RPM Team 17g

[rooski]

I recently got a CV Blade 98 18x20 strung with RPM Team 17. I had never tried it before and had low expectations (I absolutely hated Blast)...but low and behold...I liked RPM Team... a lot (51 lbs full bed, CP stringer). FWIW...I've been playing with Cyclone Tour for over 2 years in a Prestige Pro and I love it but I'm not sure if that love will transfer to the Blade with the tighter string pattern. I hope it will because I have about 6 more sets of CT. There hasn't been much written about Team for a while since it's been out 5+ years now so I'm wondering...what other strings are closest to RPM Team in playing characteristics? I may end up just buying some Team 17g or putting some Cyclone Tour 17g in the Blades but before I do...I figured I check with the string guru's.

 

[Doubles]

RPM Team is really stiff and low powered, with good tension maintenance for a poly if I’m not mistaken. The closest thing I could think of would be 4G but that’s even more expensive.

 

[Muppet]

I just checked the product page for RPM Team to see similar products.
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_RPM_Team_17_String/descpageACBAB-BRPM17.html

They show Tecnifibre Pro Red Code as being similar. I have never tried RPM Team, but I can speak for Pro Red Code. It's a very nice older string at a reduced price. It's on the stiff side and produces nice spin for a round poly.

 

[rooski]

RPM Team is really stiff and low powered, with good tension maintenance for a poly if I’m not mistaken. The closest thing I could think of would be 4G but that’s even more expensive.

I've read where people say RPM Team is low powered but to be honest...it didn't really feel that low powered to me. It's definitely not as "springy" feeling but the ball was coming off the racket pretty heavy according to my hitting partner. I'm going to compare it to my trusty Cyclone Tour but in 17g (I string my Prestige Pro's with 16g) and see how it compares.

 

[rooski]

I just checked the product page for RPM Team to see similar products.
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_RPM_Team_17_String/descpageACBAB-BRPM17.html

They show Tecnifibre Pro Red Code as being similar. I have never tried RPM Team, but I can speak for Pro Red Code. It's a very nice older string at a reduced price. It's on the stiff side and produces nice spin for a round poly.

Thanks. I tried Red Code many years ago. I remember it being pretty good at the time but I don't think it's as soft playing as the modern co-poly strings.

 

[elan401]

Hi all,

I just wanted to start a new thread on RPM Team,when I saw this one. Our young female player (11y) plays with it (17g) strung at 23/22kg. No one here recommends this string, we choosed it because it was recommended on the pure drive 2015.

Our player is active on tournaments, I’m wondering whether we are missing better performance with other string setup. She is to young to give some feedback and reluctant on trying new stuff.

Does anyone has some experience with RPM Team and young junior players? How can we invite Babolat representative on this forum to comment what was the idea behind this string?

It would be good if we could have “definite discussion” on this well hidden string.

 

[rooski]

Hi all,
I just wanted to start a new thread on RPM Team,when I saw this one. Our young female player (11y) plays with it (17g) strung at 23/22kg. No one here recommends this string, we choosed it because it was recommended on the pure drive 2015.
Our player is active on tournaments, I’m wondering whether we are missing better performance with other string setup. She is to young to give some feedback and reluctant on trying new stuff.
Does anyone has some experience with RPM Team and young junior players? How can we invite Babolat representative on this forum to comment what was the idea behind this string?
It would be good if we could have “definite discussion” on this well hidden string.

Perhaps others will chime in but since I started this thread I'll offer a response. On the TW website it shows the info below about RPM Team. I don't know if I would personally recommend Team for an 11y old unless your player hits the ball with a LOT of racket head speed. If so, it's probably fine. If not, you really can't get the performance (spin & power) out of a stiff poly like Team unless you can "bring your own power" with your stroke. There are dozens and dozens of poly strings out there that might be better at this stage of her development. Some with lots of extra POP like Volkl Cyclone Tour... that also happens to be softer feeling and very arm friendly for a poly. Regular Cyclone is somewhere between Team and Cyclone Tour.

RPM Team provides outstanding durability, spin and control to advanced players with long, fast strokes Babolat injects air bubbles into the core, which is meant to give it a slightly softer feel than RPM Blast. Our playtesters found this one to play quite firm, which makes this most suitable to big hitters with sound mechanics. Our stronger 5.0 + playtesters discovered a very high level of precision on their highest swing speeds. The coating on this string makes it easier for the main strings to deflect (absorb energy) and then return to their original position (snapback) with greater force. This means that players who bring their own power will find their efforts multiplied with explosive pop and spin.

