Help! Advice on Signum Pro (SPPP v Firestorm) SetUp for Tourny

[OldSkoolSlice]

Hi All,

Looking for ideas on string setup this week. I got some valuable feedback on an earlier post about Signum Pro Poly Plasma. Following the advice, I strung lower @44#s and I'm now converted to mid tension poly.

The SPPP 17 gauge @ 44#s works perfect in my Wilson Clash 98. The racquet flexes like it is supposed to—not too much on full swings, more on shorter swings.

But I get some arm discomfort. Not too bad, but my forearm gets tight after playing. And I'm playing a lot right now, prepping for the club champs (I've been a 5.0 player for a long time).

I tried to lower the tension (42#s), and didn't feel any arm pain. But it played deader, and I didn't like it as much as I did at 44#s,

When I use SPPP as a cross with Tourna Big Hitter Silver 1.25, I don't feel it in my arm. But I find the BHS "dead" feeling compared to SPPP. I don't get the ball flight I like. After a good number of hours (around 8), this hybrid string bed opens up, and it works okay till I cut them out (16+ hours with this combo). I did try BHS in a full bed, but it lost tension and control after 8 hours. I don't want to play it in a higher tension because it's dead to start with.

I got a reel of SP Firestorm in the hope this could soften up the string bed. I strung Firestorm in the mains and Poly Plasma in the cross, both at 44#s. The Firestorm feels softer, but a lot slacker.

I need to string my second racquet up for the tournament this weekend. I want to get some input on what to go with:

1) String Firestorm at 46#s in the mains and SPPP @44 in the crosses. Will that give them some relative parity?
2) String SPPP at 44 in the mains and Firestorm @ 44 in the crosses. Will Firestorm soften the SPPP up enough?
3) String Firestorm at 46#s in a full bed. Is 2#s enough to go up to tame the slacker feel? Will Firestorm hold tension similar to SPPP?
4) Give SPPP another go in a full bed at 40#s. I love how this string plays and expect it won't balloon even at lower tension.

Let me know any thoughts, especially if you've used these strings. Cheers,

 

[Trip]

Depending on how much you care about your results in this upcoming tournament, I wouldn't necessarily change your string setup right before it. Depending on how many Clash 98's you have, perhaps string a couple with full-bed SPPP at 44 lbs (which it appears you perform best with right now) and a couple more at 43 lbs (for a tad bit more comfort), and go into the tournament with those setups. Once the tournament is over, you can get back to messing about with BHS, Firestorm and whatever else. Just my two cents.

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

Thanks for the suggestion. The tournament is important to me.

Full bed Signum Pro (1.23 gauge) at 44#s is the one that gives me forearm discomfort.

I'm thinking about the 1.18 gauge, which was the one TW reviewed (I assumed they had reviewed the 1.23 gauge). But I don't have any of that for this week.

I have a fresh hybrid now of the Firestorm/SPPP at 44#s. I haven't had much chance to try it. It didn't feel as solid as the SPPP full bed, but definitely softer on the arm.

That's why I'm debating what to put in my 2nd racquet for the weekend.

 

[sherpa]

I really like Tornado 1.17, just seems really good at everything and easy on the arm.

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

What tension do you use, and how long do you find the playability lasts?

I find SPPP holds tension well, but goes dead at the 15 or 16 hour mark. You can really feel it in your arm at that point.

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

For the benefit of people who come across this thread later, I'll keep it updated.

I tried Firestorm in the mains and SPPP in the crosses—both at 44#s. That didn't work at all. Firestorm was relatively so slack compared to SPPP. The control was terrible. No decent ball flight. And the odd moon ball.

It was a bad idea to put Firestorm in the mains, on reflection, because it's the unknown quantity.

I have time before my Club Champs on Sunday, so I've reversed it, and put SPPP in the mains at 44#s and Firestorm in the crosses at 46#s. I wouldn't normally string the crosses tighter, but my first test showed a big difference in tension drop off immediately off the stringer between the 2 strings. Hopefully this will soften up the SPPP enough.

I can see Firestorm is powerful. But I also find SPPP has some pop at the mid tension I use. 44#s seems to be the sweet spot for that string in my racquet. I have no idea what Firestorm sweet spot might be. I suspect it will need to be at least 3-4#s tighter.

