5.0 Players, what are your strings of choice?

megamind

Legend
VCT is very soft for a poly, ball pocketing is great. It does however lose it’s gear shape quite quickly so it ends up playing like a round poly after ~4 hrs of hard hitting. Another thing I noticed was that, it feels significantly heavier than other strings such as tourna s7t or natural gut. It almost feels like leaded up natural gut...all the softness but much heavier. I use it as a hybrid with VCT 16g mains/SPPP 17L crosses strung 44/42 in my VCP 100. I am a 4.5 hard hitting aggressive baseliner.


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Why are you posting here, you are just a 4.5er!!! Come join me and other lesser players in the general, non-discriminatory What Strings Do You Play With thread
 

blai212

Hall of Fame
Why are you posting here, you are just a 4.5er!!! Come join me and other lesser players in the general, non-discriminatory What Strings Do You Play With thread

im closer to 5.0 than 3.0 so I wouldnt see the point to comparing strings with hacks that don’t have similar fundamentals of high swing speed/advanced technique.


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Blake Wilde

New User
Same frame as you. But I am not a 5.0

Revolution is one of the three or four strings I always put in a 4.5 guys frame when they are testing new setups.

Alu Power 1.25mm

Revolution or Hyper G 1.25mm (Blue vs Green)..

Volkl Cyclone Tour 1.30mm

If you can deal with how stiff and low powered Revolution is, I think for the price and durability it is one of the best strings on the market today.
 
Lately , Luxilon adrenaline at around 55lbs in the new Prestige 360+ Pro. I have been really enjoying adrenaline. I think it is a great all around string for the price. Luxilon strings in general are great if you can afford them. I haven't found one that I don't enjoy. Alu power (loses tension but incredible feel for 5 hours.), 4G, Adrenaline, and Original are all amazing strings. Lux Smart is a little strange but plays good if you get the tension right.

In babolat racquets, I have had great success with Solinco strings. Hyper G/Tour Bite around 49 lbs in a pure drive or Pure Aero is a great match.

Another great all around string is Poly Tour Pro. Right down the fairway. plays great in the ezone line of racquets between 47-52lbs.

I don't think you can go wrong with those 5-6 strings. But "feel" is subjective!
 

dawwe

New User
To start with Im not sure of my level. Anyway I have "always" played with RPM Blast 1.3 at 29 kg (63 lbs). My racquet is a modified Prestige Touch (18/20). I get plenty of power, and control. And I almost never snap a string, usually I end up cutting the strings every 6 months approx. On the other hand I have more or less never tried other strings, mainly because I like the feel of RPM Blast and that I have (so far) never had any arm issues.
 

dawwe

New User
Im not stringing myself...I leave to the same shop all the time, I can't recall what stringing machine the use but its a decent one. As I said (well I didn't...) I started with 26 kg and ended up at 29 kg where it feels just as it should, or at least the way I like it. Its not stiff since my frame is really heavy at 363 g strung and 383 g swing-weight. But I have to admit, you need to swing through good to generate plenty of pace and spin. I have recently started to play against a 20 years younger very good player (he is 27 and was top 15 in my country at the age of 16, but he didn't "make it", thats his own words :( ) and he really forces me to give my best in every shot. Of course I'm having a hard time to hit clean winners, all I have managed so far is to force him to make errors, and to be honest I'm having big problems to win games, I have just won one game out of the 14 we have played so far. But on the bright side is that Im up at 40-all in his serve quite often, but he always puts in a higher gear then :D

Hitting with him is more like warm-up in the service box, then some decent hitting back and forth without going for the lines but good pace, then some cross hitting, and netplay finally. When we are finished with this 30-35 minutes have passed of the hour we play. Then we hit a few warm-up serves and finally play games...When playing with him I'm forced to give my best, move my feet fast and run as hell, if I don't then he wacks the ball past me with great pace. My main problem is that I have to stop hitting back to him, he can handle more or less any pace as long as the shot is in his range, I need to go more for the lines/angles to make him run more and force more errors. The only shot I feel that I have a very slight upper hand is the serve, he serves great but I can stand on the baseline and return quite easily. On the other hand he is standing far back on my serve, and I'm still to wack the serve at full power (before we played the first time I was practising my 100% first serve on an empty court, I guess he noticed that the were pretty fast ones so he might be expecting me to go "all in" anytime :D ).
 

g4driver

Legend
VCT is very soft for a poly, ball pocketing is great. It does however lose it’s gear shape quite quickly so it ends up playing like a round poly after ~4 hrs of hard hitting. Another thing I noticed was that, it feels significantly heavier than other strings such as tourna s7t or natural gut. It almost feels like leaded up natural gut...all the softness but much heavier. I use it as a hybrid with VCT 16g mains/SPPP 17L crosses strung 44/42 in my VCP 100. I am a 4.5 hard hitting aggressive baseliner.


