Legend/Velocity

[Traffic]

Ok. Time to start a new thread.

I'm through with Legend/Cream. I may have to try VS/Cream again just to confirm that I get similar results. But with Legend/Cream, it has great spin and feel. But the launch angles vary just enough on me and there is this small pocket of sweet spot that catches me by surprise that I just can't play with this setup.

I cut out the Cream (after about 6hrs of play) and re-strung the cross with Velocity.

Played a doubles Flights last Tuesday. I liked the results so far. Need more time with the setup to groove with it. But it was more predictable than L/C. But provided a little more comfort and spin potential than V/C (which is my goto setup).

It doesn't have as much "forgiveness" as V/C. But I want to see if this setup is something I can grow into to play a bit more aggressively.

 

[Grieeegoorr]

Hi Traffic,
This is a combo I've often wondered about, there hasn't been a lot of positive out there for a Gut/Velocity hybrid, so thanks for giving it a go and putting your findings out there.
Are you using the same tension as Legend/Cream?

 

[ByeByePoly]

Ok. Time to start a new thread.

I'm through with Legend/Cream. I may have to try VS/Cream again just to confirm that I get similar results. But with Legend/Cream, it has great spin and feel. But the launch angles vary just enough on me and there is this small pocket of sweet spot that catches me by surprise that I just can't play with this setup.

I cut out the Cream (after about 6hrs of play) and re-strung the cross with Velocity.

Played a doubles Flights last Tuesday. I liked the results so far. Need more time with the setup to groove with it. But it was more predictable than L/C. But provided a little more comfort and spin potential than V/C (which is my goto setup).

It doesn't have as much "forgiveness" as V/C. But I want to see if this setup is something I can grow into to play a bit more aggressively.

Better spin than tonic/v would be very good spin. I am assuming tonic/v and L/C would be about equal. ?

 

[Dartagnan64]

What racket and string bed density are you using again?

I’m beginning to think gut/poly type combos are best in low powered 18x20 frames. They may be a bit more unruly in a more spin oriented powerful frame.

 

[esgee48]

Both @ByeByePoly and @Traffic are using V1 Pro. They are 16x19, but dense in the central mains. Interesting point you bring up though. I could never jive with multis and NG because they were too soft or powerful for my game. Only way I could handle them was with high tensions, which I did not like as that shorten their longevity a lot. People who can't find the sweet spot need a forgiving string bed and frame. I always break my string beds in the center of my string bed; has been so for decades. I noticed a long time ago, that players who break strings in the SS have a tendency to use stiffer strings and that they needed it due to RHS. So @Traffic, maybe you should just forego the NG. As you learn to increase RHS, you will end up going back to stiffer strings, just so you don't have to use higher tensions.

 

[Traffic]

Hi Traffic,
This is a combo I've often wondered about, there hasn't been a lot of positive out there for a Gut/Velocity hybrid, so thanks for giving it a go and putting your findings out there.
Are you using the same tension as Legend/Cream?

My only question would be longevity of V with NG. Otherwise, liking it so far. Today I was slowly dialing things in. Again, I feel V/C is more forgiving. But I am enjoying the consistency of L/C. No surprises.

I strung V cross at 55#. L was strung a while ago at 60#.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Both @ByeByePoly and @Traffic are using V1 Pro. They are 16x19, but dense in the central mains. Interesting point you bring up though. I could never jive with multis and NG because they were too soft or powerful for my game. Only way I could handle them was with high tensions, which I did not like as that shorten their longevity a lot. People who can't find the sweet spot need a forgiving string bed and frame. I always break my string beds in the center of my string bed; has been so for decades. I noticed a long time ago, that players who break strings in the SS have a tendency to use stiffer strings and that they needed it due to RHS. So @Traffic, maybe you should just forego the NG. As you learn to increase RHS, you will end up going back to stiffer strings, just so you don't have to use higher tensions.

Hey man ... we can find the sweet spot, but only when we ping our racquet for racquettune. Don't be waving your center hit freak show in our faces.

 

[Traffic]

Hey man ... we can find the sweet spot, but only when we ping our racquet for racquettune. Don't be waving your center hit freak show in our faces.

My last broken string was at the upper outside corner of the racquet. Probably broke cross #3.

My daughter brings me her racquet. Her center cross is broken dead center. Apparently I can't keep up with an 11y/o.

 

[Muppet]

If you're finding that soft powerful mains lack forgiveness, you can knock them down a notch by pulling tension twice on the center 2 mains.

