Kirschbaum Pro Line II

[Laney Tennis]

Since this string is on special, I think it would be good to get get some updated opinions on its playing characteristics. Someone mentioned it played like a cyber blue but very oily while stringing, is that true? Others say it has a lot of pop, plays soft and holds tension well. I hope it doesn't play like cyber blue because cb plays really soft and "mushy" to me.

 

[fgs]

i don't know cyber blue, but i cannot recall pro line II being oily at all. it plays well, is soft, has good power and control, but after some 7 hitting hours starts losing tension quite fast and goes dead.
if your time window is around 6-7 hours max. until you break a string, than it is definitely a very interesting string to try.

 

[tymmh789]

It's so good actually. It is extremely soft for a poly so it's great if you have a more sensitive arm. I usually string hybrids so I have this crossed with Gosen OG Micro 17 at 52lbs. on a prince EXO3 Rebel. I have compared this to Lux Savage, Solinco TB, and Volkl cyclone and this has been by far the best one. The pop is great but at the same time you just get so much control. It also has great tension maintenance. I have 4 hours on it and have not experienced any loss in playability or tension.

 

[tennisrepcal]

PL II has awesome power and control

fyi...Pro Line II has outstanding power and control for a co-poly. The spin potential is good w/out string slipping...durability is decent too. I really don't find too much tension loss but that would depend on the frequency of your play....Tremendous offer for the value by TW

 

[Tmano]

Yeah it's a pretty good string, I played with it for about a year and the combination of control and power is just great. However, the only thing I did not like was the tension maintenance which was average......for me about 10/12 hours of playing. Hey if anyone is interested I have two sets left which I would love to trade for Babolet pro Hurricane or tour

 

[Torres]

Someone mentioned it played like a cyber blue but very oily while stringing, is that true? Others say it has a lot of pop, plays soft and holds tension well. I hope it doesn't play like cyber blue because cb plays really soft and "mushy" to me.

It's nothing like Cyber Blue. It's stiffer and harsher for a start and has a certain wire like quality when you hit past a certain point of 'give' in the strings. I used PLII 18 for a couple of years and my arm felt it was starting to break down at the end of that time (though I was playing about 15 hours a week including competition). It's a bit of an 'old school' poly in terms of the way it performs, and is surpassed now by more modern co-polys.

 

[struggle]

Laney High School?

 

[fgs]

torres,
i might be wrong, but my memory tells me that topspin cyber blue was launched before the kirschbaum pro line II - in europe at least.
i can't tell anything about the playing characteristics as i have not yet hit with it. i didn't like cyber flash at all so (maybe wrongly) i haven't paid much attention to the topspin line of strings.

 

[Laney Tennis]

Laney Tennis Academy @ tbuggle. After cross referencing, the stiffness of pro line II is on par with alu power rough so its not too hard and not too soft. PHT 17 is a bit stiffer than both. CB Blue is at the low end that's why it was hitting "mushy" for me. I was thinking about skipping the PLII and going for SP Tornado but with all the positive comments about this string, I'll probably put the Tornado on hold and give this a shot.

 

[fgs]

the pro line II plays softer than the alu power rough - on offcenter shots you still get that ball going as opposed to the lux, where it seems to stick to the strings. and as a sidenote - the lux died much sooner.

 

[Torres]

the pro line II plays softer than the alu power rough

Agreed. Alu is easily the harder, stiffer string.

Don't know when PLII was released but I started using it about 3 years ago.

Getting back the original question PLII isn't oily while stringing, has some pop (though not as much as more modern softer co-polys likes PHBR or BW), doesn't play that soft (its more medium stiffness for a poly, which means its relatively stiff), directional control is pretty good, spin is okay - it is there but it's not hugely pronounced, and it doesn't hold tension that well. Comments are for 18g.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=5732565&postcount=25

 

[fgs]

in regard to cyber flash i just remember that in spite being a softer string it did not "behave well" on offcenter shots.
my main issue with strings and racquets is offcentershots. this might sound weird since anyone can say "move a little bit more", but fact is that i haven't been able to adjust my stoking technique in all these years to oversized sticks. i hit spot on in the sweetspot ... of an old wooden frame. with modern racquets this is the upper third of the head, so almost all the time offcenter. a string and a stick that don't "forgive" me and still provide decent power up there, give me big trouble in my shoulder. i never had issues with my elbow, i always got it in the shoulder.

i played the 17g / 1.25 and have already stated that tension went down within my time frame.

