Help me find my next reel of poly

travlerajm

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
I've been in an experimentation mode lately. One of the things I've found is that regardless of my racquet specs and its weighting, stiffness, headsize, and length etc., when I really want to be sure that I will play well in an important singles match, there is no substitute for a firm stringbed that stays firm but doesn't lock up.

Stringing up a fresh poly job is one way to achieve this. But I really, really hate stringing. I want a string that plays the same for many hours if possible with minimal change to playing characteristics.

I recently bought a reel of 16g Polylon, but discovered that this stuff is not really what I'm looking for. It plays great at first, but it has several undesirable characteristics.
1) It has terrible tension maintenance. Despite the fact that I prestretch it (at least 6 extra inches on 20-ft segment), it doesn't seem capable of holding tension well.
2) It's surface is too soft and dentable.
3) It has a slick outer layer that wears off and leaves a higher-friction coating underneath.

The previous poly reel I had bought a few years ago was 17g Silverstring (after reading positve review from @pvaudio). I think I liked this one much better. It seemed to hold tension better than other poly's I've tried. And was a monofilament. It's dent resistance was ok, but could have been better.

The reel before that was Prince Tournament Poly 16g. This one was amazing for it's dent resistance (better than any other poly I've seen) and had exceptionally slippery surface that stayed slippery, but it seemed liked it had crummy tension maintenance.

I've tried many other poly's in single sets, but don't have enough experience to have fully characterized any, maybe with the exception of SPPP. This one didn't have as good tension maintenance as Silverstring, but was otherwise similar.

So here's what I want:

A. Excellent tension maintenance (I'm looking for one that actually has some improved anti-creep cross-linking chemistry, and not just a light factory prestretch). I will be prestretching manually.

B. Very good dent resistance, so it is unlikely to form any sort of notch in the crosses.

C. Probably looking for round profile, unless I can be convinced that the shape will stay more or less the same for 40h of play.

Color is not that important, but if it comes in a cool bright color that would be a bonus.
A decent price is not a requirement, but also a bonus.
 
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I really enjoyed the new green lynx string from Head. It’s pretty soft and didn’t lose that much tension. Also didn’t notch at all. It was in an 18x20 string pattern. Also if you haven’t tried Wilson revolve or KB evolution I recommend those as well.
 
JOSHL said:
I really enjoyed the new green lynx string from Head. It’s pretty soft and didn’t lose that much tension. Also didn’t notch at all. It was in an 18x20 string pattern. Also if you haven’t tried Wilson revolve or KB evolution I recommend those as well.
Click to expand...
Thanks! The lynx is attracting me now. I participated in the Revolve playtest, and liked its properties.
 
Isospeed Baseline - Inexpensive, round, very soft, does not notch easily, arguable whether tension loss is significant or not.

MSV Co-Focus - Mid priced, soft, boring, round, tension maintenance great, does not notch easily.

There's gonna be a lot of options to choose from but those are some from my experience. All polys to me are the same yet they are different. Isospeed Baseline, MSV Co-Focus, and Silverstring all feel differently.
 
NuBas said:
Isospeed Baseline - Inexpensive, round, very soft, does not notch easily, arguable whether tension loss is significant or not.

MSV Co-Focus - Mid priced, soft, boring, round, tension maintenance great, does not notch easily.

There's gonna be a lot of options to choose from but those are some from my experience. All polys to me are the same yet they are different. Isospeed Baseline, MSV Co-Focus, and Silverstring all feel differently.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Co-Focus looks interesting - I have a hitting partner who uses it and he seems to play well with it. The one negative that makes me hesitant is multiple mentions of rapid breaking/fragility in the customer reviews.
 
Top-rated Poly on Stringforum is Kirschbaum Proline Evolution. I think this smooth, playable, Poly meets all your needs. It is also priced very well.

It’s my string of choice for polys. I have tried dozens. Love this stuff.


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The Big Kahuna said:
Top-rated Poly on Stringforum is Kirschbaum Proline Evolution. I think this smooth, playable, Poly meets all your needs. It is also priced very well.

It’s my string of choice for polys. I have tried dozens. Love this stuff.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I bought a reel...plays nice
 
kailash said:
Kirschbaum Max Power.
Click to expand...

+1

Fits the bill perfectly. Kirsch MP has some of the best tension maintenance out there. Lux 4G is the only poly with better tension maintenance that I have used, but it is so stupidly stiff it's not worth the risk of hurting your arm.


