Alright, so I've tried out several new setups in the past month or two, and figured I'd share them. Stringing machine- gamma 6900 els 2 point (electric constant pull) Stringer- Me Racket- Aeropro Drive GT Whatever dampener I have laying around Bare handle with two tournagrips All multis/guts/synthetics will be 16 gauge, and all polys will be 17 gauge. (occasional exceptions if not offered in those gauges) Softness will be compared to all other strings. This will not just be multi to multi or poly to poly. Also, do not quote me on softness. It will be what I felt when I hit with it, so it can vary. I will try to be as accurate as possible. It's also tough to really scale it on 1-10. Just some references, Mantis comfort synthetic would be about a 2, most multis are about a 3-3.5, synthetics are around 4-5, and polys generally fill out the rest of the scale. Something like big banger original or babolat revenge would be about 9 or 9.5, kevlar would be a 10, and some of the softer co polys would be 7-8. Durability is by string type. A few things first. I normally play on a medium paced hard court. Playing syle- I have a pretty aggressive forehand. It's my more offensive shot, but it's also my more inconsistent. My backhand (2 handed) is more of a flat stroke, but it's becoming more offensive as I work on it. It is still mostly a rally shot I move around the court pretty well. My serve is mostly a hard kick, but I mix in flat and slice serves. I serve by hitting spots more than overpowering. I enjoy serving and volleying, but I need to work on my groundies more. My net game is my strong suit. Without further ado... Gamma Zo Twist: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6055108&postcount=177 Gamma Zo Ice: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6025189&postcount=2 Pacific Poly Force Original: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6025205&postcount=3 Pacific Classic/Signum Pro Poly Plasma: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6025206&postcount=4 Babolat Addiction: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6026018&postcount=7 Babolat Xcel:http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6026020&postcount=8 WeissCANNON Black5Edge: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6026023&postcount=10 WeissCANNON Black5Edge/Babolat Addiction: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6030184&postcount=37 Pacific Classic/WeissCANNON Scorpion: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6036289&postcount=67 Pacific Classic/Solinco Tour Bite: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6043242&postcount=114 Pacific Classic/WeissCANNON B5E: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6048274&postcount=127 WeissCANNON Scorpion: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6026021&postcount=9 Fxp Tour Full Bed: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6059485&postcount=203 WeissCANNON Black5Edge/Pacific Classic: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6062744&postcount=247 Pacific Tough Gut Full Bed: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6067967&postcount=292 Pacific Classic/WeissCANNON Silverstring: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6071747&postcount=313 Pacific Classic/MSV Co-Focus: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6073378&postcount=318 Head Rip Control Full Bed: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6078072&postcount=349 WeissCANNON Black5Edge/Genesis ThunderBlast: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6084621&postcount=392 Head intellitour: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6095801&postcount=452 WeissCANNON Scorpion/Pacific Classic:http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6106176&postcount=512 Technifibre ruff code full bed: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6114880&postcount=566 Genesis Thunderblast: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6089187&postcount=428 Wilson String B: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6140395&postcount=91 Luxilon Green Playtest: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6140376&postcount=233 WeissCANNON TurboTwist: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6181951&postcount=790 Wilson blue core playtest: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6235369&postcount=117 Mantis Power Poly: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6228832&postcount=883 Wilson gut/Alu Rough with Fed style string savers: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6307466&postcount=975 Mantis Comfort Poly: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6279402&postcount=964 Wilson multi play test: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6555924&postcount=154 Yonex Poly Tour Spin/Mantis Comfort Synthetic: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6592269&postcount=1164
