In praise of Kevlar/ZX hybrid!!!

[hurworld]

I can say for sure my APD2013 with Kev 16g / ZX 17g at 90/35 is has more spin and control than its previous string job of Sensation 17g / YPTP 16L at 54/50. Comfort level is either on par, or even slight edge to Kev/ZX.

I have never seen myself rip felt off any ball until I did a slice serve with this racquet combo during one of my serve practices. Was amazed to see the ripped felt floated down from the air after the serve.

 

[Username_]

I can say for sure my APD2013 with Kev 16g / ZX 17g at 90/35 is has more spin and control than its previous string job of Sensation 17g / YPTP 16L at 54/50. Comfort level is either on par, or even slight edge to Kev/ZX.

I have never seen myself rip felt off any ball until I did a slice serve with this racquet combo during one of my serve practices. Was amazed to see the ripped felt floated down from the air after the serve.

what the fuc*? 90/35?

thats a new one

 

[hurworld]

what the fuc*? 90/35?

thats a new one

I was not the first to go this big differential. @travlerajm did it first. Of course, I did not string it myself, so there's always the doubt in the back of my mind whether I got exactly what I asked for, but my stringer assured me he did what I asked.

 

[USPTARF97]

what the fuc*? 90/35?

thats a new one

Great for the frame. Think I’m still responding to this because I am pissed that my arm is still hurting from trying Kev/Zx after years of zero pain playing VS/4g at 57/54-59/56. Bonehead move on my part. Knew better.

 

[hurworld]

Great for the frame. Think I’m still responding to this because I am pissed that my arm is still hurting from trying Kev/Zx after years of zero pain playing VS/4g at 57/54-59/56. Bonehead move on my part. Knew better.

You ought to start a new thread "In curse of Kevlar/ZX Hybrid!!!" and air your grief there.

 

[USPTARF97]

You ought to start a new thread "In curse of Kevlar/ZX Hybrid!!!" and air your grief there.

That’s funny! Guess no one is allowed to have an opinion contrary to the Kevlar Gestapo..
Thought if I had an overall string bed tension down in the 40’s using one of the heaviest production frames made, RF97, it wouldn’t be so bad. Sounds like should have gone mid 30’s.

 

[USPTARF97]

It seems that the high differentials are a prerequisite for most with this set up. Frames do become more flexible over time. From play and excessive stringing at normal tensions. I have some Kfactors that have been played with quite a lot that are much more flexible than that frame was new. Just a thought if you are stringing 30-50lb differentials.

 

[v-verb]

Ok but your using 85-93 frames 19 mm beam if I remember correctly.

Kevlar doesn't have any rebound/trampoline properties at any tension. So what your dialing in with tension( for the mains) is trajectory and snapback.

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Nope I'm using a Wilson Ultra XP 100S. It's sort of like a Babolat Aero but super stiff but 16 x 15 so the string bed is softer

I do love those 85-93 frames 19 mm beam frames though!! I haven't tried Kev/ZX on those but I will

Cheers

 

[Username_]

Great for the frame. Think I’m still responding to this because I am pissed that my arm is still hurting from trying Kev/Zx after years of zero pain playing VS/4g at 57/54-59/56. Bonehead move on my part. Knew better.

LOL natural gut VS will always be softer than Kevlar at the same tension in any universe ROFL

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

I can say for sure my APD2013 with Kev 16g / ZX 17g at 90/35 is has more spin and control than its previous string job of Sensation 17g / YPTP 16L at 54/50. Comfort level is either on par, or even slight edge to Kev/ZX.

I have never seen myself rip felt off any ball until I did a slice serve with this racquet combo during one of my serve practices. Was amazed to see the ripped felt floated down from the air after the serve.

I swear, use Wilson us open balls with Kev mains and you will think it's dropping yellow snow!

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

 

[USPTARF97]

LOL natural gut VS will always be softer than Kevlar at the same tension in any universe ROFL

Strung the Kevlar/Zx at 50/48 and it is major stiff in the RF97. 35/35 would be a good place to start.

 

[Jannick]

Tryed 26/24kg in An rf97 and loved that I could shred the ball, returns were cannons control and spin was great. It feels like a plank though, no sweet spot anywhere and feel shots were almost impossible. Slicing dropshotting and touch volleying has never been as tough as with this set up.
Suggestions?
Because my ground strokes are amazing with this, wish I could change something so volleying and slice feels good too. don't wanna try a high differential because I heard it's bad for the frame.

 

[USPTARF97]

Tryed 26/24kg in An rf97 and loved that I could shred the ball, returns were cannons control and spin was great. It feels like a plank though, no sweet spot anywhere and feel shots were almost impossible. Slicing dropshotting and touch volleying has never been as tough as with this set up.
Suggestions?
Because my ground strokes are amazing with this, wish I could change something so volleying and slice feels good too. don't wanna try a high differential because I heard it's bad for the frame.

