Luxilon ALU Power appreciation thread
- Thread starter FiReFTW
- Start date
TheIntrovert
Hall of Fame
My string of choice in my multi poly hybrid. Love it
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
J
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
this poly has great feel for a poly. anyway why do you prefer this over Alu power rough ?
Anyone else absolutely loves this string like me? From the moment I tried it, it felt absolutely amazing.
After a couple times I fell completely in love with it.
Luxilon Alu Power
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
I've been playing a full bed at 48 for over 6 years now. Every now and then I try to find something else that can compete with it, but nothing else compares in terms of feel, control and power. What I can't stand about it, and why I keep trying to find a replacement for it is because I can only get about 2 or 3 hours out of it before it goes dead and plays like crap. For this reason, it should cost half as much as it does. Shame on Luxilon for raping us with the cost
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
Can you compare these two in terms of power?Used to be my fave string, until I tried Solinco's Hyper G-string
What made you switch?
megamind
Legend
liked the amount of spin solinco could give me, which makes it easier for me to control,
luxilon had more power i think
luxilon was probably better for flatter shots, but with solinco i feel the opponent contacts the ball a bit later due to the added spin (or maybe i just started spinning it more recently, regardless of the string)
it's been a while since the switch so i dont remember things exactly
SeeItHitIt
Professional
Play time vs price is the complaint. It’s the best full bed of poly going, but going is soon gone (in a few hours of play).
darklore009
Hall of Fame
Luxilon was my go to strings whenever I play in tournaments as I can take advantage of its lively playability. Its only sad that I cant use it more of it after its lifespan.
So do you cut out after 3 hours? I bought a used PS 97 that had Alu power in it. First 2 matches I played great, third match ball was flying on me. Not sure how old the strings were though. Tempted to try it again.
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
I cut them out. If I can finish a match in like an hour and a half, I can get two matches out of a set. By the end of the second match "which is about 3 hours in" the strings are totally dead, and I cut them out. The only reason I keep using Alu Power is because I know a dealer that sells me reels for 40% off retail price. So a set ends up costing me like $10. But it is a pain in the ass having to restring every week.
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
You're right. Balls don't start flying out. They start to fall shorter. Making me have to swing harder and harder to keep depth, causing a few more errors and lots of elbow pain. That's what "dead strings" mean. And yes... it happens very quickly with Alu.
Doubles
Legend
I agree. I prefer to use ALU Rough so it snaps a little faster, but I don’t think the fall off is as extreme as some people’s experience. For me the string plays well for 3-4 hours, loosens up a bit, then snaps by hour 5 or 6. It’s not the best at the end but I’ve played with far worse.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
ive experienced clear tension-drop (dead poly feel) with 2 poly strings in my history
1lux.alu.POWER
2yonex.poly.tour.FIRE
first day it was great! pop/control,
next day, and I mean next day, it felt like a boardy poly, not similar at all; control was there, pop was not!
really was shockingly different,,
but of the 2, I restrung y.pt.fire almost soon after(days), too soft( control was not there anylonger),
the lux.alu played "FINE", for a while still (kept it on for 3 weeks (my normal time)),,
I also play with pros pro polys which are cheaper and plasticky feel, and they provably drop in tension, much much much quicker,, but because this happens, they are consistent in feel when I need them for the next 3 weeks..
1lux.alu.POWER
2yonex.poly.tour.FIRE
first day it was great! pop/control,
next day, and I mean next day, it felt like a boardy poly, not similar at all; control was there, pop was not!
really was shockingly different,,
but of the 2, I restrung y.pt.fire almost soon after(days), too soft( control was not there anylonger),
the lux.alu played "FINE", for a while still (kept it on for 3 weeks (my normal time)),,
I also play with pros pro polys which are cheaper and plasticky feel, and they provably drop in tension, much much much quicker,, but because this happens, they are consistent in feel when I need them for the next 3 weeks..
Yeah I would hate stringing that often.
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
Silver. Better feel and pop off the stringbed.
achapa8807
Semi-Pro
For me, it seems like silver is more lively and blue is more dead, like in all areas. I actually like silver when it loses tension.
FiReFTW
Legend
Yeah silver all the way!
jangotango
Semi-Pro
What's the verdict on the colors? For me nothing beats silver, but what about purple, neon green, etc....
rafa_prestige89
Professional
Ice Blue! More control and spin!
