Full poly player trying poly/gut hybrid seeking tension help

[World Class Forehand]

Currently I'm hitting with a Head Graphene 360+ Speed MP strung with a full bed of Head Hawk Touch 1.25 at 45 pounds.

I would like to try a poly/gut hybrid of Head Hawk Touch 1.25 in the mains and Babolat Touch VS Natural Gut 1.30 in the crosses.

If i would like for this poly/gut setup to have similar control to my full poly setup what tension do you suggest I go with?

I was thinking 47.5 pounds mains / 45 pounds crosses.. But I'm just guessing..

 

[ichaseballs]

i have my gut mains and poly crosses 4 lbs difference, and i am happy with it.
i dont think any rec player needs to deal with half pound increments. usually i tell people to try increments of 2 lbs at a time.

 

[fundrazer]

I think most will tell you that you're wasting the gut by putting it in the crosses.

 

[veelium]

If you put the gut in the crosses, you can put the mains around the same tension as before or a bit higher and the crosses slightly higher or the same tension.
Something like 45/47.

If you put the gut in the mains, I'd string the mains higher and the poly crosses ~2lbs lower. For example I string around 44-46 with full poly and around 50-52 with a gut/poly hybrid.

 

[paulwal]

Pre-stretch the gut a little, and put it in the mains. This may sound crazy, but try an 8 lbs difference between the gut mains and poly crosses. So try 53/45 or 52/44. The gut will lose significant tension in the first 24 hours.

 

[Shroud]

Currently I'm hitting with a Head Graphene 360+ Speed MP strung with a full bed of Head Hawk Touch 1.25 at 45 pounds.

I would like to try a poly/gut hybrid of Head Hawk Touch 1.25 in the mains and Babolat Touch VS Natural Gut 1.30 in the crosses.

If i would like for this poly/gut setup to have similar control to my full poly setup what tension do you suggest I go with?

I was thinking 47.5 pounds mains / 45 pounds crosses.. But I'm just guessing..

Gut should be in the mains especially when coming from full poly. Poly/gut will lock the stringbed and reduce spin. If you insist to lock the stringbed try poly/syngut instead so when you dont like it you save money.

 

[veelium]

Poly/gut will lock the stringbed and reduce spin.

Not sure what you mean by that? While I largely prefer gut/poly for other reasons, never had any problems with spin for poly/gut. Around the same from personal experience (needs lower tension for poly/gut though).

 

[Shroud]

Not sure what you mean by that? While I largely prefer gut/poly for other reasons, never had any problems with spin for poly/gut. Around the same from personal experience (needs lower tension for poly/gut though).

Its more coming from full poly. Some people really rely on the snapback...and poly/gut will reduce that. So you spend the dough and arent happy. Gut/ poly is as spinny as full poly they say. There was a Tennis University study IIRC that found gut/ poly the spinniest.

 

[World Class Forehand]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to try out poly/gut at 45/47.

Based on the replies here I should also give gut/poly a shot but not sure what tension to try with this setup..

 

[Steve Huff]

If you haven't strung it yet, I've had good luck stringing the gut 5# tighter than the poly. Head rackets play better when they're stretched a little in my opinion, so 45 mains/50 crosses would elongate the racket head a little and probably help how it plays some.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Most of the string bed characteristics come from the main strings. Like 80%. So poly Gut is putting an expensive string in a part of the string bed that affords little benefit. While it will soften up the string bed, it won't assist with snap back and there are far cheaper options to softening a poly string bed. $5 sun gut will do the trick.

If you are investing in pricey gut like VS, use it in the mains where you get the benefit of gut feel and ball grab. Then use a smooth poly cross to get the benefit of their slippery nature for snap back.

I know there are a few pros that use poly/gut, but a) they don't pay for their strings and b) the 20% contribution from the crosses makes a difference at that level and c) most pros still use gut/poly or FB poly.

 

[veelium]

Its more coming from full poly. Some people really rely on the snapback...and poly/gut will reduce that. So you spend the dough and arent happy. Gut/ poly is as spinny as full poly they say. There was a Tennis University study IIRC that found gut/ poly the spinniest.

Ah ok. I remember reading some studies about that but I recall not liking some of the methodology.
You can also string a lot lower with full poly while still retaining control which gives a bit more/easier access to spin.
Can't really compare personally since I use an 18 gauge if I play full poly while I use a thick >15L gauge for the gut when using gut/poly. Obvious which one I get more spin from.

Most of the string bed characteristics come from the main strings. Like 80%. So poly Gut is putting an expensive string in a part of the string bed that affords little benefit. While it will soften up the string bed, it won't assist with snap back and there are far cheaper options to softening a poly string bed. $5 sun gut will do the trick.

If you are investing in pricey gut like VS, use it in the mains where you get the benefit of gut feel and ball grab. Then use a smooth poly cross to get the benefit of their slippery nature for snap back.

