AesBinz

New User
initial review for Tour sniper:

Stringing: I don't have much experience for stringing, strung about 10 racket total and only strung using ITF PolyString 16G(1.30) so this is the 2nd type of string I strung. Tour sniper is soft or softer compared to the ITF polystring and stringing is easier compared to the later one. String is not slippery and I don't really feel the edge of this string. It's not slippery compared to the ITF polystring so it's easier to grip it or weave during cross stringing, also less sensitive to bend compared to the latter one. Unpacking the string is a bit mess as it's messy when uncoiling it as it kinks and tangled itself and need to carefully uncoil it.

Btw, this is the string I'm stringing before, anyone know about this or any branded string that just rebranded as ITF?
For Performance of the racket, I can't fully compare it yet to the one I'm used to which are RS Lyon 17, ITF poly string and Hyper G 17 as those strings are strung and tested on my modified PAT 2016, this tour sniper was strung on my brand new out of the box 2x V3 TC 100 strung at same tension which is 51/53 so no other string to compare on this racket yet. Strung at 51/53, should have 48/51 compared to my usual setup, and I forgot to change the tension to 48 when I realized it when weaving cross, my bad. String is soft and comfortable and little bit lively, trajectory is low and spin is there when I need it, power is medium as far as I can tell, touch, volley, server are good so far. Soft and comfortable which I can't really tell if it's string or the racket are the main factor as I was using the PAT 2016.

So far I can say with the combination of v3 tc100 and tour sniper, I can comfortably hit hard, control and spin are also good, no problem on flat shots, I love the slice as it respond on what you want, slice low and sharp or float and deep. Nice angle and direction and power is medium or below medium, also a little bit livelier than RS Lyon 17 but my new racket may be a factor. I'll review this once again after few months after I restring to RS Lyon and test it after few weeks.
 
initial review for Tour sniper:

Stringing: I don't have much experience for stringing, strung about 10 racket total and only strung using ITF PolyString 16G(1.30) so this is the 2nd type of string I strung. Tour sniper is soft or softer compared to the ITF polystring and stringing is easier compared to the later one. String is not slippery and I don't really feel the edge of this string. It's not slippery compared to the ITF polystring so it's easier to grip it or weave during cross stringing, also less sensitive to bend compared to the latter one. Unpacking the string is a bit mess as it's messy when uncoiling it as it kinks and tangled itself and need to carefully uncoil it.

Btw, this is the string I'm stringing before, anyone know about this or any branded string that just rebranded as ITF?
For Performance of the racket, I can't fully compare it yet to the one I'm used to which are RS Lyon 17, ITF poly string and Hyper G 17 as those strings are strung and tested on my modified PAT 2016, this tour sniper was strung on my brand new out of the box 2x V3 TC 100 strung at same tension which is 51/53 so no other string to compare on this racket yet. Strung at 51/53, should have 48/51 compared to my usual setup, and I forgot to change the tension to 48 when I realized it when weaving cross, my bad. String is soft and comfortable and little bit lively, trajectory is low and spin is there when I need it, power is medium as far as I can tell, touch, volley, server are good so far. Soft and comfortable which I can't really tell if it's string or the racket are the main factor as I was using the PAT 2016.

So far I can say with the combination of v3 tc100 and tour sniper, I can comfortably hit hard, control and spin are also good, no problem on flat shots, I love the slice as it respond on what you want, slice low and sharp or float and deep. Nice angle and direction and power is medium or below medium, also a little bit livelier than RS Lyon 17 but my new racket may be a factor. I'll review this once again after few months after I restring to RS Lyon and test it after few weeks.

Excellent! Thank you for your review!

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
How much does it matter if the Irukandji is not woven straight through and has some twists in the bed? I've been going to another place that is staffed by college kids because I haven't been able to go to my regular guy.
 
How much does it matter if the Irukandji is not woven straight through and has some twists in the bed? I've been going to another place that is staffed by college kids because I haven't been able to go to my regular guy.

It's not a big deal. It will probably have just a few twists, which doesn't make much difference. The string will still be making contact with the Main on its larger surface, for the most.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
Got around to playing with the gut/Irukandji hybrid today, and I weirdly was not a fan of it. I much preferred having Irukandji in the mains with OGSM in the crosses at lower tensions. I did sprain my ankle early on so I wasn't playing very well, but the strings felt much stiffer, dead, and had less control compared to the previous setup. I also wasn't able to hit with as much spin.

My volleys did improve though. Hoping it'll improve as the strings break in.
 
Got around to playing with the gut/Irukandji hybrid today, and I weirdly was not a fan of it. I much preferred having Irukandji in the mains with OGSM in the crosses at lower tensions. I did sprain my ankle early on so I wasn't playing very well, but the strings felt much stiffer, dead, and had less control compared to the previous setup. I also wasn't able to hit with as much spin.

