I am a stringer looking for a softer polyester string for medium level players. I have been using tour bite and vanquish for the most part in hybrids, but would like another option of something a little softer than tour bite. I don't want to spend the $15 a set for something like RPM blast so I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations. Again this would be for a beginner moving to a medium level player so comfort/control over power or spin.
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Cyclone Tour is probably one of the softest traditional poly strings, though a full bed of a string like Cream would probably be even softer but with less overall playability.
LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
I will second Volkl Cyclone Tour. In a full bed for an average player (like me) it is fantastic. Great spin, great power, not that stiff. One downside like all softer polys is it doesn't hold tension that well. However if this type of player is requesting poly I don't think there is a better string.
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Is that a tear in my eye with all the love on here for VCT especially VCT 1.30mm?No, it was just my fall allergies
Well, I'm actually on the 1.20 gauge and according to RacquetTune, there's about a 22-24% loss of tension in the eight hours before it breaks on me. That's compared to the 16% for Hyper-G Soft so I guess tension loss could be considered almost 50% worse. But control really isn't that compromised by the loss of tension at least in my 18x19 frame.
Best of all is that with continued use, my wrist injury is healing up, and my elbow and shoulder are not complaining at all.
Black Knight? Tier One?Is that a tear in my eye with all the love on here for VCT especially VCT 1.30mm?
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
My arm says otherwise. Granted I've not tried Topspin brand but I've tried other folks "soft poly's" and still found Cream is the only one not to hurt my arm.
BillKid
Hall of Fame
Why? Could you elaborate on that?
g4driver
Legend
Have you tried YPTA? I string a lot of Cream 1.28mm and YPTA 1.25mm and they are both incredibly soft has they are both elastomer (rubber) infused Copolys. You can feel the rubber in both of them when stringing them. I find YPTA 1.25mm slight softer than Cream 1.28mm
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
In my opinion, poly strings have specific attributes that make them play the way they do, and you get a certain base level of stiffness, spin, and control. Cream and other highly elastic poly strings sacrifice some aspect, whether that is durability, tension maintenance, or control. The stiffness profile more closely resembles a good synthetic gut or multi rather than a traditional poly string, so it seems to make more sense to use either a synthetic gut or multi and not deal with the downsides. In the case of cream, shear breakage seems to be a problem, and in the case of other strings like Zyex, tension loss is a big issue.
I guess it's just a matter of what you believe the crossover point is to using a string of a different material or construction method. I guess I believe that once a poly string tries to be so elastic, you've crossed over and a different string type is a better solution.
FIRETennis
Professional
Volk Cyclone Tour - softest, spinniest poly string, definitely.
Yonex Poly Tour Air - soft but has less spin and more trampoline, rubbery type feel. Maybe counter this by stringing it a bit higher?
Isospeed Cream - I never understood. Never played soft for me. Has a strange metallic ping on impact even with a dampener.
Tourna Big Hitter Black 7 - soft, spinny, close to VCT but a bit more crisp. Sharp edges compared to twist of VCT. Best bite on ball I've experienced.
Gut mains / poly crosses - softer than any of the above, maybe VCT comes close, better tension maintenance, lasts longer, sensitive to moisture.
Honorable mentions: Wilson Revolve, Tourna Black Zone, Luxilon Element, Luxilon ALU Power Soft.
@g4driver - have you tried for yourself or any feed back from clients re: a setup that has VCT as a main and a slick round poly (YPTA, Cream, Revolve, BHBZ) as a cross?
Yonex Poly Tour Air - soft but has less spin and more trampoline, rubbery type feel. Maybe counter this by stringing it a bit higher?
Isospeed Cream - I never understood. Never played soft for me. Has a strange metallic ping on impact even with a dampener.
Tourna Big Hitter Black 7 - soft, spinny, close to VCT but a bit more crisp. Sharp edges compared to twist of VCT. Best bite on ball I've experienced.
