kahuna_will
New User
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Dunlop_Black_Widow_17_String/descpageACDUNLOP-DBW17.html
The best string there is! I've tested over 20 Polys the past few weeks. Stringing up my 3 APDs with 3 different strings all at 54lbs and this stuff is bad*%#.
Super comfy and arm friendly with good pocketing. It gives you that connected feeling and the confidence to take massive rips. It's soft and crisp at the same time and the spin is off the charts. On normal/safe rallys, nothing came close to the spin and penetration I got from this. I will say the RPM blast probably had a bit more nasty on it when ripping one, but overall the Black Widow is superior in spin out off all that I tried.
Control was amazing, soft and cushiony yet crisp with a good clean pop feeling. Their were a few other strings that I felt had a bit more control but the Black Widow is right on their tails.
Solid power, not huge, but the perfect amount for me. Serves had great pace. I found that a few others, especially some Luxilons to had quite a bit more power and gave me a huge serve. Again though, Black Widow is more than adequate in power. You have the confidence to take huge hacks knowing that you won't over hit. You do need to have good RHS to reach the strings full potential, although it is not nearly as RHS dependent as some others like the RPM Blast or Lux Spin. I'm all about less is more, but knowing I can unload on one is a huge plus.
Durability was great. Keep in mind, all 3 racquets were strung at the same time and used for 10 hours each and then cut out. Other than the normal tension drop, the strings stayed very playable throughout the 10 hours. I'm sure they will go dead fairly quickly beyond the 10 hours but most Polys will. I found this string to be one of the better strings in terms of tension maintenance and consistent playability during my tests.
A few other key points that stood out to me about this string was it's versatility. By the the most versatile of all the strings I tested. It just does everything well, if not great. Serves, heavy topspin groundies, slices were low and nasty, flat balls were noticeably better than many of the others, and volleys and touch shoots were pretty dang solid for a poly. I really felt connected and in control of my drops and touch volleys. While it was nice at net and with the touch shots, by no means does it "excel" in that area. This is a heavy, topspin baseliners dream. Another thing that stuck out to me were the really, I mean really good miss-hits. For some reason a missed sweet spot still turned out to be a solid shot most of the time. Even some complete God awful miss-hits weren't the worst in the world. It's just a very forgiving string.
Lastly, some of the angles that I found with this string just shouldn't be possible, and seeing that ball move 6 or more inches over the net as it tucks just inside the line on a DTL winner just puts a smile on your face. Some of the other big time spin racquets hit those same angles and can move the ball like that but the Black Widow overall, has more points next to it than the others.
If you are a modern game, aggressive, heavy ball, topspin baseliner, this is string will blow your mind. It's a game changer people.
The best string there is! I've tested over 20 Polys the past few weeks. Stringing up my 3 APDs with 3 different strings all at 54lbs and this stuff is bad*%#.
Super comfy and arm friendly with good pocketing. It gives you that connected feeling and the confidence to take massive rips. It's soft and crisp at the same time and the spin is off the charts. On normal/safe rallys, nothing came close to the spin and penetration I got from this. I will say the RPM blast probably had a bit more nasty on it when ripping one, but overall the Black Widow is superior in spin out off all that I tried.
Control was amazing, soft and cushiony yet crisp with a good clean pop feeling. Their were a few other strings that I felt had a bit more control but the Black Widow is right on their tails.
Solid power, not huge, but the perfect amount for me. Serves had great pace. I found that a few others, especially some Luxilons to had quite a bit more power and gave me a huge serve. Again though, Black Widow is more than adequate in power. You have the confidence to take huge hacks knowing that you won't over hit. You do need to have good RHS to reach the strings full potential, although it is not nearly as RHS dependent as some others like the RPM Blast or Lux Spin. I'm all about less is more, but knowing I can unload on one is a huge plus.
Durability was great. Keep in mind, all 3 racquets were strung at the same time and used for 10 hours each and then cut out. Other than the normal tension drop, the strings stayed very playable throughout the 10 hours. I'm sure they will go dead fairly quickly beyond the 10 hours but most Polys will. I found this string to be one of the better strings in terms of tension maintenance and consistent playability during my tests.
A few other key points that stood out to me about this string was it's versatility. By the the most versatile of all the strings I tested. It just does everything well, if not great. Serves, heavy topspin groundies, slices were low and nasty, flat balls were noticeably better than many of the others, and volleys and touch shoots were pretty dang solid for a poly. I really felt connected and in control of my drops and touch volleys. While it was nice at net and with the touch shots, by no means does it "excel" in that area. This is a heavy, topspin baseliners dream. Another thing that stuck out to me were the really, I mean really good miss-hits. For some reason a missed sweet spot still turned out to be a solid shot most of the time. Even some complete God awful miss-hits weren't the worst in the world. It's just a very forgiving string.
Lastly, some of the angles that I found with this string just shouldn't be possible, and seeing that ball move 6 or more inches over the net as it tucks just inside the line on a DTL winner just puts a smile on your face. Some of the other big time spin racquets hit those same angles and can move the ball like that but the Black Widow overall, has more points next to it than the others.
If you are a modern game, aggressive, heavy ball, topspin baseliner, this is string will blow your mind. It's a game changer people.
