Poly/multi hybrid of full multi for hardhitting girl?

I tried several softer multi setups en 'soft poly/multi' setups. Depending on brand/gauge it lasted 1-6 hours for my daughter (14, top 25 ranked for her age in our country).

She plays 8-10 hours a week; the ideal stringbed would last a week minimum. Durability, control and reasonable soft (she just starts to grow) are the keywords.
Main brands available overhere: Wilson, Prince, Head, Babolat, Yonex, Luxilon and Technifibre

I've been suggested:
- Rip Control 16
- Technifibre Duramix 16 or 15L
- Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour 17 / Xcel 16
- Tecnifibre 17 / Prince Syn Gut Duraflex 16

Any recommendations or better options?
 

maxpotapov

Hall of Fame
I tried several softer multi setups en 'soft poly/multi' setups. Depending on brand/gauge it lasted 1-6 hours for my daughter (14, top 25 ranked for her age in our country).

She plays 8-10 hours a week; the ideal stringbed would last a week minimum. Durability, control and reasonable soft (she just starts to grow) are the keywords.
Main brands available overhere: Wilson, Prince, Head, Babolat, Yonex, Luxilon and Technifibre

I've been suggested:
- Rip Control 16
- Technifibre Duramix 16 or 15L
- Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour 17 / Xcel 16
- Tecnifibre 17 / Prince Syn Gut Duraflex 16

Any recommendations or better options?

There is no poly that will last 8-10 hours, elasticity wise. Considering that you are based in Europe, Dunlop Black Widow would be the best choice of all poly mains in terms of cost/performance (it's really cheap there). But please cut it out after 5-6 hours to avoid health issues, like with any other poly.

For my daughter I would use natural gut/synthetic gut hybrids and then switch to poly crosses in due time. After all, this is the champions choice for both ATP and WTA tours. Depending on technique, can be more cost effective than poly/syn gut hybrids. Full multi is not even an option for hard hitting junior, neither for durability, nor for performance reasons. Just not enough movement/snap back by today's standards.
 
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mikeler

Moderator
I tried several softer multi setups en 'soft poly/multi' setups. Depending on brand/gauge it lasted 1-6 hours for my daughter (14, top 25 ranked for her age in our country).

She plays 8-10 hours a week; the ideal stringbed would last a week minimum. Durability, control and reasonable soft (she just starts to grow) are the keywords.
Main brands available overhere: Wilson, Prince, Head, Babolat, Yonex, Luxilon and Technifibre

I've been suggested:
- Rip Control 16
- Technifibre Duramix 16 or 15L
- Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour 17 / Xcel 16
- Tecnifibre 17 / Prince Syn Gut Duraflex 16

Any recommendations or better options?


Is the poly breaking in that time frame or the multi? Where is breakage occurring? Here are my favorite multis:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=352048
 

fgs

Hall of Fame
my son is 13.5 and also playing competitional tennis - currently he is playing the mantis power poly in the mains at 21kg with the mantis power syn in the crosses at 20kg.

i think a 17gauge = 1.22-1.25mm poly in the mains would be o.k., both the babolat pro hurrican tour and the tecnifibre black code would be interesting. i'd also look out at the pro's pro blackout, which in my opinion is a a(almost) perfect replica of the black code at 1/3 of the price.

a syn gut in the crosses is a feasible approach, but i would take much care in regard to the gauge - a 16g (1.30mm) syngut would stiffen up the stringbed too much in my opinion, i'd rather go with a 17g. according to my experience, the thinning out of the syngut and the notching of the poly mains would be occuring at very close time intervalls.

matching a multi from this point of view is much more difficult, and i must also confess that the xcel has been beyond my price point - roughly 20euros per pack is simply too much for a cross in my opinion.
 
Thank you all for your quick replies;

There is no poly that will last 8-10 hours, elasticity wise. Considering that you are based in Europe, Dunlop Black Widow would be the best choice of all poly mains in terms of cost/performance (it's really cheap there). But please cut it out after 5-6 hours to avoid health issues, like with any other poly.