However, you are not going to get 40 hours of play out of any poly without it going dead...... impossible. Only Natural Gut would retain playability/ snapback elasticity that long.
 
travlerajm said:
stay more or less the same for 40h of play.
Click to expand...
I concur with CosmosMpower and red rock. Poly is not meant to be played with for 40 hours; there is no poly on the market that will last that long. If you are playing for that long with one set of string, you should not be using poly.

I would suggest going for a synthetic gut or multi and then up the tension to keep the control.

If you want a premium setup, my personal favorite is a gut/poly hybrid; Luxilon natural gut/Luxilon 4G. It's expensive, but if you're getting 40 hours of play out of each set, you will still not be spending all that much on string compared to a lot of players. Other gut/poly combos work as well.

The biggest thing if you want 40 hours of playability from a string though is to not put poly in the mains. You can get away with putting them only in the crosses, but not in the mains; not for that long at least.
 
The kirschbaum max power has my attention.

As for the 40-h skepticism, I did get longer than that with very good performance until break when I strung prestretched silverstring at 80/40 in 18x20 6.1 95. I wouldn’t say it played the same start to finish though (it started overly firm but good control and spin, and finished softer and incredibly spinny and decent control). The same approach failed to last due to tension loss when I tried it with Sppp at 75/50 in same racquet. So I know it’s possible - the keys to long performance in full poly seem to be:
1. The poly must have great tension maintence.
2. You must prestretch.
3. You must string mains much tighter than crosses so that they can still snap back.
4. The surface must be firm enough not to dent in the crosses.
 
travlerajm said:
The kirschbaum max power has my attention.

As for the 40-h skepticism, I did get longer than that with very good performance until break when I strung prestretched silverstring at 80/40 in 18x20 6.1 95. I wouldn’t say it played the same start to finish though (it started overly firm but good control and spin, and finished softer and incredibly spinny and decent control). The same approach failed to last due to tension loss when I tried it with Sppp at 75/50 in same racquet. So I know it’s possible - the keys to long performance in full poly seem to be:
1. The poly must have great tension maintence.
2. You must prestretch.
3. You must string mains much tighter than crosses so that they can still snap back.
4. The surface must be firm enough not to dent in the crosses.
Click to expand...
Do you have any videos of you hitting? Because I'm highly skeptical that you even benefit from using poly if it takes 40+ hours to break, even in an 18x20. If that's the case, then that would be an explanation as to why you don't notice a significant drop-off in performance.
 
travlerajm said:
Thanks. Co-Focus looks interesting - I have a hitting partner who uses it and he seems to play well with it. The one negative that makes me hesitant is multiple mentions of rapid breaking/fragility in the customer reviews.
Click to expand...

You are actually right, my first couple times with the Co-Focus I thought it was extremely durable and zero notching after few sessions and it is true, however another several string sets later I did notice it broke quite fast, not from notching though just from general play.
 
Big Bagel said:
Do you have any videos of you hitting? Because I'm highly skeptical that you even benefit from using poly if it takes 40+ hours to break, even in an 18x20. If that's the case, then that would be an explanation as to why you don't notice a significant drop-off in performance.
Click to expand...
Here is me a few weeks ago
 
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Silverstring was one of a kind for tension maintenance and predictable play. Hope @pvaudio is doing well. MSV was another great choice.

I don't see their website up anymore but Discho Iontec would have been right up your alley.
 
Big Bagel said:
If you were my client, I would be very hesitant to give you poly strings with those strokes. If it works for you, that's great. I just wouldn't advise you to be using poly strings.

EDIT: I also understand why you are using a sub-27" racquet now too.
Click to expand...
I need the poly to make sure my soft deep moonballs bounce vertically enough to frustrate my opponent
 
steve s said:
I am not a poly head. What to you get with mains at 80lb, and crosses 40lb less.

Just asking
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If you string poly tight in both mains and crosses, the strings lose their freedom to move and it feels dead. If you string poly loose, the lauch angle is less controllable. But if you string the mains really tight, but string the crosses much looser, you can get great main string SnapBack effect for excellent spin in a firm bed for excellent launch angle control. Have your cake and eat it too.
 
travlerajm said:
I need the poly to make sure my soft deep moonballs bounce vertically enough to frustrate my opponent
Click to expand...
No, you really don't. You might think you do, but I guarantee that you don't actually need poly for that. Poly doesn't help put spin on soft moon ball shots. You will get very similar spin from a quality synthetic, multi, or gut unless you are swinging very fast and the poly has not yet died (within the first 5-10 hours of play, depending on the poly).
 
