Quest for a soft and arm friendly poly - please

[Deleted member 54265]

Hi guys

After a severe case of TE some years ago, I have stayed away from polyester strings and played with gut, multi or gut/multi hybrid.

The best combo I have found so far is gut / isospeed professional classic.

Recently I tried a set of Cyberflash 17L in my Angell TC100 strung at 20kg / 44lb - and wow I totally forgot thet poly sensation, and I could swing out and still have control. I need that.....
However after a few hours, my muscles in my forearm was hurting (not really a TE or GE) but I am not sure it is tennis related as I have spend many more hours with the computer mouse than normal.

I will know in a few days when I will play again.

So my question to you poly experts: what is the most comfortable ploy string you played. I know Cyber Flash has really good stiffness rating on TWU but I guess that is only part of the equation of finding an arm friendly poly string.

Strings I have in mind to get and try out is:

Head Sonic Pro
Tourna BHB7 (What about Silver 7 Tour)
Volkl V-Torque Tour
Signum Pro Firestorm
Polystar Energy

Please share your experience for the ultimate soft poly experience.

I could also try to hybrid with a multi og gut in the crosses, I have a lot of different multis in stock (X-One, Velocity, Multifeel, Origin, Isospeed Prof, + a lot more).
When using multi in the crosses will I still have that poly sensation, but with a more arm friendly feeling. Please share your experience with poly / multi hybrids too.

Cheers, Toby

 

[Deleted member 54265]

Thread title should have been:

Quest for a soft and arm friendly poly - please share your experience

 

[Arzivu]

Signum pro x-perience and t1 ghostwire the softest polys I have played (especially the latter). Many have also pointed out isospeed cream.

 

[esm]

I strung up my TC100 63RA last week with Pro’s Pro Eruption 1.18 at 33lb/31lb - amazingly it is very arm friendly and played nicely during the two hour league match.
This is the first time back to poly for over ten years and it was a nice experience.
I have done the same on the TC95 16x19 63RA and it plays equally nice.
I have 1.19 round poly on the K7 Red at same tension range and it was a nice experience too.
Originally thought the low tension was going to be tricky to keep the ball in and not having any control, but it played nicely. This was inspired by Chris’ (@TW) low low tension thread lol

 

[Deleted member 54265]

Signum pro x-perience and t1 ghostwire the softest polys I have played (especially the latter). Many have also pointed out isospeed cream.

Thanks @Arzivu I will put the strings on my list

 

[Deleted member 54265]

I strung up my TC100 63RA last week with Pro’s Pro Eruption 1.18 at 33lb/31lb - amazingly it is very arm friendly and played nicely during the two hour league match.
This is the first time back to poly for over ten years and it was a nice experience.
I have done the same on the TC95 16x19 63RA and it plays equally nice.
I have 1.19 round poly on the K7 Red at same tension range and it was a nice experience too.
Originally thought the low tension was going to be tricky to keep the ball in and not having any control, but it played nicely. This was inspired by Chris’ (@TW) low low tension thread lol

Interesting @esm that you are stringing that low, I have 2 TC100 63RA and also 2 TC95 63RA so I could try Cyber Flash @44 in one frame and @34 in another and have a direct comparison, I think I might try that out.

Dont know the Pro Pro Eruption string, would you call that a soft arm friendly string at normal tension like 44lb / 20kg ? I see that a reel is very inexpensive.