Gut mains / poly crosses - softer than any of the above, maybe VCT comes close, better tension maintenance, lasts longer, sensitive to moisture.
Honorable mentions: Wilson Revolve, Tourna Black Zone, Luxilon Element, Luxilon ALU Power Soft.
@g4driver - have you tried for yourself or any feed back from clients re: a setup that has VCT as a main and a slick round poly (YPTA, Cream, Revolve, BHBZ) as a cross?
g4driver
Legend
@FIRETennis - I have been using VCT 1.30mm for 8+ years, and I have tried it with both Wilson Revolve and Head Hawk crosses and prefer VCT as a full bed. I have a sensitive elbow and while I can play with a Pure Aero without pain, I can't use any version of a Pure Drive with the same string, same tension without feeling a sore elbow. My PA's also weigh 12 oz or 342 grams and have a balance of 30.8 or approx 11 pts HL, which helps make my PA+ feel softer than an off the shelf PA+ All the extra weight in each of my PA+ frames is in the handle, with the 48" Fairway Leather grips and Tungsten putty in the buttcaps. They are easy to swing despite the 342 gram weight.
A 5.0 buddy of mine and his 4.0 wife have the same result with Pure Drives. He can't hit with a PD and played Division 1 tennis. His wife hit with Pure Drives for a few years. and VCT and got periodic elbow pain. I let her borrow one of my Pure Aero frames with VCT and she bought two of them and still uses them with no pain whatsoever. There are some players who do feel the tiny separation between strings that are stiffer and those below a given threshold. You aren't the only person who has described Cream as not playing soft, yet for me, it plays slightly stiffer than Yonex Poly Tour Air (YPTA). I can't hit with 1.25 Hyper G, but I really like 1.25mm HGS and could use Tier One's 1.25mm Boost or 1.25mm HGS without blinking an eye, if 1.30mm VCT weren't available. Those are three strings that I could use without question. I can't write that about a lot of copoly strings.
But notice, I prefer TireOne's Firewire as a main only with Ghostwire crosses as I can't hit with a full bed of Firewire without feeling the stiffness in my elbow. But both HGS and VCT both work in a full bed for me. Tier One's Ghostwire has quickly become my favorite slick smooth poly for the string breaking players who use edged polys, replacing Head Hawk. Stiffness for smooth polys (least to most): YPTA, Isospeed Cream (1.28mm), Tier One Ghostwire (1.22mm), YPTP Wilson Revolve, Head Hawk Touch, Head Hawk.
I string more Cream/Velocity for more 3.5 men and 4.0 ladies than any other setup. I think YPTA is softer than Cream, but it only comes in blue. Most 4.0 and 4.5 men tend to break 1.28mm Cream rather quickly (it doesn't last some of them even two hours)
I find I can use YPTA or Cream as a cross for most non-string breaking players and get no complaints about stiffness.
If you are anyone is looking for a great copoly cross to use with a shaped or twisted string, I highly recommend you try Tier One's Ghostwire in 1.27, 1.22 (my favorite), 1.17, or 1.12mm gauges. If you want the softest smooth copoly, I would recommend YPTA with any multifilament. Ghostwire gets my vote for a cross with Natural Gut mains.
Hope this helps. As the HGS playtest comes to a close, I will put the following in my 4 frames just for you :
VCT 1.30mm/ GW 1.22mm
HGS 1.25mm / GW 1.22mm
Firewire 1.25mm / GW 1.22mm (This is Tier One's 1.25mm Boost set) I just use string from reels.
VCT (still my go to string, but have no hesitation about the three setups I just listed)
A 5.0 buddy of mine and his 4.0 wife have the same result with Pure Drives. He can't hit with a PD and played Division 1 tennis. His wife hit with Pure Drives for a few years. and VCT and got periodic elbow pain. I let her borrow one of my Pure Aero frames with VCT and she bought two of them and still uses them with no pain whatsoever. There are some players who do feel the tiny separation between strings that are stiffer and those below a given threshold. You aren't the only person who has described Cream as not playing soft, yet for me, it plays slightly stiffer than Yonex Poly Tour Air (YPTA). I can't hit with 1.25 Hyper G, but I really like 1.25mm HGS and could use Tier One's 1.25mm Boost or 1.25mm HGS without blinking an eye, if 1.30mm VCT weren't available. Those are three strings that I could use without question. I can't write that about a lot of copoly strings.
