me..over 10 hours.

I have seen how @Injured Again hits the ball from his great videos. Crushes the ball pretty much :) .
 
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SteveI

Legend
My son just changed from BHB7 17 ga to Silver 7 (not tour) 16 at the advice of his coach. He’s been playing BHB7 for a couple years and I was surprised that he was open to the change as he’s usually a “don’t mess with what works“ kind of kid. I strung up the silver and it definitely didn’t feel as soft as the BHB7. He came home raving about the increase in feel but did admit a slight loss of spin, which is expected given the silver is a round poly. The sound is definitely different with the silver, as someone mentioned earlier.

The BHS 16G is a great round sliver / grey poly for the price compared to ALU Power. The BHS 16G is pretty stable and plays quite firm for the 1st couple of hours and then the feel and power really get nice. The spin is not going to be the 7 Tour level but is also pretty good for a round poly. I always have a reel around of the BHS. Great basic poly for dirt cheap.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
So I've hit two more times with Black7. I'm pretty determined to use just it and see how things go. I've had a couple of hard hitting sessions, once with my son on our faster indoor courts and once with an age group peer who also is an aggressive ball striker on our slower indoor courts.

There is definitely less of a sense of control but with an emphasis on hitting with slightly more topspin, I can consistently and repeatedly get the ball into the court with confidence. With now a bit more than four hours, I think I've gotten enough exclusive time with it that Black7 is just what I'm used to now.

Tension loss has slowed - RacquetTune shows 42.1 pounds so just a couple of percent loss over the last 2 1/2 hours. The edges have worn mostly smooth, there's about 30-40% notching, and the mains are slightly sticking out of place. It's not as lively feeling, and that high frequency impact noise is pretty much gone - it sounds more damped than an old S7T stringjob. Launch angle is still okay - it might be going down a hair but nothing I can't fairly easily compensate for. It seems the loss of elasticity has somewhat offset the loss in tension, especially in my 18x19, fairly tight string pattern.

Tomorrow is a practice session with a player who does a really good job of redirecting my pace and moving me around with various spins and ball heights. It will be a good test if I really have enough control with Black7.
 

Tmano

Hall of Fame
So I've hit two more times with Black7. I'm pretty determined to use just it and see how things go. I've had a couple of hard hitting sessions, once with my son on our faster indoor courts and once with an age group peer who also is an aggressive ball striker on our slower indoor courts.

There is definitely less of a sense of control but with an emphasis on hitting with slightly more topspin, I can consistently and repeatedly get the ball into the court with confidence. With now a bit more than four hours, I think I've gotten enough exclusive time with it that Black7 is just what I'm used to now.

Tension loss has slowed - RacquetTune shows 42.1 pounds so just a couple of percent loss over the last 2 1/2 hours. The edges have worn mostly smooth, there's about 30-40% notching, and the mains are slightly sticking out of place. It's not as lively feeling, and that high frequency impact noise is pretty much gone - it sounds more damped than an old S7T stringjob. Launch angle is still okay - it might be going down a hair but nothing I can't fairly easily compensate for. It seems the loss of elasticity has somewhat offset the loss in tension, especially in my 18x19, fairly tight string pattern.

Tomorrow is a practice session with a player who does a really good job of redirecting my pace and moving me around with various spins and ball heights. It will be a good test if I really have enough control with Black7.

BHB7 is a string that requires a bit more time to get used to. It's not that kind 0f string you say i love or hate it after a session, it definitely takes a few hours to appreciate an understand its potential in my opinion.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
BHB7 is a string that requires a bit more time to get used to. It's not that kind 0f string you say i love or hate it after a session, it definitely takes a few hours to appreciate an understand its potential in my opinion.

I loved it right off the stringer. It was crisp, solid, and powerful but still with good control, and just had that liveliness and pop. After using S7T for the last couple of years, I'm not used to a string changing as much.

Even though this 17 gauge of Black7 is thicker than the 17 gauge S7T, it looks to be only about 60% as durable. I'd get 12 hours out of S7T before notching through, and this looks to be around eight hours.
 

Tmano

Hall of Fame
I loved it right off the stringer. It was crisp, solid, and powerful but still with good control, and just had that liveliness and pop. After using S7T for the last couple of years, I'm not used to a string changing as much.