Thanks, Toby

 

[ludde]

Ytex Quadro Twist
Yonex Poly Tour Pro 17 or 18
RS Lyon 18 (Fb or for cross)
T1 Ghostwire (for cross)
Mayami Big Spin


Isospeed Cream(cross)

 

[guilhermefdc]

I have been on that same quest for a while - so far I’ve found the following ones to be the best:
Yonex Poly Tour Pro 1.25 or 1.20 (yellow seems to be softer than graphite)
Weiss Cannon Silverstring 1.20 (1.25 is fine as well, but 1.20 is sweet and allows me to play nearly everyday for several hours without pain - great ball pocketing and decent feel as well)
Kirschbaum Pro Line Evolution (kinda muted though - it was probably the most comfortable poly I’ve ever played with, but it was not pleasant to hit with it)

And as a bonus, I’ve really enjoyed playing with Ice Code - a poly that’s really on the stiff side, but somehow doesn’t hurt my arm and/or shoulder. Plays like a really firm string, as if you were pushing a table tennis ball with marble - hard to explain, but really pleasant and pain-free.

I haven’t tried other stiff polys recently, but I think that they might play just fine after PT + technique adjustments + switching to a heavier racquet (at least 340g/12 oz - I’ve settled on a 356g/12.55 oz really HL LM Radical Tour so far). Currently on a long term demo on the 1.20 Silverstring - up next is the 1.20 Ice Code (played the 1.25 only so far) and after that it’s reel and settling down time.

 

[Red Hood]

Dunlop Black Widow

 

[t_pac]

Tier One Ghostwire

 

[esm]

Interesting @esm that you are stringing that low, I have 2 TC100 63RA and also 2 TC95 63RA so I could try Cyber Flash @44 in one frame and @34 in another and have a direct comparison, I think I might try that out.

Dont know the Pro Pro Eruption string, would you call that a soft arm friendly string at normal tension like 44lb / 20kg ? I see that a reel is very inexpensive.

Thanks, Toby

I think now Eruption comes in green and black versions - i am using the green one (not sure if the black plays the same). I have not tried it at the 40's tension range, so cant comment. i went straight from multi or syn gut setup straight into the soft co-poly at low 30's tension range.

The Eruption and Red Devil (RD) are the softer co-polys from the PP range, and i have tried both and they are very arm friendly at the low tension range.

I currently have 1 x TC95 with the Eruption (1.18) and the other one with RD (1.19), spent about 4 hours on the Eruption and 1.5 hours on the RD, i think i prefer the Eruption, probably because it is a shaped string rather than rounded.

It is inexpensive, so it is fun to experiment especially if you string your own racquets - i was surprised of the outcome...

PS - the PP string thread (long one) is an interesting read if you are keen to experiment

 

[gvsbdisco]

of ones that I have used...

Polyfibre TCS
Weiss Cannon Silverstring
yonex poly tour pro
Luxilon Element
Diadem Solstice Power

For spin...
Diadem>Element>TCS>PTP>Silverstring

 

[hurworld]

Signum pro x-perience and t1 ghostwire the softest polys I have played (especially the latter). Many have also pointed out isospeed cream.

Have you tried hybrid of SPXP mains and GW crosses?

 

[Muppet]

A couple of nice things about Cyber Flash is that it hits soft on touch shots and firms up on hard hits. The drawback here is when you find yourself at the net facing a blistering passing shot. It can be a jolt to your wrist. The other good thing is the low price for a reel. I've enjoyed hybriding CF at a 5 lb. differential with multi crosses. But it's hard to get 2 main strings out of a pack, so I switched over to reels. It's a very unique string.

 

[n8dawg6]

sonic pro and vstar are the softest ive used. main downside to either string is abysmal tension maintenance

 

[Deleted member 54265]

Thank you all very much, I have just ordered some string sets to try out:

Tier One Ghostwire 1.17
Yonex Poly Tour Pro 17
Head Lynx 17
Volkl V-Torgue 1.10
Signum Pro Firestorm 1.20 (could look cool in an Angel TC95 v3)
Weiss Canon Ultra Cable 1.23
Pro Pro Black Eruption (reel) 1.18
Double AR Twice Shark 1.25 (because of TWU stiffness ratings)

I have in stock Cyber Flash 17L, Isospeed Cream and Head Sonic Pro

On my way to find a great poly string for my arm, also I will try go go lower in tension than normal.