Zo ice strung at 51/49 Stringing: a breeze considering it was a poly. It didn't kink or coil up, and wasn't too terribly stiff. Groundstrokes: very similar to the twist, but with a little more power, and a little less spin. It would be better for a player who doesn't hit with as much spin. Overall: 8/10 Serves: better than the twist, but still lacked pop. I could hit it hard, but it was tough to get some weight on it. Overall: 7/10 Volleys:better than the twist, pretty decent for a poly. Still lacked touch, but had a nicer feedback. Overall: 7.5/10 Durability: again, about average for a poly, didn't go dead too quickly. Overall: 9/10 Stiffness- 1 being the softest, 10 being the stiffest Overall- 8/10 All in all, it was a decent poly string. Lacked some touch, but hit pretty well. It looks really cool too. Overall: 7.5/10
Next is pacific poly force original. Strung at 51/49 Stringing:ugh, not fun. It's really stiff and sharp. Tough even for poly Groundstrokes: my favorite string period for groundstrokes. It's low powered, has ample spin, and has plenty of pop. It has a little bit of a harsh feedback, but plays well regardless. Overall: 9.5/10 Serves: good. Plenty of pop, and you can get spin and weight as well. Overall: 8/10 Volleys: surprisingly good for a poly. You can really crunch volleys and touch shots aren't too difficult. Overall: 8/10 Durability:good, but tension maintenance is pretty sub par. You get settling tension loss, then at about the 5 hour mark it suddenly drops again. Overall: 7/10 Stiffness- 1 being the softest, 10 being the stiffest Overall- 9.5/10 It's a great baseliners string. As a matter of fact, if someone can get the full use of poly, it's the one I recommend the most. Overall: 9/10
Reserved for pacific classic/sppp at 56/53. Stringing- I always get nervous stringing gut mains and poly crosses. This wasn't as bad as the guy that insists on gut mains and bbo rough crosses. Sppp slid pretty easy. No friction burn. Groundstrokes- interesting. The first five shots, I got that crazy drop on the ball. Then it just kind of left me for 20 minutes and felt like regular gut. Powerful, felt great, and ok spin. However, after that period, it started to get better. And better. And better. The longer I played with it the more the spin increased, the better the feel, and the more confidence I got. After two hours I'm awfully tempted to stick with it. Overall:9/10 so far Serves- same thing. During that break in period, felt great but didn't hit great. Then I started getting great action and pop on my serves. By far my favorite setup for serving. Overall:10/10 Volleys- heres where the break in was not an issue. It started well and stayed consistent throughout. Great touch, but it was easy to punch a volley deep as well. Overheads sometimes felt overpowered though. Overall:9/10 Durbility- time to fill this in. It broke clean in the center after about 7 hours. I'm sticking with it though because it played so well. Overall: 6/10 Stiffness- 1 being the softest, 10 being the stiffest Overall- 4/10 So far, so great. I'll keep updating on this one, as it seems it will only get better. Durability is my only concern. If this holds up, I'm probably going to be a gut mains guy. Overall- 9/10 (not perfect because durability is a little lacking)
Might as well throw in some of my other tests so... Reserved for Babolat addiction A little note first, all full beds of strings will be compared to full beds, like this will be compared to other full multis. Keep this in mind. If I say spin friendly, it means spin friendly for a multi. Stringing- an absolute breeze. I've been stringing alot of full poly, and this was cake. I actually had my fastest stringing time with this stuff at 18 minutes. Pretty good for me. Groundstrokes- good for multis. It has good spin potential, and has slightly lower than average power. Very comfortable, but it is a little on the stiff side for multis. Still my favorite multi on groundies. Overall: 8/10 Serves- this is where this stuff shines. It has pop as well as spin, so flat serves are very controlled and kicks are really nice. Overall:9/10 Volleys- the weakest part of this stuff. It is a stiffer multi, so the ball pocketing wasn't completely there. It feels a little awkward to crunch a volley, in the same way it feels strange to hit a drop shot will full poly. Just...different. I don't know. I guess it's just muted. Overall-8/10 Durability- a little above average. It still doesn't last me too long, but it's no duramix. Overall- 7/10 Softness- 1 being the softest, 10 being the stiffest Overall- 4/10 This is my go to multi. I use it to transition people from full poly that have arm problems into the softer world of multis because it is one of the more spin friendly and stiffer multis out there. Still a very good string. Overall: 8.5/10
