I don't want to overstate, but Gut/Poly will cure all your life problems.

HunterST

Hall of Fame
Seriously, it's great.

I tried a hybrid of Wilson Natural Gut/ Big Hitter Silver 52/49 today. I had tried a similar hybrid once, but strung it up at 58/55. That was way too high, as I string poly at 48/45.

The power was pretty good, but not overly lively as I feared it could be.

The spin actually seemed pretty much as good as fully poly.

The big thing I noticed was how it allowed me to be more consistent. It was easier to get depth and pace when on the run, and I was able to hit defensive slices and squash shots much better when necessary.

The only thing that remains to be seen is if the durability will make using this set up plausible. If it can last more than a month and maintain its characteristics, I think it would be worth it. I'm not a string breaker, so I'm hopeful.
 

Doubles

Legend
What racquet did you string it in? Depending on swingspeed and string pattern you should get decent durability from gut/poly (based on my own experience).
 

HunterST

Hall of Fame
What racquet did you string it in? Depending on swingspeed and string pattern you should get decent durability from gut/poly (based on my own experience).

I use an Rf 97. I hit about average pace for 4.5 level. I don’t think I’ve ever broken a poly string, but I usually cut them out after about 2 weeks.
 

tomato123

Professional
Agree with everything, but it took me a little bit of trying out different tensions and finding a poly I really like to use as crosses, so I could see why ppl would not venture out to try or give up on it because of the cost of natural gut. A little easier to cut out poly after a few outings if you don’t like the setup. with gut poly I felt like I had to keep playing with it before I could try the next setup. But with enough patience, research, and asking questions in the forums to find what you like, in the long run it’s worth it, in my opinion. and could potentially be more cost effective than full poly.
 

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
Only for tennis, not the love life....:love:
Your journey is not over. When the conditions get too damp, you need to have a backup of synthetic strings.
 

Traffic

Hall of Fame
I'll give this a try!

Order this ?
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Wilson_Natural_Gut_16_String/descpageACWILSON-WNATY16.html

I have some Poly laying around, so I will use that.

Is it Poly/Main and Gut/Cross ?
You'll want to string Gut in main/Poly in cross.

You want most of the characteristics of Gut: Comfort, accuracy, feel, playability. Using poly in the cross helps to tone some of the power down for added control. The slick cross adds to the snap-back for more spin potential. It also helps prolong the life of the gut.

If you play poly @ 50#, you could try gut@58/poly@53 as a baseline.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
The RF97 is an interesting frame. The most string dependent frame I have ever used. Using Klip Legend 1.30/ Max Power 1.25 at 57/54-59/56. A friend of mine uses the same set up at 52/52 in a RF97. Matter of preference.
The first few hours is like nothing else. Maximum performance. Drops off a bit after that but is still playable until it breaks.
I notice Federer is still playing with the Black/black version of the RF97 in the Australian open this year. Wonder what that is about.
 
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USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
I'll give this a try!

Order this ?
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Wilson_Natural_Gut_16_String/descpageACWILSON-WNATY16.html

I have some Poly laying around, so I will use that.

Is it Poly/Main and Gut/Cross ?

That’s some expensive string. I’m at $18 a frame with Gut/poly. VS Touch/4g is about the best I have played for $28 a frame.
I bet that Wilson gut with 4g crosses would be serious. May be why players like Serena, Venus, and Dimitrov use it.
Champions Choice I didnt like as much as these other setups and it broke in 45min. The rough chews up the gut faster.
8-10 hours from Klip/Max Power and
VS Touch/4g.
 
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SteveI

Legend
I did natural gut mains and poly cross. The idea is that the slick cross allows the gut to slide and create a lot of spin.

What gauge did you use for each? How many hours do you have on this set-up? Thanks.. sounds like a great set-up..
 

SteveI

Legend
Seriously, it's great.

I tried a hybrid of Wilson Natural Gut/ Big Hitter Silver 52/49 today. I had tried a similar hybrid once, but strung it up at 58/55. That was way too high, as I string poly at 48/45.

The power was pretty good, but not overly lively as I feared it could be.