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20' of each string (just grabbed a few reels I would be stringing soon)

Solinco Hyper G 1.30mm 12 grams
Head Velocity Black 1.30mm 10 grams
Technifibre HDX Tour 1.35mm 8 grams
Alu Power 1.25mm 8 grams
VCT 1.30mm 8 grams

So VCT 1.30mm is lighter than two of the 1.30mm strings and weighs the same as 20' of 1.25mm Alu Power

I have two dozen plus reels including various polys and reels of X1 BI-phase, NRG2, Head Velocity, Head FXP, PPC in three gauges, Babolat Origin, Babolat Syngut, but have never gotten any feedback from any of the dozen plus men using 1.30 VCT that is feels heavier than any other string they use. One of those 5.0 guys used 13 oz frames after adding weight to them.

The HDX Tour was a 40' pack cut in half then the other strings were cut off of reels after measuring 20' against the HDX Tour 20' length
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blai212

Hall of Fame
20' of each string (just grabbed a few reels I would be stringing soon)

Solinco Hyper G 1.30mm 12 grams
Head Velocity Black 1.30mm 10 grams
Technifibre HDX Tour 1.35mm 8 grams
Alu Power 1.25mm 8 grams
VCT 1.30mm 8 grams

So VCT 1.30mm is lighter than two of the 1.30mm strings and weighs the same as 20' of 1.25mm Alu Power

I have two dozen plus reels including various polys and reels of X1 BI-phase, NRG2, Head Velocity, Head FXP, PPC in three gauges, Babolat Origin, Babolat Syngut, but have never gotten any feedback from any of the dozen plus men using 1.30 VCT that is feels heavier than any other string they use. One of those 5.0 guys used 13 oz frames after adding weight to them.

The HDX Tour was a 40' pack cut in half then the other strings were cut off of reels after measuring 20' against the HDX Tour 20' length
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any idea how much 20’ natural gut or tourna silver 7 tour 17g weighs? (that’s my only reference point)


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g4driver

Legend
any idea how much 20’ natural gut or tourna silver 7 tour 17g weighs? (that’s my only reference point)

I can weigh both when I get home Dec 24th. Merry Christmas[emoji319]

I have 1.30mm Lux Gut and 1.25mm BHST7 in sets will weigh 40' of each
 

louis netman

Hall of Fame
For that kind of social mixed doubles you could just as wel use your wifes frying pan. Much cheaper too than stringing up super expensive gut that breaks even while looking at it. ;):happydevil:
Natural gut being non-durable is a common misconception. Although not as durable as polyester based strings, it outlasts multis & syn gut every time. What's more, you get great feel, excellent tension maintenance, and you don't have to break your fingers cutting it out of your frame with poultry shears...Oh and I almost forgot, it's easy on the arm, too (will increase your playing longevity).
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
Not everyone listed their tension but most that did it was usually 55 lbs. or higher. I thought that tension in the 30’s and 40’s is the way to go.
 

netlets

Professional
Right now playing with Luxilon Smart 17g at 45lbs in one stick an Hyper g soft 16L in another at 44 lbs - get 8-10 hours out of hyper g - not sure yet with Luxilon Smart.
 

Moveforwardalways

Hall of Fame
I dont understand this love for Volkl cyclone at all. Here in Europe a reel of it costs as much as Babolat rpm blast while cyclone tour costs even more!
Twu data doesnt attribute much power or spinpotential to the regular cyclone either if you dont use the super thin gauges.
So isnt it mostly hype and hear say?
The pros arent it using too while they fo use rgegular rpm blast which is often bashed on this forum for no obvious reason. :unsure::censored::unsure:
Cyclone is very average. Doesn't do anything particularly well and feels plasticy.