Reserved for babolat excel Here we go. Xcel premium strung at 56. Stringing- easy. Really easy, actually. No problems, no friction, and no kinking. Groundstrokes- nice. It has that x-1 effect where you get lots of controlled power. Great pop, nice spin, and flat shots are good as well. Overall- 8/10 Serves- great. Like I said, this string has all sorts of controlled power. Flat and slice serves are awesome, but kicks lacked a little spin. Overall- 9/10 Volleys- again, really good. Touch shots were great, crunched volleys were solid. Overheads were a little overpowered. Overall- 8.5/10 Durability- average for a multi, maybe a little better Overall- 6/10 Stiffness- 1 being softest, 10 being stiffest. Overall- 2.5/10 This is truly a great multi. It has plenty of controlled power, holds tension pretty well, soft, and a good response and feel. Overall- 9/10
Reserved for weisscannon scorpion Finally got to this. Stringing- Easy for a poly. Soft enough to weave, but still not exactly easy. Groundstrokes- These strings are really very good for groundstrokes. They don't blow me out of the water, but they have low power and great control. Spin can be a little lacking though. Overall: 8/10 Serves- Again, just really good. Not fantastic, not outstanding, but good. Ample power, decent spin, and a good feel. Overall-8/10 Volleys- Very nice. This is my favorite part of this setup. It has really nice feel for a poly, and has enough give that touch shots are good. Attacking volleys were good as well. Overall- 9/10 Durability-Physically, about average for a poly. Again, it is weissCANNON, so it holds tension incredibly well. Overall- 9/10 Stiffness- Soft for a poly, but not arm friendly by any means. Overall- 7/10 This is a really solid performing string from all areas. It does everything well. One of my favorite polys in a full bed because it makes a cracking sound I absolutely love. Overall- 8/10
And let's throw some black5edge in there for good measure Ok. This is a full bed at 51/49. Stringing- easy for a poly. It isn't as noticeably shaped as something like bhbr, so it isn't bad. Also weaves pretty easy. Groundstrokes- interesting. This string in a full bed is very different than a hybrid. From the ground, this stuff felt nice. It did feel like it didn't give as much as I'd like, but it had plenty of spin as well as ample pop. It had a nice consistent response (which is something that is sometimes missing with full poly). Great for baselining. Overall-9/10 Serves- this is a tough one for me. Now I make my living off of hitting places with different spins on my serve. I don't normally overpower people. This string has all the spin I need, but it lacks a little power on kicks. Slice serves are really nice with this stuff. Overall- 7.5/10 Volleys- here is where it is completely different as a full bed. It doesn't give too much (it's not stiff per say, but it doesn't give) and this really takes away from volleys. I have sound fundamentals at net, so I can pretty much get away with it, but players that rely on hands are not going to be happy with this string. Overall-6/10 Durability- again, nothing special physically as far as durability, but it Is weisscannon, so tension maintenance is second only to signum pro. Overall-9/10 Softness- 1 being the softest, 10 being the stiffest Overall- 7/10 Like I said, as a full bed this stuff is really different than as a hybrid. It still plays well as a full bed, but you do give up touch at net. Great for base liners. Overall- 8.5/10.
Alright, this morning I switched between the gut/sppp and full babolat addiction at 56. The hybrid is holding up very well. Not very much notching, and it still has very good spin potential and feel. It did take a few minutes to loosen again, but it was only for about 5 minutes. Addiction filled in.
i haven't played the addiction yet and probably won't do so in the next future as i want to finish my structured poly playtest, and i don't want to mess things up, so probably by the time i'm about to hit with it it will be out of production. but just to give me a feel for what you have written about (very good review by the way - congrats), what other multis do you compare it with when you say it's your favourite. personally i have been a longtime nxt tour 17 player until i ventured into the poly, respectively hybrid world. in regard to recent multis my experience is limited to wilson nxt tour, nxt, sensation, reaction, isospeed professional new, tecnifibre multifeel, mantis power synthetic and comfort synthetic. the mcs is my favourite but i have been mainly using the mps for durability reasons. now things seem to be changing with my time window and i might give the mcs another shot, as i'm going through the mains in something around 6-7 hours lately and that's what i used to get out of the mcs too.