Even though this 17 gauge of Black7 is thicker than the 17 gauge S7T, it looks to be only about 60% as durable. I'd get 12 hours out of S7T before notching through, and this looks to be around eight hours.
yes as i mentioned earlier in my post here it would last about 8 hours and lasted me about 8 hours, but being a little generous. However, i rarely break strings so i noticed that BHB7 is dead when the shoots go a little deeper without any reason.
I played a couple of times with BHS7 tour but strung on the wrong racquet (vcore 98) to really understand it. However i have a couple of sets to test with the DR 98,
I think Tourna took BHB7 and from it created BHS7T..it could be.
 

blai212

Hall of Fame
@Injured Again you can increase the longevity of BHB7 by hybriding with a cross that provides good feel/tension maintenance such as SPPP, polaris, GW, cream. Maybe could also try 16g BHB7 with thinner cross as well so the sharp edges dont wear off as fast.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
@Injured Again you can increase the longevity of BHB7 by hybriding with a cross that provides good feel/tension maintenance such as SPPP, polaris, GW, cream. Maybe could also try 16g BHB7 with thinner cross as well so the sharp edges dont wear off as fast.

I'm generally too lazy to string two piece. Having to measure string length twice and tie two extra knots upsets my energy conservation sensibilities....

But seriously, I've never found a hybrid that has the feel I like. I've tried a few times, at your recommendation, and it just didn't suit me. My last attempt was S7T mains plus SPPP crosses - what I got was a softer and more powerful setup that felt inconsistent when going from my softer shots to my hardest swings. It's almost as if nearing the top end of my swing speed capabilities, that the softer of the two strings doesn't provide enough support for the stiffer of the two strings, and so those stiffer strings are bearing the brunt of the impact forces without support.

I'm at about 5-6 hours of hard play now and I've gotten used to Black 7. I've gone back to a bit flatter swing trajectory and so I think I'm hitting the ball with an extra MPH or two, but without any less spin. My wrist feels much better from the comfort. RacquetTune shows that tension loss has basically stopped - it's reading 41.8 pounds now. Notching is 40-50% so another 10% or so before strings typically break for me. I had a really good match the other day and the free power is definitely nice now that I've gotten used to how the ball comes off the strings.

Today I played about 70 minutes of the most enjoyable tennis ever. My hitting partner had to bail at the last moment, and a couple of courts over were the patriarchs of our Club - multiple gold ball winners and one of them has a tennis building named after him. He and another player are both 89 years old and are training for gold ball hunting next year in the 90's. The youngster of their group was 85. They needed a fourth and so I stepped in. To see the enthusiasm and joy these guys have who are 25-30 years older than me is incredible. And the Black 7 performed great in controlling the ball for this soft hitting.
 

SteveI

Legend
I'm generally too lazy to string two piece. Having to measure string length twice and tie two extra knots upsets my energy conservation sensibilities....

But seriously, I've never found a hybrid that has the feel I like. I've tried a few times, at your recommendation, and it just didn't suit me. My last attempt was S7T mains plus SPPP crosses - what I got was a softer and more powerful setup that felt inconsistent when going from my softer shots to my hardest swings. It's almost as if nearing the top end of my swing speed capabilities, that the softer of the two strings doesn't provide enough support for the stiffer of the two strings, and so those stiffer strings are bearing the brunt of the impact forces without support.

I'm at about 5-6 hours of hard play now and I've gotten used to Black 7. I've gone back to a bit flatter swing trajectory and so I think I'm hitting the ball with an extra MPH or two, but without any less spin. My wrist feels much better from the comfort. RacquetTune shows that tension loss has basically stopped - it's reading 41.8 pounds now. Notching is 40-50% so another 10% or so before strings typically break for me. I had a really good match the other day and the free power is definitely nice now that I've gotten used to how the ball comes off the strings.

Today I played about 70 minutes of the most enjoyable tennis ever. My hitting partner had to bail at the last moment, and a couple of courts over were the patriarchs of our Club - multiple gold ball winners and one of them has a tennis building named after him. He and another player are both 89 years old and are training for gold ball hunting next year in the 90's. The youngster of their group was 85. They needed a fourth and so I stepped in. To see the enthusiasm and joy these guys have who are 25-30 years older than me is incredible. And the Black 7 performed great in controlling the ball for this soft hitting.

Nice post:

I found the BHB7 to have a tighter spin than the Silver Tour 7. The Black seemed to hung the court whereas the Tour helped produce more shape on the ball. Of course that is for my game. Both strings seemed to lose that 1st hunk of tension then settle. I will get much more life from both strings since I do not produce the same rip on the ball and strings that a younger and stronger would. I get 12-14 hours from a full bed of either. Then I can still use that bed to feed balls.. coach etc. The full bed of the Tour 7 is much firmer to be sure than the Black 7. Indeed you get more free power from the Black 7 along with more dwell time and ball pocketing. Both strings are are a great buy and should fit the bill for wide range of 4.0 and up. A young 3.5 and/or hard hitting junior might also enjoy either.
 