Big Bagel said:
No, you really don't. You might think you do, but I guarantee that you don't actually need poly for that. Poly doesn't help put spin on soft moon ball shots. You will get very similar spin from a quality synthetic, multi, or gut unless you are swinging very fast and the poly has not yet died (within the first 5-10 hours of play, depending on the poly).
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I wish. I volley better and serve better with locked kevlar/nylon stringbeds strung tight.
But those darn moonballs work sooooo much better with either poly or Kevlar/zx.
 
travlerajm said:
I wish. I volley better and serve better with locked kevlar/nylon stringbeds strung tight.
But those darn moonballs work sooooo much better with either poly or Kevlar/zx.
Click to expand...
Serves are much more important than a moon ball, just saying. Now if you couldn't hit a normal forehand, that'd be a little different, but moon balls are not complicated shots. The serve is much more complicated and much more important unless you moon ball everything. Just my 2 cents. I will shut up about it now.
 
travlerajm said:
The kirschbaum max power has my attention.

As for the 40-h skepticism, I did get longer than that with very good performance until break when I strung prestretched silverstring at 80/40 in 18x20 6.1 95. I wouldn’t say it played the same start to finish though (it started overly firm but good control and spin, and finished softer and incredibly spinny and decent control). The same approach failed to last due to tension loss when I tried it with Sppp at 75/50 in same racquet. So I know it’s possible - the keys to long performance in full poly seem to be:
1. The poly must have great tension maintence.
2. You must prestretch.
3. You must string mains much tighter than crosses so that they can still snap back.
4. The surface must be firm enough not to dent in the crosses.
Click to expand...

Another great string is MSV Focus-Hex. I am starting to like this more than Kirschbaum Max Power, because of the extra bite it provides; and this also meets all the characteristics; plus, it is playing consistently for a very long time.

Prestretching has conflicting opinions; you will have to experiment!
 
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His mains are Kevlar. The cross is along for the ride. Look at Technifibre HDX Tour. The main issue with current polys is manufacturers are making what the tennis public wants, softer polys. That normally means softer surfaces. You've already cited SPPP. There's also ProLine II. Pre-stretch again. And use the 16 Ga if possible. 4G in 16 or 15 Ga has decent tension maintenance.

edit: adding Proline X to the list. Was also looking at RPM Team and Dual, but they have tension maintenance issues.
 
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WestboroChe said:
I just can’t believe anyone can play with poly string that tight. My arm hurts just thinking about it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree! Very, very few players actually NEED or BENEFIT from that set-up. Conventional thinking has shifted to full beds of Poly at LOW TENSIONS or - better yet - as a hybrid cross with a natural gut main string to soften the string bed and retain tension and improve feel.


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Even the pros are realizing that not everyone is meant to play with a full bed of poly.

Julian Li, a pro tour stringer and owner of Racquets Rackets tennis shop, cautions his customers that pros have a very different regimen when it comes to stringing with polyester.

“The window of playability with poly is really small,” says Li, “unless you’re willing to string every week to maintain the tension—which drops instantly and quickly.

“As for the playability, the string will be playing dead. Now you’re having to swing much harder to generate the same amount of speed and power. You don’t realize it, but your body will.”

It’s true that polys are tougher to break, but they don’t age well. During play, a polyester deforms in a disproportional fashion, which Li equates to the uneven stretching of a piece of plastic. On the other hand, fibrous multifilament strings like gut lengthen more evenly with usage.


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The Big Kahuna said:
Even the pros are realizing that not everyone is meant to play with a full bed of poly.

Julian Li, a pro tour stringer and owner of Racquets Rackets tennis shop, cautions his customers that pros have a very different regimen when it comes to stringing with polyester.

“The window of playability with poly is really small,” says Li, “unless you’re willing to string every week to maintain the tension—which drops instantly and quickly.

“As for the playability, the string will be playing dead. Now you’re having to swing much harder to generate the same amount of speed and power. You don’t realize it, but your body will.”

It’s true that polys are tougher to break, but they don’t age well. During play, a polyester deforms in a disproportional fashion, which Li equates to the uneven stretching of a piece of plastic. On the other hand, fibrous multifilament strings like gut lengthen more evenly with usage.