J

Totally agree. IMO cyclone is lacking in many ways. I put it in the same category as Big Hitter Black 7, although BHB7 feels and plays better for the first session. But after one session, both turn to garbage fast. RPM blast is just a nicer string than both, better quality, etc. But honestly, if you are just looking for a cheap poly that will die after 1-2 sessions, I am not sure why you would choose cyclone when BHB7 is available.
 

g4driver

Legend
any idea how much 20’ natural gut or tourna silver 7 tour 17g weighs? (that’s my only reference point)

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20' of Lux 1.30mm, Lux 1.25mm and Babolat VS Touch 1.30mm all 10 grams (or 20 grams per pack)

One 1.25mm pack of Tourna Big Hitter 7 Tour 18 grams (40' of string)
One 1.30mm pack of Volkl Cyclone Tour 1.30mm 22 grams (This pack is actually 1' or 12" longer than the pack of Tourna Big Hitter 7). 42' of string vs 40'
One 1.28mm pack of Isospeed Cream 18 grams
One 1.30mm pack of Technifibre HDX Tour 20 grams

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g4driver

Legend
Measured the exact same length of Tourna Big Hitter 7 Tour and Volkl Cyclone Tour, by cutting one foot off the half pack of VCT and measuring twice more. Interesting that VCT is 42' per pack and not 40The strings both weighed 10 grams for 20' on my scale. How accurate if my scale? I have no idea? I would guess a +/- one gram. The previous times I weighed the strings above cut from a reel, they both weighed 8 grams.

Here are pics if your interested. Do I think the weight of these strings affect the play of a rec player? No I don't. Just my .02

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Natural gut being non-durable is a common misconception. Although not as durable as polyester based strings, it outlasts multis & syn gut every time. What's more, you get great feel, excellent tension maintenance, and you don't have to break your fingers cutting it out of your frame with poultry shears...Oh and I almost forgot, it's easy on the arm, too (will increase your playing longevity).
I concur , natural gut is The perfect blend of control power and durability.
 

tennisgurl

Semi-Pro
But honestly, if you are just looking for a cheap poly that will die after 1-2 sessions, I am not sure why you would choose cyclone when BHB7 is available.
By the same logic, why waste 99 bucks on a reel of BHB7 when you can get Isospeed Baseline reel for less than half of that? It costs like 39 bucks or 40 bucks a reel and plays like a very avg poly.

My club pro is a USTA rated 5.0 former college player, hits the crap out of the ball, and switched from BHB7 very recently actually. Isospeed Baseline lasts him the same as BHB7. He snaps the 17 so gets the 16 gauge think its called the Baseline Control. Way better bang for the buck if goal is to use for 1-2 hard hitting sessions.
 

haqq777

Legend
By the same logic, why waste 99 bucks on a reel of BHB7 when you can get Isospeed Baseline reel for less than half of that? It costs like 39 bucks or 40 bucks a reel and plays like a very avg poly.

My club pro is a USTA rated 5.0 former college player, hits the crap out of the ball, and switched from BHB7 very recently actually. Isospeed Baseline lasts him the same as BHB7. He snaps the 17 so gets the 16 gauge think its called the Baseline Control. Way better bang for the buck if goal is to use for 1-2 hard hitting sessions.
Have to draw the line somewhere I guess, lol. Honestly though, Baseline is great for the price too, just doesn't perform as well overall and for me lacks control if I take big cuts at the ball. Also, dies very very fast.

For me, Cyclone plays better than BHB7 anyday, and lasts longer. Nothing exquisite feel wise, sure, but does the job better. Spin and control is better. Doesn't feel like a cheap string as well. But everyone is different so I can only speak for myself.
 

