looking for SOFT and LOW POWERED strings (poly and nylon)

[[d]ragon]

in search of some strings to tame excess power. i;ve had abit of wrist tendonitis (both wrists) in the past as well as some golfers and tennis elbow. none of these arm problems were serious and they might be because of my error.

im gonna put the poly in the mains and nylon (syn. gut or multi) in the cross. i did a search and i;ve got a pretty generous list. looking for some yays/nays as well as some other suggestions.
edit: so many polys to try! i might just go with a full poly job

thanks

polys:

• sppp- tried this before, looking forward to try again. this string is my no.1 seed on the the list
• pacific poly soft- never tried this either
• isospeed pulse- recommended by booyah
• big ace- recommended by 5263

nylon:

• rip control
• rip perfect control
• multi feel
• isospeed professional- wats the difference between this and classic?
• isospeed control- same question as above

ruled out:

• cyber power- got a set of this at home. hav read on the boards that its soft but pretty high powered
• unique big hitter blue- never tried this but i hear its similar to CP
• pro hurricane- got of few sets of these (a hybrid with conquest). wondering how it will play
• pht- tried this before as well and remember it to be pretty soft. dont remember how much power
• head tour super 850 pro
• x1 biphase- tried this before. remember it to be pretty low powered after it started to fray. tried it in 18g so i;ll go with a thicker gauge this time around

 

[Booyah]

For a poly I definitely recommend Iso Speed Pulse. With the double heating technology it is a very soft string. Its basically the opposite of the stiff luxilon. Rather than the luxilon recommendation to string down 10% with iso speed pulse they say to string up 10%. but if you want it soft and low power, don't heed the recommendation and string what you do with your reg poly or a bit higher.

With the above poly, Ive just now been experimenting it with iso speed control as the cross. Right now i love it. It has great feel and both don't feel like they will hurt the arm as a hybrid.

Good luck.

 

[[d]ragon]

i;ll definitely look into it. thanks for the quick response!

 

[5263]

Did you consider Big Ace? It is reported to be soft and only powerful compared to polys.

 

[[d]ragon]

forgot about that one. thanks

 

[slice bh compliment]

Soft and low-powered? I think the cheapest nylons qualify.
Also Wilson Stamina.

 

[2nd_Serve]

Soft ...Big Ace or SPPPP, for the poly, and for your cross, you could go with...Forten sweet and Pro Supex syntehtic gut titan.

I'm not sure if they'll be low powered...Sorry about that.

 

[travlerajm]

Ashaway Kevlar mains with SPPP crosses at low tension (50 or lower).

Starts out crisp but gets softer, and softer, and softer... and then stays soft as a marshmallow for months. Very low powered and EXTREMELY spin-friendly. The funny thing is that it's not as spin-friendly when it's fresh and crisp. It gets spinnier with age.

 

[[d]ragon]

interesting suggestion trav. wat guage of ashaway do you recommend? tension?

another question: if the string has 2 differnt gauges, lets say a 17 and 18. should i string the 17 at regular tension or the 18 at a slightly higher tension? im leaning towards the 18 at a slightly higher tension because of the extra spin

 

[travlerajm]

interesting suggestion trav. wat guage of ashaway do you recommend? tension?

another question: if the string has 2 differnt gauges, lets say a 17 and 18. should i string the 17 at regular tension or the 18 at a slightly higher tension? im leaning towards the 18 at a slightly higher tension because of the extra spin

With Kevlar, thinner gauges will feel tighter if strung at the same tension. I always seem to get the best results when I keep the tension of crosses about the same as the mains. This combo might take a week of hitting before it starts feeling soft, but once you get there, it will fit the soft and low power description.

 

[[d]ragon]

edit ten cahra

 

[150mph_]

luxillon ace 18?