I pull at full reference tension on the 1RM
full rt on 1LM
full rt on 1RM
continue on right half of racquet for 2 mains, single pulls
full rt on 1LM
continue with single pulls for the rest of the racquet

By alternating the strings for the extra pull, you allow the strings to relax a bit before the extra pull.

This has the effect of bringing your 2 middle mains to match the other mains. The rest of the mains get 2 pulls automatically. The first pull happens during the previous string's tensioning. Usually the 2 middle mains are the only strings that don't benefit from an extra pull.

Usually there is too much slack left in the 2 middle mains. With very soft strings this gives a hot spot, or lack of forgiveness in the center of the string bed. I've tried doing the double pull using full bed multis on 95" racquets, but I've found that it removed the character of the string bed. Once I did this on my Biomimetic 200 (95") using black Babolat N.vy 17 string @53, 3 lbs. lower than my usual tension, and I really liked it. It was very consistent. So I guess I should mention that using extra pulls may necessitate lowering rt 1 or 2 lbs.

 

[Traffic]

Ok, played outdoors this morning. L/V still feeling very predictable. This may be my new goto setup. I've got a few more practice matches coming up next week. Then it's off to a mountain bike trip. But so far, I'm really starting to groove with this setup. I need to dial in my defensive shots a bit (mid-court, caught by surprise by a short volley and need to lob it back to baseline)

There is a bit more comfort than V/C. Tough to beat NG/multi setup.

 

[Grieeegoorr]

Any signs of wear on the Legend or Velocity yet?

 

[ByeByePoly]

What racket and string bed density are you using again?

I’m beginning to think gut/poly type combos are best in low powered 18x20 frames. They may be a bit more unruly in a more spin oriented powerful frame.

You are going to have to try this @Traffic L/V. Either that, or I need to send Traffic some Origin to try O/V.

 

[Traffic]

Any signs of wear on the Legend or Velocity yet?

Not yet. I probably have only 3hrs on the L/V. L has about 6hrs of play prior to joining up with V.

Very light fraying on the mains. Indented at the cross but no notching. V holding up clean as well.

Break-in period for V should be over now. I have a practice match this evening. Indoors. So should be able to provide better feedback.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Not yet. I probably have only 3hrs on the L/V. L has about 6hrs of play prior to joining up with V.

Very light fraying on the mains. Indented at the cross but no notching. V holding up clean as well.

Break-in period for V should be over now. I have a practice match this evening. Indoors. So should be able to provide better feedback.

Looks like you can play fine without poly.

 

[Traffic]

Looks like you can play fine without poly.

If I select L/V as my goto, I probably need a non-NG setup for the wet months... I may have to re-visit Sheep/Velocity...

V/C is still a great setup. May end up being my backup since it was my #1 for a while.

 

[ByeByePoly]

If I select L/V as my goto, I probably need a non-NG setup for the wet months... I may have to re-visit Sheep/Velocity...

V/C is still a great setup. May end up being my backup since it was my #1 for a while.

You have dry months?

 

[Traffic]

You have dry months?

Weather report calls for 85* today. Typically means it's 90* at my place. We have no a/c...

 

[Traffic]

Ok, another 6.0 MXD practice. This time, I tried to play a bit more aggressively at net. I do feel the launch angle is a bit higher than with V/C but not as high as L/C. I still need to dial in the "power" on defensive lobs. My defensive (driving) slices are staying a bit too high too.

But it played well with a mix of returning pace and generating my own pace.

Will play 7.0 MXD tonight. I expect more pace in general so can see how I fair both on groundstrokes and at net. I need to start practicing signaling with my partner...

 

[esgee48]

Signal? You mean your partner can hit the left, middle and right side of the service boxes? And you plan to poach? OR do you mean your partner calls for you to do this so she can poach? TBH, it's easier to have a quick chat between points rather than doing this.

 

[Traffic]

Signal? You mean your partner can hit the left, middle and right side of the service boxes? And you plan to poach? OR do you mean your partner calls for you to do this so she can poach? TBH, it's easier to have a quick chat between points rather than doing this.

My 6.0 MXD partner plays in 7.0 as well. She and her partner uses signals. We just chatted. She said she would try poaching. She had great timing and it would have worked had the ROS not been hit so hard about 1' behind her. If it were 3', I would have been there.

Got me thinking that I don't see ladies poaching a lot in 6.0 MXD...well, I guess I've only played one official match and bunch of practice matches so what do I know.

