72 year old, in fairly good shape. At times a 4.5 but sometimes a 3.5. Feal l need a little help on serve, good spin but struggle hitting flat hard serves. Good forehand but tend to over hit at times. Tried full bed of poly, synthetic gut mains and poly crosses and full bed of synthetic gut. Little fearful of poly, had tennis elbow years ago. Don't want that again. Realalistly, what would l gain from a full bed of natural gut or a natural gut/poly or poly/natural gut. Using 2 -Yonex 2021 VCore 95 rackets. Thanks, Don
Gains using natural gut over synthetic gut?
- Thread starter doninva
- Start date
The natural gut can be strung at a relatively high tension and be very comfortable hit, due to its resilience and elasticity.Higher tension will give better control, but only a quality brand gut can be strung at high tensions. The string is very playable until it breaks as well, so if you are not a string breaker it can be very economical.
It will give added power and comfort. I have been a natural gut hitter for a long time, and have a number of players I string for as well.
Best thing to do is to give it a try and see how you like it.
It will give added power and comfort. I have been a natural gut hitter for a long time, and have a number of players I string for as well.
Best thing to do is to give it a try and see how you like it.
stapletonj
Hall of Fame
I am almost 68. I love nat gut mains/poly crosses. jim e is right, some multis are in the same ballpark, but nothing really compares to real gut. For reference, I string my mains at 62 lbs and my crosses at 55 lbs in a vcore 100.
try the hybrid first so you haven't sunk a bunch of money into it if you decide it is not for you.... (you won't)
try the hybrid first so you haven't sunk a bunch of money into it if you decide it is not for you.... (you won't)
Irvin
Talk Tennis Guru
Considering full bed gut over a hybrid using poly, what you get is:
- A lower dynamic tension
- A Longer lasting string bed, because all poly loses tension faster
- Feel
- A thinner wallet
Not necessarily so.
If player is not a string breaker, all set up of natural gut can be very playable until it snaps, making it actually more economical in the end than a hybrid with a poly.
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
@doninva - if you're looking for a poly-like string without the inherent risks, I suggest Babolat RPM Soft. You get a semblance of the play of poly with none of the arm soreness. I really like it.
As to your OP, I agree with @jim e , if you don't break strings, i.e. you're an old schooler like most of us over 50 are, then natural gut is the best, most economical option. It'll also give you a flatter performance curve. That is to say it plays the same from stringing to breaking. I go back and forth on gut. At times I love it and others I much prefer synthetic gut. Being a 3rd generation Scot, I usually opt for the cheaper route.
As to your OP, I agree with @jim e , if you don't break strings, i.e. you're an old schooler like most of us over 50 are, then natural gut is the best, most economical option. It'll also give you a flatter performance curve. That is to say it plays the same from stringing to breaking. I go back and forth on gut. At times I love it and others I much prefer synthetic gut. Being a 3rd generation Scot, I usually opt for the cheaper route.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
And then do you spend the money saved on good Scotch?
In Scotland, especially Glasgow, Buckfast and Eldorado are the preferred alcohols.And then do you spend the money saved on good Scotch?
Please tell me that someone here knows what Buckfast is.
Irn-Bru is the Scottish soft drink. Irn-Bru 1901, not the Irn-Bru with artificial sweetener.
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
Sorry my money goes to Yvengling Flight or Belvedere. Drank scotch in college to save money.And then do you spend the money saved on good Scotch?
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
Where in VA are you?
IIRC the VCore 95 was 16x20? IMHO you should demo some 16x19 racquets in the 98-100 sq. in. range.
What tensions did you have your racquets strung with full bed poly, synthetic gut mains and poly crosses, and full bed synthetic gut?
SavvyStringer
Professional
The full gut will have significantly more power than the Syngut, will also remain playable for a longer period of time but is more susceptible to elements. Playing on wet clay or super high humidty foggy morning/evening will ruin it's life span. Personally, try the full gut and see if you like it. I would go 3-5 lbs tighter than syngut even if you're already at the top of the range and I would do a quality gut like Babolat VS. VS is one of the softer gut available and plays better to me. If the full gut has too much juice or is too soft/mushy for you, you could go hybrid. My gut hybrid preference is gut mains with poly cross. The poly cross will tone down the gut mains. For that I would suggest either really thin 18-20g solinco you prefer or something like a Luxilon Element, Yonex poly tour air, Head Sonic pro which are all softer poly.