But notice, I prefer TireOne's Firewire as a main only with Ghostwire crosses as I can't hit with a full bed of Firewire without feeling the stiffness in my elbow. But both HGS and VCT both work in a full bed for me. Tier One's Ghostwire has quickly become my favorite slick smooth poly for the string breaking players who use edged polys, replacing Head Hawk. Stiffness for smooth polys (least to most): YPTA, Isospeed Cream (1.28mm), Tier One Ghostwire (1.22mm), YPTP Wilson Revolve, Head Hawk Touch, Head Hawk.
I string more Cream/Velocity for more 3.5 men and 4.0 ladies than any other setup. I think YPTA is softer than Cream, but it only comes in blue. Most 4.0 and 4.5 men tend to break 1.28mm Cream rather quickly (it doesn't last some of them even two hours)
I find I can use YPTA or Cream as a cross for most non-string breaking players and get no complaints about stiffness.
If you are anyone is looking for a great copoly cross to use with a shaped or twisted string, I highly recommend you try Tier One's Ghostwire in 1.27, 1.22 (my favorite), 1.17, or 1.12mm gauges. If you want the softest smooth copoly, I would recommend YPTA with any multifilament. Ghostwire gets my vote for a cross with Natural Gut mains.
Hope this helps. As the HGS playtest comes to a close, I will put the following in my 4 frames just for you
:VCT 1.30mm/ GW 1.22mm
HGS 1.25mm / GW 1.22mm
Firewire 1.25mm / GW 1.22mm (This is Tier One's 1.25mm Boost set) I just use string from reels.
VCT (still my go to string, but have no hesitation about the three setups I just listed)
BillKid
Hall of Fame
I’m in the category of players who don’t crave the feel of poly and don’t want something too harsh on the arm. The problem I have with a SG or multi is that they won’t last more than 2 - 4 hours before breaking most of the time. A soft poly is the best compromise I found.
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g4driver
Legend
Black Knight is a string developed and recommend for high-level players (UTR 9+). I have had two 5.0 players use it but it's hard to get a player at that level to switch from a string they have been using for years. And Black Knight 1.23mm is still stiffer than VCT 1.30mm. BK/GW is something players at 4.5 and higher level players might enjoy trying.
If you look at my client's, I have more 4.0 and 4.5 men using VCT than any other string. And yes, VCT had a head start over TOB, but it has been beating HG head to head with three men choosing VCT for each guy picking HG for at least 4 years now. HGS and TOB could change that. I am going to start using HGS instead of HG in my blind playtest, now that I have had a chance to playtest HGS for 16+ hours.
From the kind @megamind and his interview series in case you're interested
#5: g4driver :: The Megamind Interview Series
Welcome to the Megamind Interview Series, where we get to know one another. Our fifth guest of the show, is a major GEARHEAD. Specifically a string connoisseur 8-B. It is ..... drumroll ...... @g4driver I first noticed g4driver after his super interesting thread entitled the Kobayashi Maru...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
BillKid
Hall of Fame
VCT is really great although it feels dead past the 10-12 hours mark.
Currently trying Black zone, which has a nice feel although not as soft and comfortable as a fresh VCT. Great blend of control and power for me. Doesn’t bite the ball as much as VCT, which you may like or not.
What string would you recommend me to demo next? Isospeed cream or YPTA maybe?
Currently trying Black zone, which has a nice feel although not as soft and comfortable as a fresh VCT. Great blend of control and power for me. Doesn’t bite the ball as much as VCT, which you may like or not.