 

[OldButGame]

I've used both Cyber blue and PLII. I used them in 2 diff frames so that has to taken into account. But in an AG200 Cyber Blue did feel mushy,..maybe better phrased as 'over soft' or 'trampoliney' (at 55lbs). Strung another AG200 at raised tension to 59lbs w/ Cyber Blue for a better responce.
The Proline II i put in a Bab PSL (nonGT) (18g @ 52lbs) and it was wonderful. Great control,feel,comfort, and power (in a very low power stick.)
Bottom line is the Proline was much better to me. I bought a few packs on that sale.

 

[NLBwell]

in regard to cyber flash i just remember that in spite being a softer string it did not "behave well" on offcenter shots.
my main issue with strings and racquets is offcentershots. this might sound weird since anyone can say "move a little bit more", but fact is that i haven't been able to adjust my stoking technique in all these years to oversized sticks. i hit spot on in the sweetspot ... of an old wooden frame. with modern racquets this is the upper third of the head, so almost all the time offcenter. a string and a stick that don't "forgive" me and still provide decent power up there, give me big trouble in my shoulder. i never had issues with my elbow, i always got it in the shoulder.

i played the 17g / 1.25 and have already stated that tension went down within my time frame.

My theory is that the bigger (longer) the head of the racket, the more the racket should be extended to put the sweetspot in the same place. This is the reason I could never serve well with the Prince oversize rackets back in the day. The sweetspot was much closer to the hand, so there isn't as much lever arm to the sweetspot.

 

[Ross K]

It's nothing like Cyber Blue. It's stiffer and harsher for a start and has a certain wire like quality when you hit past a certain point of 'give' in the strings. I used PLII 18 for a couple of years and my arm felt it was starting to break down at the end of that time (though I was playing about 15 hours a week including competition). It's a bit of an 'old school' poly in terms of the way it performs, and is surpassed now by more modern co-polys.

+ 1!... I do agree with this summation.

R

 

[Hankenstein]

+ 1!... I do agree with this summation.

R

Hu´h!?

The Pro Line II is one of the softest co-poly strings i have tried, and i have tried many! I tried the 1,20 mm Pro Line II black and it´s one of the best strings out there (imo)
Only downside was that the Dynamic Tension was going down pretty fast.

 

[Torres]

Hu´h!?

The Pro Line II is one of the softest co-poly strings i have tried

I see that come up, again and again, as a recommendation on these forums in thread after thread of 'Suggest to me a soft poly'.

I honestly don't think people have played this string extensively if they think its a soft poly that's comfortable on the arm. It may have been the case a few years ago compared to the earlier generation polys, or the likes of Lux and Revenge, but I would never recommmend PLII to anyone looking for arm comfort, and certainly never to anyone with arm problems.

As I said in one of the posts above, I used PLII 18 for over two years, and whilst I admittedly, was playing alot of tennis during that it time, it is a string that's hard on the arm.

What I suspect is happening is that they're either playing a larger sized, open patterned racquet, playing infrequently (say once a week), keeping the string in their racquets for a significant period of time, they're stringing very low, or its simply lost alot of tension. At normal tensions, in say a 95/98sq" stick, over the intended playing life of the string (and we're really looking at the lower end of 8-12 hours), there's no way it could be described as a soft comfortable poly compared to what's currently out there. BHBR, BHSR, Black Widow, Scorpion, PH18 for example, are just a few strings that are significantly more comfortable.

 

[Noltae]

PL 2 got cut out of my racquet after two sets I will never touch the stuff again - underwhelming in every capacity

 

[Hankenstein]

I see that come up, again and again, as a recommendation on these forums in thread after thread of 'Suggest to me a soft poly'.

I honestly don't think people have played this string extensively if they think its a soft poly that's comfortable on the arm. It may have been the case a few years ago compared to the earlier generation polys, or the likes of Lux and Revenge, but I would never recommmend PLII to anyone looking for arm comfort, and certainly never to anyone with arm problems.

As I said in one of the posts above, I used PLII 18 for over two years, and whilst I admittedly, was playing alot of tennis during that it time, it is a string that's hard on the arm.

What I suspect is happening is that they're either playing a larger sized, open patterned racquet, playing infrequently (say once a week), keeping the string in their racquets for a significant period of time, they're stringing very low, or its simply lost alot of tension. At normal tensions, in say a 95/98sq" stick, over the intended playing life of the string (and we're really looking at the lower end of 8-12 hours), there's no way it could be described as a soft comfortable poly compared to what's currently out there. BHBR, BHSR, Black Widow, Scorpion, PH18 for example, are just a few strings that are significantly more comfortable.