The spin actually seemed pretty much as good as fully poly.

The big thing I noticed was how it allowed me to be more consistent. It was easier to get depth and pace when on the run, and I was able to hit defensive slices and squash shots much better when necessary.

The only thing that remains to be seen is if the durability will make using this set up plausible. If it can last more than a month and maintain its characteristics, I think it would be worth it. I'm not a string breaker, so I'm hopeful.

Long time user of Tourna strings. Should be interesting to see how long this set-up maintain its characteristics. Knowing what I know about the Tourna Big Hitter Silver.. I might have gone up a few lbs on the crosses or used a pre-stretch. The BHS tends to get "hot" after about 8-10 hours. I have never used to BHS in the crosses that I can remember...only in a full bed or in the mains with a syn gut in the crosses. Enjoy...
 

grhcan99

Semi-Pro
I'm surprised that on my first try I wasn't too impressed. I find myself starting with it then switch to poly/syngut after about 10 minutes of hitting (no match play). Yes comfort is there. Spin is quite impressive too. But not as accurate/controllable as my poly/syngut. I strung it with Tonic+16/Topspin Cyber Blue 55/53 on my C10 Pro. This is the first time I've tried both strings. I still have the other half so maybe I'll increase the tension by at least 3 lbs.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
I'm surprised that on my first try I wasn't too impressed. I find myself starting with it then switch to poly/syngut after about 10 minutes of hitting (no match play). Yes comfort is there. Spin is quite impressive too. But not as accurate/controllable as my poly/syngut. I strung it with Tonic+16/Topspin Cyber Blue 55/53 on my C10 Pro. This is the first time I've tried both strings. I still have the other half so maybe I'll increase the tension by at least 3 lbs.

Increasing the tension should work.
 

jklos

Professional
I'm normally a full poly guy (50lbs tension) and I just switched to a gut main poly cross (55/52). Played last night and my ball was flying. So much power. Had to really tame my swing. Is it something you get used to? I feel like I need to go back to the lower power poly.
 

ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.
I'm normally a full poly guy (50lbs tension) and I just switched to a gut main poly cross (55/52). Played last night and my ball was flying. So much power. Had to really tame my swing. Is it something you get used to? I feel like I need to go back to the lower power poly.

I didn't ... but only tried it once. I started playing matches Spring 2017 after 8 months off from TE. I had identical V1 Pros freshly strung ... one fb velocity @55 and one tonic/cream 55/50. I intended for the tonic/cream to be my match racquet setup. I started with it, had issues with control, grabbed the fb V and instantly had control. In fairness, gut @60 might have helped, and my timing was not great because of so much time off. But ... I came away thinking for my game, gut/poly gave me better spin at the cost of control. Also ... gut is expensive to test a lot of hybrid tensions.
 

jklos

Professional
I didn't ... but only tried it once. I started playing matches Spring 2017 after 8 months off from TE. I had identical V1 Pros freshly strung ... one fb velocity @55 and one tonic/cream 55/50. I intended for the tonic/cream to be my match racquet setup. I started with it, had issues with control, grabbed the fb V and instantly had control. In fairness, gut @60 might have helped, and my timing was not great because of so much time off. But ... I came away thinking for my game, gut/poly gave me better spin at the cost of control. Also ... gut is expensive to test a lot of hybrid tensions.
Yeah I'm just finding it really tough to reign in. It was only my first hit with the gut/poly set up so I'm hoping it will get better.
 

grhcan99

Semi-Pro
I'm normally a full poly guy (50lbs tension) and I just switched to a gut main poly cross (55/52). Played last night and my ball was flying. So much power. Had to really tame my swing. Is it something you get used to? I feel like I need to go back to the lower power poly.

This is exactly how much I strung mine on my Volkl C10 Pro and I had the same experience. I started to get comfortable on the third session.