 

[diredesire]

in search of some strings to tame excess power. i;ve had abit of wrist tendonitis (both wrists) in the past as well as some golfers and tennis elbow.
im gonna put the poly in the mains and nylon (syn. gut or multi) in the cross. i did a search and i;ve got a pretty generous list. looking for some yays/nays as well as some other suggestions.

thanks

polys:

• sppp- tried this before, looking forward to try again. this string is my no.1 seed on the the list
• cyber power- got a set of this at home. hav read on the boards that its soft but pretty high powered
• unique big hitter blue- never tried this but i hear its similar to CP
• pacific poly soft- never tried this either
• pht- tried this before as well and remember it to be pretty soft. dont remember how much power
• pro hurricane- got of few sets of these (hybrid with conquest). wondering how it will play
• isospeed pulse- recommended by booyah
• big ace- recommended by 5263

nylon:

• rip control
• rip perfect control
• head tour super 850 pro
• multi feel
• isospeed professional- wats the difference between this and classic?
• isospeed control- same question as above
• x1 biphase- tried this before. remember it to be pretty low powered after it started to fray. tried it in 18g so i;ll go with a thicker gauge this time around

edit: so many polys to try! i might just go with a full poly job

If you have serious wrist problems (that don't go away) you may consider trying a low powered multifilament or nylon based string rather than polys. While there have been major improvements in the last few years regarding poly comfort, they're still not that great. The ones that are pretty comfortable tend to be powerful.

A hybrid will help with this, but if you are serious about your wrist (and elbow) problems, you'll probably want to steer clear. However, with the warning aside, my comments on your selections:

SPPP: Good string, hits your criteria, it'll suck up some power and offer excellent control while maintaining good comfort
Cyber Power: It'll be pretty powerful, you're going to have to string it up a few pounds to counteract this, which may increase the stiffness more than you'd like.
Big Hitter Blue: Supposedly the same thing as CP
PHT: Probably not going to do your wrist any favors.
PH: Not the softest string, and it's not "low powered." Since you have some, give it a try in a hybrid, although I think it's going to be closer to what you want in a full job.
Isospeed string line: Good rec, polyolefine ribbons are not really the same construction as a "poly" string (copoly/polyester). They'll help you maintain control while offering better comfort. Tension maintenance is also slightly better, IMO.

Big Ace: Lower powered than Cyber Power, similar comfort level, IMO.

Rip Control/perfect control: Not nylon strings, but a good recommendation. It might fit your criteria and not bother your arm.

Multifeel: Good rec, good tension maintenance, and low powered, but still comfortable (it's a "multi"!)

X1 Biphase: I wouldn't call this one too low powered, but if you remember it being pretty low powered, you won't have too much trouble with any of the above polys

My suggestion: try some control oriented multifilaments if you are worried about your wrist. If your major criteria is to control /suck out some power, a full poly job is going to do you much better than a hybrid. (it depends which one to you is more important, control or comfort)

Ashaway Kevlar mains with SPPP crosses at low tension (50 or lower).

Starts out crisp but gets softer, and softer, and softer... and then stays soft as a marshmallow for months. Very low powered and EXTREMELY spin-friendly. The funny thing is that it's not as spin-friendly when it's fresh and crisp. It gets spinnier with age.

IMO, if you have any sorts of arm problems, avoid the kevlar. Ashaway is a great Kevlar string, don't get me wrong, but especially with a poly cross, it's not going to do your elbow any favors. It will definitely fit your control req, though.

Note: Some people play with kevlar and have no arm issues flare up, but for your health (theoretically), you should avoid it. I used to play Ashaway kevlar (i've tried 18g, 17g, 16g, too) and it is great, but harsh at higher tensions.

at 50 lbs, you might try givign it a shot, as it's supposed to have some pretty 'magical' properties (TJ ), but I'd skip on this one, IMHO.

 

[[d]ragon]

If you have serious wrist problems (that don't go away) you may consider trying a low powered multifilament or nylon based string rather than polys. While there have been major improvements in the last few years regarding poly comfort, they're still not that great. The ones that are pretty comfortable tend to be powerful.