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Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Now at about 7.5 hours and the string will probably break from notching the next time I play. Today was a hard 70 minutes of intense practice with my son. The ball is starting to fly just a little bit and now if I don't have a committed swing, the launch angle is low and the ball goes into the net. The edges on the mains have worn down and so it takes a hefty swing to feel like it bites the ball like it did when it was new. There still is an edge but it's not sharp, and the tops of the strings have worn flat so it's almost acting like a square string.

Interesting that despite the ball flying a bit, tension loss seems to have basically stopped. RacquetTune shows a consistent 41.7, compared to 41.8 from the 5-6 hour mark. Spin generation still seems good, just like S7T near the end of its life. But unlike S7T, Black 7 needs high swing speeds now to have a consistently high launch angle. The tension loss from new is 12.4% - not bad at all. It's still comfortable and still has a feeling of liveliness.

I mis-hit badly a few times when swinging hard and Black 7 did not shear break. I feel like if I had caught these same balls with S7T, that it would have broken.

My wrist feels good despite several hard days of singles practice. At least for now, while it is cold and I could use the extra free power to get the ball through the denser air, I'm going to switch to this string from Silver 7 Tour. I probably shear broke about 10-15% of my S7T stringjobs, and Black 7 seems thicker and more elastic so maybe that's why it hasn't broken despite similarly bad contact. It's a shorter life by probably 30% but offset by less (or maybe no) shear breakages. Best of all, I'm being gifted a reel of 17 gauge Black 7 from the folks I string for, so a score!

I'm going to play the 17 gauge Black 7 all the way until breakage, and then I'll string up the 18 gauge Black 7. I'll go up a couple of pounds on both mains and crosses.

I'd really encourage anyone who likes S7T to give Black 7 a try.
 

ChrisG

Professional
Now at about 7.5 hours and the string will probably break from notching the next time I play. Today was a hard 70 minutes of intense practice with my son. The ball is starting to fly just a little bit and now if I don't have a committed swing, the launch angle is low and the ball goes into the net. The edges on the mains have worn down and so it takes a hefty swing to feel like it bites the ball like it did when it was new. There still is an edge but it's not sharp, and the tops of the strings have worn flat so it's almost acting like a square string.

Interesting that despite the ball flying a bit, tension loss seems to have basically stopped. RacquetTune shows a consistent 41.7, compared to 41.8 from the 5-6 hour mark. Spin generation still seems good, just like S7T near the end of its life. But unlike S7T, Black 7 needs high swing speeds now to have a consistently high launch angle. The tension loss from new is 12.4% - not bad at all. It's still comfortable and still has a feeling of liveliness.

I mis-hit badly a few times when swinging hard and Black 7 did not shear break. I feel like if I had caught these same balls with S7T, that it would have broken.

My wrist feels good despite several hard days of singles practice. At least for now, while it is cold and I could use the extra free power to get the ball through the denser air, I'm going to switch to this string from Silver 7 Tour. I probably shear broke about 10-15% of my S7T stringjobs, and Black 7 seems thicker and more elastic so maybe that's why it hasn't broken despite similarly bad contact. It's a shorter life by probably 30% but offset by less (or maybe no) shear breakages. Best of all, I'm being gifted a reel of 17 gauge Black 7 from the folks I string for, so a score!

I'm going to play the 17 gauge Black 7 all the way until breakage, and then I'll string up the 18 gauge Black 7. I'll go up a couple of pounds on both mains and crosses.

I'd really encourage anyone who likes S7T to give Black 7 a try.
thanks for the info. You're the one who made me discover S7T (Tourna strings are unknown in Europe, or at least in France where I live)
It's now my main string for the past 2y, so I think I'll order some Black 7 to try !
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
thanks for the info. You're the one who made me discover S7T (Tourna strings are unknown in Europe, or at least in France where I live)
It's now my main string for the past 2y, so I think I'll order some Black 7 to try !

String it up 8-10% tighter and it should be good to go!

