Elbow and wrist. I didn't play that much (1-2 times a week, sometimes 3, but not often).
Accepting that you cannot use poly strings
- Thread starter TBM
- Start date
I tried VCT a while back but had similiar experience, maybe worth giving it another shot but not as a full bed. After two weeks of trying various shaped multis/suns crossing them with soft polys (DSS/Cream, and then Gamma Ocho TNT RX/Cream and now MSV Tour Hex +38/Babolat Soft) my arm felt great and virtually no pain.
I decided to try using GC/Cream again and played a set with it as an experiment given my arm pain has gone away. I let my friend use a freshly strung (50/48) for around 4-6 hours. He broke it in for me and the tension had dropped it felt comfortable and whether it is the lessons I have been taking to help my form or the tension drop (could be a combo of both) it felt good. Loved the grip and bite of the GC and obviously spin with poly is great but I did feel the shock of the racket when I didn’t hit exactly in the sweet spot. Afterwards my arm didn’t hurt but I definitely felt it and expect that if I continue play with it my TE/GE would flare up. I think its safe to say it maybe best to give up on poly/poly combo. I think trying GC with RPMSoft or AK Pro CX maybe a winning combo if it doesn’t shred either one, otherwise I may just have to give up on super sharp strings and only use moderately shaped ones for the sake of my arm.
One of the times where poly didn't hurt my shoulder was when I bought a Head OS Nite (special edition Agassi ltd racket with a black paint job). I bought it used strung with white Wilson revolve 17. The previous owner said they strung it at 52lbs but had already played with it for 5 hours.
I used that racket for 5 matches with those strings with 0 pain at all. I was in love with the racket and string combo. I restrung the racket with the same strings at 45lbs and my shoulder started hurting within one hitting session.
Strings / injuries are weird.
I used that racket for 5 matches with those strings with 0 pain at all. I was in love with the racket and string combo. I restrung the racket with the same strings at 45lbs and my shoulder started hurting within one hitting session.
Strings / injuries are weird.
TennisViking
Semi-Pro
After almost giving up on the Wilson Clash 100 V2, I recently added just a bit of tungsten tape and have now learnt to play with it a bit better. My tennis elbow has been pretty bad and it seems stiff racquets (Ezone 100 & Vcore 100) still hurt my elbow regardless of the string I use. I basically forced myself to try the Clash again as my elbow needs all the help possible.
Currently I have the Clash 100 stung with the X-One 1.34 at 24 kg (53 pounds) and it works decently. However I am missing some spin.
Any suggestion for what string I might hybrid this with (multi)? I was thinking perhaps X-One in the mains and in the cross either Head MLT or Tecnifibre Multifeel? Would I string both at 24 kg? I will not touch poly strings again so need to find a multifilament (or NG) solution that works for me.
Currently I have the Clash 100 stung with the X-One 1.34 at 24 kg (53 pounds) and it works decently. However I am missing some spin.
Any suggestion for what string I might hybrid this with (multi)? I was thinking perhaps X-One in the mains and in the cross either Head MLT or Tecnifibre Multifeel? Would I string both at 24 kg? I will not touch poly strings again so need to find a multifilament (or NG) solution that works for me.
tele
Hall of Fame
i found more spin than any fb multi i have tried with monogut zx(black 16g) crosses(i used quasi,gut armor mains, but i think biphase would be fine). monogut zx crosses at 55lbs are very soft and slippery, but they will limit durability of nylon mains like poly does.
Happi
Hall of Fame
GC ?
You're not going to get noticeably more spin by doing a multi / multi hybrid. Play 10 matches with those strings and you'll forget about the extra spin from polys.
Grapplesnake game changer iirc.
Happi
Hall of Fame
Thanks, strange to just write GS for a string that is not well known. Guess its a multi string due to the thread title.
Na, 4 sided poly
Btw. I've finally tried your gut/professional classic hybrid.
I was surprised by how good the control is (21kg mains, 22kg crosses in a 93 18x20).
Spin is also decent, better than most multi setups. Feel is almost too pillowy-dead, I was struggling a bit to feel the ball in the string bed.
But that could have been the racquet too somewhat, tried a kblade tour for the first time.
Overall a very nice setup, so thanks for the recommendation.