Try Natural Gut/poly at 59/56. Coated gut and slick poly.

 

[Jannick]

Try Natural Gut/poly at 59/56. Coated gut and slick poly.

You're recommending this to me in a Kevlar/zx fan thread? Not complaining just surprised. Will try

 

[Voytek Bunia]

Try Natural Gut/poly at 59/56. Coated gut and slick poly.

I mainly play with vs/rpm at 60/57. Love it but this thread is about kev/zx

 

[v-verb]

Broke my Kev 18 mains Tuesday night. 20-25 hrs on them. Will restring this weekend at 45 Kev 18 mains/25 ZX 17 crosses

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Broke my Kev 18 mains Tuesday night. 20-25 hrs on them. Will restring this weekend at 45 Kev 18 mains/25 ZX 17 crosses

The durability of the 18 g has been discussed with you extensively. So you have obviously accepted the limitations!

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[TypeRx]

Broke my Kev 18 mains Tuesday night. 20-25 hrs on them. Will restring this weekend at 45 Kev 18 mains/25 ZX 17 crosses

The durability of the 18 g has been discussed with you extensively. So you have obviously accepted the limitations!

I'd say 20-25 hours is pretty respectable, especially with 18g string!

Will be very interested to hear how the ultra low tension will work for you. Please keep the thread updated!

 

[tennisbike]

For a chef, a dull knife is more dangerous. But for an unskilled cook, a sharp knife can be dangerous. People lose their fingers using stick blenders.

Or gun does not kill people.. Nevermind. I am afraid I am infected by redundant posts.

Ashaway Kevlar definitely works for some people. Some cannot get it to work for them. Just remember that "some assembly" required. And "your mileage might vary."

 

[USPTARF97]

I mainly play with vs/rpm at 60/57. Love it but this thread is about kev/zx

Read what Jannick said is missing with his RF97 and Kev/Zx. Feels like a plank, no sweet spot, feel shots impossible, slices and drop shots never been so tough, etc. He is also not interested in squashing his frame with a high differential.
He can get all of that back, improve the playability exponentially, and still be solid off the ground with Gut/poly in the RF97.
It’s never too early to put down the plank.

 

[v-verb]

The durability of the 18 g has been discussed with you extensively. So you have obviously accepted the limitations!

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

resistance is futile as the Borg says

Read what Jannick said is missing with his RF97 and Kev/Zx. Feels like a plank, no sweet spot, feel shots impossible, slices and drop shots never been so tough, etc. He is also not interested in squashing his frame with a high differential.
He can get all of that back, improve the playability exponentially, and still be solid off the ground with Gut/poly in the RF97.
It’s never too early to put down the plank.

plank works for me

 

[USPTARF97]

resistance is futile as the Borg says


plank works for me

That doesn’t help Jannick a whole lot.

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

I'd say 20-25 hours is pretty respectable, especially with 18g string!

Will be very interested to hear how the ultra low tension will work for you. Please keep the thread updated!

It's super rare that ppl on TT want to stick with a string combo for 25 hours.

Usually want to start chasing another white rabbit before then!

 

[TypeRx]

It's super rare that ppl on TT want to stick with a string combo for 25 hours.

Usually want to start chasing another white rabbit before then!

I know for me that when I get to 20+ hours on Kev/ZXP (I am at 45 hours on racket 1 and 25 hours on racket 2 now!!), I am hoping for the Kev to break because I don't like how it gets "dirty" and slightly frayed, even though it still plays great. Unfortunately, the damn stuff goes on forever....

I've honestly gotten slower at stringing since switching from poly...not because it is harder to string Kev/ZXP but because I only do it maybe once a month now vs. once a week with poly.

 

[v-verb]

Hey I can only report on what works for me.

 

[tlm]

I can say with absolute clarity and integrity that I have nothing, absolutely zero, to gain from anyone using this string setup.

I am sure that is the case for pretty much everyone here as well. No salespeople, no commissions, no sponsorship, nothing. Just a desire for people here to enjoy tennis as much as they do and share what they have found works well for them and their game. If they try it and it doesn’t work, they move on. It’s not a big deal. We have all tried strings/rackets/socks/shoes/dampeners/LOL that we don’t like for whatever reason - share your experience and keep on keeping on. Trolling not needed.

For you to insinuate anything else is pretty sh***y, and says more about you than them/I.