A hybrid will help with this, but if you are serious about your wrist (and elbow) problems, you'll probably want to steer clear.

regarding the arm problems, they werent that serious and probably more user error. i used to play full poly without a problem.

However, with the warning aside, my comments on your selections:

SPPP: Good string, hits your criteria, it'll suck up some power and offer excellent control while maintaining good comfort
Cyber Power: It'll be pretty powerful, you're going to have to string it up a few pounds to counteract this, which may increase the stiffness more than you'd like.
Big Hitter Blue: Supposedly the same thing as CP

yea i had a feeling someone would say CP (apparently now its called CB=cyber blue) and BHB. will prob get those off the list

PHT: Probably not going to do your wrist any favors.
PH: Not the softest string, and it's not "low powered." Since you have some, give it a try in a hybrid, although I think it's going to be closer to what you want in a full job.
Isospeed string line: Good rec, polyolefine ribbons are not really the same construction as a "poly" string (copoly/polyester). They'll help you maintain control while offering better comfort. Tension maintenance is also slightly better, IMO.

Big Ace: Lower powered than Cyber Power, similar comfort level, IMO.

how would you compare big ace and SPPP in terms of power?

Rip Control/perfect control: Not nylon strings, but a good recommendation. It might fit your criteria and not bother your arm.

Multifeel: Good rec, good tension maintenance, and low powered, but still comfortable (it's a "multi"!)

how durable are mulitfeel and rip control/perfect control?

X1 Biphase: I wouldn't call this one too low powered, but if you remember it being pretty low powered, you won't have too much trouble with any of the above polys

x1 when i played with it was very powerful in the beginning but when it started to fray, alot of that power vanished. if anything i;ll use this as a cross but its abit pricey

My suggestion: try some control oriented multifilaments if you are worried about your wrist. If your major criteria is to control /suck out some power, a full poly job is going to do you much better than a hybrid. (it depends which one to you is more important, control or comfort)

IMO, if you have any sorts of arm problems, avoid the kevlar. Ashaway is a great Kevlar string, don't get me wrong, but especially with a poly cross, it's not going to do your elbow any favors. It will definitely fit your control req, though.

Note: Some people play with kevlar and have no arm issues flare up, but for your health (theoretically), you should avoid it. I used to play Ashaway kevlar (i've tried 18g, 17g, 16g, too) and it is great, but harsh at higher tensions.

at 50 lbs, you might try givign it a shot, as it's supposed to have some pretty 'magical' properties (TJ ), but I'd skip on this one, IMHO.

i;ve already ruled out the kevlar (no offense trav), im not willing to wait until it softens up

responses in bold. thanks for the feeback dire

 

[[d]ragon]

luxillon ace 18?

i was thinking about this one too (and its one of my favs) but its abit pricey

 

[diredesire]

I forgot to mention a few other recommendations:

Polyfibre TCS: Excellent string, but pretty expensive. It's a pretty magical string for the first 8 or so hours, I'd string it up +3-4 lbs, it's a little powerful if you don't. Soft and comfortable, though.

Leopard Control: Supposedly the same thing as Pro Supex Premier Ace, low powered (especially at first), but maintains a pretty darn good level of comfort.



how would you compare big ace and SPPP in terms of power?

Big Ace has a higher level of power, but not by too much. Both are very controllable.

How durable are mulitfeel and rip control/perfect control?

Not quite on par with a full poly job, but much improved over a synthetic gut. I'd put it smack dab in between.

x1 when i played with it was very powerful in the beginning but when it started to fray, alot of that power vanished. if anything i;ll use this as a cross but its abit pricey
Yeah, if you like a more consistent string bed, I'd try a cheaper, control oriented multi, multifeel would be a pretty good place to start.

 

[[d]ragon]

thanks dire.

if nickb could chime in, i hav a question for him. i read ur poly review sticky and found it interesting that you found that SPPP 1.23 had MORE spin than the 1.18. was the difference in spin very noticeable?