I'll stick to gut/poly for now and keep this racquet/string setup for offdays as my arm is happy enough with gut/poly but I'll keep this as a switch option for the future.
Sorry Grapplesnake Game Changer
jmacdaununder2
Legend
X-One/Velocity or X-One/Volkl PF II or perhaps Volkl PF Pro for more mains movement at the expense of some comfort.
@phanamous For your soft poly/syn gut, how has the firewire/syngut or multi trial been going? I have been having really great success with MSV Focus Hex +38 crossed with Gosen AK Pro CX and also with RPM Soft. Both soften up the string bed and are slick enough to allow for SnapBack for spin. So far have held up pretty well and only slightly are moving out of place in the 6-8 hour range and haven’t lost playability.
phanamous
Rookie
Thanks. Will check out Gosen AK Pro CX. Looks like an interesting string to try as a cross. Head MLT is my current goto for a cross as it's slick but even then, the mains start locking up after a few hours.
Fairhit
Hall of Fame
Because it is hard to accept for some people.
I know it by heart, poly shouldn't be used by me but I'm sure down the line I will give it another try even though I know the results will be the exact same as before.
I get that thought process. I read reviews of all the "soft" polys thinking that maybe I'll be able to use them in the future, but each time I get my racket restrung I always go for a multi / syn gut as I know that's best for my shoulder.
One benefit of using multis is that I can pretty much play with any racket without discomfort. I can even use stiff power rackets that I wouldn't dream of using with a poly.
Fairhit
Hall of Fame
Maybe tomorrow they launch a super soft poly, maybe a super soft frame, maybe I didn't use the correct hybrid combo, maybe it was the tension I got wrong, maybe it was the pattern, two knots instead of four... There always will be some reason we tell ourselves to justify trying poly again. It is human nature.
Happi
Hall of Fame
I am there too, tried all the soft polys like Cream, Swift, Air, GW you name them, but after I got a account on Racketpedia new strings have my attention, so I will likely give it another go..... Hoping.... Its har to accept a non poly life.
The other day I played a guy with some of the most spin I have encountered due to his technique (Full Western), after I looked at his racquet, and he was stringing his Radical with FB of Sensation - OK so it is possible to create massive spin with a string like sensation, he seem to have good control too.
Should have known it better, but I went back to try poly again. Read some good reviews about Völkl cyclone tour, so I needed to try it. Strung fulbed at 22 kilo in my 18x20 H22 it was nice, good control, plush, more spin… After about 5-6h of playtime within 3 days my elbow started to hurt. Went back to gut/isospeed cream and the pain disappeared even though I kept on playing almost every day…
in my club, there are a certain number of players who are convinced that they have the truth, who also talk about preferring to play with poly, even if it means injuring themselves, and very often, these are players who have never really injured themselves, who play up to 3-4 times a week, have a rating between 5.5 and 4.5, have questionable spin technique, and are convinced that poly is doing most of the work.
I have been fighting for years to change my mind, but without great results, the marketing, the ego of the players to want to play as top 100 ATP when they are just good club players, the incompetence of the sellers make beliefs die hard!
finally, for a few months (a year and a half to tell the truth), some "good" players who are used to playing with the rigid racket setup (pure drive, yonex ezone, head extreme or even wilson blade) have also been using stiff high tension poly to hopefully gain some control.
and very often what must happen happens. and at the moment at least 8 of these players have elbow injuries, which makes them unavailable for tennis between 2 and 4 months. so when you're used to playing three to four times a week, and all of a sudden you can't play at all for that long, it's very traumatic psychologically speaking!
out of 8 of these players (between 30 and 45 years old) there are 6 who were injured because of the rigid racquet + high tension poly FB setup.
of the 6, 5 have since switched to soft rackets (pro kennex, gravity, prince phantom), to more flexible setups (I pose as standard for players beyond 4.0 velocity hybrids (1.40mm) and either topspin cyber blue either msv focus hex +25 or +38 .
accompanied of course by the recommendation to take some technical lessons with the teacher to adjust their tennis, and to work on the gestures which in my opinion generates more effect than the poly.
of these 5 players who switched from soft rackets and hybrid multi/poly rackets, they all made progress in their games, and gained in playing comfort, and reduced arm injuries.
and 4 out of 5 players have even won several matches against players against whom they had previously struggled to win.