I know there are a few pros that use poly/gut, but a) they don't pay for their strings and b) the 20% contribution from the crosses makes a difference at that level and c) most pros still use gut/poly or FB poly.

While that's all true imo the biggest advantages for "casuals" is the arm friendlyness of nat gut, which you get in both hybrid combinations (and you don't get with a cheap synthetic gut). Agree that it's a waste to put it in the crosses though.

 

[Dartagnan64]

While that's all true imo the biggest advantages for "casuals" is the arm friendlyness of nat gut, which you get in both hybrid combinations (and you don't get with a cheap synthetic gut). Agree that it's a waste to put it in the crosses though.

Synthetic gut is plenty arm friendly. As someone with perhaps the most sensitive elbows on the planet, I have no problem with most synthetic guts. Whereas even a poly like Cream will give me issues when crossed with gut.

They don't hold tension well but if you are playing with poly, you should be swapping that stuff out every 10-15 hrs anyway. But comfort? not really all that much different from gut. Feel is a different story but again that will shine through mostly if you put Gut in the mains and not the crosses.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Currently I'm hitting with a Head Graphene 360+ Speed MP strung with a full bed of Head Hawk Touch 1.25 at 45 pounds.

I would like to try a poly/gut hybrid of Head Hawk Touch 1.25 in the mains and Babolat Touch VS Natural Gut 1.30 in the crosses.

If i would like for this poly/gut setup to have similar control to my full poly setup what tension do you suggest I go with?

I was thinking 47.5 pounds mains / 45 pounds crosses.. But I'm just guessing..

Mains: VS Gut at 58 lbs.
Crosses: RPM Blast at 52 lbs.

And remember, gut doesn't like moisture.

 

[veelium]

Synthetic gut is plenty arm friendly. As someone with perhaps the most sensitive elbows on the planet, I have no problem with most synthetic guts. Whereas even a poly like Cream will give me issues when crossed with gut.


They don't hold tension well but if you are playing with poly, you should be swapping that stuff out every 10-15 hrs anyway. But comfort? not really all that much different from gut. Feel is a different story but again that will shine through mostly if you put Gut in the mains and not the crosses.

Weird, I notice a big difference personally.

 

[jkpilot]

I go w this usually:
57/58 gut VS
55/56 RPM

Tension maint is seriously crazy ,it lasts seemingly for 20+ hrs. If I go w sensation /nxt or yonex PTP I get less then 10 hrs

 

[CVT]

I've tried this multiple times. Normally, if stringing all poly, I've found it nicer when the crosses are 2-3 lbs looser than the mains. Gut generally needs to be 4-5 lbs tighter than poly tension to control the power. So I first tried stringing poly crosses 2-2.5 lbs tighter than the mains. The problem is that the tight crosses seem to restrict the movement of the mains, and the right amount of movement in the mains influences some of the power, spin, and feel. The stringbed felt too stiff with tight crosses. While I didn't master the right tensions, I'd probably do the poly mains at 46 and the gut crosses at 46 or 47.

While many on this board talk about wasting gut on the crosses, I did find it to still contribute to a softer stringbed than all poly, nice feel, and an almost all-poly level of spin and control. If the cost doesn't deter you, give it a try. I liked both the Champions Choice and the Volkl V-Fuse hybrid packs, and I've experimented with many other combinations. It may not be the most economic choice, but none of us are saving money with the number of string tests I see on these boards!

 

[jkpilot]

I've tried this multiple times. Normally, if stringing all poly, I've found it nicer when the crosses are 2-3 lbs looser than the mains. Gut generally needs to be 4-5 lbs tighter than poly tension to control the power. So I first tried stringing poly crosses 2-2.5 lbs tighter than the mains. The problem is that the tight crosses seem to restrict the movement of the mains, and the right amount of movement in the mains influences some of the power, spin, and feel. The stringbed felt too stiff with tight crosses. While I didn't master the right tensions, I'd probably do the poly mains at 46 and the gut crosses at 46 or 47.

While many on this board talk about wasting gut on the crosses, I did find it to still contribute to a softer stringbed than all poly, nice feel, and an almost all-poly level of spin and control. If the cost doesn't deter you, give it a try. I liked both the Champions Choice and the Volkl V-Fuse hybrid packs, and I've experimented with many other combinations. It may not be the most economic choice, but none of us are saving money with the number of string tests I see on these boards!

I use the VS in the mains and I this setup is amazing, for me. Im an old school flat hitter so I dont really care about too much spin potential , even though I generate a decent amount on my own w these strings and my RF97.

 

[stapletonj]

The biggest problem with stringing poly mains - gut crosses is that your poly goes dead relatively quickly (compared to gut) and then you have to cut out the whole stringbed.

The poly lasts a little longer in the crosses before going dead, and it can be cut out and replaced while still saving the gut mains (BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS!)