I didn't play today but should be on court for about ten hours over the next five days. I did just notice that the mains, which were starting to get stuck out of position about two hours of play ago, are now sliding back into position despite being significantly notched.
 

blai212

Hall of Fame
thanks for the info. You're the one who made me discover S7T (Tourna strings are unknown in Europe, or at least in France where I live)
It's now my main string for the past 2y, so I think I'll order some Black 7 to try !
if you enjoy the crisp controlled feel of s7t and dont have any qualms about the comfort/power then don’t switch. BHB7 is simply more powerful/comfortable but lasts much less duration…only worth it for the power/comfort seekers
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Played this morning and the strings didn't break. I'm pretty surprised but also happy as that hopefully means durability is better than I had thought. It's at about 9 hours and RacquetTune says 41.4 pounds, so a minimal drop from the last time.

Today's opponent was a very aggressive, flat, hard hitter and we had many wildly aggressive points although they didn't last many strokes. I think my winner and unforced error counts were even or maybe favoring winners. Control is still there, and possibly because it was cool this morning with air temps around 50F, balls were not flying on me. Very happy to make ten hours with this string, and it still feels crisp though not as much as when new, and I can still generate all the spin I need. Launch angle is still consistent though as last time, it's got to be a committed, fast stroke or the ball slides off the strings a bit and ends up in the net.
 

SteveI

Legend
Played this morning and the strings didn't break. I'm pretty surprised but also happy as that hopefully means durability is better than I had thought. It's at about 9 hours and RacquetTune says 41.4 pounds, so a minimal drop from the last time.

Today's opponent was a very aggressive, flat, hard hitter and we had many wildly aggressive points although they didn't last many strokes. I think my winner and unforced error counts were even or maybe favoring winners. Control is still there, and possibly because it was cool this morning with air temps around 50F, balls were not flying on me. Very happy to make ten hours with this string, and it still feels crisp though not as much as when new, and I can still generate all the spin I need. Launch angle is still consistent though as last time, it's got to be a committed, fast stroke or the ball slides off the strings a bit and ends up in the net.

If you look way back to my review when the string was 1st introduced, I got over 12 hours out of the string. It was a few years back and I was hitting the ball much like you do now. The edges do wear down and the launch angle is reduced. I found a ball that was less shaped but had more drive through the courts as the string bed aged.

Think when I was using this string on a regular basis, I would get 12-15 hours and I never broke it. Then I used it to teach with and feed balls.. etc until I cut it out. I expect you will break it soon or it will be become unplayable. Many reported that the string got springy / launchy.. I found the string died and got stiff and harsher. Of course I played it longer and still used it to feed balls after its "real" playing life. I think it is great string. I also used the 16G version in more open pattern frames and it was a bit more consistent and stable. I never broke that either.. but I am not much of the string breaker.
 

ChrisG

Professional
if you enjoy the crisp controlled feel of s7t and dont have any qualms about the comfort/power then don’t switch. BHB7 is simply more powerful/comfortable but lasts much less duration…only worth it for the power/comfort seekers
thanks for your input !! Actually I'm using Ghostwire as a cross to get a softer stringbed and I'm really enjoying it.
Thing is I'm playing a quite open frame (TC95 16x19) while being a flat hitting aggresive baseliner. I need to string it quite high to get some well needed control (around 25kg/55lbs). When freshly strung, I love the precision but sometimes lack some put away power and depth on defensive situation. I get it after 6-8h of play, but then the edges are less sharp and I generate less spin/control.
My idea was maybe to get a similar string with higher power that I could string at the same high tension so I get the control and the power from the first minute ?
I've tried lowering the tension (48/50 lbs) of the S7T but lacked control after a few hours. It was excellent in my I.Prestige MP though. (@44 lbs), but it's not my main frame anymore
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
This happened a few days ago:

uc


Shear breaks are apparently still a thing with Black 7. This happened with maybe 8 1/2 hours on the stringbed. You can see how deeply notched it is even that high up on the stringbed. I'm not a clean ball striker at the best of times but what caused this break was that I guessed correctly on an overhead and took a huge *ss swing trying to hit a forehand back even faster.

The notching there was enough to limit drawback of the strings when it broke. However, when I cut the strings, there was still considerable drawback, so the elasticity was still present.

I switched to my other racquet that has about a three hour S7T stringbed, and immediately felt comfortable with the change. That was strung at 47/43 while the Black 7 was strung at 51/47. Launch angles were basically identical, and the differences in comfort are way greater than differences in power level. The Black 7 does feel like it puts a little bit more oomph on the ball, but it is much more comfortable doing so. I feel my wrist more afterwards with S7T, and it is enough of a difference that the discomfort seems to be getting greater with every time I play, although admittedly I've played six hard singles sessions in five days, most of those with S7T.

