I think in all sports money is the X factor.
in Formula 1, the teams with the most budget can invest the most in research and development, and invest the most in engines and chassis. these teams are often the best.
in regatta (sailing) the bigger boats are more expensive, and your faster, it is a simple logic.
in any sport, money is the key word.
i think in tennis too.
For my part, I played at some relatively good level, and I was playing natural gut / poly (after years of kevlar / s-gut).
but at one point, the financial aspect becomes important, and it happened to me to ask myself the question of the price / performance ratio
Is it worth the cost to pay a lot more for a little more performance?
between a natural gut / poly premium hybrid set which lasts 16 hours (half of which with dead poly) and a multi / poly hybrid which lasts 10-12 hours, but which will cost much less, the difference is quickly made.
of course, the multi / poly hybrid will be less efficient than nat gut / poly .. and again, at my level I am not 100% able to detect the enormous difference at the first balls. (with pro supex maxim touch or weiss explosiv or signum micronite, which are multi that cost less than $ 10!
a babolat tonic / kirschbaum max power costs me around 36-38 €. for two sets and lasts 14-15 hours each
a supex maxim touch / signum megaforce pro costs me € 12 for two sets and lasts me 10 hours each.
if we report the price of multi / poly hybrids, for the price of tonic / max power I can have 3 pro supex / megaforce games.
so, I have the choice between a total of 28-30 hours for 36-38 € with gut poly, or about 20% less performance for 60 hours of tennis with multi / poly, for 36 €.
if I switch to a "generic" brand like gutex / cyber power from PP, it drops even lower, and for around € 7 for two sets of hybrids, I can play around 16 hours in total !.
with a play time of 7 to 8 hours per hybrid of gutex / cyber power, I am for 38 € to approximately 10 hybrids. that is a total of 70 to 80 hours.
of course, a set of gutex / cyber power will not have the performance level of tonic / max power. but will not be zero either!
in my opinion, pro supex maxim touch / megaforce plays at 75-80% of the performance of gut / max power, and gutex / CP plays at 75-80% of the performance of maxim touch / megaforce.
but as I am very rarely at 100% of my physical performance, (most often at 50%, with problems like everyone's placement, timming, gesture), I then wonder why invest in a hybrid at 100 % if I am unable to be 100% me?
the conclusion is: I am not a professional. who needs to have everything 100% all the time. racket, shoes, game, physics, timming, and strings.
even if I use the pro rackets, with the pro strings, I would never be a pro.