Can a poly/multi hybrid LOSE power when the multi get frayed

[Deleted member 775108]

Hi All

My first poly/multi hybrid
Ytex Quadro Twist 16L mains 48 lbs
Tecnifibre RPX 16 crosses at 48 lbs. (Basically is a cheaper version of the Triax, feels like a mixture of X-One Biphase and Truax in one, I like this more than Triax for that reason)

Racket is Wilson Burn Team 100, 16x20 pattern, 60 RA... 267g unstrung loaded up to 323g/323mm/317SW strung

Has been love from the get go.. great spin, control and usable power... Same racket didn't work with my standard cross string (OGSM 16 at 50 lbs) with the same mains (Quadro Twist 16L at 50 lbs)... That bed felt very plasticy and stiff so I cut it out without giving it much of a chance.

Now the Multi is frayed quite extensively after approx 10 hours on the bed in the last 2 week.

I am feeling a loss of power in ground strokes (spin and control is untouched). Could the frayed multifilaments cause that loss of power? I've never met a string bed that lost power (albeit slightly) as it aged. So just thought I would check if anyone here has had a similar experience or thoughts?

Current status of bed around sweetspot

 

[Brando]

Absolutely! In fact it's quite common, as we were just discussing in another thread. There are two likely reasons you're losing power:
1) Fraying crosses tend to freeze poly mains in place, cutting off poly's famous ability to move and snapback to create topspin.
2) Poly also loses its elasticity famously fast, becoming essentially dead well within 10 hours of play.

Because poly is a stiff string strung tighter than others, this deadness can feel remarkably lively as a full bed. The tell, tho, that it's dead is the arm strain that emerges from the strings having lost their ability to dampen vibration (via elasticity) at ball impact (or so the theory goes). Anyway, back to your hybrid: the crosses, being a still-elastic multifilament, are allowing your polys to deflect at ball impact, but not in a good way. Essentially the ball's dwell time is probably now so long in 'the pocket' of your strings that shots are coming out in increasingly inconsistent directions. 'This sound like what's happening to you?

If so, you might want to try using a syn gut like OG Sheep Micro as a cross instead of a multi. It doesn't fray, resists notching (as a cross if not a main, if you have a good stroke) and, for a stiffer string, has remarkably durable elasticity and consequently much less tension loss than any multi.

 

[Deleted member 775108]

Absolutely! In fact it's quite common, as we were just discussing in another thread. There are two likely reasons you're losing power:
1) Fraying crosses tend to freeze poly mains in place, cutting off poly's famous ability to move and snapback to create topspin.
2) Poly also loses its elasticity famously fast, becoming essentially dead well within 10 hours of play.

Because poly is a stiff string strung tighter than others, this deadness can feel remarkably lively as a full bed. The tell, tho, that it's dead is the arm strain that emerges from the strings having lost their ability to dampen vibration (via elasticity) at ball impact (or so the theory goes). Anyway, back to your hybrid: the crosses, being a still-elastic multifilament, are allowing your polys to deflect at ball impact, but not in a good way. Essentially the ball's dwell time is probably now so long in 'the pocket' of your strings that shots are coming out in increasingly inconsistent directions. 'This sound like what's happening to you?

If so, you might want to try using a syn gut like OG Sheep Micro as a cross instead of a multi. It doesn't fray, resists notching (as a cross if not a main, if you have a good stroke) and, for a stiffer string, has remarkably durable elasticity and consequently much less tension loss than any multi.

Spin is still very good. Only noticed power reduction...

Dwell time might also be a little higher but my racket already has a lot of dwell time since it is so soft to begin with.

Launch was still very consistent both on topspin and slice.

Will try again one more session in next few days and compare against Big Hitter Blue Rough 17 / OGSM 16 in another similar frame which is still in good condition and felt somewhat equivalent when I started

But everything you are saying makes sense. I had no plans to use anything other than OGSM 16 gauge as a cross but it didn't feel good with the Quadrotwist 16L. Will try again with OGSM 17 gauge as a cross next time.

 

[Brando]

Ah... sounds like maybe more of reason "2" is happening than "1" given you've got it, as you say, tensioned quite low for a poly. Either way, I think trying OGSM 17 next time is a good idea; obviously you're already hip to The Sheep. Another option, if the 17s notch or break too fast, is POSG 16. Its elasticity and stiffness stats are remarkably similar to the OG. But it's said to feel slightly less crisp (or rigid), or so says @fuzz nation , who knows far more about the string than I (even as I'm poised to try a full bed of it for myself, thanks to him).

 

[jmacdaununder2]

'Hip to The Sheep'

 

[FiddlerDog]

Absolutely. Once tension drops, the balls goes right into the net

 

[jmacdaununder2]

Assuming - no idea btw - that the 'GSM' in 'OGSM' stands for 'Gosen Sheep Micro', what does the 'O' stand for - 'Original'?
(These days you could call it OGOGSM...).

 

[Deleted member 775108]

Ah... sounds like maybe more of reason "2" is happening than "1" given you've got it, as you say, tensioned quite low for a poly. Either way, I think trying OGSM 17 next time is a good idea; obviously you're already hip to The Sheep. Another option, if the 17s notch or break too fast, is POSG 16. Its elasticity and stiffness stats are remarkably similar to the OG. But it's said to feel slightly less crisp (or rigid), or so says @fuzz nation , who knows far more about the string than I (even as I'm poised to try a full bed of it for myself, thanks to him).

Yes HIP TO THE SHEEP. The whole reason I tried ROUGH (shaped and twisted) POLYS is because they are closest to the synthetic gut feel at contact in my opinion.

QT16L / OGSM16 felt like plasticy stiff powerless crap the one time I tried in same racket. That was the only reason to try even Multi as cross and it unlocked the QT16L magic that many people have mentioned.

I do not believe it is "2" since Quadro Twist 16L is a longer lasting poly to begin with... Anyway I will know once OGSM is retried as a cross. If it feels crappy then I will move on to a different poly that works with OGSM.

 

[Brando]

Assuming - no idea btw - that the 'GSM' in 'OGSM' stands for 'Gosen Sheep Micro', what does the 'O' stand for - 'Original'?
(These days you could call it OGOGSM...).

You're close @jmacdaununder2 : the full name is 'Gosen OG Sheep Micro'. But, for the life of me, I've never met anyone who knows what the "OG" stands for. The maker is Japanese, a culture famous for mistranslating its words into English (as ours is, into Japanese). Anyway, it's Ol' Gangsta to me.

 

[Brando]

Wait. I think I might just have figured it out, a totally random thought while working: might the OG stand for 'Original Gut'? It'd be mighty Japanese circa 1980 to evoke the product as being gut-like via an overt reference (to sheep) and a covert one (to pedigree). Is that me being kinda '80s or just kinda racist?

 

[jmacdaununder2]

Original Gut authentic Sheep Micro?

- OrGaSM - Got it!

 

[Brando]

G'ah! [insert spit-take]

 

[Humbi_HTX]

Try a thinner version of your strings of choice, you would be surprised how much more feel and comfort you gain as you go thinner like 17g and then 18g on the next string job.

 

[Deleted member 775108]

As an update the racket has continued to play consistently despite the frayed Multifilament crosses. Played an additional 5 hours with it. Able to spin and flatten quite well.

Next crosses to try will be. (QT16L mains will remain at 48 lbs)
1. OGSM 17g at 46 lbs
2. Ghostwire 17g at 46 lbs