EDIT: In my case I would start at 58/55 the next time.
 

sleepyeg

New User
Strung my Vcore 98 with Lux Gut @ 54/4G @ 51, hated it, ball was launching like crazy. Restrung it with same strings @58/55 wayyyyyyyyyyy better!!! However, with my Vcore Pro 97 310, strung with same strings at 54/52, it plays very similar to the Vcore 98.
 

jklos

Professional
Strung my Vcore 98 with Lux Gut @ 54/4G @ 51, hated it, ball was launching like crazy. Restrung it with same strings @58/55 wayyyyyyyyyyy better!!! However, with my Vcore Pro 97 310, strung with same strings at 54/52, it plays very similar to the Vcore 98.
I guess I have to really up my tension. Damn. Got to suffer through this till the gut breaks. Don't want to waste it.
 

IntoTheNet

New User
Rocking VS Touch 16/4G on my RF 97 right now and it's just the best in almost all aspects, even 9 hours in (6 hours of dubbs, 3 hours of singles indoors). I live near NYC though and if you haven't seen the weather conditions at the USO, it gets HUMID. Will probably go back to full hyper-g come spring :'(
 

jklos

Professional
Rocking VS Touch 16/4G on my RF 97 right now and it's just the best in almost all aspects, even 9 hours in (6 hours of dubbs, 3 hours of singles indoors). I live near NYC though and if you haven't seen the weather conditions at the USO, it gets HUMID. Will probably go back to full hyper-g come spring :'(
What's your tension at?
 

HunterST

Hall of Fame
Well, I've played with the set up about 3 times now. Last night, it did feel a little too lively and I switched to my 4G/synth hybrid. There is a good chance I was just playing like crap for the first set and it wasn't the strings, though.
 

crazyvictor

New User
What would you guys recommend tension wise when going to Gut / Poly? I’m currently using a Pure Strike 16x19x Rpm 17 @ 42/43. Will be going TJ VS Touch, Gut mains and what to start with a similar tension range.

Do you recommend dropping the poly tension more and putting gut similar tension? Maybe like 43/38?

TIA


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

gvsbdisco

Semi-Pro
In a similar sized racquet I usually go 50/40 gut/poly. I currently am using prince 93pm at 45/35. Most people like it strung higher but I find these setups are really good for hitting 70-80% deep spinny rally ball and defending out wide and being able to keep the ball deep. I do get some fliers stabbing at volleys and on groundstrokes when I don't get rotation on the ball.


What would you guys recommend tension wise when going to Gut / Poly? I’m currently using a Pure Strike 16x19x Rpm 17 @ 42/43. Will be going TJ VS Touch, Gut mains and what to start with a similar tension range.

Do you recommend dropping the poly tension more and putting gut similar tension? Maybe like 43/38?

TIA


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jklos

Professional
Had my second outing with my Gut/Poly set up and it was way better this time around. Not sure what it was but the gut felt like it settled in or something. Still some good power but way more control and barely any flyers. Really happy with the way plays now. Worries are over. Might still go up in tension next time around as it plays so soft on the arm. Maybe 57/54.
I'm using Wilson Gut (1.30) in the mains and Pacific Poly Force Original (1.24) in the crosses. Nice combo.
 
I used to use the RF autograph because I enjoyed the weight, and for years I used only polyester (usually Luxillon rough) and I liked it pretty well. However, I’m getting older so I went to regular Pro Staff which is at least 1 oz lighter but I found myself adding a little weight. I hit fairly hard but I’ve lost power, and the racket itself isn’t very powerful so I decided to use poly/synthetic blend and it seems to work great! I use either natural gut or a synthetic for the mains at around 59 lbs and I put Luxillon rough in the cross at around 55 lbs or so and it plays well. I definitely need help with power since I can’t provide it all myself for an entire match so the blend is helping. Someday I may switch to a more powerful frame but I’m used to Wilson pro staff so I’m just trying to make it work
 

grhcan99

Semi-Pro
Had my second outing with my Gut/Poly set up and it was way better this time around. Not sure what it was but the gut felt like it settled in or something. Still some good power but way more control and barely any flyers. Really happy with the way plays now. Worries are over. Might still go up in tension next time around as it plays so soft on the arm. Maybe 57/54.
I'm using Wilson Gut (1.30) in the mains and Pacific Poly Force Original (1.24) in the crosses. Nice combo.