NLBwell

Legend
From G4Driver's measurements -
20' of each string (just grabbed a few reels I would be stringing soon)

Solinco Hyper G 1.30mm 12 grams
Head Velocity Black 1.30mm 10 grams
Technifibre HDX Tour 1.35mm 8 grams
Alu Power 1.25mm 8 grams
VCT 1.30mm 8 grams

So VCT 1.30mm is lighter than two of the 1.30mm strings and weighs the same as 20' of 1.25mm Alu Power

20' of Lux 1.30mm, Lux 1.25mm and Babolat VS Touch 1.30mm all 10 grams (or 20 grams per pack)

One 1.25mm pack of Tourna Big Hitter 7 Tour 18 grams (40' of string)
One 1.30mm pack of Volkl Cyclone Tour 1.30mm 22 grams (This pack is actually 1' or 12" longer than the pack of Tourna Big Hitter 7). 42' of string vs 40'
One 1.28mm pack of Isospeed Cream 18 grams
One 1.30mm pack of Technifibre HDX Tour 20 grams

There are more atoms in the heavier strings (either denser or thicker). For those of you who have played a lot of these strings, is there a relationship between the weight and either the perceived stiffness or the longevity?
Maybe that would be a way to get an idea of a poly string's performance.
 

rooski

Professional
What other strings have you tried? Why do you prefer VCT?
I like crisp feeling poly strings that have great ball pocketing.... and when strung at the right tension (for me) VCT16 is perfect for my all court game. FWIW...I tried VCT17 and it was not nearly as good. I've used almost all top rated poly strings and they are either too dull and plastic feeling or they are too harsh for my taste. ALU feels nice for a couple of hours and then fades to dullness. My second favorite string is Hyper G. BTW...I'm a 4.5 now in my old age :)
 

rooski

Professional
@rooski what part of CHS are you playing out of ?

I see many of these 5.0 guys battling it out in the singles ladder. All those guys playing singles helps them break strings quicker and gets me more business from them. Really good group of players in that ladder.

Cohen has a slap tear in his shoulder and will have surgery in Jan. He also plays with a Pure Storm Tour VCT @ 50 lbs . He is the guy who got me connected to so many 4.5 /5.0 guys so thankful to him.
I play out of Mt. Pleasant...mostly MP Rec and Snee...and FWIW... I'm no longer a "real" 5.0. I rated down to 4.5 when I hit 50y. Now that I'm in my late 50's I like a string with a little extra controllable pop like VCT16. Hyper G 1.25 also plays well but I just like the feel and sound of VCT16 better. FWIW2...I can't play with VCT17. It's just way too lively for me and losses tension even faster.
 

g4driver

Legend
I play out of Mt. Pleasant...mostly MP Rec and Snee...and FWIW... I'm no longer a "real" 5.0. I rated down to 4.5 when I hit 50y. Now that I'm in my late 50's I like a string with a little extra controllable pop like VCT16. Hyper G 1.25 also plays well but I just like the feel and sound of VCT16 better. FWIW2...I can't play with VCT17. It's just way too lively for me and losses tension even faster.

Sorry just saw your post. MPR Opened last week first come first serve.

All of the 4.5 and 5.0 guys I string for also play at MPR, LTPDI, and or I'On
 

TennisManiac

Hall of Fame
Out of curiosity I compared WC Ultra Cable, my current string, and VCT on TWU string comparison tool. They are quite close actually. The VCT is a little less stiff, has a bit more tension loss, and somewhat less spin potential according to the numbers. I suspect I would like it. I may try it when my reel of WCUC runs out. I think I'm up to 3 strings to try now. I'm going to try to limit it to four only. It's easy to get into perpetual string demo mode if not careful.

PropertyVolkl Cyclone Tour 16 (1.30)Weiss Cannon Ultra Cable 17 (1.23)Difference %
MaterialPolyesterPolyesterNA
Stiffness (lb/in)1671755
Tension Loss (%)5248-8
Energy Return (%)83830
Spin Potential8.711.937
String to String Friction (COF)0.0680.065-4
String to Ball Friction (COF)0.5920.77431
On paper... Ultra Cable looks like the better string.
 

g4driver

Legend
On paper... Ultra Cable looks like the better string.


On paper, I can show a bunch of 4.5C rated men who were bumped to 5.0C who used VCT 1.30mm for the previous year or two [emoji6]. Clearly most 4.5 and 5.0 men can play with a much larger selection of strings than lower level players like myself as the 4.5 and 5.0 guys will adapt quicker.

I could offer them Ultra Cable at higher price, but I doubt many take me up on that offer.

Will order a reel and give out some free stringing and strings and will get some feedback. Most guys like free things. [emoji23]If they don't like it, I can always find a home for the unused reel.
 