What string would you recommend me to demo next? Isospeed cream or YPTA maybe?
Ares2323
Rookie
Have you tried to VCT to give your natural gut crosses?Black Knight is a string developed and recommend for high-level players (UTR 9+). I have had two 5.0 players use it but it's hard to get a player at that level to switch from a string they have been using for years. And Black Knight 1.23mm is still stiffer than VCT 1.30mm. BK/GW is something players at 4.5 and higher level players might enjoy trying.
If you look at my client's, I have more 4.0 and 4.5 men using VCT than any other string. And yes, VCT had a head start over TOB, but it has been beating HG head to head with three men choosing VCT for each guy picking HG for at least 4 years now. HGS and TOB could change that. I am going to start using HGS instead of HG in my blind playtest, now that I have had a chance to playtest HGS for 16+ hours.
From the kind @megamind and his interview series in case you're interested
#5: g4driver :: The Megamind Interview Series
Welcome to the Megamind Interview Series, where we get to know one another. Our fifth guest of the show, is a major GEARHEAD. Specifically a string connoisseur 8-B. It is ..... drumroll ...... @g4driver I first noticed g4driver after his super interesting thread entitled the Kobayashi Maru...
g4driver
Legend
No. I don't mix hot knives (edged polys ) with warm butter (soft natural gut and multis). That is just a recipe to make a hot mess (break the softer stings quickly)
I am not a sponsored pro player, and don't try to mimic them. Mixing an edged poly with NG or multi simply means you will break the softer string much more quickly. If Bob and Mike Bryan, use NG / HG that's great for them, but I have zero interest in trying that setup. For me it is about giving a string setup that allows a player to play well, without getting hurt and a price point they will return to me for future stringing.
Could I milk a client with 1.25mm multis or NG and sharp edged polys? Yes..once. Then they would find a stringer who has their best interest in mind, instead of his own.
Putting a client's best interest ahead of my own interest serves me well and gets me repeat clients.
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Nice combos!! I’m really interested as to whether HGS would have longer playability than VCT - both with Poly Tour Air crosses - due to the apparently superior tension maintenance of HGS.@FIRETennis - I have been using VCT 1.30mm for 8+ years, and I have tried it with both Wilson Revolve and Head Hawk crosses and prefer VCT as a full bed. I have a sensitive elbow and while I can play with a Pure Aero without pain, I can't use any version of a Pure Drive with the same string, same tension without feeling a sore elbow. My PA's also weigh 12 oz or 342 grams and have a balance of 30.8 or approx 11 pts HL, which helps make my PA+ feel softer than an off the shelf PA+ All the extra weight in each of my PA+ frames is in the handle, with the 48" Fairway Leather grips and Tungsten putty in the buttcaps. They are easy to swing despite the 342 gram weight.
A 5.0 buddy of mine and his 4.0 wife have the same result with Pure Drives. He can't hit with a PD and played Division 1 tennis. His wife hit with Pure Drives for a few years. and VCT and got periodic elbow pain. I let her borrow one of my Pure Aero frames with VCT and she bought two of them and still uses them with no pain whatsoever. There are some players who do feel the tiny separation between strings that are stiffer and those below a given threshold. You aren't the only person who has described Cream as not playing soft, yet for me, it plays slightly stiffer than Yonex Poly Tour Air (YPTA). I can't hit with 1.25 Hyper G, but I really like 1.25mm HGS and could use Tier One's 1.25mm Boost or 1.25mm HGS without blinking an eye, if 1.30mm VCT weren't available. Those are three strings that I could use without question. I can't write that about a lot of copoly strings.
But notice, I prefer TireOne's Firewire as a main only with Ghostwire crosses as I can't hit with a full bed of Firewire without feeling the stiffness in my elbow. But both HGS and VCT both work in a full bed for me. Tier One's Ghostwire has quickly become my favorite slick smooth poly for the string breaking players who use edged polys, replacing Head Hawk. Stiffness for smooth polys (least to most): YPTA, Isospeed Cream (1.28mm), Tier One Ghostwire (1.22mm), YPTP Wilson Revolve, Head Hawk Touch, Head Hawk.