I still stand by my point. I strung it at 51 lbs in a PST GT and loved the soft feel it provided. Compared to other strings, like Signum Pro Tornado, SPPP, Cyber Power, Alu Power Fl. i find the PLII 17 to be more comfortable. And i love the durability as well. It lasted over 3 hours on clay and for me that is amazing! Will try it again, in a really stiff frame (Youtek Speed Pro) and see how it plays. At the moment they are strung with Sonic Pro

 

[un6a]

PL II has very good playing characteristic, when it is fresh it plays like a dream - it has good pop, very good control, very good spin for round poly, addicting feel.
There are softer polys out there, but PL II is still on softer side in poly spectrum.
Only negative is tension stability which is just average for poly. It plays good for about 5 hours max., which is not enough for me. I prefer thicker gauge (1.25 mm) to thinner gauges (1.20,1.15). Thinner gauges espesly 1.15 lost tension even faster.

 

[Laney Tennis]

I just bought 8 packages of the PL2 1.25blk from TW to test out. Coming from VS mains and PHT crosses, my first impression of the PL2 is WOW, this string has good pop and tons of spin potential, probably due to how slippery the material composition is and its ability to "pocket" the ball. With a fast racquet speed and open string pattern, the balls are literally jumping off the court after it hits the ground. When making contact, I first feel a bit of a "give" in the string bed, then it grabs onto the ball and throws it back out with a ton of spin on it. PL2 is definitely a fun string to play with. Even though it is soft enough to pocket the ball with, I would not recommend this to anyone that has arm problems.

 

[Bedrock]

These strings are from the list of the best strings on the market.
I used to treat all of Kirchbaum strings with a respect from first time I tried them. Those days it was the "Competition".
People who not used to quality polyester strings may not find Pro Line II comfortable to play with, since Pro Line II opens its potential only to those players who do have excellent, aggressive stoke technique.

 

[rfprse]

I bought this string mainly because of the deal tw offers. However, I was disappointed. Its performance is rather dull. Of course, after a while, it loses tension, it might feel soft. But still dull, overall.
I am not sure I would use this as a cross with natural gut main. I'd probably have to cut it after a couple of hitting sessions if I have to play a serious match. Maybe, I'll use it with a full-poly job as a back up for the remaining 3 sets just because I can't just throw them away. After that, probably I would not use it again.

 

[whomad15]

I liked it. I do have an arm problem (ulnar tunnel, not tennis elbow).
Originally got it simply because a good amount of positive reviews, and my friend has the same last name.
strung a full bed @ 58lbs in my exo3 graphite 93 and I loved it.
Just like any string when it dies, it is dead.

As compared to alu-rough, I felt the PL2 was much softer while still granting me nearly as much power and more spin/control.

everyone has their own opinion.

 

[wolfinsignia]

hmm to those who used lux's alu rough. is this string as harsh on the arm as alu rough is once dead?

 

[jjs891]

I also bought PL2 because of the TW sale price. I only used it as hybrid cross with NRG main. I thought it played fairly soft with decent spin and control but tension loss was very quick for me. I think it's a decent string and certaily worth the price TW is giving at the moment.

 

[bruintennis]

i bought some, but haven't had the chance to try it yet. i will soon.

 

[dozu]

the PL2 is one of those what I'd call a sucker string.

used it once, the first hour was fantastic, crisp power.... the 2nd hour, it's dead... when I cut it out, it barely snapped back, as if there were 5 lbs of tension left.

hey, but if you enjoy restringing every hour, you might like it lol.

 

[Gasolina]

Just like to say pro line 2 is my first to string at low tensions twice.

Good value string for its price. Plus, the glossy black looks badass

 

[bruintennis]

i did try PLII (1.25) in a hybrid set up with sensation 16 and it felt good the first time playing with it. it has less power than savage black and has a lot of control and felt soft to me.

i'm going to try it some more and see how it feels.

 

[FloridaAG]

I used to use the Red - in 16 guage. Hit with the black in 19 guage - I think maybe it was 1.15 - on a friend's TI Radical -

A bit harsh on my elbow but I was enjoying the string, got good pop and excellent spin. Had already played 4 sets of singles, so that was about all I got out of it

 

[tennisaddict2223]

Pro Line II is pretty standard string there is nothing special about it. Has a softer feel so it is very arm friendly so that is a major difference in comparison to other polys. Spin is better in thin gauges as with every other string and it holds tension very well. My cousin who plays for Georgia has Black code in the mains and Pro Line II in the crosses and swear by it so it can be used as a good cross string for a full poly setup.

 

[topspin18]

for the price it is great. it does everything well. the feel is thebest part in my opinion.