My 7.0 MXD partner can hit left, middle, right. Though she puts a funny spin on the ball that encourages the ROS to be hit more DTL. Just thought I'd start practicing how to get into opponents head. Help me see the ball better too.

 

[littletemple]

Are the strings moving in your legend/velocity setup? I hate fixing strings and I've generally played with gut/poly or full poly for that reason.

 

[Traffic]

Are the strings moving in your legend/velocity setup? I hate fixing strings and I've generally played with gut/poly or full poly for that reason.

No movement so far.
I expect it will eventually. But I get this feeling the gut is tougher than the velocity. So not sure how much gut is going to get notched by V. I'm sure once the coating on the V wears off, then I'll see some strings out of place. But so far so good.

 

[littletemple]

How many hours do you have on them so far?

 

[Traffic]

How many hours do you have on them so far?

Probably about 5hrs on the L/V combo. L had about 6hrs of play prior to being mated with V.

 

[Traffic]

So probably 7-8hrs on L/V now. Played some men's dubs last night. My serves were ON. Won all of my service games. Came back from love-40 on one of them to win it. I'm starting to really enjoy this set up. Well, @ByeByePoly, I may get to be a gut-snob after all!

I have a white OG on my V/C stick and black OG on my L/V. I may have to invest in some more black OG the way I'm favoring this setup.

 

[ByeByePoly]

So probably 7-8hrs on L/V now. Played some men's dubs last night. My serves were ON. Won all of my service games. Came back from love-40 on one of them to win it. I'm starting to really enjoy this set up. Well, @ByeByePoly, I may get to be a gut-snob after all!

I have a white OG on my V/C stick and black OG on my L/V. I may have to invest in some more black OG the way I'm favoring this setup.

You have gut snob in your bones now ... future string choices can’t change that.

OG? Overgrip?

Edit: sitting next to court ... just hit balls with fb v w/rubberband

 

[ByeByePoly]

So probably 7-8hrs on L/V now. Played some men's dubs last night. My serves were ON. Won all of my service games. Came back from love-40 on one of them to win it. I'm starting to really enjoy this set up. Well, @ByeByePoly, I may get to be a gut-snob after all!

I have a white OG on my V/C stick and black OG on my L/V. I may have to invest in some more black OG the way I'm favoring this setup.

How good is L/V spin now that you have hit more hours?

What does L feel like compared to VS?

Hurry up and do O/V in other racquet for side by side with L/V.

 

[Traffic]

You have gut snob in your bones now ... future string choices can’t change that.

OG? Overgrip?

Edit: sitting next to court ... just hit balls with fb v w/rubberband

OG = OverGrip

How good is L/V spin now that you have hit more hours?

What does L feel like compared to VS?

Hurry up and do O/V in other racquet for side by side with L/V.

Well, it's been a year since I've hit with VS. So can't compare really. But going by thoughts and feelings...I would say that L is still more comfortable than VS but doesn't have as much feedback. I'd like to try VS/V and compare. But I'm kinda the ghetto mind and I'm looking for something as good as VS without the cost of VS.

But I may try O/V side by side with L/V. O cheaper than VS. But O not significantly cheaper than L (22vs29)

Also, I have the piece of mind that I have NG in the mains and multi in the cross strung in a Volkl frame. At least I know that my equipment is about as comfortable as can be. My setup should pass BBP's poly sniffer test with flying colors.

 

[Traffic]

How good is L/V spin now that you have hit more hours?

What does L feel like compared to VS?

Hurry up and do O/V in other racquet for side by side with L/V.

Ok, I'm on the second half of July with this setup. Still going. I'm really gaining confidence in this setup.

I was practicing with my son last night. He's been struggling with his FH so I was working with him. He has a nice predictable shot like a ball machine, so it's great for me to work on my strokes too. I was working on flattening out my ground strokes too.

A couple comments were:
- "OMG, we're rallying and all of a sudden you hit a random winner"
- "I hate it when you hit your frame and the ball goes in a different direction for a winner"
- "move your feet!"

But actually, I did get a compliment on my serves. I got him 3x in a row with my first serve that he couldn't return. I got him with a couple 2nd serves that spun into his body at shoulder height. Now, I'm sure if I serve to him another game and he actually took me seriously, I'd get crushed by his ROS.

But for now, I'm pretty content.
Legend just has dents where it meets Velocity. No notching.
I have a 7.0MXD match this Friday. We'll see how it all comes together.

