Natural Gut Brand Comparison

[Azzurri]

I've heard Pacific strings are all free, including gut.

But these are signed players and its part of the package...no?

 

[samster]

Yeah, I agree with that (and duso's similar feedback). If you get the right set, Legend can be pretty good - but their QC is suspect sometimes and when I pay $$ for gut I want to know what I am getting. I too have received some "dubious" packs of Legend and had to send them back. Good value if you get good strings though.

Tennis Warehouse has replaced my defective set of coated Legend 17. Enough said. I commend them for being on top of their customer service. It was my first bad set in over 20 sets so overall it's not terrible. I have heard worse with Titan and Bow and Grand Slam Gut.

I am liking the uncoated version better than the coated version; I find the uncoated version to be more consistent than the coated. Becareful with the uncoated though as the last few crosses the string can start to unravel but so far it's holding up.

I am done messing with copolys, polys, etc. Nothing beats the comfort of natural gut.

 

[stormholloway]

But these are signed players and its part of the package...no?

Pacific is the official string of the ATP. I'm pretty sure they're all free. Pacific gets the advertisement from the ATP and in turn gives out strings.

What's interesting is that so few players use Pacific strings considering/if they are free.

 

[El Guapo]

I have also read that gut is NOT free. The pro's pay for them. I am sure there are a select few that have contracts with them, but from what have read the gut is not free.

Not so. Tons of players get free gut from Babolat. The standard number is 70 sets. Not like poly or syn where you get as much as you want, but still not bad.

 

[WChiang]

Tennis Warehouse has replaced my defective set of coated Legend 17. Enough said. I commend them for being on top of their customer service. It was my first bad set in over 20 sets so overall it's not terrible. I have heard worse with Titan and Bow and Grand Slam Gut.

I am liking the uncoated version better than the coated version; I find the uncoated version to be more consistent than the coated. Becareful with the uncoated though as the last few crosses the string can start to unravel but so far it's holding up.

I am done messing with copolys, polys, etc. Nothing beats the comfort of natural gut.

Yeah, TW is great with the customer service. I had sent my two defective packs of Legend directly to Klip and received immediate replacements which is also good CS. It's just a hassle to deal with given the alternatives - BUT it was only a couple of packs out of about 9 total that I have purchased. When the dust settles I prefer VS, Pacific, or even BDE Performance over Klip. But since Legend is cheaper I think it is a decent value although it is not one of my current favorites. I have been hybriding gut with synthetics quite a bit lately and really enjoy the setup.

 

[fastdunn]

both klip and pacific did better at lower tension and felt more in control. but babolat when strung tight makes me feel truely all mighty...

 

[Cruzer]

Not so. Tons of players get free gut from Babolat. The standard number is 70 sets. Not like poly or syn where you get as much as you want, but still not bad.

Is this knowledge from personal experience, i.e. stringing at a tournament or second hand information? I was surpirsed at the prompt denial of anyone getting free gut string jobs when this topic was brought up a few years ago. At the time I would have bet money that Sampras was getting free Babolat gut, particularly at the rate he used it but supposedly even Samparas had to pay for his gut strings. I am inclined to believe the guys that have strung at a major tennis event but it seems everyone has there own information sources and you can chose to believe what you like.

 

[Azzurri]

Pacific is the official string of the ATP. I'm pretty sure they're all free. Pacific gets the advertisement from the ATP and in turn gives out strings.

What's interesting is that so few players use Pacific strings considering/if they are free.

I see..thanks for the clarification.

 

[Azzurri]

Not so. Tons of players get free gut from Babolat. The standard number is 70 sets. Not like poly or syn where you get as much as you want, but still not bad.

70 sets? A pro would go through that within weeks. I meant free for the season or whatever.

 

[J011yroger]

70 sets? A pro would go through that within weeks. I meant free for the season or whatever.

25 minutes! And I promise, I wasn't even hitting hard.

J

 

[bumblebee]

^^^.... wow dat was fast

 

[Azzurri]

Jolly,
I thought you were a poly man.:shock:

 

[cjk1026]

Not so. Tons of players get free gut from Babolat. The standard number is 70 sets. Not like poly or syn where you get as much as you want, but still not bad.

I just got back to my office from the Challenger Series (both WTA & ATP) event at Home Depot Center here in Los Angeles and got it straight from 3 different horse's mouths (USTA Director, USTA Coach and tour stringer) that free gut is almost nonexistent to players unless they're very highly ranked worldwide...and I mean highly ranked as in top seeds at tour events. Two of them went on to say that even the big name poly's such as Luxilon are pretty difficult to come by for free. That said, I was told that second tier gut was slightly more available and if a player or coach digs around they can sometimes find some VS or Luxilon for free, but it aint easy.