I string more Cream/Velocity for more 3.5 men and 4.0 ladies than any other setup. I think YPTA is softer than Cream, but it only comes in blue. Most 4.0 and 4.5 men tend to break 1.28mm Cream rather quickly (it doesn't last some of them even two hours)
I find I can use YPTA or Cream as a cross for most non-string breaking players and get no complaints about stiffness.
If you are anyone is looking for a great copoly cross to use with a shaped or twisted string, I highly recommend you try Tier One's Ghostwire in 1.27, 1.22 (my favorite), 1.17, or 1.12mm gauges. If you want the softest smooth copoly, I would recommend YPTA with any multifilament. Ghostwire gets my vote for a cross with Natural Gut mains.
Hope this helps. As the HGS playtest comes to a close, I will put the following in my 4 frames just for you
VCT 1.30mm/ GW 1.22mm
HGS 1.25mm / GW 1.22mm
Firewire 1.25mm / GW 1.22mm (This is Tier One's 1.25mm Boost set) I just use string from reels.
VCT (still my go to string, but have no hesitation about the three setups I just listed)
FIRETennis
Professional
I agree with this.
I've tried this a couple times, VS mains & Hyper-G 1.25 crosses.
It felt really nice and seemed to not damage the gut initially, as soon as the first fraying started the gut broke very fast compared to my normal round slick poly.
You might get a bit of extra spin and bite off the sharp crosses at the expense of cutting the durability of the gut in half or less.
boxerrumble
New User
Do you, or anyone else, have recommendations on a smooth round slick, and soft poly to cross with natural gut or multifilament mains? I want to try a hybrid with natural gut but would like some longevity as well. I was thinking of trying the hybrid prepacked by Babolat w/ VS Touch and RPM Blast but it seems the RPM Blast are edged.
LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
There are quite a few threads on this. Isospeed Cream is not bad. I haven't tried it but Ghostwire I hear is not bad.
I string a lot of racquets with Tourna Big Hitter Silver 7 which is a bit stiffer but is a very slippery cross string for gut.
There are others that people recommend if you search here.
g4driver
Legend
Tier One Ghostwire (GW) It is slick pretty soft and holds tension well.
Cream and YPTA are both softer than GW, but not as slick as Ghostwire.
I have used Lux NG/GW, Tecnfibre HDMX mains / YPTA crosses, Tecnfibre HDX Tour mains / Velocity crosses and all three are very soft.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Who cares if shaped polys cut through gut mains? Half the time, the poly goes dead and feels harsh before the gut breaks anyway. I play with VS/HyperG similar to the Bryan brothers and usually the strings break in 12-15 hours for me - but, the HyperG feels like its going dead in the same time period of 12-15 hours anyway and so, I cut them out if I don’t break them within 15 hours. I like ALU Power crosses also, but it is dead within 5-6 hours. Volkl Cyclone is good, but it goes dead within 6-8 hours for me with tons of string movement and harsh feel after that.
I am waiting to try HyperG Soft as a cross as I would like a bit more comfort than HyperG when I play outdoors in the winter when the temperature is in the forties. Yonex Poly tour Fire is a decent round poly cross to try also. Tour Bite Soft had more power (less control) than HyperG and doesn't have as much spin potential. I think HyperG is a good compromise of a poly offering softness and spin/bite/control.
I am waiting to try HyperG Soft as a cross as I would like a bit more comfort than HyperG when I play outdoors in the winter when the temperature is in the forties. Yonex Poly tour Fire is a decent round poly cross to try also. Tour Bite Soft had more power (less control) than HyperG and doesn't have as much spin potential. I think HyperG is a good compromise of a poly offering softness and spin/bite/control.