My volleys did improve though. Hoping it'll improve as the strings break in.

It will hopefully get better for you. Otherwise, you can always go back to Irukandji in the Mains. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe your Nat Gut is too tight? In your current setup, it provides most of the feel.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
It will hopefully get better for you. Otherwise, you can always go back to Irukandji in the Mains. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe your Nat Gut is too tight? In your current setup, it provides most of the feel.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
My worry was that if I strung the natural gut as low as I did my OGSM then I wouldn't be able to control the bed so I strung it a bit higher. I am going from 18 gauge OGSM to a 17 gauge natural gut so maybe I could have gotten away with lower tension. I didn't think 2 lbs would be that noticeable of a difference. I do suspect that this string job is different from the previous in that when I got the last setup back, my strings were incredibly loose and moving right away. So it might be inconsistent stringing technique.

I've got another half a set of Irukandji and half a set of tour sniper to experiment with so no worries.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

kblades

Semi-Pro
I’ve been playing with a VS/Alpha hybrid setup for about a month in one of my vcp 310s and I think I may have finally found my go to setup for the foreseeable future. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well Alpha has worked as a hybrid cross.

Due to its excellent tension maintenance, it’s maintained its playability incredibly well. My other vcp is strung with a hybrid of Klip Legend/YPTP and I definitely prefer VS/Alpha. The YPTP notched whereas Alpha has not and mains are sliding and snapping back excellently.

It’s also very arm friendly, which has helped me overcome some lingering TE issues I’d been dealing with from the past couple months. It also gives the vcp some pop since it’s somewhat low powered. So if you have a low-medium powered frame, I’d definitely recommend this setup.


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SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
I’ve been playing with a VS/Alpha hybrid setup for about a month in one of my vcp 310s and I think I may have finally found my go to setup for the foreseeable future. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well Alpha has worked as a hybrid cross.

Due to its excellent tension maintenance, it’s maintained its playability incredibly well. My other vcp is strung with a hybrid of Klip Legend/YPTP and I definitely prefer VS/Alpha. The YPTP notched whereas Alpha has not and mains are sliding and snapping back excellently.

It’s also very arm friendly, which has helped me overcome some lingering TE issues I’d been dealing with from the past couple months. It also gives the vcp some pop since it’s somewhat low powered. So if you have a low-medium powered frame, I’d definitely recommend this setup.


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Did you ever try Klip/Alpha? I am curious to see if I would see any benefit in splurging for VS. What tensions are you running?
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
I think I'm ~13 hours now. Gut is holding up well, and it is starting to feel a lot softer on my wrist. I don't have any wrist pain when warming up . That said, I still can't control the ball. I just don't seem to be hitting with enough topspin to keep the ball in :(
 
I think I'm ~13 hours now. Gut is holding up well, and it is starting to feel a lot softer on my wrist. I don't have any wrist pain when warming up . That said, I still can't control the ball. I just don't seem to be hitting with enough topspin to keep the ball in :(

Lowering the tension usually makes it a little harder to keep the ball in. How about increasing your gut tension only? That will increase your control for sure.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
Grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
Lowering the tension usually makes it a little harder to keep the ball in. How about increasing your gut tension only? That will increase your control for sure.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
Grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com

Yea, I am in a weird position. When I lowered the tension on my syn gut/poly hybrid, I was hitting with more spin and keeping the balls in. I am worried about increasing only the gut tension because I'm already at a 4# difference (56/52). IIRC, increasing that difference will cause the launch angle to go up right? I might just have to go up to like 58/54 or higher. I used to play in the 60s with my old racquet and that was syn gut/poly hybrid.
 
Yea, I am in a weird position. When I lowered the tension on my syn gut/poly hybrid, I was hitting with more spin and keeping the balls in. I am worried about increasing only the gut tension because I'm already at a 4# difference (56/52). IIRC, increasing that difference will cause the launch angle to go up right? I might just have to go up to like 58/54 or higher. I used to play in the 60s with my old racquet and that was syn gut/poly hybrid.

58/54 sounds appropriate.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
58/54 sounds appropriate.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
Really can't figure out what's going on now. Played 4 more hours since the last post, and now I am really enjoying the setup. There's still a ton of power, but I am controlling it better now, and I am guessing the tension has to have gone down. Kinda looking forward for string breakage so I can try 58/54, but at the same time I'm enjoying having my string bed feel good for so long. I think I'm at ~16 hours now, and this is a lot of rallying vs. match play including some games where I just try to hit winner after winner.
 

dr. godmode

Hall of Fame
Almost done my first reel of the Neon Hybrid. This string is amazing. I get great consistency out of it and I love the ball pocketing in my VCORE 95. Only problem is that I hate stringing it. Going to try Alpha and Tour Sniper next.
 