I'm pretty sold - I'm switching to Black 7 permanently. The tension loss basically stopped after the first three sessions, and ended up between 13-14% according to RacquetTune. There was an amazingly crisp yet comfortable feeling and noise when the string was new. That disappeared but Black 7 continued to play very well until it broke. But most of all, the comfort it provides without any loss of control or feeling of mushiness/mutedness is very nice.

I'm restringing it, playing once, then will be taking this racquet down to the Indian Wells area for a couple of weeks of tennis. It will be a good test of outdoor tennis in 85 degrees with the Black 7.
 

SteveI

Legend
This happened a few days ago:

uc


Shear breaks are apparently still a thing with Black 7. This happened with maybe 8 1/2 hours on the stringbed. You can see how deeply notched it is even that high up on the stringbed. I'm not a clean ball striker at the best of times but what caused this break was that I guessed correctly on an overhead and took a huge *ss swing trying to hit a forehand back even faster.

The notching there was enough to limit drawback of the strings when it broke. However, when I cut the strings, there was still considerable drawback, so the elasticity was still present.

I switched to my other racquet that has about a three hour S7T stringbed, and immediately felt comfortable with the change. That was strung at 47/43 while the Black 7 was strung at 51/47. Launch angles were basically identical, and the differences in comfort are way greater than differences in power level. The Black 7 does feel like it puts a little bit more oomph on the ball, but it is much more comfortable doing so. I feel my wrist more afterwards with S7T, and it is enough of a difference that the discomfort seems to be getting greater with every time I play, although admittedly I've played six hard singles sessions in five days, most of those with S7T.

I'm pretty sold - I'm switching to Black 7 permanently. The tension loss basically stopped after the first three sessions, and ended up between 13-14% according to RacquetTune. There was an amazingly crisp yet comfortable feeling and noise when the string was new. That disappeared but Black 7 continued to play very well until it broke. But most of all, the comfort it provides without any loss of control or feeling of mushiness/mutedness is very nice.

I'm restringing it, playing once, then will be taking this racquet down to the Indian Wells area for a couple of weeks of tennis. It will be a good test of outdoor tennis in 85 degrees with the Black 7.


Enjoy your trip to IW... wonderful place to play tennis.. :cool:
 

PaulC

Professional
This happened a few days ago:

Shear breaks are apparently still a thing with Black 7. This happened with maybe 8 1/2 hours on the stringbed. You can see how deeply notched it is even that high up on the stringbed. I'm not a clean ball striker at the best of times but what caused this break was that I guessed correctly on an overhead and took a huge *ss swing trying to hit a forehand back even faster.

The notching there was enough to limit drawback of the strings when it broke. However, when I cut the strings, there was still considerable drawback, so the elasticity was still present.

Try hybriding with a soft and smooth Round cross like Blue, Silver or Black Zone?

It should slow down the notching a bit.
 

Tranqville

Professional
This happened a few days ago:

I'm pretty sold - I'm switching to Black 7 permanently. The tension loss basically stopped after the first three sessions, and ended up between 13-14% according to RacquetTune. There was an amazingly crisp yet comfortable feeling and noise when the string was new. That disappeared but Black 7 continued to play very well until it broke. But most of all, the comfort it provides without any loss of control or feeling of mushiness/mutedness is very nice.


Have you tried the Black Zone? If you have, how would you compare it with Black 7?
 

Tongs

New User
I've only tried Silver 7 Tour and now Black 7 of the Tourna strings so I'm no help.
For a person who is trying Silver 7 Tour for the first time, would you recommend them string it a bit tighter than their usual set up? I tried it at 50lbs in my Ezone 98 but I felt like I wasn’t able to get a lot of control out of it. It felt super unpredictable and I was hitting out more than I usually do
 

SteveI

Legend
For a person who is trying Silver 7 Tour for the first time, would you recommend them string it a bit tighter than their usual set up? I tried it at 50lbs in my Ezone 98 but I felt like I wasn’t able to get a lot of control out of it. It felt super unpredictable and I was hitting out more than I usually do

I found for my game just the opposite. I would string it a bit lower since it was a bit firm for my game and arm / shoulder. A younger, bigger hitter might go up for sure on tension. There is a few large treads on here plus a Talk Tennis / TW / Tourna play test thread to review to see what others have used. I used 52 /50 in a semi open pattern to begin with and went the other way the next time to 48 / 48.
 

yessir

Semi-Pro
This happened a few days ago:

uc


Shear breaks are apparently still a thing with Black 7. This happened with maybe 8 1/2 hours on the stringbed. You can see how deeply notched it is even that high up on the stringbed. I'm not a clean ball striker at the best of times but what caused this break was that I guessed correctly on an overhead and took a huge *ss swing trying to hit a forehand back even faster.