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VCT 16g mains // YPTP 17g 1.20mm cross is my current favorite setup. VCT is so soft as a poly that if you string it low enough, it feels softer than gut. Hence I use it as a main in my pseudo gut/poly hybrid with smooth round poly cross that provides good tension maintenance. Revolve also works well too but it’s playability drops off a cliff after some time.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
I just played with VCT full bed for the first time the other day and I love it. However, my arm and wrist are feeling it more than usual. Stringer also told me to watch my elbow w/this string.
Great points
I have VCT in one racquet, and 4 others with conventional and reverse hybrid setups using that super popular Prince synthetic w/Kirschbaum Pro Line II. That's a comfy, well-powered poly and most importantly it is dirt cheap.
FIRETennis
Professional
All the crosses with gut I've tried and liked from softest to stiffest
Yonex Poly Tour Air
Isospeed Cream
Grapplesnake Irukandji
Wilson Revolve
Tourna Black Zone
RS Lyon
Head Hawk Touch
Luxilon Element
Luxilon ALU Power Soft
Luxilon 4G Rough
My fav are Tourna Black Zone. I also like Luxilon Element and ALU Soft or 4G Rough but $$$
My wallet unfortunately complains.
It would cost me more than double to $1000/year instead of $450/year to use Hyper-G as a cross. The extra benefit of the a bit more bite is not worth it imo.
VS/Hyper-G 6-8h.
VS/Slick Round Co-Poly 20-30h restringing the cross every 8h.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
If you do your own stringing and can restring crosses multiple times, I can see why you would like round crosses. For me, the round crosses I’ve tried so far go dead sooner than HyperG and my gut still looks somewhat notched and frayed within 10 hours. Even if I found a stringer who is willing to just restring only the crosses, I doubt that my gut would last more than 15 hours - part of it could be because I play with VS17.
g4driver
Legend
A: The 99.99% of rec tennis players who want the strings to last longer. If you like Hyper G crosses and have no issues paying for 1.25mm VS Gut that last 12-15 hours, that's great. I have zero clients like that and I am stringing 90+ frames a month.
A slick copoly cross allows VS Gut or Lux Gut to last 2 to 3 times as long as an edged poly. Like @FIRETennis wrote, he can flip his frame over, mount it on a 6 point mount, and restring the copoly crosses. I won't do that for a client, but I have restrung the crosses of my Lux Gut/Head Hawk frames after 20+ hours countless times. I can play with 1.30mm Lux Gut/ Ghostwire for 20-25 hours with no pain whatsoever. When I restring my frames, I flip the frame so the crosses go on the opposite side of the gut from the first time I strung it. This method ensures the indentations on the gut from the first stringing are taken out of play. The dead poly crosses don't bother my elbow whatsoever and I break the gut mains (most likely due to the Har Tru courts, with a lot of moisture and those little rocks from the crushed Har Tru)
All that matters is that the client paying for the strings and labor is happy.
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g4driver
Legend
@socallefty
Your stringer must love you as a frequent customer with expensive NG strings. Hopefully, you aren't paying MSRP for that VS Gut or your stringer is giving you a discontinued stringing rate. My clients like you (ones who give me a lot of business) get my price for strings (not MSRP) and flat rate labor. I take care of my clients and they take care of me. "Quid Pro Quo" it's been working for me since high school Latin class
Just saying you are a great client to any good stringer... And any stringer would love you as a client and could easily offer you a discounted stringing rate, on either labor or the price of strings. Your the type of client a stringer loves as you know what you want and you're a frequent customer. Kudos to you for restringing frequently and avoiding a wrist/elbow/shoulder injury.
Your stringer must love you as a frequent customer with expensive NG strings.
Hopefully, you aren't paying MSRP for that VS Gut or your stringer is giving you a discontinued stringing rate. My clients like you (ones who give me a lot of business) get my price for strings (not MSRP) and flat rate labor. I take care of my clients and they take care of me. "Quid Pro Quo" it's been working for me since high school Latin class Just saying you are a great client to any good stringer... And any stringer would love you as a client and could easily offer you a discounted stringing rate, on either labor or the price of strings. Your the type of client a stringer loves as you know what you want and you're a frequent customer.