For my daughter I would use natural gut/synthetic gut hybrids and then switch to poly crosses in due time. After all, this is the champions choice for both ATP and WTA tours. Depending on technique, can be more cost effective than poly/syn gut hybrids. Full multi is not even an option for hard hitting junior, neither for durability, nor for performance reasons. Just not enough movement/snap back by today's standards.

A Dunlop Black Widow reel can be bought for 90 euros overhere, cheap indeed. However, I'm not a stringer myself, so would prefer first to try a setup that would last for that 10 hours minimum. Natural gut seems an expensive option or would the lifetime be expanded seriously? Ive read about good tension maintenance of Rip Control and Duramix, but still no durability?

Is the poly breaking in that time frame or the multi? Where is breakage occurring? Here are my favorite multis:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=352048

All breakage is in the centre of the sweetspot. We started hybriding with softer multi's, like Sensation; always the crosses breaking. With other stronger multis mostly the mains breaking.

I've read most of your excellent thread. Many of the American brands are not available overhere. Some other strings are real expensive. What remaining strings in your list would you suggest in our case?

my son is 13.5 and also playing competitional tennis - currently he is playing the mantis power poly in the mains at 21kg with the mantis power syn in the crosses at 20kg.

i think a 17gauge = 1.22-1.25mm poly in the mains would be o.k., both the babolat pro hurrican tour and the tecnifibre black code would be interesting. i'd also look out at the pro's pro blackout, which in my opinion is a a(almost) perfect replica of the black code at 1/3 of the price.

a syn gut in the crosses is a feasible approach, but i would take much care in regard to the gauge - a 16g (1.30mm) syngut would stiffen up the stringbed too much in my opinion, i'd rather go with a 17g. according to my experience, the thinning out of the syngut and the notching of the poly mains would be occuring at very close time intervalls.

matching a multi from this point of view is much more difficult, and i must also confess that the xcel has been beyond my price point - roughly 20euros per pack is simply too much for a cross in my opinion.

I wasn't aware of the importance of syn gut gauge; thank you! Xcel is expensive overhere too, but I had the opportunity to buy some Babolats hybrid-packs in sale!
 

mikeler

Moderator
Personally I like 17g polys paired with 16g multis since the crosses usually break first in that hybrid for me. I would not recommend DuraMix, it should be named NoDuraMix! I routinely got 12-15 hours out of Weiss Cannon Black 5 Edge 17 mains with Genesis Thunder Blast 16 crosses. The Genesis may be hard for you to get there. A lot of people seem to like Babolat NvY (solid core string) as a cross but I've never tried it.
 

fgs

Hall of Fame
i had some sample sets of different synguts offered by reps, most of them 1.30mm or even 1.35mm and in spite of stringing them lower than usual, all the set-ups just played awful. a full poly would have had more touch than these combos.
when i went down in gauge to 1.25 syn gut, some of them have been really playable indeed.

so, while it is true that the dominant string will be the mains, not simply everything will work in the crosses.

1.30 multis are pretty much o.k. for the crosses, i've had no bad experiences in this respect so far. of course, some of the strings performed below expectations, but that is a different story.
 
Hmm, I can't find the edit button for my first post;

For the last hybrid setup suggested, read: Tecnifibre Black code 17 / Prince Syn Gut Duraflex 16.

Fgs; your advice is gauge 17 for the Syn gut then?
 
Personally I like 17g polys paired with 16g multis since the crosses usually break first in that hybrid for me. I would not recommend DuraMix, it should be named NoDuraMix! I routinely got 12-15 hours out of Weiss Cannon Black 5 Edge 17 mains with Genesis Thunder Blast 16 crosses. The Genesis may be hard for you to get there. A lot of people seem to like Babolat NvY (solid core string) as a cross but I've never tried it.