For me it's the feel in the beginning that is really great. It's not like it performs so much better than many other good polys, it's just the feel of hitting the ball is better and more connected than other polys. Unfortunately that wears off very quickly, and after that it's just an average poly in my opinion. So there's no good reason to use it as I won't use a string that I don't want to play until it breaks.
There are other strings that are clearly better IMO that break really quickly and if I was willing to use a 2-3 hour string there's no way it would be ALU. It'd probably be a hybrid of luxilon ace and head rip control. That combo is freaking phenomenal but it breaks quickly. In fact, I might take lux ace over alu power straight up. Feel is not quite as good in the beginning but it at least has the decency to last until it breaks. It needs to be dialed in tension wise though. It can be really stiff if strung too tight.
CiscoPC600
Hall of Fame
I also appreciate ALU Power... for the 3-4 hours it's good. It's meh after. And too expensive to be meh after. Don't @ me @J011yroger
rafa_prestige89
Professional
How do you compare Alu Power to Adrenaline?
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
Alu Power is better in all categories.
FIRETennis
Professional
For me it was also love at first hit with the ALU Power. It feels that you cannot miss in the first hour, hour and a half of play. I can get 3-4h amazing hours then 5-6h mediocre practice hours till they break. I have multiple racquets and I just rotate them.
For the average club player it's definitely not worth the money and stringing time for it but for more advanced amateur players that want to play their best at tournaments, it's quintessential.
I've been trying many different strings looking for the "holy grail" but it almost feels like looking for the meaning of life. I've just come to terms that no string will feel "amazing" for 10 hours and no string will feel as good as it feels that first hour. This applies to RPM Blast, Tour Bite and any other high performance poly string. Instead, I just accept the playability in exchange for the great tennis that I play with them. I was considering for casual matches to use something like Hyper-G or Tour Bite, which have a similar launch angle and depth for my swings as ALU, and then use ALU Power for tournaments and important matches.
For the average club player it's definitely not worth the money and stringing time for it but for more advanced amateur players that want to play their best at tournaments, it's quintessential.
I've been trying many different strings looking for the "holy grail" but it almost feels like looking for the meaning of life. I've just come to terms that no string will feel "amazing" for 10 hours and no string will feel as good as it feels that first hour. This applies to RPM Blast, Tour Bite and any other high performance poly string. Instead, I just accept the playability in exchange for the great tennis that I play with them. I was considering for casual matches to use something like Hyper-G or Tour Bite, which have a similar launch angle and depth for my swings as ALU, and then use ALU Power for tournaments and important matches.
jangotango
Semi-Pro
Has anybody tried EVERY type of ALU? TiMo, Ace, the different gauges, ALU Spin, etc....
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Give Tourna Silver 7 Tour a try. It plays very similarly to Tour Bite but has that lively, springy, yet controlled feel that is reminiscent of Alu Power for the first couple of hours. And unlike some other slightly springy feeling strings like Cyclone, for me it has a level of crispness, control, and consistency which is missing in parts from Cyclone. Playability duration is great too - it plays well until about the last hour before it breaks.
FIRETennis
Professional
Thanks for the suggestion. I was just reading about it. I’ll give it a try. The composition of the new tour version seems to be different than the older Silver and the black version as in USRSA tests the tension maintenance is way better on this tour.
How do you find the launch angle of it compared to ALU power? I feel that some textured/shaped strings sometimes have erratic/unpredictable launch angles ...
TagUrIt
Hall of Fame
I am big Alu Power fan, but Luxilon strings can get pretty expensive after a while. I tried a set of Luxilon Savage and really started liking shaped strings. I decided to try Tourna Big Hitter Blue Rough, it’s actually a really good shaped co-poly and not as expensive as Luxilon.
Honestly, I liked the string but personally prefer something more still and board-like; I've enjoyed 4G and Big Banger Original quite a bit. Major problem for me with ALU Power is that it is expensive and in my experience, it has some of the worst tension maintenance of any string I've ever used. A couple of practices and I feel like they become super springy. If cost was no object and I could keep restringing often, then they would rank higher up for me.
rogerroger917
Hall of Fame
Alupwr best string ever.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Launch angle of Silver 7 Tour has been higher for me than Alu Power but I've found it to be very consistent in response. It's a very lightly shaped string that seems to wear smooth after a couple of hours but ball response and spin capability don't seem to noticeably change. Due to the higher power levels of S7T, sometimes it can feel like there's a hot spot when I'm forced to slap at the ball and accidentally hit it square in the center of the sweetspot but it otherwise doesn't surprise me in how it responds.