Lastly, to my unofficial and extremely inexperinced eye it appeared as though almost every player I saw either playing a match or practicing was using 100% poly in their racquets.

 

[scotus]

I just got back to my office from the Challenger Series (both WTA & ATP) event at Home Depot Center here in Los Angeles and got it straight from 3 different horse's mouths (USTA Director, USTA Coach and tour stringer) that free gut is almost nonexistent to players unless they're very highly ranked worldwide...and I mean highly ranked as in top seeds at tour events. Two of them went on to say that even the big name poly's such as Luxilon are pretty difficult to come by for free. That said, I was told that second tier gut was slightly more available and if a player or coach digs around they can sometimes find some VS or Luxilon for free, but it aint easy.

Lastly, to my unofficial and extremely inexperinced eye it appeared as though almost every player I saw either playing a match or practicing was using 100% poly in their racquets.

How much was the admission for this event?

 

[El Guapo]

I just got back to my office from the Challenger Series (both WTA & ATP) event at Home Depot Center here in Los Angeles and got it straight from 3 different horse's mouths (USTA Director, USTA Coach and tour stringer) that free gut is almost nonexistent to players unless they're very highly ranked worldwide...and I mean highly ranked as in top seeds at tour events. Two of them went on to say that even the big name poly's such as Luxilon are pretty difficult to come by for free. That said, I was told that second tier gut was slightly more available and if a player or coach digs around they can sometimes find some VS or Luxilon for free, but it aint easy.

Lastly, to my unofficial and extremely inexperinced eye it appeared as though almost every player I saw either playing a match or practicing was using 100% poly in their racquets.

Nope, not even close. You won't find anywhere near every player using full poly. It's probably the minority now. This is on the men's side.

As for the gut, I couldn't tell you if they get VS or not.

 

[cjk1026]

How much was the admission for this event?

Admission and parking are free. However a chilled bottle of water was $3.50...ouch!

 

[cjk1026]

Nope, not even close. You won't find anywhere near every player using full poly. It's probably the minority now. This is on the men's side.

As for the gut, I couldn't tell you if they get VS or not.

Like I said, my eye is amateur at best. However, Amir Delic's racquet string sure looked like all the string was poly and it's easy to be pretty close. There is a sort of glistening to the poly's that is fairly obvious. Quite a few player's racquets I saw had that poly "glisten" to it. And the USTA guy I spoke to told me that poly is most definitely the string of choice, and by a wide margin.

 

[J011yroger]

Jolly,
I thought you were a poly man.:shock:

I am, but I strung one up with full VS at 70 to see if it would be a viable option for S&V play in a couple of grass tourneys I am going to play.

I like volleying better with ALU, so I decided to just burn up the gut on the practice court.

J

 

[El Guapo]

Like I said, my eye is amateur at best. However, Amir Delic's racquet string sure looked like all the string was poly and it's easy to be pretty close. There is a sort of glistening to the poly's that is fairly obvious. Quite a few player's racquets I saw had that poly "glisten" to it. And the USTA guy I spoke to told me that poly is most definitely the string of choice, and by a wide margin.

Poly is the string of choice, but not full poly. Lots of gut and syn gut crosses out there.

 

[Seacoast Stringer]

Poly is the string of choice, but not full poly. Lots of gut and syn gut crosses out there.

There are not a lot of players receiving free gut (unless VERY highly ranked) and there are a lot of full poly players out there. It remains the string of choice with many more full jobs than you think. I don't care for a full poly setup but then again I'm not an 18 year old on the satellite tour bashing the cr*p out of the ball either..

 

[Azzurri]

I am, but I strung one up with full VS at 70 to see if it would be a viable option for S&V play in a couple of grass tourneys I am going to play.

I like volleying better with ALU, so I decided to just burn up the gut on the practice court.

J

OK..makes sense. I thought you were pretty rough on your strings (Poly) and gut to you is like string cheese to me. Breaking all that gut string would be PRICEY.:shock:

 

[J011yroger]

OK..makes sense. I thought you were pretty rough on your strings (Poly) and gut to you is like string cheese to me. Breaking all that gut string would be PRICEY.:shock:

Breaking all that poly is no bargain either.

I try to keep it under $100 a week, but in the outdoor summer season, that is about impossible.

J

 

[Azzurri]

Breaking all that poly is no bargain either.

I try to keep it under $100 a week, but in the outdoor summer season, that is about impossible.

J

I assume you buy the reels in Poly?

 

[ledor]

Klip Legend is a tad bit stiffer than VS in terms of feel and in stringing. Klip Legend is the more economical choice or try Babolat Tonic.

I think I'm going back to VS Team/SPPP 17 combo.