To fgs: I have tried babolat excel, Wilson nxt, mcs, nrg2, x-1 biphase, and most othe technibre multis. I like addiction for a couple reasons. 1)price. It's not 200+ for a reel. It's like 150, which isn't cheap, but not horrendous. 2)feel. It's a little stiff for a multi, which is good because I don't like a mushy stringed. 3)spin (for a multi). It's not quite rip control spin, but it's more predictable. It also goes back to the feel department. Rip, I would sometimes hit a shot that would have way more power than I wanted or way more spin. Addiction has a nice, even, consistent response. 4)lastly, power level. It's lower powered for a multi, not quite rip/mcs, but not overpowered. It also holds tension pretty well.
thank you for the info. with the exception of my nxt tour period (i had a special price on those at that time!), i haven't ventured into these priceranges, i simply can't afford it (got a tennis crazy kid! & break string myself pretty often). addiction is currently to be had in a 200m reel around 80-85 euros in europe through diffenrent german online-stores, therefore it would get into my pricerange currently. while i'm testing around quite expensive stuff too, basically my target is to find a playable, or better said the most playable setup for around 5 euros per stringjob. often i found that specially on the very expensive stuff there is a lot of hype not backed by performance (specially in the poly department!).
^^ those are up there now. The gut/sppp is starting to fray and unwind. Chances are it won't last too much longer. It's playing better and better though.
Testing out black5edge this afternoon. This wil have to be special because black5edge is a completely different animal to black5edge in a hybrid. So today I will test it out in a full bed. Tomorrow will be in a hybrid with addiction in the crosses. The full bed will be at 51/49, and the hybrid will be at 53/55. I'll report!
Going to hit in about 5 minutes. If the gut breaks like I think it will, then I will try the black5edge. If not, then I'm sticking with the gut/sppp until it breaks.
Alrighty. Weisscannon black5edge mains and babolat addiction crosses 53/55 Stringing-easy. Poly/ multi hybrids are always easy. Groundstrokes- really, really good. They weren't exceptional, but they were solid. I got better feedback with the multi crosses, and control was there. There wasn't just gobs of spin, but there was plenty to control it. It didn't make it easy to hit a really penetrating shot, but it wasn't incredibly difficult. Overall, just a good solid groundstroke setup Overall-8.5/10 Serves- my favorite part of this setup. As I have said before, I'm more of a variation spin and placement rather than an overpowering server. This setup just clicked on serves for some reason. I could place it well and get plenty of spin and pop. Truthfully, it's my favorite serving setup in a long time. Overall-10/10 Volleys- another place where this is a really good setup. The biggest thing you need to do with b5e is get a soft string in the crosses. This just opens up the stringbed on volleys and touch shots. It also makes it really easy to crunch volleys deep. Touch shots were easy, and getting a good knife on the volley was easy as well. Really a very good volleying setup. Overall-9/10 Durability- iffy. I break multi crosses at around the 5 hour mark most of the time. The b5e might lessen that because it's already digging into the crosses. It's not going to have bad durability, but it won't be great Overall-7/10 Softness- 1 being the softest, 10 being the stiffest Overall- 5/10 So far, this has actually made it right up there as one of my favorite setups, simply because serves are easy and volleys as well as groundstrokes are consistent. I'm going to play this to breakage and see how it changes over it's lifetime. Overall (so far)- 9/10
Hmm. I only have a few packs of vs left, and those are for a guy I string for. Mind if it's pacific classic?
Tell us about the softness too. Don't forget many of us old guys have experienced arm injuries at some point.
Good idea. Ill make a category for that when I can get on a computer. On my phone editing posts is a frustration.
Here's a request for a review on the new Head FXP Tour strings. They released with the new IG Instinct and from what I've heard (from the 2-3 people on this board who have used it), it's a different type of string. A mix between multi and poly in terms of feel and performance. I'd like to see a more in depth review on it.
I've got a few tests had of you. But when I've finished all of those I'll check it out. Sounds interesting.
It's up. An explanation of the scale is in the first post. It's tough to really gauge it though, as it can be different to certain people because of what they might be used to or how they swing. Like it's tough for me to tell the difference in stiffness between MCS and Addiction because they both feel soft to me because I've become accustomed to poly. I'll try to keep a reference stick going or something.
That is interesting to me that you can't tell much difference between MCS and Addiction. They are at opposite ends of the multi stiffness spectrum. Of course, I never play full poly so that makes sense what you are saying.
I mean, when I hit with a full bed of addiction for 30 minutes then switch to mcs, I realize, "hey that's softer". But when I switch from poly to addiction to poly to mcs, I don't really notice the difference as much.