Don’t pay any attention to him, he is a legend in his own mind and knows everything about tennis and stringing. Anybody that doesn’t agree with him is wrong and he is always right. Lol

 

[tlm]

I do use Kevlar sometimes but have not tried it with ZX or with the big difference in tension from mains to crosses. I like a Kevlar main with a poly cross but I string both at 62 lbs and sometimes I actually do the opposite of what you guys are suggesting I string the poly cross a few lbs. tighter.

Kevlar isn’t for everyone but it’s big advantage over poly is control that lasts. No string will give the control that Kevlar does and most importantly it won’t lose its control in 5 hours. In the past I have used Kevlar at 40 lbs with a syn.gut cross at 44 lbs. and that played well. Kevlar is the only string I have tried that plays great at low tension, it almost seems like tension doesn’t affect Kevlar like other strings.

 

[USPTARF97]

Don’t pay any attention to him, he is a legend in his own mind and knows everything about tennis and stringing. Anybody that doesn’t agree with him is wrong and he is always right. Lol

Your a class act..

 

[Voytek Bunia]

I actually played with my kev/zx setup today since I haven’t had the chance to restring my main racquet.

My friend has been using my kev/zx racquet. Probably 10 hours of hard hitting on it.

It finally has the sweet spot pop. I played some really great tennis today. Really low launch angle, crazy accurate spin.

Once the kev/zx gets broken in, it starts playing very lively. My elbow is sensitive to poly strings but I do not feel any discomfort with the Kevlar.

I’m a believer in this setup. Just be aware that it needs a break in period to become lively.

Will report back when it starts to die or when I break the strings.

 

[tlm]

Your a class act..

Ya it’s easy to see who’s the class act by the one that keeps arguing with everyone and disrupting this thread.

 

[USPTARF97]

Ya it’s easy to see who’s the class act by the one that keeps arguing with everyone and disrupting this thread.

Providing information and options is a lot different than a personal attack and insult.

 

[comeback]

I just restrung my friend's Blade after he got 30 hours from a 90/40 KEV/ZX setup..He's strong 4.5-5.0 USTA tournament league player..6'4" hard hitter string breaker..He told me has has never played so well with control and zero arm shoulder pain..I did it as an experiment for him and now he is begging me to keep stringing it for him..I never intended to do this on a regular basis but now i guess i'm stuck lol

 

[tlm]

I just restrung my friend's Blade after he got 30 hours from a 90/40 KEV/ZX setup..He's strong 4.5-5.0 USTA tournament league player..6'4" hard hitter string breaker..He told me has has never played so well with control and zero arm shoulder pain..I did it as an experiment for him and now he is begging me to keep stringing it for him..I never intended to do this on a regular basis but now i guess i'm stuck lol

I will have to give this set up a try. I just ordered some ZX. I tried a similar set up to this but I used poly as the cross and I did not string that big of a differential. This set up sounds pretty wild but with this many good reviews I will have to give it a go and string it like recommended.

 

[Voytek Bunia]

I just restrung my friend's Blade after he got 30 hours from a 90/40 KEV/ZX setup..He's strong 4.5-5.0 USTA tournament league player..6'4" hard hitter string breaker..He told me has has never played so well with control and zero arm shoulder pain..I did it as an experiment for him and now he is begging me to keep stringing it for him..I never intended to do this on a regular basis but now i guess i'm stuck lol

Did he break a string or did it go dead?

 

[Voytek Bunia]

I will have to give this set up a try. I just ordered some ZX. I tried a similar set up to this but I used poly as the cross and I did not string that big of a differential. This set up sounds pretty wild but with this many good reviews I will have to give it a go and string it like recommended.

Sounds crazy. But worth a shot! I still prefer gut/poly but kev/zx is my second choice.

 

[comeback]

Did he break a string or did it go dead?

He broke it....I had it strung with Regular Ashaway Kevlar/Zx 16g...He usually breaks poly around 10-12 hours..He said other players were making fun of the funny looking fraying and he still got an extra 4-5 hours after the fraying starting..i also reused the 16g ZX in the new stringing

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Did he break a string or did it go dead?

Kev/ZX never goes dead.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[tlm]

Which has better control Kevlar-ZX or Kevlar-poly with like 80 lbs main and 45 lbs. cross that I’m thinking of trying? I like a lower launch angle.

 

[TypeRx]

Which has better control Kevlar-ZX or Kevlar-poly with like 80 lbs main and 45 lbs. cross that I’m thinking of trying? I like a lower launch angle.

IMO, Kev/poly will give *slightly* more control, primarily because the poly cross will lack the springiness that ZX brings to the part. The complete lack of trampoline should be helpful for very hard hitters. But, I would never recommend Kev/poly over Kev/ZXP (a magical combo). I would also begin to worry about arm/elbow comfort and health with a poly string, which will go dead long before it or the Kev mains break.