Good news I played today, and no problem at all with my arm (so hopefully my arm problems in post #1 was due to extensive computer work), played Cyber Flash 17L in FB and Gut /CF, I liked both.

Once again thank you all for sharing.

 

[Deleted member 54265]

A couple of nice things about Cyber Flash is that it hits soft on touch shots and firms up on hard hits. The drawback here is when you find yourself at the net facing a blistering passing shot. It can be a jolt to your wrist. The other good thing is the low price for a reel. I've enjoyed hybriding CF at a 5 lb. differential with multi crosses. But it's hard to get 2 main strings out of a pack, so I switched over to reels. It's a very unique string.

Interesting @Muppet I am not used to poly strings, but I think Cyber Flash is soft but also have a crisp respond when hitting out. I will know more when I will hit with other poly strings.

What multi would you cross CF with, I guess that you string the multi 5 lb higher in the cross ?

Cheers, Toby

 

[Arzivu]

Have you tried hybrid of SPXP mains and GW crosses?

Could have been a great combo, but I have run out of ghostwire sets. I tested it only as a full bed in my ported phantom and while the feeling was very plush, I wanted something a bit firmer, which x-perience provided for me, alongside with more power.

 

[aaron_h27]

Surprised no one mentioned Yonex Poly Tour Air

 

[Muppet]

Interesting @Muppet I am not used to poly strings, but I think Cyber Flash is soft but also have a crisp respond when hitting out. I will know more when I will hit with other poly strings.

What multi would you cross CF with, I guess that you string the multi 5 lb higher in the cross ?

Cheers, Toby

I've tried a few multi crosses with CF mains. I'm still trying to figure it out. If you like a plush feel try Pro's Pro Gutex Ultra. For a multi it's a good price by the reel. And it's a decent multi even by itself. For a crisper feel than that I think it's best to just do what you're doing with the full bed. Another thing you could try would be a muted synthetic gut.

Yes, 5 lbs. higher in the cross for a multi, 3 lbs higher for an sg. The reason for this is to increase the apparent stiffness of the softer string and create a more homogeneous string bed.

 

[ace18]

Interesting @esm that you are stringing that low, I have 2 TC100 63RA and also 2 TC95 63RA so I could try Cyber Flash @44 in one frame and @34 in another and have a direct comparison, I think I might try that out.

Dont know the Pro Pro Eruption string, would you call that a soft arm friendly string at normal tension like 44lb / 20kg ? I see that a reel is very inexpensive.

Thanks, Toby

I've been using Klip Gut/Tier 1 Ghostwire for a few months in my TC100's, also used in my TC97, Yonex VCore 98, super comfy setup.

 

[Deleted member 54265]

I've been using Klip Gut/Tier 1 Ghostwire for a few months in my TC100's, also used in my TC97, Yonex VCore 98, super comfy setup.

Thanks, I will for sure try gut / poly hybrid or poly / gut hybrid, I have ordered a set of Tier 1 Ghostwire to try out in a FB setup to see how soft it is.

Cheers, T

 

[esgee48]

You should be using pre-stretched polyester or co-polymer strings in gauges ≤ 17 Ga. Pre-stretched gives you some tension stability. Start at 40# ref tension and go down until you lose control. Or keep track of the tension until you start to lose control. FWIW, if you manually stretch a 20' length of polyester 4-6", you have the same thing as factory pre-stretched. You will still have to restring before the 20 hour mark.

 

[Deleted member 54265]

You should be using pre-stretched polyester or co-polymer strings in gauges ≤ 17 Ga. Pre-stretched gives you some tension stability. Start at 40# ref tension and go down until you lose control. Or keep track of the tension until you start to lose control. FWIW, if you manually stretch a 20' length of polyester 4-6", you have the same thing as factory pre-stretched. You will still have to restring before the 20 hour mark.