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SinneGOAT

Hall of Fame
This thread is kinda dead but I decided to take a look at what some advanced players are using. I’ve got quite a few strings to try, but I need to pick a racquet lol. I’m caught between the strike gen 3 and aero+, definitely need to hit soon. Gonna try my regular string(pro line evolution 17, rpm blast 16) and get a feel for the racquets and then try strings. Gonna go for an extended demo. But this thread and @g4driver suggestion has made me interested in the Cyclone tour.
 

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
This thread just popped up for me, so obviously it wanted me to put out that tier 1 bk/gw, 52/50 is the best string combo existing on earth.
 

Happi

Hall of Fame
20' of Lux 1.30mm, Lux 1.25mm and Babolat VS Touch 1.30mm all 10 grams (or 20 grams per pack)

One 1.25mm pack of Tourna Big Hitter 7 Tour 18 grams (40' of string)
One 1.30mm pack of Volkl Cyclone Tour 1.30mm 22 grams (This pack is actually 1' or 12" longer than the pack of Tourna Big Hitter 7). 42' of string vs 40'
One 1.28mm pack of Isospeed Cream 18 grams
One 1.30mm pack of Technifibre HDX Tour 20 grams

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@g4driver be aware that your scale seems to have an accuracy of 0,1oz that s around 2 grams, and perhaps why you get good even numbers like 8, 10, 12 .... 20 grams
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Probably polys with low tension loss on the database. Like RPM Team, for example (I know it's not a round poly).
My question is specifically for round polys. I have shaped polys that last longer for me.

I am asking because all the round polys I‘ve used in gut main/poly cross hybrids have the round poly go dead within 5-8 hours even before I break the strings. When I use shaped polys in hybrids, I break the strings within 12-15 hours, but the poly in most cases doesn’t go dead before that.
 
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socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Poly Tour Strike seems to go more around the 12-15 hour mark before feeling like a board
My stringer wants me to try Poly Tour Fire next instead of Poly Tour Pro or Poly Tour Strike because he knows I like the extra comfort. Any thoughts on PTF compared to PTS?

TTW convinced me to try gut/round poly hybrids instead of gut/shaped poly hybrids (I like VS/HyperG) as the round poly is supposed to not cause notching as much and last longer before breaking. But, the round poly always goes dead within 8-10 hours in hybrids while I typically don’t break VS/HyperG hybrids before 12-15 hours. So, I am thinking that I should be like the Bryan bros and stick with gut/HyperG.
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
My stringer wants me to try Poly Tour Fire next instead of Poly Tour Pro or Poly Tour Strike because he knows I like the extra comfort. Any thoughts on PTF compared to PTS?

TTW convinced me to try gut/round poly hybrids instead of gut/shaped poly hybrids (I like VS/HyperG) as the round poly is supposed to not cause notching as much and last longer before breaking. But, the round poly always goes dead within 8-10 hours in hybrids while I typically don’t break VS/HyperG hybrids before 12-15 hours. So, I am thinking that I should be like the Bryan bros and stick with gut/HyperG.

Could it not be the round poly but the round poly you used that was at issue?

Round or shaped if a poly is not good at holding tension then it is not good at holding tension....
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Could it not be the round poly but the round poly you used that was at issue?

Round or shaped if a poly is not good at holding tension then it is not good at holding tension....

I am not knowledgeable enough about strings to know the answer and I searched for posts to see if anyone talks of round polys that last more than 10 hours - but, I couldn’t easily find any. I tried ALU Power in a hybrid and it lasted only 7-8 hours and I asked my stringer for other round polys that would last longer. He said that most round polys will not last longer than 10 hours for me before they go dead and if they did, they would not provide as much power/bite as ALU Power - he is usually a knowledgeable, honest guy and so, I assumed this was the case. Just wanted to ask here to see if some other players had some suggestions that I could ask my stringer about in the future. Otherwise, I’ll keep stringing VS/HyperG and get about 12-15 hours out of the hybrid. I’m also planning to try a Volkl set that I bought that has 17g Volkl gut and Cyclone.

The TWU string specs database doesn’t specify if a poly is round or not and many of their string descriptions don’t even specify this. So, if I do a search of poly strings with good tension maintenance, I don’t know if they are round or not unless I do a separate google search on each string.
 
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