Describing string feel...crisp, mushy, soft, stiff???

[jonnyjack]

I'm part of the Solinco playtest and one of the questions is about feel:

Feel (crisp? mushy? soft? stiff? off center feedback?)

What is the difference between crisp and stiff? Also, difference between mushy and soft? Sorry if this is a dumb question but normally I would lump crisp and stiff together and then mushy and soft together as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[sansaephanh]

all subjective degrees of feel.

if you stepped into jello and called it stiff then its how you feel it is. It's all about personal experience.

For me, Gosen Micro is mushy. People say otherwise.

 

[Bartelby]

Crisp versus stiff and soft versus mushy are mostly positive and negative ways of describing the same thing unless, of course, stiff means extra crisp and mushy means extra soft.

No one ever really tells you how they are using the term, unfortunately, but mainly its evaluative and not descriptive.

 

[RD 7]

In the context of tennis string, stiff is often used as a pejorative of firm where crisp is the superlative. Also, IMO, mushy is the opposite of crisp; soft is the opposite of stiff. I take the list of descriptive options to mean: "try to give us a little beef. Don't just say you like the feel or the control is good."

 

[Racer41c]

I'm part of the Solinco playtest and one of the questions is about feel:



What is the difference between crisp and stiff? Also, difference between mushy and soft? Sorry if this is a dumb question but normally I would lump crisp and stiff together and then mushy and soft together as well.

Thanks in advance!

For me, crisp is a multi or gut string at the higher end of the tension range. Has the same viceral affect as 'crisp' mountain air on a January morning with the sun peeking out.

Stiff is like over tensioning a string to the point it where it has no give. I also use 'hard' to describe it. Feels like hitting with a 2x4 typically has a jarring effect on the arm.

 

[Muppet]

Two seperate ranges:

soft...to...stiff

crisp...to...mushy

Tecnifibre Multifeel was my favorite string before they changed it. It was soft and crisp. I think crispness gives us well defined feedback from the ball, where a mushy string interferes with the feedback and feels well, mushy.

 

[itsmen]

IMO, it's all about describing a range of tensions of a given string on a given racquet - from mushy to soft to crisp and then stiff. Too low of a tension would give that trampoline effect on hard shot and mushy when trying to soft touch on volleys. Increasing the tension on the same string to certain point will bring a softer feel; more tension after that will give a crisper feel, and anything beyond that is considered stiff.

But then of course, everyone has his/her own opinion

 

[garywsyu]

different strings come with all kinds of feels...........racquets/tension/weather/play style/players.......it's very personal and a subjective matter, but it tells.

 

[mikeler]

Go out and hit with a full bed of natural gut and then you'll understand what a soft and crisp string feels like.

 

[RD 7]

^^^^^
Bingo