Thanks, I tried previous to prestrech strings (gut) and to me the result was that the strings got more stiff and I did not like that. I think I rather string more often, string at lower tension (tension loss will be less with lower tension), I don't need strings to last 20 hours, 8-10 hours are fine for me. To me it is comfort and safety first.

I have an ERT-300 string meter that I monitor my strings after each hour of playing, when the tension gets too low too soon, I just string 2-3 lb higher next time until I find the sweet spot, I string myself with an electronic constant pull machine (Wise 2086 head). I will also know when the tension gets too low (Is this what is called going dead) and I cut the strings out.

Cheers, Toby

 

[matchpoint9]

Thanks, I will for sure try gut / poly hybrid or poly / gut hybrid, I have ordered a set of Tier 1 Ghostwire to try out in a FB setup to see how soft it is.

Cheers, T

GW is great for crosses and hybrid applications. Perhaps it was created to be a cross string (Tier One sells the "Firewire Boost" sets which basically the Firewire string for mains & GW for crosses). Having said that, it should be good for FB setup as well -- it's almost like a slightly firmer RS Lyon, though maybe that's because I use really thin gauge.

I currently use poly hybrids of Black Knight / GW and Firewire / GW, both are arm-friendly setups. But when my elbow is a little sore I use poly / multi hybrid of Black Knight / Genesis Thunder Blast. The Thunder Blast is a low-powered multi and probably the only multi that I can use at relatively low tension. I put 46/50 with this hybrid. It's very arm-friendly set up, good power, great for touch shots, and still offers somewhat poly-like responses from the stringbed. The downsides are tension stability and the string coating leaves black marks on the ball -- or maybe that's a positive if it annoys your opponents!

 

[PistolPete23]

Hi guys

After a severe case of TE some years ago, I have stayed away from polyester strings and played with gut, multi or gut/multi hybrid.

The best combo I have found so far is gut / isospeed professional classic.

Recently I tried a set of Cyberflash 17L in my Angell TC100 strung at 20kg / 44lb - and wow I totally forgot thet poly sensation, and I could swing out and still have control. I need that.....
However after a few hours, my muscles in my forearm was hurting (not really a TE or GE) but I am not sure it is tennis related as I have spend many more hours with the computer mouse than normal.

I will know in a few days when I will play again.

So my question to you poly experts: what is the most comfortable ploy string you played. I know Cyber Flash has really good stiffness rating on TWU but I guess that is only part of the equation of finding an arm friendly poly string.

Strings I have in mind to get and try out is:

Head Sonic Pro
Tourna BHB7 (What about Silver 7 Tour)
Volkl V-Torque Tour
Signum Pro Firestorm
Polystar Energy

Please share your experience for the ultimate soft poly experience.

I could also try to hybrid with a multi og gut in the crosses, I have a lot of different multis in stock (X-One, Velocity, Multifeel, Origin, Isospeed Prof, + a lot more).
When using multi in the crosses will I still have that poly sensation, but with a more arm friendly feeling. Please share your experience with poly / multi hybrids too.

Cheers, Toby

What non-poly setup are you comfortable with, and what soft poly would you like to try? I wrote a program using dynamic tension data scraped from TWU's string performance database that can predict a recommended tension for a new string given your current setup. For example, if you like the comfort of Gosen OG Sheep Micro 17 at 57 lbs., and you want to know what tension to string Volkl Cyclone 17 to achieve a similar dynamic tension. I've recently been enjoying Gosen Sidewinder 16 a lot. Very soft for a poly but still with great access to spin.

 

[Happi]

I am also interested in finding the softest poly out there.

I am playing with BHS7T at low tension and really like the string I think it is both soft and crisp (if that makes any sense)

What would be a good cross string for BHS7T ? Or does that string work best in a FB ?

 

[blai212]

VCT 16g mains with thinnest gauge cyberflash, weiss cannon silverstring or signum pro poly plasma. String it about 8-10% lower than gut/multi. Feels softer/better than gut poly hybrid which is revered by most to be the holy grail setup of comfort and playability


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