Patricia Böntgen, with a best doubles world ranking of 96 has joined the Grapplesnake family! She plays with Tour Sniper.

We are happy to help her reach her goals in the Pro Tour, and also happy about continuing to grow as a manufacturer now trusted by more than 20 Pro players!

Patricia_Boentgen_2.jpg



Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

AMGF

Hall of Fame
I really liked my gut/irukandji set up. It could be my new favorite hybrid. Great power and spin. The only problem is that I lost the snap back after about 5hours of play. But I was using Klip legend black. That string never last long for me. Something in the coating/coloring make it not snap back after just a few hours.

To @Grapplesnake USA Official any chance to see a red colored irukandji anytime soon? It’d look great with my vc98+.
 
I really liked my gut/irukandji set up. It could be my new favorite hybrid. Great power and spin. The only problem is that I lost the snap back after about 5hours of play. But I was using Klip legend black. That string never last long for me. Something in the coating/coloring make it not snap back after just a few hours.

To @Grapplesnake USA Official any chance to see a red colored irukandji anytime soon? It’d look great with my vc98+.
I'd love to see a red version of TourSniper or Alpha or something. I need a FULL BED OF RED!

Nice to see that you are both happy with our strings! I believe there are plans of offering Cube in a different color and slightly thinner gauge in the near future.

As far as red, I will let them know in Germany. Anything is possible if there's enough requests. Probably not Irukandji, though, since it's already offered in two colors.

Thanks for your feedback!

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
So I am somewhere in the ballpark of 25-30 hours now on my hybrid, and I think my Irukandji cross is dead, and I am starting to feel it in my shoulder/elbow. I'm starting to look into replacing only the cross as I've been quite happy with the hybrid. It's been an incredible change where I would get wrist pain in the first 15 minutes to being able to hit with full strokes immediately going onto the court.
 
So I am somewhere in the ballpark of 25-30 hours now on my hybrid, and I think my Irukandji cross is dead, and I am starting to feel it in my shoulder/elbow. I'm starting to look into replacing only the cross as I've been quite happy with the hybrid. It's been an incredible change where I would get wrist pain in the first 15 minutes to being able to hit with full strokes immediately going onto the court.

So happy to read that. I can understand from personal experience how discouraging it can be to experience bad wrist pain on the court. I am glad to know that Irukandji has helped.


Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
In that particular comparison they chose to use Cube Extra Sharp instead of regular Cube, for some reason. Cube Extra Sharp is firmer and supposed to be combined with Liquid (soft) as part of our classic hybrid, and not really used by itself. I would strongly suggest to use the softer, regular Cube in full bed.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com

I finally did get a hold of that new Solin
Yes. Liquid is a good option for players looking for the softest possible string that still retains good control. It is best for hybrid use with a firm main, but it also works well in full bed for players looking for something very easy on the arm. Good for people with sensitive arms, or for players using firm racquets, like a Burn or Graphene Radicals, etc. It's hexagonal in shape.

If you are a harder hitter, or don't need the string to be that soft, I would try Liquid Neon Dust, which is a little more firm, and will therefore maintain tension better and give more control. It's also hexagonal in shape.

Finally, Alpha can also be added into this "soft" category, with much more play-ability in my opinion. It is special because players can and will use Alpha at a very high, even professional level. It's pentagonal in shape.

As an interesting side note, Alpha was first developed in light blue color, and we decided to switch it to gold per some European Pro player's requests.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com


I finally did get a hold of that new Solinco string that is being released in January or Febuary. 6 hours of hitting time gave me a decent feel of it. I also hit with Grapple snake for about 4 hours. Grapplesnake is a very solid poly. Very nice control for shaped poly with muted feel. depth control was very good from the ground. Spin generation was very easy. Power level was on the low to medium side. String isn't very lively so you have to hit out to get the depth. Overall very nice solid poly for players that put premium on control and Spin from their string.

So now to compare the new Solinco poly (Sloan Stevens string) to Grapple snake. You get Tons more power from this solinco, very lively string, ball just explodes off the string bed. but with Massive topspin. Topspin is only way you can control this thing. But surprisingly feel off the string bed is decent to pretty good. You can really feel the ball on the string bed. Also on the serve, you can really make the ball move with spin especially if you use new balls to serve with. Massive movement with power, that is kind of serve you will get. Anyhow, i personally prefer this new Solinco string and will be switching to it when it comes out. This power is tough to control but i am hoping to with higher tension range. and also i will get more used to the string as i pass 10-12 hour mark as well. My best weapon is my serve and i rely so heavily on it in both doubles and singles play. maybe that is why i prefer this solinco string over grapple snake.
 