VS is not the only quality gut , and compared to a poly, like your post #4 is referenced to, gut can be more economical, as poly characteristics change rather fast. Especially true for a non strong breaker like myself, as I hit relatively flat old school style. I typically hit with a non coated Klip gut and that lasts a great long time. I string a decent amount of gut as I have a number of players I string for hit with gut , and I know how much use they get out of it.
Btw, synthetic gut is nowhere's near the same as natural gut. Your comparison is like comparing a vw beetle to a Porsche.
Btw, synthetic gut is nowhere's near the same as natural gut. Your comparison is like comparing a vw beetle to a Porsche.
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mmk
Hall of Fame
I had a boss who really liked Yuengling. He said I don't know how you get "yingling" out of that, I responded that you pop the top.
I’m almost embarrassed to say that I‘ve used the FindMeBucky app to find places to buy Buckfast.
Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
Look in your conversations, I sent you a message. Jim is right about gut being a lot different than a synthetic gut. You will get more power, more spin (I'd say if you have good strokes, the spin is comparable to poly), and it is generally playable until it breaks. I've strung it in 4.5 - 5.0 players rackets before, who tried it with poly mains/gut crosses, then gut mains/poly crosses. All have stayed with gut in the mains and say it has more spin, especially noticeable on their serves than the other way around. Most of these guys use 15L gut to ensure durability, but I've seen 16g guts last a long time too.
15L gut is great.
Yes, but this is how he normally contributes,multiple times per thread. With nothing relevant to the actual discussion.
It’s like comparing PBR when someone asked about a Monk brewed Trapiste. And PBR is fine, perhaps the best cheap lager available if I dare say, but………
Natural gut scares people away due to the upfront cost but yes it’s playable for MUCH longer than any other string available (maintaining its characteristics……until it breaks). Even crossing it with a decent poly, I don’t cut it out until it breaks. The poly is just a placeholder and provides the Snapback needed for spin (for me and others).
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Isn't that the truth.
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
As I've posted ad nauseum, I'm a big synthetic gut fan. It was what I grew up on with wood rackets. I swapped over to natural gut in wood when I was 18. Liking/loving both, the thing about synthetic gut is it is cheap. It breaks when it's supposed to and it is arm friendly. That said, when a full bed of synthetic gut has a bit of age on it, the crosses move like crazy and stay out of place. I found that using a thin poly cross would remedy that. Natural gut on the other hand stays where it's supposed to. It is the ultimate performance string -- then and now. A large number of the world's top players still use natural gut in some from of hybrid. That should say volumes about its performance.
The thing is, all the posts in the world aren't going to really do it justice. Everyone should try natural gut at least twice. Buy two sets, put one in as a full bed. If you don't love it, try it as a hybrid -- the non-gut string in the crosses! I've seen teaching pros recommend poly to 50+ 3.0's. Those are the very players who would really benefit from natural gut. I've seen older ladies playing with Pure Drives and poly. I want to scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Use the Pure Drive, sure, but string it with some 16 gauge natural gut.
The thing is, all the posts in the world aren't going to really do it justice. Everyone should try natural gut at least twice. Buy two sets, put one in as a full bed. If you don't love it, try it as a hybrid -- the non-gut string in the crosses! I've seen teaching pros recommend poly to 50+ 3.0's. Those are the very players who would really benefit from natural gut. I've seen older ladies playing with Pure Drives and poly. I want to scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Use the Pure Drive, sure, but string it with some 16 gauge natural gut.
silentkman
Hall of Fame
I'm a 62 year old using a full bed of NG because of a torn rotator cuff. it's great except for spin. I'm testing NG in mains with ALU power in the crosses. The ALU power gives me the extra spin that I need. My racquet is a Blade V8 104. i would disagree regarding the usage of NG on the tour. it seems about 25% use it.