When things settle down a bit, I may try hitting L/V back to back with V/C. I'm well past 20hrs on L/V.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Ok, I'm on the second half of July with this setup. Still going. I'm really gaining confidence in this setup.

I was practicing with my son last night. He's been struggling with his FH so I was working with him. He has a nice predictable shot like a ball machine, so it's great for me to work on my strokes too. I was working on flattening out my ground strokes too.

A couple comments were:
- "OMG, we're rallying and all of a sudden you hit a random winner"
- "I hate it when you hit your frame and the ball goes in a different direction for a winner"
- "move your feet!"

But actually, I did get a compliment on my serves. I got him 3x in a row with my first serve that he couldn't return. I got him with a couple 2nd serves that spun into his body at shoulder height. Now, I'm sure if I serve to him another game and he actually took me seriously, I'd get crushed by his ROS.

But for now, I'm pretty content.
Legend just has dents where it meets Velocity. No notching.
I have a 7.0MXD match this Friday. We'll see how it all comes together.

When things settle down a bit, I may try hitting L/V back to back with V/C. I'm well past 20hrs on L/V.

No notching @20 ... looking at 40 hours of arm-friendly.

Are strings still straight?

 

[Traffic]

No notching @20 ... looking at 40 hours of arm-friendly.

Are strings still straight?

Straight. And I was doing a hitting session last night with sonny-boy. He's been in a bit of a slump lately and lost confidence in his FH. So I was working with him and probably hitting a bit harder than I normally do.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Straight. And I was doing a hitting session last night with sonny-boy. He's been in a bit of a slump lately and lost confidence in his FH. So I was working with him and probably hitting a bit harder than I normally do.

FH cc drill ... always looks better than BH cc drill for most rec players

 

[Traffic]

FH cc drill ... always looks better than BH cc drill for most rec players

Well, my FH cc is his BH cc.
My BH cc is his FH cc. I have to practice my inside-out FH mixed in with BH to rally with him.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Well, my FH cc is his BH cc.
My BH cc is his FH cc. I have to practice my inside-out FH mixed in with BH to rally with him.

Oh ... yes ... if working on son fh and not dad bh , stand outside doubles alley and hit i/o fhs. I have really wanted to ask a couple of friends to do this with me so I could work on my 2hbh ... but it seemed too much like saying "your bh ain't any good mate".

 

[Traffic]

"your bh ain't any good mate".

Against my son, my whole game ain't no good. So no need to beat around the bush.

He was struggling with his FH identity and I was helping him work things out. It was more of a mental practice more than anything. But for me, anytime I get to hit against my son is great since it's like hitting with a ball machine.

 

[ByeByePoly]

Against my son, my whole game ain't no good. So no need to beat around the bush.

He was struggling with his FH identity and I was helping him work things out. It was more of a mental practice more than anything. But for me, anytime I get to hit against my son is great since it's like hitting with a ball machine.

My fh is named Sybil.

 

[jmacdaununder2]

I have to ask, why Sybil? Anything to do with Fawlty Towers? Maybe do some more work on transitioning with your forehand, then you can rename it Simon...

 

[ByeByePoly]

I have to ask, why Sybil? Anything to do with Fawlty Towers? Maybe do some more work on transitioning with your forehand, then you can rename it Simon...

lol ... no, Sybil the movie about someone with multiple personalities. Traffic mentioned his son's fh identity.

Big John Cleese fan ... but never saw Fawlty Towers.

 

[Dartagnan64]

My fh is named Sybil.

My FH thinks it’s name is “no, no, no, what the F*&$# was that?”

 

[Traffic]

Hey guys, so I had a chance to hit with my son again. I think I was too tired from the 7.0 match the previous night. Was late match and had early morning swim championship that I had to work as an official.

In any case, I got a chance to hit with a co-worker's Pure Aero strung with Velecity/Cream. Since I'm familiar with this hybrid in my V1Pro, I thought it would be fun to give it a hit. My coworker wanted me to try it out.

Man, I couldn't hit a damn thing with it. Sprayed balls all over the place.

Is that me or the racquet? Or I just need time to dail in the angle? Whatever.

I asked my son if he wanted to give it a try. And he said "no" since he would most likely scrape it on the ground hitting ts FH...

 

[ByeByePoly]

Hey guys, so I had a chance to hit with my son again. I think I was too tired from the 7.0 match the previous night. Was late match and had early morning swim championship that I had to work as an official.