 

[tlm]

IMO, Kev/poly will give *slightly* more control, primarily because the poly cross will lack the springiness that ZX brings to the part. The complete lack of trampoline should be helpful for very hard hitters. But, I would never recommend Kev/poly over Kev/ZXP (a magical combo). I would also begin to worry about arm/elbow comfort and health with a poly string, which will go dead long before it or the Kev mains break.

Okay so if I go with the Kevlar-ZX combo what tensions would be best for control.

 

[TypeRx]

For better control you mainly want to go up on the ZX tension...not so much on the Kev.

I normally use Kev 16g at 75 lbs and ZXP 17g at 45 lbs, but when I tested 75/50 there was noticeably more "control" and less "pop". While I prefer the 75/45, I would simply increase your ZX tension by 5 lbs and see if that hits the spot. Just remember with ZX you want to keep it under 60 lbs. If you are set on 80lb Kev, I'd go with 50lb ZX.

 

[tlm]

For better control you mainly want to go up on the ZX tension...not so much on the Kev.

I normally use Kev 16g at 75 lbs and ZXP 17g at 45 lbs, but when I tested 75/50 there was noticeably more "control" and less "pop". While I prefer the 75/45, I would simply increase your ZX tension by 5 lbs and see if that hits the spot. Just remember with ZX you want to keep it under 60 lbs. If you are set on 80lb Kev, I'd go with 50lb ZX.

Ok thanks. Ya I used ZX in the past in a full bed and it was chancy stringing ZX over 60 lbs. it would work sometimes but I had it break a few times trying to string it at 65 lbs.

 

[2ndServe]

do you guys stretch your kevlar out by pulling it twice, otherwise it gets super loose after a week.

 

[hurworld]

do you guys stretch your kevlar out by pulling it twice, otherwise it gets super loose after a week.

As long as you get extra 2-3 inches from pre-stretching half set of Kevlar, it would work fine.

Ok thanks. Ya I used ZX in the past in a full bed and it was chancy stringing ZX over 60 lbs. it would work sometimes but I had it break a few times trying to string it at 65 lbs.

Don't forget to thoroughly pre-stretch both Kev (up to 2-3 inchres extra length) and ZX (around 24 inches extra length) strings.

 

[TypeRx]

Yup, you definitely should try and pre-stretch both strings for optimal performance IMO. Also, I have noticed that the "break-in" period (aka boardy phase) is massively decreased when pre-stretching the Kev. I only used to pre-stretch the ZXP and it would take an hour of hitting before the string bed felt great. Since I have started pre-stretching the Kev, now it only takes me 10-30 min to get past the boardy phase.

It takes me ~3 minutes to pre-stretch ZXP and ~30 seconds to pre-stretch Kev. I tie one end of the string to a post in my side yard and the other end about half-way up baseball bat (to keep things level). I drop a cheap yardstick on the ground and simply lever/pull the bat handle (head of bat on the ground, inside of my left foot stops the bat from sliding towards the post) until I get to the desired length, per the yardstick. Like mentioned above, 3-4" Kev and 22-24" ZXP is what I typically get.

PS - I don't double pull the Kev when stringing. I do double pull the first 2 ZXP crosses, that is it.

 

[tlm]

I tried my first set up with Ashaway Kevlar 16 gauge stretched mains strung at 78 lbs. and ZX crosses stretched and strung at 50 lbs. right off the stringer RacquetTune says it’s at 60 lbs. I went down and hit some serves and it served well and with plenty of spin on 2nd serves.

Hit a few drop feeds and it felt very comfortable and put a lot of spin on the ball, I don’t drop feed much so I can’t tell much from that but I will get a chance to hit with it tomorrow for a real test.

 

[hurworld]

I tried my first set up with Ashaway Kevlar 16 gauge stretched mains strung at 78 lbs. and ZX crosses stretched and strung at 50 lbs. right off the stringer RacquetTune says it’s at 60 lbs. I went down and hit some serves and it served well and with plenty of spin on 2nd serves.

Hit a few drop feeds and it felt very comfortable and put a lot of spin on the ball, I don’t drop feed much so I can’t tell much from that but I will get a chance to hit with it tomorrow for a real test.

Good stuff. On what racquet?

 

[tlm]

Good stuff. On what racquet?

It’s a Wilson six one 95. 16x18

 

[Voytek Bunia]

Played 6 more hours with this setup. Still no elbow pain. Still impressed with this weird combo.

For reference My elbow hurts after playing with poly for 5 minutes.

 

[graycrait]

Prestretching Kevlar and Zyex. I don't think you can get much of a prestretch of Ash Kev using the door knob body weight pull. You need a tie off point and winch. If you cant't have that then just pull tension 3 times and accept what you get. Body weight prestretching Zyex is easy. Ash Kev not so much.