CiscoPC600

Hall of Fame
Well, I did what everyone tells you not to do... I purchased a full reel without first trying a set of the Tour Sniper. With the black friday sale, it came out to a total of $128 for the whole reel including shipping. For those at home, that's $8 per string job. I couldn't pass up the offer.

I read the few reviews on here and liked what people had to say. I've mostly played with Tour Bite and Alu Power, so I'll be able to give a good comparison.
 

dr. godmode

Hall of Fame
Well, I did what everyone tells you not to do... I purchased a full reel without first trying a set of the Tour Sniper. With the black friday sale, it came out to a total of $128 for the whole reel including shipping. For those at home, that's $8 per string job. I couldn't pass up the offer.

I read the few reviews on here and liked what people had to say. I've mostly played with Tour Bite and Alu Power, so I'll be able to give a good comparison.
Very, very happy with TS in my VC95
 

haqq777

Legend
Hello @Grapplesnake USA Official

I have an official complaint I would like to lodge regarding your string. I am stringing the neon dust and liquid neon dust hybrid and the strings and seems who ever cut them actually cut short. Mains arent reaching gripper. Haven't opened the crosses yet.

I mean, I can use a starting clamp to bridge but that is just a pain in the butt for a very avg stringer like me who doesn't want to waste time and just get the racquet off this stringer. It is a simple Gamma drop weight and requires enough string to go around the gripper as I'm sure you know.

Here are a couple of pictures to show you.

 
Hello @Grapplesnake USA Official

I have an official complaint I would like to lodge regarding your string. I am stringing the neon dust and liquid neon dust hybrid and the strings and seems who ever cut them actually cut short. Mains arent reaching gripper. Haven't opened the crosses yet.

I mean, I can use a starting clamp to bridge but that is just a pain in the butt for a very avg stringer like me who doesn't want to waste time and just get the racquet off this stringer. It is a simple Gamma drop weight and requires enough string to go around the gripper as I'm sure you know.

Here are a couple of pictures to show you.


Hey, thanks for your message. You are provided with 6 meters for the mains and 6 meters for the crosses. Your photos look consistent with that you would have extra on a 100 Sq inch racquet with 16 mains. Unfortunately, your gripper is pretty far from your frame in your Gamma Progression 200.

Nevertheless, send us an email and we'll take care of you.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

haqq777

Legend
Hey, thanks for your message. You are provided with 6 meters for the mains and 6 meters for the crosses. Your photos look consistent with that you would have extra on a 100 Sq inch racquet with 16 mains. Unfortunately, your gripper is pretty far from your frame in your Gamma Progression 200.

Nevertheless, send us an email and we'll take care of you.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
Thanks for the prompt reply. Email sent.
 

tennisgurl

Semi-Pro
Hello @Grapplesnake USA Official

I have an official complaint I would like to lodge regarding your string. I am stringing the neon dust and liquid neon dust hybrid and the strings and seems who ever cut them actually cut short. Mains arent reaching gripper. Haven't opened the crosses yet.

I mean, I can use a starting clamp to bridge but that is just a pain in the butt for a very avg stringer like me who doesn't want to waste time and just get the racquet off this stringer. It is a simple Gamma drop weight and requires enough string to go around the gripper as I'm sure you know.

Here are a couple of pictures to show you.

That sucks, hope @Grapplesnake USA Official atleast replaces the set for you. They need to cater for everyone.

Also 6 meters is 19.6 feet and most bigger companies keep it at 20 feet so perhaps something you guys can look into.
 
That sucks, hope @Grapplesnake USA Official atleast replaces the set for you. They need to cater for everyone.

Also 6 meters is 19.6 feet and most bigger companies keep it at 20 feet so perhaps something you guys can look into.

For sure. Changing it over to feet for the American market is something we have been discussing with Germany and would be an improvement. Retail sets are cut by a machine, very accurately. In haqq777's case, it was actually a demo set (we sent him 3 demo sets) cut personally by me from reel back in March, and apologized if I happened to have been inaccurate in my measurements when cutting. Was going to offer a partial refund, but since there's no payment, we offered him a discount and free shipping on any retail set, since we are currently out of further demo sets.

Our intent back in March during our Demo Program was to reach multiple play-testers to provide them with a free set, and it proved to be a success. Inevitably, there can be issues when cutting so many demo sets by hand. Thanks again haqq777 for your impressions.

Grapplesnake USA
Tennis Strings Made in Germany
grapplesnakestringsusa@gmail.com
 

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
What do you mean? One mount is fixed. Even if I move the other mounting, the whole bar isn't getting closer to the gripper in any scenario - at the beginning or the end of stringing.
Flip the mounting direction so the last string is on the closer end.
 

haqq777

Legend
Flip the mounting direction so the last string is on the closer end.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
Still won't reach the gripper. There is a considerable distance between the gripper mount and the bar that has racquet mounts. It just seems like it is closer in the picture.
 
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