The notching there was enough to limit drawback of the strings when it broke. However, when I cut the strings, there was still considerable drawback, so the elasticity was still present.

I switched to my other racquet that has about a three hour S7T stringbed, and immediately felt comfortable with the change. That was strung at 47/43 while the Black 7 was strung at 51/47. Launch angles were basically identical, and the differences in comfort are way greater than differences in power level. The Black 7 does feel like it puts a little bit more oomph on the ball, but it is much more comfortable doing so. I feel my wrist more afterwards with S7T, and it is enough of a difference that the discomfort seems to be getting greater with every time I play, although admittedly I've played six hard singles sessions in five days, most of those with S7T.

I'm pretty sold - I'm switching to Black 7 permanently. The tension loss basically stopped after the first three sessions, and ended up between 13-14% according to RacquetTune. There was an amazingly crisp yet comfortable feeling and noise when the string was new. That disappeared but Black 7 continued to play very well until it broke. But most of all, the comfort it provides without any loss of control or feeling of mushiness/mutedness is very nice.

I'm restringing it, playing once, then will be taking this racquet down to the Indian Wells area for a couple of weeks of tennis. It will be a good test of outdoor tennis in 85 degrees with the Black 7.
Hey , so what about the buzz around massive tension loss? Thanks
 

Wheelz

Hall of Fame
For a person who is trying Silver 7 Tour for the first time, would you recommend them string it a bit tighter than their usual set up? I tried it at 50lbs in my Ezone 98 but I felt like I wasn’t able to get a lot of control out of it. It felt super unpredictable and I was hitting out more than I usually do
I had it just a bit lower tension in my ezone 98. 44-48lbs but I prefer the feel of lower tension.
 

SteveI

Legend
Hey , so what about the buzz around massive tension loss? Thanks

The tension holding properties of this string have been excellent in the sets I have have played. @Injured Again is the expert on this string. You can bank on what he reports. He has the stats to show you also.. :). The biggest negative is folks breaking it too often. The string can be a bit firm for certain players.
 

ChrisG

Professional
Hey , so what about the buzz around massive tension loss? Thanks
I’m on my second reel and I’ve never witnessed any bad tension loss. Playability is excellent too. I’m experiencing strange breakage near the top grommets of the frame, as few people have reported, but mostly around 8-10h so it’s acceptable (I’m my own stringer so it helps) regardless of the odd location.
 

SteveI

Legend
Here is the TW / Talk Tennis Playtest Thread. There was another string also tested in this thread.


Enjoy the read.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Agree with @SteveI - string the Silver 7 Tour 5-10% looser than other poly strings, due to its stiffness and good tension maintenance.

@yessir - I agree with @ChrisG and @SteveI that tension maintenance with Black 7 is not that bad. It's not as good as S7T but in my fairly dense 18x19 pattern, it has not been a problem at all.

I'm on my seventh string job with Black 7. Three have worn through and broken at a notch in the 8-9 hour range, with playability good up until that time. Four have broken at the top of the frame through a shear break, though two of those happened on perfectly clean hits. The other two were bad mis-hits on hard swings that would have probably also broken S7T. The funny thing is that none of these breaks happen before about the six hour mark, so almost exactly the same experience as @ChrisG described.

Because I've gone through so many sets of Black 7, switching to an identical racquet with S7T but string lower (51/47 on Black 7 versus 47/43 with S7T), confirms what I said earlier. There's a greater difference in comfort than in power levels. The Black 7 has a lot less impact shock when missing the sweetspot, and only a small increase in ball velocity. What I've also come to notice is that the launch angle is not quite as high with Black 7, and that the spin capability is a bit lower and especially after the surface wears smooth. Some of that may be due to that Black 7 is near its end of life when it breaks, but the S7T stringjob also has about four to five hours on it so there is wear there as well.

The last thing I seem to notice is that even though the impact shock when mis-hitting is greater with S7T, slight mis-hits seems to have a better chance of getting into the court. I seem to net a lot of balls when I slightly mis-hit with Black 7, and those balls go over with S7T. I just restrung with Black 7 again, this time at 50/46, to try to get a little higher launch angle. So far, I haven't noticed much difference so maybe it takes a bit more tension change than just one pound in the mains and crosses.

