Is Natural Gut significantly better than synthetic in the crosses?

[HunterST]

I recently tried a hybrid with poly mains and synthetic gut crosses. It felt surprisingly good. I thought it would limit spin and fly long on me, but I felt solid with it.

It occurred to me that many pros use poly mains with natural gut crosses.

That made me wonder if natural gut is really much better than synthetic when it's just being used in the crosses to help soften the string bed up and maybe give some power.

I know natural gut will hold its tension better and maybe have a little less friction, but would it really offer a noticeable improvement in play?

 

[sp1derman]

Most people will reply that best bang for your buck is to put the gut in the mains, poly in the crosses. That set-up is significantly better and different than your OP...

You will get a little more pop and a little more feel with gut in the cross. Then you poly mains will die and you will wonder can you just restring the mains! Good Luck and spend the $45 on a set of and try it in crosses and mains and see what you like better.

 

[scotus]

Difference is noticeable. Just because the mains "dominate" the feel doesn't mean the crosses are negligible.

The only questions you need to ask are: (1) whether you like it better than the synthetic and (2) whether you like it enough to justify the higher cost.

 

[SpinToWin]

If I am not mistaken, gut in the crosses produces more friction than synthetic gut in the crosses. Additionally, the stringbed will lock up after some time, greatly reducing string movement. The poly also does not hold its playability characteristics nearly as well as the gut, so the playability duration will suffer. In conclusion, you will have less power, less spin, less playability duration, less comfort and less touch than gut in the mains. At most, you will have slightly more control.

 

[Irvin]

... It occurred to me that many pros use poly mains with natural gut crosses...

Some stringers won't really say what the pros rackets and strings are because the rackets and strings they use may not be the rackets and strings they being paid to use. One day a pro is talking about how great a new Prince racket is and the next day he is playing with a Head frame.

 

[Ramon]

I tried gut/poly, but I never tried poly/gut for a number of reasons. As alluded to earlier, it theoretically doesn't have the resistance to friction as the other way around. Also, as someone who pays for his own strings, there are practical considerations. Gut is expensive, and cross strings typically contribute about 25% of string bed playability, so you pay an awful lot to get little out of it. Gut is prone to moisture, so you have to be very careful about keeping it dry. Also, poly/syngut is a good combination anyway. On some frames, poly/syngut works better than full poly, and it's a cheap setup that doesn't require extra care.

 

[cknobman]

Most people will reply that best bang for your buck is to put the gut in the mains, poly in the crosses. That set-up is significantly better and different than your OP...

You will get a little more pop and a little more feel with gut in the cross. Then you poly mains will die and you will wonder can you just restring the mains! Good Luck and spend the $45 on a set of and try it in crosses and mains and see what you like better.

^^^This

Natural gut in the main and poly in the crosses is the way to go.

I have tried every combination on earth (since I string my own racquets I dont care so much about cost) and can say that the gut in the mains is better than in the crosses.

You can do syn gut in the mains too but after just playing with real gut recently I can tell you that the real/natural gut is going to last longer than the synthetic stuff.

 

[MRfStop]

What about a multifilament in the mains and a poly in the crosses? Is it a step closer to gut compared to a synthetic?

 

[Ramon]

What about a multifilament in the mains and a poly in the crosses? Is it a step closer to gut compared to a synthetic?

It's a step closer to breaking strings during the first set.

 

[BlueB]

Gut has no business in the crosses, in any setup.

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

Murray uses poly mains and gut crosses but besides the cost the biggest advantage of gut over syn gut will be better tension maintenance and the gut will outlast the poly whereas the syn gut wont outlast the poly.

 

[Imago]

What about a multifilament in the mains and a poly in the crosses? Is it a step closer to gut compared to a synthetic?

With HiTec Multifiber in the mains and some Lux (Spin, Timo or Fluoro) in the crosses, I find it better than with VS Team Gut.

 

[Ramon]

Murray uses poly mains and gut crosses but besides the cost the biggest advantage of gut over syn gut will be better tension maintenance and the gut will outlast the poly whereas the syn gut wont outlast the poly.

The way I see it, syngut's tension maintenance is far better than poly, which is what you have in the mains, so the advantage of gut's slightly better tension maintenance is nil. Besides that, the advantage goes away if the gut gets wet. As for gut crosses lasting longer, I don't see that as an advantage either because poly dies long before syngut crosses break.

 

[Rabbit]

Some stringers won't really say what the pros rackets and strings are because the rackets and strings they use may not be the rackets and strings they being paid to use. One day a pro is talking about how great a new Prince racket is and the next day he is playing with a Head frame.

I don't know what this has to do with the OP's question, but OK.