In the meantime, I also ordered a reel of SPPP 1.18 gauge. I don't need to soften SPPP up too much for it to play comfortably. I'm hoping the thinner gauge will do enough of that. Maybe even hybrid the 1.18 in the mains with the 1.23 in the crosses.

Over the next few months, I'll play around with these 3 variations—SPPP in 1.18 and 1.23 gauge and Firestorm in 1.25 gauge.

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

SPPP 1.23 @44#s/Firestorm 1.25 @46#s was great! One of the nicest string beds I've ever used. Solid feel, good pocketing, nice touch. The pop on my volleys and flat shots was welcome, but not too powerful. The spin was average, was the only downside. Not bad, just okay.

I would be happy to call this my set up from now on. I will test a full bed with SPPP 1.18, though, and see if that gives anymore spin.

During the winter, I may compare a full bed of Firestorm @46#s to see how that plays and holds its tension.

I rate the Signum pro strings higher than the Tourna strings I've used—Big Hitter Silver, Black Zone, and Big Red.

For context, I go for strings which are on the softer side—and I pick on price point. E.g. haven't tried Yonex PTP because Signum Pro strings are considerably cheaper.

 

[Roforot]

Thanks for the update and feedback. Good luck w your matches.

 

[Steve Huff]

I tried SPPP years ago when it 1st came out. My subjective impression was that it felt soft. But, like you, I got some arm soreness. If you can find objective stiffness ratings, I think you'll find that it is indeed fairly stiff. All I can say is don't let the soft feel fool you. You may need to string even looser.

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

Thanks for the update and feedback. Good luck w your matches.

Glad the update is helpful. When I follow threads, I'm often left wondering what the outcome was, so I'll keep sharing my findings here.

I didn't play well, sadly. Played a stronger player in the semis and fell into the trap of going for too much, which is my tendency.

The string setup was great—had nothing to do with how I played. The feel of the Firestorm crosses helps my volleying, which is a big part of my game.

I didn't notice any slackness in the Firestorm this time—I'm thinking there may have been something wrong with the first string job. Haven't noticed any dropoff in tension in the Firestorm crosses vs the SPPP mains, although I did string Firestorm 2#s higher.

I would like to get a little more topspin, though, which I feel I get with a full bed of SPPP. But not sure if I would trade the nice pocketing of the Firestorm hyrbid.

So I'm stringing up my 2nd Clash 98 with SPPP 1.18 (vs the 1.23) in the mains this time, and Firestorm 1.25 in the crosses. This time, I'm doing both at 44#s. I figure even if the Firestorm plays softer, that isn't a bad thing for the crosses. Should open up more spin. Also, allow the SPPP to function more.

All-in-all, I would recommend both strings highly. SPPP for its tension maintenance and feel (my taste is for more muted, softer polys—not crisp, stiffer ones). And Firestorm for its comfort and pop.

I still have the Club Champs doubles to go. And there's a chance I may yet get into the singles finals as my opponent can't play, and I may become the lucky loser...

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

I tried SPPP years ago when it 1st came out. My subjective impression was that it felt soft. But, like you, I got some arm soreness. If you can find objective stiffness ratings, I think you'll find that it is indeed fairly stiff. All I can say is don't let the soft feel fool you. You may need to string even looser.

Yes, this was exactly my experience. It's deceptively firm. And I wonder if that softer feeling may leads me to hit through the ball more, rather than brush up the back of it as I might with a stiffer string. Not sure about that—just a hypothesis.

I noticed that TW (Chris and Andy) reviewed the 1.18 gauge of SPPP, when normally I thought they tended to review the 17 gauge of most strings. They referred to that string as softer and the TW description for the 1.18 gauge specifically says it's softer. So I'm testing that out now.

I haven't had too many polys that affect my arm. I did "feel" Volkl cyclone when I used that one. Big Banger Original still gives me nightmares from when I tried it 25 years ago. I felt like my teeth were jarring. Since then, I steer clear of any polys that have a reputation for playing firm. I'd love to try Kirschbaum Max Power, for example, but never gonna risk it.

Happy to play around now with SPPP and Firestorm. I'm certain I can find my ideal setup with just these 2.

 

[OldSkoolSlice]

It's been a while, and I wanted to update this thread. This will probably be my last post. My idea is to help anyone who follows it in the future.

Some things fell into place for my season. The player I lost to in the Club Champs semi finals couldn't play the finals, so I became the lucky loser. And I won! My first tournament win for a long time. Our team also won our summer grade. We're promoted to a pretty high-level league now.