Alu power has "that feel" for the first couple of hours and then seems to change and become deader like most other polys. S7T never hits those same Alu power highs, but it is a noticeably better string for me after the second hour.
Bender
G.O.A.T.
If you had access to free string jobs, ALU Power is probably the GOAT string.
Hyper G was one of the best from a practicality standpoint because it offered something somewhat similar but with better spin, less power, and similar crappy longevity, but cost a whole lot less...until Solinco raised the price and took it out of the race.
At this point, I've switched to RPM Rough 17 mains x RPM Blast 17 crosses at 55 lbs because it doesn't cost much more, and plays far better than either string even after tension loss. I've played pretty well with this setup for over 8 hours of heavy hitting, whereas I would have cut out the ALU or the Hyper G if they hadn't already snapped by that point.
Hyper G was one of the best from a practicality standpoint because it offered something somewhat similar but with better spin, less power, and similar crappy longevity, but cost a whole lot less...until Solinco raised the price and took it out of the race.
At this point, I've switched to RPM Rough 17 mains x RPM Blast 17 crosses at 55 lbs because it doesn't cost much more, and plays far better than either string even after tension loss. I've played pretty well with this setup for over 8 hours of heavy hitting, whereas I would have cut out the ALU or the Hyper G if they hadn't already snapped by that point.
FIRETennis
Professional
I've tried a full bed of ALU Rough (didn't enjoy the inconsistent launches) but never full bed RPM Blast Rough. I've tried RPM Blast 16 & 17 full bed ... nice for 2 hours then it notched like crazy. I found I always had to swing full speed with it to get spin and depth. It wasn't comfortable on touchy shots. The combination you suggest does sound like an interesting setup. What's worth to note is that RPM Blast Rough is apparently much softer than RPM Blast.
Bender
G.O.A.T.
Yep, and the texture on the Rough kinda keeps the Blast crosses in place while the Rough slides back and forth.
It’s not a huge step up / down from a full bed of either type of RPM but it’s worth trying.
My main issue with a full bed of RPM Rough was that the mains and crosses would catch the each other in their respective textured parts, which aren’t necessarily where the mains and the crosses should intersect, resulting in a stringbed after just a few minutes’ hitting to notch in an unevenly spaced stringbed (like those good pre poly days where you had to fix your strings after every point).
By using Rough mains and Blast crosses, I can catch the Blast at the right part of the mains and once it notches it stays there and remains very playable.
I also find that Rough lasts a lot longer than Blast, and since I’m more sensitive to the mains than I am to the crosses I put the more durable string in the mains.
You could reverse the setup by putting Blast in the mains and Rough in the crosses, but that’s really for those weird people who use setups like poly mains and natural gut crosses.
FIRETennis
Professional
Opps.. just tried this. Didn't like it as indeed the crosses aren't slick and mains get stuck out of place after an hour. Quite a noticeable big drop off in spin after that hour as well...
Thomas O’Malley
New User
It’s the King of Poly, what more can you really say?
It’s no frills, is consistent, does it job. There’s definitely more spin heavy poly’s, more powerful ones, but all around it’s just solid.
It’s no frills, is consistent, does it job. There’s definitely more spin heavy poly’s, more powerful ones, but all around it’s just solid.
rafa_prestige89
Professional
A little more spin and a little less durability.
Luxilon is the best. If you prefer all poly the best thing you can do is buy a reel of Alu Power and experiment with the tension until you find what works for you. If you don’t like playing with the best then this string isn’t for you.
There are less expensive options that have better tension maintenance but playability...nothing compares to Alu.
There are less expensive options that have better tension maintenance but playability...nothing compares to Alu.
Thomas O’Malley
New User
I havent played with regular alu power actually but its close sibling alu soft. Just a solid string thats good in every area. It wont give you the spin of RPM or hyper-g, and isnt as comfortable as rpm (about even with hyper g) but its consistent and reliable.
FIRETennis
Professional
I find ALU Soft very comfortable. I have used Hyper G 1.25 and RPM 1.25
TennisManiac
Hall of Fame
This is all true. I've been using it for almost 7 years now. I just can't stand the fact that it only plays well for one match. After 2 hours of heavy hitting its worthless. It should cost half as much as it does. I love the string, but I hate Luxilon with a passion.