In any case, I got a chance to hit with a co-worker's Pure Aero strung with Velecity/Cream. Since I'm familiar with this hybrid in my V1Pro, I thought it would be fun to give it a hit. My coworker wanted me to try it out.

Man, I couldn't hit a damn thing with it. Sprayed balls all over the place.

Is that me or the racquet? Or I just need time to dail in the angle? Whatever.

I asked my son if he wanted to give it a try. And he said "no" since he would most likely scrape it on the ground hitting ts FH...

You.

 

[Muppet]

The open string pattern is a convenient scapegoat.

 

[Traffic]

You.

mm...ok. I can accept that.
But I hit with my son's old 97LS with fb Velocity and it was bad. Was able to hit with it way more consistently with it than the Pure Aero. Maybe the 18 mains had something to do with it.

 

[Traffic]

You.

mm...ok. I can accept that.
But I hit with my son's old 97LS with fb Velocity and it was bad. Was able to hit with it way more consistently with it than the Pure Aero. Maybe the 18 mains had something to do with it.

I did have a chance to hit with V/C back to back with L/V yesterday. I was hitting with one of my 6.0 MXD team mates. She tried my V1Pros and actually was hitting pretty good with them.

I noticed that V/C still is very good control and forgiving. In fact, I felt it was more forgiving than L/V. What was interesting was that I almost felt like V/C had more power and spin potential. Is L/V wearing out?? It's been about 6 weeks since I strung it up. Other than some fraying on the gut, no other real visible signs that it's wearing out. But this is the longest I've played with any setup before re-stringing. Well, I guess I did that for V/C but it was way overdue for re-stringing.

 

[ByeByePoly]

mm...ok. I can accept that.
But I hit with my son's old 97LS with fb Velocity and it was bad. Was able to hit with it way more consistently with it than the Pure Aero. Maybe the 18 mains had something to do with it.

Jeeze ... you have to know I am kidding by this point. What would you expect ... you have been playing with a finely tuned engineered weapon, and you went and tried to hit a bat.

It probably was just a bad string job ... unless you were the stringer, then I did not type that.

 

[Traffic]

Jeeze ... you have to know I am kidding by this point. What would you expect ... you have been playing with a finely tuned engineered weapon, and you went and tried to hit a bat.

It probably was just a bad string job ... unless you were the stringer, then I did not type that.

guilty. guilty.
I am pretty confident in my string job. But I was a bit alarmed that I just couldn't hit a thing with it. It was horrible. I was expecting to launch the ball a bit. But I was surprised that I just could not control it at all. Maybe if I spent another 20min, I could have adjusted.

Usually, I can pick up someone else's racquet and at least keep the ball in play. But this was ridiculous.

 

[Dartagnan64]

guilty. guilty.
I am pretty confident in my string job. But I was a bit alarmed that I just couldn't hit a thing with it. It was horrible. I was expecting to launch the ball a bit. But I was surprised that I just could not control it at all. Maybe if I spent another 20min, I could have adjusted.

Usually, I can pick up someone else's racquet and at least keep the ball in play. But this was ridiculous.

Generally I'm pretty racket agnostic but even I'm finding, as my tastes move to heavier more control oriented frames, that grabbing a light tweener leads to a lot of bad swings for quite some time. Then I realize that back in my PD days I just tended to aim for much bigger targets and use spin for depth control. Once I go back to that style of hitting I'm fine again.

Light stiff 16x19 100 inch frames are meant for one thing only: spin production.

 

[ByeByePoly]

guilty. guilty.
I am pretty confident in my string job. But I was a bit alarmed that I just couldn't hit a thing with it. It was horrible. I was expecting to launch the ball a bit. But I was surprised that I just could not control it at all. Maybe if I spent another 20min, I could have adjusted.

Usually, I can pick up someone else's racquet and at least keep the ball in play. But this was ridiculous.

You can join me in my 2hbh lh fh experiment ... just started a thread. We can try and tame your one wing ... no idea how to tame FHs.

 

[jmacdaununder2]

Seeing as you guys don't seem to mind the odd off topic comment - ahem - I was stringing a Pure Aero the other day and my younger daughter was mightily chagrined to find that she could no longer put the unstrung racquet over her head and slide it down to her feet before stepping out of it; she hasn't done this for a few years, and luckily it was her idea, otherwise I'm sure I would have been accused of fat shaming; it got stuck at her hips if anyone's wondering, so at 19 not yet the perfect hour glass that women should apparently aspire to...

 

[jmacdaununder2]

No grommets were harmed in the making of this anecdote...