"Noduramix" means fast breaking?
I can't buy Weiss and Genesis overhere. I can buy NvY here (with 11 euro's a package not cheap but better priced than Xcel). Never tried it, but if good enough to soften up the bed with a reasonable lifetime, than worth a try.
 

fgs

Hall of Fame
yes, syngut in 17gauge - stay away from all thicker synguts, it simply is not worth the hassle. i have tried quite a few from kirschbaum, tecnifibre, dunlop, prince and i cann say that a full bed of poly would have been a more pleasurable time on court!
 

maxpotapov

Hall of Fame
yes, syngut in 17gauge - stay away from all thicker synguts, it simply is not worth the hassle. i have tried quite a few from kirschbaum, tecnifibre, dunlop, prince and i cann say that a full bed of poly would have been a more pleasurable time on court!

Remember we are talking about hard hitting junior, full poly is the worst advice ever. Unless, of course, the racquet is restrung every other hitting session... but even then hybrid would be a better option for the girl
And what's gauge got to do with it? Last thing to consider in this particular case
 

fgs

Hall of Fame
maxpotapov,
i think you have been misreading my advice - i just said that according to my experience, crossing with a thick syngut, ie 1.30mm or 1,35, was worse than full poly.
i never ever suggested to try full poly, i just shared my opinion, that in case of using syngut for the crosses, the gauge should be 1,25mm and not more, because the stringbed would get stiffer and less responsive than with full poly, if a thicker gauge (the op mentioned prince syngut in 16gauge) would be used.
 

maxpotapov

Hall of Fame
maxpotapov,
i think you have been misreading my advice - i just said that according to my experience, crossing with a thick syngut, ie 1.30mm or 1,35, was worse than full poly.
i never ever suggested to try full poly, i just shared my opinion, that in case of using syngut for the crosses, the gauge should be 1,25mm and not more, because the stringbed would get stiffer and less responsive than with full poly, if a thicker gauge (the op mentioned prince syngut in 16gauge) would be used.

OK my bad :oops:
Full poly does provide faster response (when fresh) and thinner gauge syn gut can be more lively, it's true.
 

rhaudiogeek

Rookie
Have you tried Yonex Poly Tour Spin (1.25mm) Mains with Gamma TNT2 (1.25mm) crosses ?

A great hybrid combination, but probably won't last for more than a week.
 

mikeler

Moderator
"Noduramix" means fast breaking?
I can't buy Weiss and Genesis overhere. I can buy NvY here (with 11 euro's a package not cheap but better priced than Xcel). Never tried it, but if good enough to soften up the bed with a reasonable lifetime, than worth a try.

DuraMix 16 only lasted 4 singles sets for me. So what brands are available to you?
 

fortun8son

Hall of Fame
Try TF RedCode 1.30/Prince Syngut Original @ or 1kg below the lowest recommended tension for the mains and 1-1.5kg higher for the crosses.
 

fgs

Hall of Fame
the red code is a rather stiff poly. from the tecnifibre line the black code seemed softer and the ruff code really soft - the latter being currently one of my favourites.
 

fortun8son

Hall of Fame
True. The Redcode is stiffer but it is more durable and holds tension better than Blackcode. The PSGO is softer than the PSGD, however, so it should balance out.
 

fgs

Hall of Fame
i got about the same 10 hitting hours of both red and black code, but with the black code i enjoyed it more. the red code definitely has an edge in regard to control, but i was getting shoulder itches after each hitting session - nothing dramatic, but nevertheless.
 
I would definitely try Prince Premiere Attack if you can get it. The price is good and it is a very good performer. It is the best multi here in the USA for under $10.

I'll check on the premiere Attack. Available for 7,50 euro here.

Try TF RedCode 1.30/Prince Syngut Original @ or 1kg below the lowest recommended tension for the mains and 1-1.5kg higher for the crosses.

I prefer the black code, as it is a bit softer. Could I lower the tension too?
 

maxpotapov

Hall of Fame
I had no idea one should do that...

How about syn gut - is it ok to play with it until they break or is that only true for nat gut?

You can play with syn gut until it breaks, as long as it remains playable for you... On the other hand it usually loses all power/elasticity really quick (if there was any in the first place) so you will have to swing harder which is not good for you.
 
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