I remain convinced that the poly argument is just a mirage. I believe that a club player below 6.0 at his best tennis will never play as well as a player like Jim Courier when he was winning grand slams! and, when we know that he won with S-gut, or Agassi with his Kevlar-S-gut hybrid, I think to myself, is it really serious to want to play FB poly when you are less than 5.0, and that 'we have a random technique and we finally don't need FB poly!
old 6.0 myself, I've been playing for a while with Clash 100 or Head instinct youtek (2010) gold version with three different hybrids:
velocity/signum poly megaforce
RPM soft /msv bussard or swift
Synthetic gut (Prince duraflex/gamma weargard/signum kevlar speed) and poly soft (topspin cyber blue or MSV swift)
in my opinion, it is more than enough for a club player.
actually, I went from 2 racquets to 4 racquets, but my arm never has pain. the good question that everyone must ask is: how much do you estimate your arm? an arm cannot be replaced like a string that breaks.
I have been fighting for years to change my mind, but without great results, the marketing, the ego of the players to want to play as top 100 ATP when they are just good club players, the incompetence of the sellers make beliefs die hard!
finally, for a few months (a year and a half to tell the truth), some "good" players who are used to playing with the rigid racket setup (pure drive, yonex ezone, head extreme or even wilson blade) have also been using stiff high tension poly to hopefully gain some control.
and very often what must happen happens. and at the moment at least 8 of these players have elbow injuries, which makes them unavailable for tennis between 2 and 4 months. so when you're used to playing three to four times a week, and all of a sudden you can't play at all for that long, it's very traumatic psychologically speaking!
out of 8 of these players (between 30 and 45 years old) there are 6 who were injured because of the rigid racquet + high tension poly FB setup.
of the 6, 5 have since switched to soft rackets (pro kennex, gravity, prince phantom), to more flexible setups (I pose as standard for players beyond 4.0 velocity hybrids (1.40mm) and either topspin cyber blue either msv focus hex +25 or +38 .
accompanied of course by the recommendation to take some technical lessons with the teacher to adjust their tennis, and to work on the gestures which in my opinion generates more effect than the poly.
of these 5 players who switched from soft rackets and hybrid multi/poly rackets, they all made progress in their games, and gained in playing comfort, and reduced arm injuries.
and 4 out of 5 players have even won several matches against players against whom they had previously struggled to win.
I remain convinced that the poly argument is just a mirage. I believe that a club player below 6.0 at his best tennis will never play as well as a player like Jim Courier when he was winning grand slams! and, when we know that he won with S-gut, or Agassi with his Kevlar-S-gut hybrid, I think to myself, is it really serious to want to play FB poly when you are less than 5.0, and that 'we have a random technique and we finally don't need FB poly!
old 6.0 myself, I've been playing for a while with Clash 100 or Head instinct youtek (2010) gold version with three different hybrids:
velocity/signum poly megaforce
RPM soft /msv bussard or swift
Synthetic gut (Prince duraflex/gamma weargard/signum kevlar speed) and poly soft (topspin cyber blue or MSV swift)
in my opinion, it is more than enough for a club player.
actually, I went from 2 racquets to 4 racquets, but my arm never has pain. the good question that everyone must ask is: how much do you estimate your arm? an arm cannot be replaced like a string that breaks.
for my part, a lot of S-guts look alike, and I think that the advantage of S-guts over poly in hybrid mounting is three points:
1) cheaper than multi premium
2) higher tension hold, I find that some premium multis begin to lose tension after 5 to 6 hours, S-gut holds (for those who don't break) more than 12 hours.
3) little or no loss of playability, some multiplayer quickly lose their playability, and become pasty, S-gut plays the same until it breaks.
I find that finally, when you string yourself, a 3rd to 4th generation poly, or even a standard poly like the MSV co-focus or even poly megaforce signum or plasma and an S-gut reel like babolat S -gut will cost less than 100€ for the two 200m reels, which comes to less than 3€ for the hybrid! which is cheaper than a box of balls, and will easily last more than 4 hours!
Thx but I was more looking for opinions specifically about Dunlop Syn gut compared to others.
Full bed or as a main string in a hybrid.
