Best polyester tennis strings on the market today?

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PJGtennis

New User
What makes a polyester string better than another? and what makes a string bad? Everyone's preference varies making choosing the right string a personal preference. Is there anything quantifiable about a tennis strings properties that make one better than another?
In my opinion, the top 5 polys (no order) would be
1.Luxilon Alu Power and (rough)
2. Babolat RPM Blast and (rough)
3. Solinco Hyper-G
4. Volkl Cyclone
5. Solinco Tour Bite
These are the strings I string the most in my area with really any other polys being far and few between.
In your opinion what is the best polyester tennis strings on the market today?
Is it all just preference or are there real differences in the performance of the strings? Is it all just marketing and hype?
 
It's all preference and marketing hype. For instance Luxilon puts #1 on the pro tour on all of their packaging. Marketing hype. The only strings I like from them are their rough strings. The rest of them lose tension to quickly and really aren't that great. RPM blast is very similar. People see that Nadal plays it and think it must be fantastic and must add something to his game that it will add to theirs. Personally it's junk. No power, no feel, and dies quick. As for HyperG, Tourbite, and Cyclone, I like them all but that is because I prefer a shaped poly. Tourbite and HyperG are high on my list along with cyclone, v-torque, and tecnifibre blackcode. As a stringer, if I never strung anything but regular rpm I wouldn't complain. The friction reducing coating makes it incredibly easy to string.

Edit: for reference I also like kirschbaum spiky shark, and y-tex squareX and quattrotwist. I just like a good shaped string.
 
I preferred a shaped polyester as well. I have been playing with Solinco Hyper G 17 g for over a year now. I will try out different strings occasionally but it is defiantly my go to as of now. I as well like v-torque, however I haven't played with spiky shark and y Tex quadro twist. I have strung both of these before for a guy who liked poly/poly hybrids.
I agree as well, with some strings it feels like if you have a big name attached to it it sells. No matter what the playability of the string is.
Some of the lesser known brands make strings that are better or on the same level as the popular brands but without the brand recognition they won't make a significant dent into the market.
 
>What makes a polyester string better than another?
You
>And what makes a string bad?
You don't like it, it does not work for you

>Everyone's preference varies making & choosing the right string, it is a balance and a personal preference.
True, some follow the hype and some follow their hands, some listen to their body, some just like the word spin on the package, bottom-line the string should compliment their game and frame..
>Is there anything quantifiable about a tennis strings properties that make one better than another?
The properties will change with the user, so no, there really is is no bad coploy ..
Show me a bad string and I bet there someone out there that thinks it is the string for them.
We have close to 1,400 string choices out there.
Summary:
Strings and Racquets.
Their is no best.
Their is no "one-size-fits-all".
It is what is the best for you!
This takes time, work, patience, logic and tracking ..no easy button if done right....

>But what string type has the best over objective quantifiable string properties...
What all strings are compared too...natural gut....
But that is not for all.....
 
Last edited:
The best polyester would have great bite, SnapBack and tension maintenance. Sadly despite TW testing and countless user play tests, we are no closer to a top contender than a blind guess. Which is sad really.

I found Alu and RPM to be good strings for exactly 3 hours back when I was using poly. That’s all pros ever need. Which is why rec players shouldn’t use what the pros use. Their rackets are strung for free and they never use a string bed longer than a couple hours.
 
In my experience Luxilon outperforms strings like Hyper G—mind you, I get Solinco stuff for way cheaper than retail—throughout the course of its life. While I break ALU and Hyper G in the same 10-15 hour time frame, I’ve found that Hyper G drops tension and changes in feel far faster than Lux.
 
I'm happy to jump at any chance to post my opinion about RPM Blast. I've seen what it's done to a lot more than just one or two players locally through recent years, so while I respect that some folks really enjoy it, I'm convinced that it's overpriced garbage.

And I think that our pal CopolyX nailed it in post #4.
 
Personally, I've settled in on Weiss Cannon Ultra Cable 17. For me, they perform as good or better than Cyclone of Hyper G and have absolutely no effect on my arm. And - I play with a 2013 APD.
 
I'm a fan of the Alu Power Soft right now (just switched to this last week). It's not super soft, but it compliments the stiffness of my RFA's nicely -- 2 piece string job @ 48lbs all-around. It seems to have pretty good durability -- although they look like they're notching up pretty good. I've put 4 sets on them, 2.5 hours -- and I will probably only get another 4 sets out of them -- at this rate.
 
The tension makes a huge difference too.

Looser equates to higher arc,more power and much bigger sweet spot

Cyclone at 35 ilbs in a 16 by 19 rocks.

Alu Power is good as well but I feel Cyclone has the edge in gripping the ball.
 
topspn said:
There are many good polys but the best is the combination of racquet and string that works for you. Strings don’t always feel the same in different frames so what you like in one won’t translate sometimes to others.
Click to expand...

I'll second that. I really liked a full bed of Tourbite Diamond Rough in my Volkl Organix 8 315s but in the head extremes it doesn't seem to work the same. I don't consider either of those rackets particularly string sensitive but I have noticed differences in playability of the same string.
 
It's a little ironic that Luxilon frequently gets tagged as marketing hype when they are one of the few companies developing and manufacturing their own products, performing R&D on filament tech, producing filaments and "yarns" for other industries much more complex than tennis and manufacturing to ISO certified quality standards. Performance in the real world is highly subjective but I would guess that quality and consistency of product is the big selling point to the very high percentage of professionals playing Lux. It's probably not a coincidence that many of the innovative or unique strings come from companies that manufacturer their strings in house. Isospeed, Double AR, Technifibre, Babolat, Ashaway are some examples.

That's not to say that companies that outsource manufacturing aren't selling good strings but there is a lot of repackaging/rebranding or tweaking of OEM strings. I'm sure that some of the strings I've liked were probably a generic house string, pigmented with a flashy color and run through an extrusion machine to give it shape or texture and put in a branded packaging.
 
CopolyX said:
>What makes a polyester string better than another?
You
>And what makes a string bad?
You don't like it, it does not work for you

>Everyone's preference varies making & choosing the right string, it is a balance and a personal preference.
True, some follow the hype and some follow their hands, some listen to their body, some just like the word spin on the package, bottom-line the string should compliment their game and frame..
>Is there anything quantifiable about a tennis strings properties that make one better than another?
The properties will change with the user, so no, there really is is no bad coploy ..
Show me a bad string and I bet there someone out there that thinks I the string for them.
We have close to 1,400 string choices out there.
Summary:
Strings and Racquets.
Their is no best.
Their is no "one-size-fits-all".
It is what is the best for you!
This take time, work..no easy button if done right....

But what string type has the best over objective quantifiable string properties...
What all strings are compared too...natural gut....
But that is not for all.....
Click to expand...

Great Post!!!
 
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