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Click to expand...
But didn’t you see the previous post. Those are Kevlar mains. You know that’s a super arm friendly string. :p
 
am1899 said:
Pretty much non existent. The only exception would be some of the really stiff poly’s (ex. 4G)...that will def hold longer...but may also shred your arm.
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I was in involved in the 4g playtest - I recall it being surprisingly low powered, but that was before I discovered advantage of strings mains much tighter than crosses. Can’t remember how much it notched.

I also tried 4g when it came in a used 6.1 95s. The 4g really worked great in the spin effect pattern due to its stiffness. 4g might be worth a revisit, as my high tension differential kind of simulates the effect of the spin effect patterns but with better launch angle control.
 
am1899 said:
Pretty much non existent. The only exception would be some of the really stiff poly’s (ex. 4G)...that will def hold longer...but may also shred your arm.
Click to expand...
You could also just get nat gut and string it at like 85 lbs like Borg and Sampras. That stuff is supposed to hold its tension until it breaks.
 
I swing a variety of 16x19 and 16x18s, and a few 14x18s. I really like Solinco Outlast in the mains and Prince Sun Gut w/Duraflex in the crosses.
 
WestboroChe said:
You could also just get nat gut and string it at like 85 lbs like Borg and Sampras. That stuff is supposed to hold its tension until it breaks.
Click to expand...

Those guys played with very heavy racquets and needed that tension to reign in the massive power those stocks had. That was a different time with different racquet technology. NOBODY strings gut in the 80s anymore - except Shroud.


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The Big Kahuna said:
Those guys played with very heavy racquets and needed that tension to reign in the massive power those stocks had. That was a different time with different racquet technology. NOBODY strings gut in the 80s anymore - except Shroud.


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Click to expand...
I didn’t say he should do it. He could if he wants to. He’s already playing with Poly/Kevlar at 80lbs. That’s crazy. Nobody does that now.
 
In both videos the racquet is strung with prestretched full poly (SPPP) at 75/50 lbs (leaded up 6.1 95 18x20).
 
Hey trav, what did you think of Solinco Outlook? It comes in thicker gauges, so that should stay tight longer. I'm not sure if TW carries the thick stuff, but they can order it.
 
Been using Genesis Black Magic 16g for a few years now and couldn't be happier. Great price ($90/$8), playability and tension maintenance.
 
travlerajm said:
I've been in an experimentation mode lately. One of the things I've found is that regardless of my racquet specs and its weighting, stiffness, headsize, and length etc., when I really want to be sure that I will play well in an important singles match, there is no substitute for a firm stringbed that stays firm but doesn't lock up.

Stringing up a fresh poly job is one way to achieve this. But I really, really hate stringing. I want a string that plays the same for many hours if possible with minimal change to playing characteristics.

I recently bought a reel of 16g Polylon, but discovered that this stuff is not really what I'm looking for. It plays great at first, but it has several undesirable characteristics.
1) It has terrible tension maintenance. Despite the fact that I prestretch it (at least 6 extra inches on 20-ft segment), it doesn't seem capable of holding tension well.
2) It's surface is too soft and dentable.
3) It has a slick outer layer that wears off and leaves a higher-friction coating underneath.

The previous poly reel I had bought a few years ago was 17g Silverstring (after reading positve review from @pvaudio). I think I liked this one much better. It seemed to hold tension better than other poly's I've tried. And was a monofilament. It's dent resistance was ok, but could have been better.

The reel before that was Prince Tournament Poly 16g. This one was amazing for it's dent resistance (better than any other poly I've seen) and had exceptionally slippery surface that stayed slippery, but it seemed liked it had crummy tension maintenance.

I've tried many other poly's in single sets, but don't have enough experience to have fully characterized any, maybe with the exception of SPPP. This one didn't have as good tension maintenance as Silverstring, but was otherwise similar.

So here's what I want:

A. Excellent tension maintenance (I'm looking for one that actually has some improved anti-creep cross-linking chemistry, and not just a light factory prestretch). I will be prestretching manually.

B. Very good dent resistance, so it is unlikely to form any sort of notch in the crosses.

C. Probably looking for round profile, unless I can be convinced that the shape will stay more or less the same for 40h of play.

Color is not that important, but if it comes in a cool bright color that would be a bonus.
A decent price is not a requirement, but also a bonus.
Click to expand...
Kischs. Max power
Lux 4g

All come to mind.

The big key is which ones you can string at 90lbs. Those you can.

Ashaway monogut will also work that high.

4g is probably the best bet though max power is my fave over 4g. 4g doesnt seem to bite like other strings.
 
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