Clay Thompson (former ATP #408) playing with Triax at 42 lbs

[GodlessEndeavor]

Inspired by this thread I remembered watching this video where an ex-pro played a 4.5 player at 0-30 handicap on every game, and did so using Triax at 42 lbs tension. I don't think this has been discussed before here, here goes:

This should help give confidence to anyone 4.5 and below if they're using a string like this.

 

[ThisHockeyTalk]

You know… I just tried Triax for the first time, and it occurred to me that there might be a good few atp players using this in a hybrid within 10 years. It’s arm protection is similar enough to natural guts, but it’s spin potential is quite a bit better.

 

[KungfuTennis]

You know… I just tried Triax for the first time, and it occurred to me that there might be a good few atp players using this in a hybrid within 10 years. It’s arm protection is similar enough to natural guts, but it’s spin potential is quite a bit better.

Why would a good ATP player not just use natural gut though? They get enough spin through technique

 

[GodlessEndeavor]

Why would a good ATP player not just use natural gut though? They get enough spin through technique

Cost I guess? Not everyone has sponsors. I could imagine someone getting used to cheaper strings (compared to gut everything is cheap) and then never switching away from them even if they get rich / sponsored later.

 

[Knife]

Triax plays so well but is harsh on my elbow, even in a hybrid with Multifeel or Velocity ...

 

[GodlessEndeavor]

Triax plays so well but is harsh on my elbow, even in a hybrid with Multifeel or Velocity ...

Do you have the same problem with soft polys? What gauge / tension did you try?

 

[Knife]

Do you have the same problem with soft polys? What gauge / tension did you try?

No poly is soft enough, a full bed destroys my elbow quickly. I tried nat gut mains with Cream 17G 48 lbs crosses, and that setup bothered my arm as well.

 

[aaron_h27]

Why would a good ATP player not just use natural gut though? They get enough spin through technique

Natural gut and triax don't play similar at all...

 

[socallefty]

Why would a good ATP player not just use natural gut though? They get enough spin through technique

The ATP players average 500-1000 RPM more on FHs and 400-700 RPM on BHs since they started playing with poly instead of gut - this is a >30% increase over the gut era. So even the best players get even more spin with poly and it allows them extra control which allows them to hit harder and so the shot speed has gone up a lot too. Nowadays it is common to average mid-high 70s mph for FHs and maybe 5 mph less for BHs which is probably 20% higher than it used to be two decades ago. They get more spin on serves and serve speed has gone up a lot too. In addition, the extra control allows them to aim for targets closer to the lines and hit better angles also. Returns and passing shots have become so good that it has obsoleted the S/V game even in doubles where it is common to see 1-back formation at the pro level for servers/2nd serve returns and 2-back for 1st serve returns.

It is not just pro players, but also advanced rec players and college players who see this huge performance improvement although the increase in spin/speed may not be as high. After playing with gut for thirty years, I converted to poly and poly hybrids a decade ago and I feel that it has helped my spin/pace/control/angles a lot. I tried gut recently again and can never go back to it as the drop in control/spin is too much. If you are concerned about the comfort of poly, read my PSA thread in the racquet section.

If you have been watching Open tournaments and pro tournaments over the decades, the increased speed and spin is very apparent and consequently the sport has become much faster as the players need much faster movement and efficient footwork to stay in rallies. The average length of ATP rallies even on clay has decreased down to about 5 shots which is similar to hard courts and this is much less than it used to be in the gut era - it is a shorter-point game dominated by power now because of poly although the players are also taller/stronger/fitter with more professional training and diets.

 

[veelium]

You know… I just tried Triax for the first time, and it occurred to me that there might be a good few atp players using this in a hybrid within 10 years. It’s arm protection is similar enough to natural guts, but it’s spin potential is quite a bit better.

Well Clay used Nat gut/ poly hybrid before so could be.
Personally I think gut/poly has better arm protection and better spin.

 

[GodlessEndeavor]

Apparently Clay went even lower in tension later, 39 lbs with the same string here playing against Karue Sell:

 

[ChrisJR3264]

Not going to question certain equipment uses of former top 500 atp pros. Obviously it works for him. Triax is a nice string though.

 

[aaron_h27]

I'm not understanding the string as low as you can trend. He was using 42 lbs then woke up one day and said im going to try 39?

I wonder how quickly he breaks his strings.

 

[dr. godmode]

He was using 42 lbs then woke up one day and said im going to try 39?

This is how I choose my tension

 

[Chairman3]

The NBA player...?.

 

[ThisHockeyTalk]

Why would a good ATP player not just use natural gut though? They get enough spin through technique

They’d get a marginal spin increase using Triax. I understand your point though.

 

[maksp]

I get my spin by swinging low to high

 

[GodlessEndeavor]

I tried Triax 15L (1.38mm) at 39 lbs on my Ezone 100 today and it felt really nice. I have used 49 lbs before with the same setup. The power/launch angle was easy to adjust to. I got nice depth on my forehand and could still swing out when I felt like it. I suppose this could partly be due to the thick gauge I'm using.

I'll see how it changes in the coming weeks, but for now I wouldn't rule out using this again. Or perhaps something like 45 if the playability drops too quickly.

One conclusion I took from this is that being overly cautious and only trying small changes in tension (like 2-3 lbs) is not really needed, unless I'm explicitly fine tuning.