How polyester strings became mainstream

[oldmanyellingatcloud]

Was hitting with my MIL the other day who was demoing some racquets. She has a background playing D1 soccer and took some tennis lessons when she was in middle school and is starting to play again. From what I've gathered from her she played with the POG 107 back in the day and was the past few months she was playing with a Prince Boron 110 with the double cross-bar she found at a thrift store. Her coach recommended that she play with a lighter and less stiff racquet.

The two racquets she tried were the 360+ Radical MP (TK351) and previous generation VCORE 100 both strung with full poly at manageable tensions. She decided on the VCORE 100 over the Radical MP.

I was happy to have a chance to give the Radical MP a spin given my interest and experience with the Radicals. I couldn't help but notice how cool it looked. It was strung with 17 gauge Lynx in yellow.

It got me thinking: did poly become mainstream during my own time away from the game because of how many different fun and cool colors it comes in now? Even though the differences between the 360+ Radical MP and my Ti. Radical MP were jarring, it was still eminently playable. The Lynx didn't even feel like poly. The Yonex was strung with an orange poly that clashed brilliantly with the red of the racquet.

Back when I was a junior playing with poly maybe didn't convey "cool," but it did signify that you were a "string breaker". The colors were pretty basic too: Enduro Gold, Pro Hurricane Tour, Red Code, Blue Gear, ALU, etc. Not only are there so many more options now, but the colors accentuate your racquet instead of making you stick out.

 

[esgee48]

Read the caveats about using polyester or copoly strings. They’re for string breakers. They should also be cut out after 16-20 hours of hitting otw they will cause arm related problems. Your MIL should restring with SG then play until it breaks or she gets tired of the color.

 

[oldmanyellingatcloud]

We'll see what the shop strings the racquet with. I offered my reel of OGSM but I'm thinking they gave her something nice.

The Lynx felt more like hitting latex than a polyester tennis string. I can see why folks get addicted.

 

[TennisCJC]

I am currently play black multi and silver/gray poly. I could see getting a colored poly but honestly, I go with what I think gives the best performance regardless of color.

 

[kkm]

Was hitting with my MIL the other day who was demoing some racquets. She has a background playing D1 soccer and took some tennis lessons when she was in middle school and is starting to play again. From what I've gathered from her she played with the POG 107 back in the day and was the past few months she was playing with a Prince Boron 110 with the double cross-bar she found at a thrift store. Her coach recommended that she play with a lighter and less stiff racquet.

The two racquets she tried were the 360+ Radical MP (TK351) and previous generation VCORE 100 both strung with full poly at manageable tensions. She decided on the VCORE 100 over the Radical MP.

I was happy to have a chance to give the Radical MP a spin given my interest and experience with the Radicals. I couldn't help but notice how cool it looked. It was strung with 17 gauge Lynx in yellow.

It got me thinking: did poly become mainstream during my own time away from the game because of how many different fun and cool colors it comes in now? Even though the differences between the 360+ Radical MP and my Ti. Radical MP were jarring, it was still eminently playable. The Lynx didn't even feel like poly. The Yonex was strung with an orange poly that clashed brilliantly with the red of the racquet.

Back when I was a junior playing with poly maybe didn't convey "cool," but it did signify that you were a "string breaker". The colors were pretty basic too: Enduro Gold, Pro Hurricane Tour, Red Code, Blue Gear, ALU, etc. Not only are there so many more options now, but the colors accentuate your racquet instead of making you stick out.

Guga Kuerten winning the French open 3x had a lot to do with Luxilon and then other polyester strings catching on among other pros. I think the fun/cool colors came with time when the brands realized how many people choose strings based on color, and that‘s been a bit recent. For a while starting with RPM blast many brands were on the bandwagon of black polys and other black strings.

 

[Bill Lobsalot]

I really dislike poly strings. They feel plasticky which I guess they are. Poly is not for everyone, especially rec players. I still like Syn Gut. But eventually you can adapt to any string if you play it enough.
Pros are gonna benefit from Poly the most.

 

[artdeco]

The colours definitely don't hurt.
All the yonex pros playing with poly tour pro in that neon yellow colour looks pretty cool.

 

[travlerajm]

back in the synthetic gut era, could get syn gut in lots of bright cool colors too.

 

[bluetrain4]

I really dislike poly strings. They feel plasticky which I guess they are. Poly is not for everyone, especially rec players. I still like Syn Gut. But eventually you can adapt to any string if you play it enough.
Pros are gonna benefit from Poly the most.

I play with poly (starting maybe 10 or 12 years ago) after decades with syn gut, and a stretch with syn gut/kevlar hybrid. It's always been perfectly "fine" and yeah, there's some increased spin potential with the right string and setup. But I've really never found it amazing or an absolute necessity. I just revisited syn gut and it was a fun experience. Just felt different. I always remember syn gut losing tension but it had good feel and performance up until it broke. Poly gets rubbery and dead pretty quick - not that I really care. I don't play enough to be constantly stringing my frames like I used to. Maybe I should go back to syn gut if my racquets are going to sit in the bag more than they used to.

 

[Irvin]

How Gustavo Kuerten changed the world of tennis

In 1997 Gustavo Kuerten sensationally won the French Open as number 66 in the world. The novel polyester string that he was playing was soon to turn the tennis world upside down.

www.tennisnet.com

colors came later.