Dunlop Black Widow 17g

[branman1986]

I went out and hit with Pure Aero+'s tonight in the cold and had a racquet with BHB7 at 54lbs and Dunlop Black Widow at 58lbs to compare and try out side by side. I picked up a bunch of sets of BW with TWs BOGO sale a little worried I overbought but I'm glad I did. At the tensions I used they played remarkably similar with the BHB7 being slightly lower powered. The Black Widow actually feels a lot like a multi with the spin and control benefits of a poly. I would imagine in the summer I would go closer to 60-62lbs and I normally string poly around 45-52lbs. Massive spin, nice predictable high shaped-string launch angle, the high tension controlled the power, super great on the arm, and great connected feel off the racquet, slightly muted, but not dead at all. Worth trying a couple sets at $6 & change.

 

[bigserving]

Really awesome string. I only wished that the playability would last for months!

Santa is aware of the Black Widow string sale that TW has going on. Can't wait to see how nice I have been.

 

[SpinToWin]

I hated it.

Mushy, grabbed the ball too much, unpredictable (particularly on full swings), inconsistent (characteristics change dramatically with time), too high of a launch angle... One of the worst strings I have tried IMO.

 

[branman1986]

What tension did you use? I would imagine sub 54lbs it would be pretty mushy. The higher tension crisped it up for me. Not crisp, but not mushy.

 

[SpinToWin]

What tension did you use? I would imagine sub 54lbs it would be pretty mushy. The higher tension crisped it up for me. Not crisp, but not mushy.

27kg in a YT Prestige Pro, already one of the crispest racquets ever.

 

[brettatk]

Thanks for the heads up. I went and bought 3 packs of 16g and 3 packs of 17g. I've used BW 16g strung at 60 pounds. I really liked it but have been trying other soft polys. I currently have BHB7 in my racket but don't like it as much as I did BW. My other rackets has Wilson Revolve 17g so I'll be testing it out soon.

 

[strike]

I tried it recently at 56lbs crossed with the black NRG2 16g @ 54lbs in a 2015 Blade S.
Tons of grip and spin, and felt nice and crisp, was not mushy at all.
Played for over 2 hours with it, and will play again tomorrow.
Overall first impression was positive, though my control was lacking a bit.

Stringing the NRG2 in the crosses is another story...that is self inflicted torture!
Will probably try either PSGO or OGSM next time in the crosses.