My wrist definitely appreciates the Black 7. The experiment continues.
 

Tmano

Hall of Fame
Agree with @SteveI - string the Silver 7 Tour 5-10% looser than other poly strings, due to its stiffness and good tension maintenance.

@yessir - I agree with @ChrisG and @SteveI that tension maintenance with Black 7 is not that bad. It's not as good as S7T but in my fairly dense 18x19 pattern, it has not been a problem at all.

I'm on my seventh string job with Black 7. Three have worn through and broken at a notch in the 8-9 hour range, with playability good up until that time. Four have broken at the top of the frame through a shear break, though two of those happened on perfectly clean hits. The other two were bad mis-hits on hard swings that would have probably also broken S7T. The funny thing is that none of these breaks happen before about the six hour mark, so almost exactly the same experience as @ChrisG described.

Because I've gone through so many sets of Black 7, switching to an identical racquet with S7T but string lower (51/47 on Black 7 versus 47/43 with S7T), confirms what I said earlier. There's a greater difference in comfort than in power levels. The Black 7 has a lot less impact shock when missing the sweetspot, and only a small increase in ball velocity. What I've also come to notice is that the launch angle is not quite as high with Black 7, and that the spin capability is a bit lower and especially after the surface wears smooth. Some of that may be due to that Black 7 is near its end of life when it breaks, but the S7T stringjob also has about four to five hours on it so there is wear there as well.

The last thing I seem to notice is that even though the impact shock when mis-hitting is greater with S7T, slight mis-hits seems to have a better chance of getting into the court. I seem to net a lot of balls when I slightly mis-hit with Black 7, and those balls go over with S7T. I just restrung with Black 7 again, this time at 50/46, to try to get a little higher launch angle. So far, I haven't noticed much difference so maybe it takes a bit more tension change than just one pound in the mains and crosses.

My wrist definitely appreciates the Black 7. The experiment continues.
Are you using Black 7 full bed? I string it 50/49 and it works great for me.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Are you using Black 7 full bed? I string it 50/49 and it works great for me.

Yes, currently using 17 gauge full bed at 50/46 for the center mains/crosses in an 18x19 SW104. I used 51/47 and it lasted me five doubles and one singles in 80-90 degree F. Temps in the California desert with no control issues, and now on faster indoor courts with air temps in the 50's F.

If I get unlazy enough, I'm thinking of trying 17 gauge S7T mains with 17 gauge Black 7 crosses, probably at 45/45 lbs to start. Tnaat may really be the ticket for a little more grip and launch angle from the S7T but with a bit more comfort from the Black 7.
 

Tmano

Hall of Fame
Yes, currently using 17 gauge full bed at 50/46 for the center mains/crosses in an 18x19 SW104. I used 51/47 and it lasted me five doubles and one singles in 80-90 degree F. Temps in the California desert with no control issues, and now on faster indoor courts with air temps in the 50's F.

If I get unlazy enough, I'm thinking of trying 17 gauge S7T mains with 17 gauge Black 7 crosses, probably at 45/45 lbs to start. Tnaat may really be the ticket for a little more grip and launch angle from the S7T but with a bit more comfort from the Black 7.
I'm jealous of those 80-90 F. Here in WI im freezing my butt already and no more outdoor tennis till spring but i'm injured so it's not a big deal. Hey 50 F for an indoor court is a little cold.
Mixing them could be the answer for you! I have no experience in hybriding poly at all. I whish i had time to test S7T and see how it performs on the DR 98. I tested it on the Vcore 98 last year but i felt it had very average power...i'm sure that the result with the Dr would be different.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
I'm jealous of those 80-90 F. Here in WI im freezing my butt already and no more outdoor tennis till spring but i'm injured so it's not a big deal. Hey 50 F for an indoor court is a little cold.
Mixing them could be the answer for you! I have no experience in hybriding poly at all. I whish i had time to test S7T and see how it performs on the DR 98. I tested it on the Vcore 98 last year but i felt it had very average power...i'm sure that the result with the Dr would be different.

To be honest, after two weeks in the desert, I was ready to get back to the cloudy, rainy, and cold Pacific Northwest. It was a relief, for about a week, and then I wanted sun again...

Our indoor courts are cold because our club made the decision to prioritize ventilation over comfort, to minimize the possibility of Covid transmission. Our newest building of four indoor courts has air heaters and running the ventilation just sucks the heated air out, so no sense in turning on the heat until it gets really cold. Our other two buildings have infrared heaters that cover primarily the baseline, and aren't so affected by ventilation. Over time, adjustments have been made so the heaters run without ventilation prior to the first court times, and then throughout the day the heat and ventilation run at different times.

