Arm-Friendly Poly Strings

SJSA

SJSA

Professional
My tennis elbow is getting worse after using poly strings for a year.
I'm addicted to poly and don't want to go back to multi.
I realized that soft poly is not equal to arm-friendly poly.
Let me know if anyone finds arm-friendly poly strings except hybrid.

My tension range for poly is low 50's and I don't use stiff rackets.
 
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Turbo Twist is very soft in my experience @48, however, I wouldn't expect that changing to a soft string would heal your elbow. Checking your technique with a coach could be more helpful.
 
zo verve at 51..very soft
i'm temporarily taking a break from my fav poly (signum pro plasma)because of arm problems which by the way disappeared after switching to a good premium synthetic gut string..
I have found a new fav string that does all the things that a poly does except for being durable...
 
All poly's are stiff. But, gamma zo twist was fairly soft to me.

Other suggestions: string all poly between 40-52 lbs depending on racket and playing style. I use to string poly (sometimes all poly & sometimes hybrid) in high 50s (56-59) and developed minor elbow pain, dropping to 48-52 range has reduced discomfort significantly without loss of control or spin.

Buy a Volkl racket. It is a cliche but Volkl's are hands down the sweetess rackets for the wrist, elbow and arm. I play Volkl Org 10 295 leaded up for higher SW and it is very comfortable and plays great.
 
Have to...........

Have to agree with TCJC with the lower string tensions on poly string. Poly strings have such a high stiffness index and low elasticity, so stringing lower will help the string play longer before going dead.

A big issue that most people make is to string poly too high which kills the life of an already short lived string. The other issue that people create is to keep poly string in the racquet too long. While poly string can be durable, the life span of poly string is very short, approx 4-18hrs of play before they lose elasticity/resiliency, depending on string and racquet string pattern. Once that happens the string goes dead and transfers shock straight up your arm.

According to the USRSA data the softest poly strings are:
Head's FXP Tour 17 SI 165
Babolat's Pro Hurricane 18 SI 187
Dunlop's Black Widow 17 SI 192
Tecnifibre Duramix 17 SI 199
Hope this helps

Cheers, TennezSport :cool:
 
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Played against someone last week who played with the butt of his racquet centered in the palm of his hand. He had a very wristy style. He said playing like that helped relieve his tennis elbow pain. I asked him what string he had. Turns out to be poly. I asked him how long it had been in his racquet. He indicated about a year. I told him to replace his poly at least once a month and he said he was too cheap for that, he didn't like the expense of restringing.

I wonder how many people out there use poly just because it won't break.
 
I like Blue Hitter Blue Rough. But you have to change it every 7 hours of hitting like most polys or it gets boardy and stiff. I use it with a gut hybrid and it's very arm friendly and tons of spin.

Having said that, no poly will do you any good if you can't can't lift your racquet. I'd use gut or synth until you rehab and strengthen your arm then try going back to it.
 
Tourna Big Hitter Black7 is the only poly I've played with "heavily" (for me that's 2+ hour practice sessions two days in a row) and felt no wrist, shoulder or arm pain afterward. Its pretty amazing. I prefer the crisper response of BHS/BHSR, but am thinking of trying Black7 at 52 instead of the 48 I was at, want to see what the response is like.
 
OP, please, please consider not using polys and also checking your form, as some others have suggested. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you could seriously affect how long you'll be able to play tennis if you hurt yourself more. If you must do a poly, try Iontec and TT. For an in between string, try RIP.
 
SJSA said:
My tennis elbow is getting worse after using poly strings for a year.
...
I realized that soft poly is not equal to arm-friendly poly.
Let me know if anyone finds arm-friendly poly strings except hybrid.
Click to expand...


All polyester strings are detrimental to the arm, relatively speaking. In fact, poly needs to be relatively tight to produce the performance one seeks.

So the arm-friendly poly is a compromise on performance. As soon as you understand that, I suggest that you look into

1. MSV Hex
2. Kirschbaum Proline II
3. Luxilon TIMO

They are arm-friendly when strung below 50, and offer good trade-off on the performance
 
To ease elbow pain:

Change your technique.
If looking for soft poly Black Widow 17 Dunlop is great.Probably one of the softest when first strung but the only problem is it goes dead relatively quick losing its punch.
 
If you just have to play with poly, try some of the poly-multis, like Technifibre Dura Mix (there are others of course). Or, maybe a stiffer mixed string, like Head FXP Power or NXT Control.
 
Steve Huff said:
If you just have to play with poly, try some of the poly-multis, like Technifibre Dura Mix (there are others of course). Or, maybe a stiffer mixed string, like Head FXP Power or NXT Control.
Click to expand...


I thought NXT Control felt softer than DuraMix but both were fine on my arm.
 
Fuji said:
No string has caused my arm more pain the RPM Blast, and it was strung at my normal tension of 55lbs. That was one of the worst experiences of my tennis life haha!

-Fuji
Click to expand...

Agree this string brought my elbow pain to new levels
 
I would also suggest the 18 or 19 gauge string. I have a little wrist problem and the 18 gauge Cyclone Tour is working OK for me.
 
arm-friendly and poly in the same sentence, lol...

But here are some of the softest polys out there:

Poly Star Energy
polyfibre tcs
genesis black magic
dunlop black widow
 
^^^^^^ Says the guy with 2500 posts in 2 months! Take it easy on that keyboard.

PS - I hope the OP found some peace and didn't have to switch arms...
 
Denzel Washington says, "LeeD ain't got nothing on SpinToWin".
 
There's nothing softer then Goosen Sidewinder. It has a stiffness rating of 159. Although you'll have to restring every match or two if you hit hard because of loss of tension.
 
BHS 17 has been very easy on my arm, even in a full bed setup.
A lot more comfortable than the usual suspects and I like to hit hard!
 
WeissCannon Mosquito Bite is comfortable for a poly. It also has other nice qualities that not many polys do: nice ball feel, good tension stability. To me most polys already have good enough of spin/control, I value those rare merits a lot more.
 
Yonex Poly Tour 1.20
Yonex Poly Tour Spin 1.25

They die soft too, instead of stiff like most poly. Gets more and more comfortable.
 
***********c said:
There's nothing softer then Goosen Sidewinder. It has a stiffness rating of 159. Although you'll have to restring every match or two if you hit hard because of loss of tension.
Click to expand...

Hello ***********c! Can you please tell me where I can find the stiffness rating you are referring to ? My elbow and my pocket thank you beforehand for the info !!!
 
TennezSport said:
Have to agree with TCJC with the lower string tensions on poly string. Poly strings have such a high stiffness index and low elasticity, so stringing lower will help the string play longer before going dead.

A big issue that most people make is to string poly too high which kills the life of an already short lived string. The other issue that people create is to keep poly string in the racquet too long. While poly string can be durable, the life span of poly string is very short, approx 4-18hrs of play before they lose elasticity/resiliency, depending on string and racquet string pattern. Once that happens the string goes dead and transfers shock straight up your arm.

According to the USRSA data the softest poly strings are:
Head's FXP Tour 17 SI 165
Babolat's Pro Hurricane 18 SI 187
Dunlop's Black Widow 17 SI 192
Tecnifibre Duramix 17 SI 199
Hope this helps

Cheers, TennezSport :cool:
Click to expand...


Hello TennezSport! Can you please tell me where I can find these stiffness ratings you are referring to ? My elbow and my pocket thank you beforehand for the info !!!
 
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