IMO and IME, gut in the crosses is a waste. I have one guy who swears that it lasts longer than syn's in the crosses and is therefore cheaper. Personally, I'm in the camp that thinks it's a sin to put a good set of gut in the crosses. I remember reading that Murray does it, but the guys that work on his gear think it's a waste as well.

 

[struggle]

yes, for the masses......putting gut in the crosses seems wasteful.

if money is no object, nothing seems wasteful.

 

[PaulC]

I recently tried a hybrid with poly mains and synthetic gut crosses. It felt surprisingly good. I thought it would limit spin and fly long on me, but I felt solid with it.

It occurred to me that many pros use poly mains with natural gut crosses.

That made me wonder if natural gut is really much better than synthetic when it's just being used in the crosses to help soften the string bed up and maybe give some power.

I know natural gut will hold its tension better and maybe have a little less friction, but would it really offer a noticeable improvement in play?

As a Poly/Syn guy myself (who have tried almost all syn, multi and gut CROSSES on poly mains), I'd say it really depends on which syn/multi cross you're using for comparison...

If you're already using a relatively soft syn cross like Forten Sweet or Bab N.VY etc as cross (or even some Multis), gut probably won't offer much more for you though the feel is a bit softer still.

Like some folks above mentioned: If money is not a concern, give it a shot but you may or may not like it that much.

For me personally, I actually prefer syn crosses. :mrgreen:

 

[Rabbit]

yes, for the masses......putting gut in the crosses seems wasteful.

if money is no object, nothing seems wasteful.

True and I doubt Murray pays for any of his string.

 

[TimothyO]

I recently tried a hybrid with poly mains and synthetic gut crosses. It felt surprisingly good. I thought it would limit spin and fly long on me, but I felt solid with it.

It occurred to me that many pros use poly mains with natural gut crosses.

That made me wonder if natural gut is really much better than synthetic when it's just being used in the crosses to help soften the string bed up and maybe give some power.

I know natural gut will hold its tension better and maybe have a little less friction, but would it really offer a noticeable improvement in play?

You got that backwards. Poly/natural gut used to be more common (Murray and Wozniaki still use that).

But over the last few years it has switched to natural gut/poly becoming more common (though full poly is most common of all).

gut/poly users:
- federer
- djoker
- nishikori
- serena
- venus
- mike bryant
- brian bryant
- cilic
- hewitt
- tsonga

 

[McLovin]

You got that backwards. Poly/natural gut used to be more common (Murray and Wozniaki still use that).

But over the last few years it has switched to natural gut/poly becoming more common (though full poly is most common of all).

gut/poly users:
- federer
- djoker
- nishikori
- serena
- venus
- mike bryant
- brian bryant
- cilic
- hewitt
- tsonga

Hmmm. Never heard of these two guys. They new to the tour?

 

[Rabbit]

Hmmm. Never heard of these two guys. They new to the tour?

Maybe not, but I know you've heard of their cousin, Kobe.

 

[TobyTopspin]

I guess I'll be the exception, but I like gut crosses far more than gut mains. I feel I get better spin and control with this setup. With gut mains, it seems like the string bed goes through several phases before it finally breaks. I want a consistent string bed and for me, gut mains don't gut it.

As far as gut in the crosses being a waste, it definitely is not a waste as makes a good bit of difference in the feel for me.

If money were no object I would use it full time, but that isn't the case and I use PSDG as a cross most of the time. It doesn't feel any where near as good as the gut crosses, but its good enough for me.

 

[coloskier]

Most people will reply that best bang for your buck is to put the gut in the mains, poly in the crosses. That set-up is significantly better and different than your OP...

You will get a little more pop and a little more feel with gut in the cross. Then you poly mains will die and you will wonder can you just restring the mains! Good Luck and spend the $45 on a set of and try it in crosses and mains and see what you like better.

Fed plays gut mains, poly crosses. Djoker plays poly mains, gut crosses. I guess it comes down to what kind of game you play. If you play a touch game, go with gut in the mains. If you play a power game, go with gut in the crosses.

 

[Deleted member 369227]

Novak also plays gut mains and poly crosses...

 

[TimothyO]

Fed plays gut mains, poly crosses. Djoker plays poly mains, gut crosses. I guess it comes down to what kind of game you play. If you play a touch game, go with gut in the mains. If you play a power game, go with gut in the crosses.

Djoker uses VS Team in the mains and Alu Power Rough in the crosses.

Federer uses Wilson gut mains and Luxilon crosses.

 

[HunterST]

I appreciate the replies, but it seems like a lot of people weren't reading the questions.

I wasn't asking about Gut in the mains vs. Gut in the crosses with poly.