 

[jmacdaununder2]

I played with both Team and Blast quite a bit back when my arm could still take it; if you were 'on' and ripping the ball, they were great, but you had to maintain racquet head speed - no choking lol! I gave up on them due to how quickly the strings, which felt great initially, seemed to go soft and lose grip - especially in comparison with other far cheaper polys - resulting in a very noticeable lack of control. I agree that even though Team is meant to be softer it paradoxically plays slightly stiffer, very similar strings though. Provided you can handle full poly, Solinco Tour Bite, especially in 1.20 has IMO much better feel and more consistent heavy spin, and is somewhat softer. Haven't tried the 'Soft' version, but I've been told it 'bags out' quicker. Not wanting to sound judgemental but on the face of it I can't say I'd recommend a Pure Drive and full poly for an 11 y.o. though; could be asking for arm issues down the track. (BTW, the idea behind the RPM strings was - despite the shape - low friction to produce snap back - this was a new concept in a general public sense back then. RPM certainly works, at least for a time, in this regard, but it kinda puts all it's eggs in one not very durable basket. Other newer strings provide more resiliency/power on flatter and/or slower shots, and have much better all around feedback/feel. Maybe somebody should tell Rafa lol, although if you're constantly ripping the ball with extremely high racquet head speed to produce heavy spin on virtually every shot, and restringing every nine games, RPM is probably still the way to go!)

 

[elan401]

Not wanting to sound judgemental but on the face of it I can't say I'd recommend a Pure Drive and full poly for an 11 y.o. though; could be asking for arm issues down the track.

She was playing with polys from the very beginning, rackets which were strung in the club had polys and she developed fast strokes in order to move the ball. Now I know that multifilament strings are more suited for younger age, she tried them, but couldn't control the ball. It seems that once you try poly and develop technique, there is no turning back. If this thread will not "catch" someone that has really good experience with juniors playing with RPM Team, for sure we will try other softer poly options.

What we learned so far is that playing with Rpm Team, every day training and almost every weekend tournament, did not develop any kind of injury. Thumb up to Babolat for that!

 

[Traffic]

She was playing with polys from the very beginning, rackets which were strung in the club had polys and she developed fast strokes in order to move the ball. Now I know that multifilament strings are more suited for younger age, she tried them, but couldn't control the ball. It seems that once you try poly and develop technique, there is no turning back. If this thread will not "catch" someone that has really good experience with juniors playing with RPM Team, for sure we will try other softer poly options.

What we learned so far is that playing with Rpm Team, every day training and almost every weekend tournament, did not develop any kind of injury. Thumb up to Babolat for that!

I have 2 jr players. 1 is 15y/o male. 4A HS varsity team, #3 singles. He is Intermediate-Advanced JR USTA player. Probably top ranked intermediate and mid-ranked Advanced. Though he just moved up to 16U and has no ranking in Advanced. He won a 16U Intermediate when he was 14.
2nd Jr is 11y/o female. Entry-Intermediate level. Will start playing tournaments this summer.

Son plays with a Pure Strike 98 strung with HyperG 18. He played with AeroPro Lite and ProStaff 97LS previously with multi, poly, poly/sgut hybrid and now full poly. So he has a low powered racquet with low powered strings and relies on his technique for power. He re-strings his racquet every 10-12hrs. I've taught him to keep track of his playing hours and what signs of poly strings going dead feel like (reduced power, reduced spin, lots of unusual UE).

I think if you have healthy arms, good technique, as long as you don't play with dead poly, you should be fine.

If your 11y/o can't tell you what they are feeling, I think playing with full poly is not the best route.

My 11y/o is playing with alphagut 2000 ($5 multi). She is learning how to hit topspin, volleys, serves, etc with it. I'll consider poly for her as she gets close to high school. But I'd actually like to set her up with nat gut/poly hybrid. Great access to spin, tension maintenance, longevity, feel, tunable power.

 

[elan401]

How can we invite Babolat representative to comment this thread?

Today I played with RPM Team for the first time, it is for sure more comfort than Blast. I don’t understand why TW tests show greater stiffnes for Team than Blast. Easier access to power I think is on the Blast side, with Team you really need to go through the ball all the way (at least me).

 

[elan401]

Anybody else tried Team? Come on girls/guys....

I’m playing with it for two weeks now, can not find any flaws with it. On second racquet I have Big Hitter Silver 17g, it seems to me that (even though softer according to TW) you need to invest more power to move the ball, which is as match goes on, shorter and shorter on the court.

For our 11yr player we’ve also put BHS 22/21kg, great control but balls seems to me are much slower from BHS than Team (when going of the racquet). We are considering to put her back on RPM Team.

 

[tlm]

Back when I was using blast and team I went with the team. The blast might have been better the first hour but to me it went downhill quickly. But the team would play good for a much longer period of time.