Kudos to you for restringing frequently and avoiding a wrist/elbow/shoulder injury.
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socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Not only do I string often, but I also write short articles on strings , restringing often etc. and will email them to players I play regularly with, who are on my team etc. So, I am out there trying to save the adult rec tennis world one elbow at a time@socallefty
Your stringer must love you as a frequent customer with expensive NG strings.
Just saying you are a great client to any good stringer... And any stringer would love you as a client and could easily offer you a discounted stringing rate, on either labor or the price of strings. Your the type of client a stringer loves as you know what you want and you're a frequent customer.
My local pro shop at my club and my stringer appreciate that also.Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Do you find that the soft polys you've used so far last more than four hours before they lose too much tension?
BillKid
Hall of Fame
I would say I do not feel that much the loss of tension. It’s more about dead feel and loss of comfort that occurs after about 10 hours with VCT. It’s very subjective and some players may feel this earlier or later depending on their sensibility. If I can find a new string that would last longer with regards to that issue I will be happy.
Problem is not too many soft polys are as performant as VCT. Especially once and if tension is mid to low 40's. Lynx green 17 held tension reasonably well for me and took 14 hours to go dead but obviously it's different person to person and setup dependent. Tour bite low tension 17 gauge is also pretty soft and good.... what I was using for years before shoulder reconstruction.
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Happi
Hall of Fame
I play with GW 19 FB in my 18x20 frame, love it but I wonder how PL II compares. I like PTA but really disliked the feeling of Cream. To me GW 19 is the softest poly setup so far. Cyber Flash 17L is another soft poly string I enjoy.I got myself a few of the mentioned strings to try next, currently I have been playing with Spiky Shark 17g, Proline2 18L & Ghostwire 19g on my 3 frames.
Happi
Hall of Fame
GW 19 (1.10) seems to me to be even softer than YPTA and works great in a 18x20 frame.
Humbi_HTX
Semi-Pro
GW is very soft but at the same time low powered, PL2 in 18L feels more alive and is just as confortable but with a crisp impact and more power.
As a rec player myself, I like poly strings that give me some power back as I am not trying to smash every hit and I am not a big guy either (5'7 175lbs) GW feels pretty mute as a main, maybe as a cross works well because it is very slick and holds the tension very well.
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g4driver
Legend
Glad you found one that works well for you. Some people struggle with the string journey. YPTA only comes in 1.25mm so when you get to 1.10mm that's a pretty thing string. For a 1.22mm string, Ghostwire works very well as a cross with a lot of poly strings to soften the stringbed. The thinnest string I stock is 1.20mm Hyper G and that's only for one client.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
I have not but I will look into is since finding Cream in Canada is very hard. And I can't cross the border to pick it up from my US postal box. Darn Covid19.
megamind
Legend
Just played with Ghostwire 1.22mm as a cross. It is very comfortable. Comfiest poly I've used so far. In fact, my first thought after ball contact was...is this a multi?
On the contrary of some other posters, I thought it was actually quite lively and powerful,and I did miss out on some control.
Context: I've previously only used polys like Head Hawk, Hyper G, Luxilon ALU Power (so take that perspective with a grain of salt, if you're more accustomed to soft polys than me)
Overall, based on one hit, I recommend it, but I'll have to see how it plays over time
(shoutout to @g4driver to introducing me to this string)
On the contrary of some other posters, I thought it was actually quite lively and powerful,and I did miss out on some control.
Context: I've previously only used polys like Head Hawk, Hyper G, Luxilon ALU Power (so take that perspective with a grain of salt, if you're more accustomed to soft polys than me)
Overall, based on one hit, I recommend it, but I'll have to see how it plays over time
(shoutout to @g4driver to introducing me to this string)