I was asking about natural gut crosses vs. synethtic gut crosses with poly in the mains.

When the gut is just there to soften up the string bed and add some power, does it make more sense to go with synthetic.

 

[Shroud]

I appreciate the replies, but it seems like a lot of people weren't reading the questions.

I wasn't asking about Gut in the mains vs. Gut in the crosses with poly.

I was asking about natural gut crosses vs. synethtic gut crosses with poly in the mains.

When the gut is just there to soften up the string bed and add some power, does it make more sense to go with synthetic.

My 2 cents is to split the difference and use monogut ZX crosses....

 

[Imago]

Most German manufacturers recommend gut/syn/multi in the crosses, I don't know why. You have to string them tighter and thus minimize the intrinsic spin potential of the string bed.

 

[Irvin]

I appreciate the replies, but it seems like a lot of people weren't reading the questions.

I wasn't asking about Gut in the mains vs. Gut in the crosses with poly.

I was asking about natural gut crosses vs. synethtic gut crosses with poly in the mains.

When the gut is just there to soften up the string bed and add some power, does it make more sense to go with synthetic.

It really does not matter what is in the mains you're really asking is it worthwhile putting gut in the crosses. It will make a difference although not a great deal bett than some cheaper alternatives. Unless you have an intention of softening up the stringbed I would go with one string in mains and crosses. If you want to soften up a poly main string, natural gut is a great way to go.

 

[Rabbit]

I appreciate the replies, but it seems like a lot of people weren't reading the questions.

I wasn't asking about Gut in the mains vs. Gut in the crosses with poly.

I was asking about natural gut crosses vs. synethtic gut crosses with poly in the mains.

When the gut is just there to soften up the string bed and add some power, does it make more sense to go with synthetic.

I'm going to assume you're asking about synthetic gut versus natural gut. If it were me, and those were my only two choices, I would still opt for synthetic gut. If I had my druthers, I'd say use a good, reasonably priced, multi like Wilson Sensation. I personally would never use gut in the crosses. I've done it in the past to see what is was like and it's a waste of natural gut.

 

[sacplayer]

Babalot's Hybrid: VS gut and Syn Gut

I ordered couple packages of Babalot's hybrid strings with VS gut for prime and syn gut for crosses. I understand Babalot has discontinued this hybrid package, and I bought it online at considerable discount. As you know, their VS gut starts at $30+ and the syn gut is only about $3.75 a package. I use the Wilson 61 95S rackets, and strings don't last too long with this racket. However, playability is more important than durability for me. I also have my suspicions of the cheaper syn gut for the crosses and how it may affect the playability. When I get them strung, I'll post my evaluation of these hybrid strings. Even though Babalot no longer offers this hybrid in their line of strings, you can also purchase them separately. Any feedback on Babalot's synthetic gut string?

 

[sp1derman]

To answer your question. It doesn't make much sense to put gut in the crosses. I just tried it again to reconfirm what I always thought. Played a match today and the set-up works significantly better, more spin and depth with gut mains/poly cross. The poly main/gut crosses is okay, but whatever coating babolat puts on their Tonic gut does not allow for as much snap back compared to a syn. gut cross.

 

[Bhairava]

Pros put gut on crosses because
- they want the properties of poly but with a much softer stringed
- because gut in general is far superior of synth gut
-and above all because they don't pay it!

Said that,if you want to play poly/something, stay with something=syn gut. If you put gut on crosses it would be a shame, only worthing if you would do something like luxilon 4g 1.30mm mains / gut 1.30mm cross. That setup could last 20-50 hours of good game,depending on your tennis level. For any other poly it would be simply a shame.
So at the end, if you like poly mains, stick syn gut on crosses.if you wanna try natural gut,put it on mains with poly crosses!!!;-)

 

[Nostradamus]

I recently tried a hybrid with poly mains and synthetic gut crosses. It felt surprisingly good. I thought it would limit spin and fly long on me, but I felt solid with it.

It occurred to me that many pros use poly mains with natural gut crosses.

That made me wonder if natural gut is really much better than synthetic when it's just being used in the crosses to help soften the string bed up and maybe give some power.

I know natural gut will hold its tension better and maybe have a little less friction, but would it really offer a noticeable improvement in play?

Gut is better. more power, more control, better feel with poly. just enhances poly playing characteristic much more than multi. but it is more expensive so it is a trade off.

So I use rackets with Gut hybrid for USTA matches and rackets with Multi hybrid for practices and drills. and I do play much better in USTA matches because of that. ONLY if the Guys Practices KNEW that .............LOL

 

[EasternRocks]

Use gut in the crosses over synthetic. Big difference.