Some of my success on the court was due to finally getting my string/racquet combo right. I'll mention the racquet in a minute. But the journey I went on with strings went from Velocity MLT all the way to Signum Pro Poly Plasma 1.18 gauge in a full bed at 44#s.

The Velocity (1.35 gauge) was strangely dampened feel and I didn't get the higher ball flight I want. Then I mixed Tourna Black Zone and Tourna Big Hitter Silver with Poly Plasma (1.23), but couldn't get the feel and control I was looking for. Black Zone had too much pop and Big Silver was too dead—low ball flight.

I liked Poly Plasma from the get go, but found the 1.23 gauge a little too much for my arm. I knew it was only a fraction too much. Kinda achey after playing. That gave me the confidence to go for 1.18 tension, despite misgivings about tension maintenance.

Thankfully, I found Poly Plasma 1.18 to play for just as long as the 1.23 gauge—if not keep playability for even longer. I easily get 16 hours out of a set, and can push to 20 if I wanted to.

I do still feel my arm a little even at 44#s, but I'm building up strength with a band and working on my technique. I play 3-4 times a week, including tough competitive matches and everything is holding up well.

Despite my successful season (won 12 of my last 14 matches, only losing to 2 very high ranked players), I couldn't help but look sideways at a different racquet recently. The Clash 98 has lots of strong points. But I find the sweet spot is not that big. And it is so hard to match up my 2 frames even though their static weight is only 1 gram difference. I've read about someone else mentioning this about the Clash 98s, too.

Without any lead tape in the hoop, I can play one frame, the heavier one, just fine. It plays even better with 2 grams at 3 and 9 (1 gram on each side). But no more than that. Really... not even half a gram more. I tried it today, and it feels cumbersome. So that one is locked in. But it's taken me 2 rolls of lead tape to get the 2 racquets matching. I don't have a machine for measuring swing weight or balance (never had much success with DIY setups at home). I go by feel.

Now, I finally have the 2 racquets so close to identical that it satisfies even my OCD nature. The 2nd frame has about 3 grams split in 2, starting approximately at 3 and 9 going up towards 10 and 2.

What I like about the Clash 98 is the head light balance. It means I can add a couple of grams to the hoop and the overall weight of the racquet stays in my wheelhouse (329 grams including over grip and lead tape). I would guess the swing weight is around 326. But just guessing, really.

It's taken me ages to get used to the flared Wilson buttcap. I've recently considered the Head Extreme MP ('22 version) hoping I might keep the spin of the Clash, but get a bigger sweet spot. I had a quick hit against a wall with a demo and was surprised the swingweight felt so heavy. I didn't get a nice a pocketing feel as what I get with my Clash 98.

I've also been looking at the Head Boom Pro, but have come to the conclusion that I may not gain anything by switching to that frame. Instead, I could well lose some things. The Clash 98 plays great at 44#s which is good for my arm. No idea that the Boom Pro will play well with lower tension. I like the wider beam of the Clash. The Boom Pro has a thinner beam and achieves its relative power with a stiffer layup than the Clash. Not sure that is a good tradeoff.

I noticed the sweet spot on the Clash 100 v2 is even smaller supposedly than my Clash 98. And I think sweet spot is more a feedback thing—it tells me when I hit the ball well. Not necessarily affecting the ball flight or performance.

I have seen a lot of comments about the Clash having an inconsistent string bed. I'm going to be "that guy" and say the string bed is as consistent as your stroke. Well for me, anyway. I notice the main strings are narrower in the middle and wider towards the sides. That's a pretty good drill pattern for a 16x19 98 sq inch frame, imo.

And people talk about the flex, but I find it feels pretty solid. I volley a lot and find it very responsive. I play big hitters and don't get over powered. I do have to work on spin and not hit flat as it will balloon. But I think that's a factor of the poly string and 44# tension more than anything. Spin is what I want to use to control my shots anyway.

Finally, the Poly Plasma is my string now. I just love that it doesn't feel like the tension has dropped—even though it practically has. I sold the Firestorm to a teammate who loves it. It is definitely softer, but didn't give me the bite or feel I'm looking for. He's using it in a PS 97 and the Firestorm softens that racquet up, giving him a more forgiving string bed and a bigger sweet spot (compared to Technifibre Razor Code, anyway). He is a 5.5 level powerful player.

I hope this thread is of use to someone in the future. Happy hitting, All.