NicoMK
Hall of Fame
I was just reading some of the posts above and it's what I was just wondering actually, lol.
ChanterRacquet
Professional
Yeah, but just because it is a multi doesn’t mean it’s soft enough for you. It’s on the line for me, I prefer to play softer (like multifeel, nrg2) and just restring more often (string for myself). Currently trying NXT mains and PPC crosses to test the viability of premium mains and more durable crosses.
There aren't any multis that play like a poly. Just ones that have more or less control.
Velocity is really low powered, so you can use lots of racket head speed to make spin, but it does not snap back like a poly as it gets stuck in place within 15 mins for me.
Tecnifibre multifeel black snaps back into place until it snaps, but is slightly more firm feeling and breaks very quickly in a 16x19 racket.
In my opinion, find the multi that you prefer the feel of the most and that will help you enjoy playing with it. I still use velocity from time to time, but I don't like the feel of it at all. I much prefer the feel of Prince premier control or Mantis comfort synthetic.
What properties of a poly are you looking for? Multi's really lose tension pretty quickly and fray pretty badly. If you have TE I would suggest you get that looked at first by a physician, then heal up.
Tmano
Hall of Fame
As far as poly i liked shaped polys, 6-7 edges medium power.and the last one i was using were Hepta power and Tour hex. Unfortunatelly tour hex caused the TE to explode. It was my bad though cause i got lazy and used it although is was 6 months old. It took 3 hours to get injured.
Play less and use a softer string. Your results don't matter while you have TE. If you really look after it you'll be back to full fitness in no time.
It can take ages to heal, but if caught early it can be months rather than years.
I know from experience that ignoring injuries leads to even worse ones.
I've had TE/GE twice, and both times I've been able to get rid of it within about a month. I find one of the worst things for TE is constantly gripping something with the affected arm. For example, using your phone for long periods or holding onto a mouse all day on the computer. Once I realised that I made adjustments and my arm healed week by week.
My main tip would be that if your TE feels any worse after playing tennis, you shouldn't be playing tennis at all. Rest is key. Fix the issue the first time or tendonitis can become a reality.
Tmano
Hall of Fame
Yes i went to the doctor, i'm doing PT had an MRI....flexbar too.
There is quite long thread about it on the health and fitness section.
Go with the advice from your PT and listen to what your arm is telling you. Unfortunately it's hard to know when youre ready even when feeling fully fit.
Just make sure to listen to your body. You can also try starting by just playing some short court with foam balls to be extra cautious.
Happi
Hall of Fame
Get a low RA Racquet and only play with multi strings for now. Lots of good options out there.
The 3 most constable strings I have tried are
- Isospeed professional Classic (still a favorite) - this is also the cross string in Head Intellitour.
- Mantis Comfort Synt (a lot of string movement)
- NRG2
I have had severe TE and GE and I was lucky to be able to play while my arm was healing up. Soft frame and multi strings did the trick.
I feel like every TE / GE sufferer should own a comfortable racket strung with a multi for times of need.
I have a Prokennex black ace that is soft as a pillow strung with Velocity at 52lbs. 55RA. I don't play my best tennis with it, but It always allows me to keep playing with no pain.
I also have a customised Head Gravity S that I've been using as well. It's nice and soft on the arm and the large sweetspot reduces mishits that might aggregate an injury. Weighted to 315 Sw and 319g with overgrip
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Worth trying if you haven't since May.
Or just use a full bed of gut. I wish I had known how much more comfortable it is when I had my golfer's elbow issues.
Of course not everyone wants to string with gut so those are great suggestions.
Tmano
Hall of Fame
Thanks!
yes i'm going to get a soft multi possibly one of those you listed.
My racquets the DR98 which i considered soft but i guess it was not that flexy.
Tmano
Hall of Fame
yes if nothing would work i will try full gut....expensive but worth. Thanks
i like the flexbar. Glad you are doing better.
vandre
Hall of Fame
right now, i'm just at a place where i'm stringing my stick with either my new fav multi (ytex microfiber-x) or synthetic gut (ytex sintex). my clavicle is still causing problems for the rest of my arm so i'm just trying to keep everything as calm as possible and honestly, i kind of appreciate not having to keep track of how old the string is or how many hours its been used.