As I've mentioned before it took me three tries before I got adjusted to it. Don't think it was the strings. If anything the whole stringbed would have probably softened due to poly cross losing tension. It was "you" who have adapted.
 

jklos

Professional
As I've mentioned before it took me three tries before I got adjusted to it. Don't think it was the strings. If anything the whole stringbed would have probably softened due to poly cross losing tension. It was "you" who have adapted.
Yeah most likely. And it does feel like the stringbed has softened.
 

TypeRx

Semi-Pro
I've tried gut/poly (Klip Legend 15 and both Wilson Revolve and Lux Alu Power Soft) and just can't get it dialed in nor do I get anywhere near the spin potential I achieve with Kev/ZXP or even poly/syn gut. Great feel and fabulous touch / net game with it though. I've used 57 lbs for the NG and 52 lbs for the poly.
 

grhcan99

Semi-Pro
Haha :p
That's so sad because spin and feeling with gut/poly is SO GREAT on clay...... :cry:

Oh totally. I had held off doing gut/poly because I just couldn't believe it was that good. But I just did (first time) and now I believe. But as I said, I'd do anything to play on clay.
 

grhcan99

Semi-Pro
No club with clay courts in your area??

We do have outdoor public clay courts but they're at least an hour's drive so I really can't go there on a regular basis. We have hartru courts within a 10 minute drive but belong to a club and they're outside. I need to get invited to play or be a millionaire to join :)
 

J B

Semi-Pro
You guys never precise on what surface you play... But gut/poly on clay break SO quickly...
That is TOTAL BS. I have exclusively used LXN gut mains and Poly crosses and play on clay 3 times and hard 2-3 times a week with at least 2 of those being 200+ ball machine sessions and haven't broken it yet. I am 58/55 and when i make an error its usually because i am muscling the ball, 5'10 225 33inch waist. When i mishit it's with power and the gut has held. I usually hit topspin but will drop or flat hit when i need too. I live in florida( humidty question answered). I restring between 4-6 weeks. The 6th week it gets pretty bad, the poly not the gut. I am experimenting with round polys to see about tension retention as the ALU power rough sucks at that.

If I could just find a poly that lasts as long as my gut I would be very happy. Right I never will. As it stands I am already much cheaper than a poly setup and if I can get the poly side of the setup to last a couple weeks longer I will be happy.
 

liftordie

Hall of Fame
That is TOTAL BS. I have exclusively used LXN gut mains and Poly crosses and play on clay 3 times and hard 2-3 times a week with at least 2 of those being 200+ ball machine sessions and haven't broken it yet. I am 58/55 and when i make an error its usually because i am muscling the ball, 5'10 225 33inch waist. When i mishit it's with power and the gut has held. I usually hit topspin but will drop or flat hit when i need too. I live in florida( humidty question answered). I restring between 4-6 weeks. The 6th week it gets pretty bad, the poly not the gut. I am experimenting with round polys to see about tension retention as the ALU power rough sucks at that.

If I could just find a poly that lasts as long as my gut I would be very happy. Right I never will. As it stands I am already much cheaper than a poly setup and if I can get the poly side of the setup to last a couple weeks longer I will be happy.
I break VS Touch 1.30 in max 5 hours on clay. Maybe we don't have the same spin... ;)
 

J B

Semi-Pro
What is your cross? So you have more spin? I wont argue on that but if I hit the baseline with mine it usually hits the fence on the way down. :)
 
We do have outdoor public clay courts but they're at least an hour's drive so I really can't go there on a regular basis. We have hartru courts within a 10 minute drive but belong to a club and they're outside. I need to get invited to play or be a millionaire to join :)
What is the cost to join?
 

liftordie

Hall of Fame
What is your cross? So you have more spin? I wont argue on that but if I hit the baseline with mine it usually hits the fence on the way down. :)

Max Power. And I broke the same gut in 3 hours with Max Power Rough.
Maybe because it was the black color version of VS Touch.....
But in the same time, I also broke a fullbed of HDX 1.35 in 5 hours.....
 
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