S7T does have that sense of liveliness though - there's a good sense of ball speed on hits right in the sweetspot. It also seems to have a bit more power than expected when volleying hard hit shots - that took me a while to get used to when I first switched to it. I do like the way it feels when trying to put spin on the ball versus Black 7, but the Black 7 is so much better for joint health in these cold conditions. I'm going to hybrid it the next time a string breaks, so probably before the end of the weekend.
 

Tmano

Hall of Fame
To be honest, after two weeks in the desert, I was ready to get back to the cloudy, rainy, and cold Pacific Northwest. It was a relief, for about a week, and then I wanted sun again...

Our indoor courts are cold because our club made the decision to prioritize ventilation over comfort, to minimize the possibility of Covid transmission. Our newest building of four indoor courts has air heaters and running the ventilation just sucks the heated air out, so no sense in turning on the heat until it gets really cold. Our other two buildings have infrared heaters that cover primarily the baseline, and aren't so affected by ventilation. Over time, adjustments have been made so the heaters run without ventilation prior to the first court times, and then throughout the day the heat and ventilation run at different times.

S7T does have that sense of liveliness though - there's a good sense of ball speed on hits right in the sweetspot. It also seems to have a bit more power than expected when volleying hard hit shots - that took me a while to get used to when I first switched to it. I do like the way it feels when trying to put spin on the ball versus Black 7, but the Black 7 is so much better for joint health in these cold conditions. I'm going to hybrid it the next time a string breaks, so probably before the end of the weekend.
I thought you lived there! i would take the warm sunny days which is my type of clime over the ******* winter weather!
It makes sense to prioritize the air ventilation and minimize the chances to catch the virus, it's actually well thought. I have not been to my tennis facility in over a year but i remember they had the infrared heathers last time i was there....i would be curious to know it they chance the ventilation system to mitigate the spread of the virus of implemented some other solution or device.

I have S7T home and i can't wait to see what is about when i recover. I whish there was a Lynx Tour in 1.20
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
I thought you lived there! i would take the warm sunny days which is my type of clime over the ******* winter weather!
It makes sense to prioritize the air ventilation and minimize the chances to catch the virus, it's actually well thought. I have not been to my tennis facility in over a year but i remember they had the infrared heathers last time i was there....i would be curious to know it they chance the ventilation system to mitigate the spread of the virus of implemented some other solution or device.

I have S7T home and i can't wait to see what is about when i recover. I whish there was a Lynx Tour in 1.20

Well, it looks like near freezing temps and cold, cold rain for every one of the next two weeks, so I'm wishing I were back down in the desert too. I'm planning a trip back down to play in the Wilson Classic that starts in less than two months.

Our area went through numerous iterations of Covid mitigation measures. At one time, CO2 levels were used as a proxy for determining if ventilation was adequate so our club acquired a CO2 monitor and tested the air in the buildings. Each of our indoor tennis buildings house four courts and so are 30000 square feet in space by an average of 30 foot high ceilings so the volume is huge - never any issue with CO2 levels getting much higher than outside. Still, private tennis clubs like ours tend to have an older demographic and so we felt it was better to be safe than sorry, which is why the board of directors voted to prioritize air exchange over comfort. Now with Omicron appearing in our state, there's minimal chance we'll change the ventilation policy any time soon.
 

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
So, I did break another set of Black 7, but it was suggested to me that before trying a hybrid, I should try the Silver 7 Tour at a lower tension first so I could get an understanding of how that might work before hybriding. I've been stringing my center eight mains at 47 pounds and center five crosses at 43 pounds, decreasing to 34 pounds for the outer mains and 30 pounds for the top and bottom cross. This time, I used 44 pounds for the center mains and 40 pounds for the center crosses, decreasing to 31 pounds for the outer mains and 27 pounds for the top and bottom cross. The verdict? Pretty much indistinguishable from my other racquet strung 47/43, with the exception of a hair higher launch angle. No noticeable increase in ball speed, no noticeable decrease in control at the upper end of my swing speed capability, and basically no less harsh on mis-hits. I will restring again with Silver 7 Tour at 10% lower tension, then try the hybrid with S7T mains and B7 crosses, followed by B7 mains and S7T crosses.

I've played twice with the S7T and my wrist is more grumbly than it's been since I started using Black 7.
 
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