 

[Steve Huff]

I think Mojo's comparisons on the first page are very accurate. Personally, I prefer Klip Legend. I like VS too, but not as well as the Legend, which is cheaper anyway. I tried a couple of sets of the Pacific gut. It seemed thin for the gauge. One set played very well. The other broke in the frame before I played with it. BDE Performance is definitely the softest feeling. Bow Brand feels good, but I had too many sets breaking, some before playing, so I quit using (or carrying) it. I've tried the Babolat Tonic (Ball Feel). It's ok. I got it only because the Klip was in short supply about a year ago. Never used the other brands "2nd" guts.

 

[samster]

I think Mojo's comparisons on the first page are very accurate. Personally, I prefer Klip Legend. I like VS too, but not as well as the Legend, which is cheaper anyway. I tried a couple of sets of the Pacific gut. It seemed thin for the gauge. One set played very well. The other broke in the frame before I played with it. BDE Performance is definitely the softest feeling. Bow Brand feels good, but I had too many sets breaking, some before playing, so I quit using (or carrying) it. I've tried the Babolat Tonic (Ball Feel). It's ok. I got it only because the Klip was in short supply about a year ago. Never used the other brands "2nd" guts.

Any string breaking before playing is no good, especially gut!

 

[Offshore]

I think Mojo's comparisons on the first page are very accurate. Personally, I prefer Klip Legend. I like VS too, but not as well as the Legend, which is cheaper anyway. I tried a couple of sets of the Pacific gut. It seemed thin for the gauge. One set played very well. The other broke in the frame before I played with it. BDE Performance is definitely the softest feeling. Bow Brand feels good, but I had too many sets breaking, some before playing, so I quit using (or carrying) it. I've tried the Babolat Tonic (Ball Feel). It's ok. I got it only because the Klip was in short supply about a year ago. Never used the other brands "2nd" guts.

That goes to the "to each their own" file. I like Legend but have gravitated toward Pacific during the past several months as mains with Gosen crosses. I also enjoyed VS and it is definitely worth the extra dollars over Klip. I did not have the same experiences with Pacific at all....the gauge felt normal and there was no undo breakage. Klip is a decent value though but since I don't break strings as quickly as some - I have had better playability with Pacific.

 

[bumblebee]

pacific primevs BDE perf

aight so, got back from an hour of hitting,
this was strung up 60lbs in a t-fight 320 18*20...(i might switch racquets, cuz ever since this racquet, iv been injured 6 times, all on my hitting arm T_T anybody with comfort experience with aerogel 200 or 100 is welcome to tellling me about them)
it felt nice, controllable power, but not a lot of bite, i used to use poly strung at like 48, until injuries jst killed me, so my swing demands a string that can kinda help me. i personally feel that BDE is a lot better, and for the money, its useful. they are both good at the net, slight edge to Pacific, baseline to BDE, serves Pacific, topspin, slice to BDE...
so yea, i think Pacific's great, never tried VS (i should, but man.... after the pacific string, im outa $$$), BUT, i think BDE is for me. i might hybrid like Mojo, (i have string machine, back when i was huge topspin western forehand, i broke a lot of string, and i was using poly back then...). BDE is better for serve and volley wannabe like me lol

 

[Octavianus]

I think Babolat is where it's at. They sell a 15 gauge if you want to get your money's worth and more durability.

VS is far and away the best natural gut string in my opinion. Klip isn't bad, but Babolat is better. There are die hards who will certainly chime in however.

I fully agree with storm, I have used both strings.

 

[Tofi]

Any one tried klip armour pro natural??? apparently its got really good durability because of a poly coating. its also apparently easier to string that other natural guts i might get it.

 

[davidahenry]

^^^^
I'd lke to know that as well. In many threads, I've read some great comments about Klip Legend. If Armour Pro is Klip's top-of-the-line natural gut, then is it safe to assume it is like Legend but better?

Thanks.

 

[Tofi]

It says its gut but with a coating that makes it more durable so i assume that its better than klip legend and its also $2 less than babolat vs natural gut.

 

[mctennis]

I think the Bow and Pacific make the better two of all the guts I've used. They seem to last longer and feel better than all the rest. I've used all of them except Titan ( I won't try that stuff).

 

[mctennis]

If you really want to know if there is a difference, try this:

String up 3 or 4 identical rackets, one with VS and each of the others with a different brand of gut. Label them, but not in an obvious manner.

Go on the court with all of the rackets and randomly grab one. Hit with it for a few minutes, then go back and grab another. Repeat this a few times.

If you can correctly identify which is the VS, then you've answered your question. If you can't, then there's really no reason to spend the extra $.

Exactly right. That's how I did my comparison.

 

[Ljubicic for number1]

I have used VS, Tonic, Klip Armour pro and Pacific tough gut
The pacific is my favorite but I'm more a poly man. Pacific also needed a little longer break in period.