Soft with Spin

[Baseballmenpc]

Hey all,

I had elbow surgery in Jan 2010. Started playing again in June. I have bought a new racquet, the Pro Kennex Ki5. Nice frame. I am just not sure what string to put in it. I want something soft on the arm, but that will provide alot of spin. I used to have so much spin on the ball before surgery, and now Im having trouble with that. I wanted to see if there was a string out there that would help with that along with being soft on the arm. I am current using Klip Natural Gut 15L in the mains, along with Prince Ligtening 16g on the crosses strung at 60. It is okay on the arm, no pain, but it does not do much for my game at all. Any ideas???:-?

Thanks!

 

[Baseballmenpc]

been reading a little bit. how about the babolat rpm blast 16 on mains along with babolat addiction 16 on crosses? would that be to tough on the elbow? im a little scared to use a poly, dont want to hurt the elbow again.

 

[goran_ace]

I'd avoid poly if you've had elbow surgery in the past year. You may be healed now, but even if you've already completed PT on the elbow to get cleared for normal use, you still need to build up strength for something like tennis which can be tough on the body.

My recommendation would be to go with a thin gauge or a textured sythetic gut with a soft main (there isn't a lot of benefit in using a textured cross, and the detriment is that it saws through your mains, so no need to go full bed). I don't thnk Wilson makes Super Spin anymore but that was one of the most textured synthetic gut strings I've ever tried.

I'm sure someone will follow up and say that a certain copoly at low tension is elbow friendly, but you should ask them if they've ever come back from a serious injury before, and then ask yourself how much you want to trust a stranger considering its your body that is put at risk.

 

[coolblue123]

Soft Multi's are the way to go. I got TE this summer and tried Volkl's Gripper. It's a pretty soft string but it's pretty low powered and has great bite. I would would also consider lowering the tension as well.

 

[Noisy Ninja]

Agree with goran. Stay away from poly strings until you've completed physical therapy and 100%.
I recommend giving Yonex 850 multifilament strings a try. They are easy on the arm but have a coating that accentuates spin potential.

 

[HitItHarder]

I would be careful with poly strings with your history of elbow problems. Only you will be able to tell if they are causing you problems if you do give them a whirl.

That being said, if you want a poly string to try -- I would go with something that is considered "soft" for a poly. The string stiffness ratings is one place that you can look for possibilites. Here is a link for the lists.

http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2010/01/string_selector_2010.html

But I wouldn't stop there. I have played with some of the strings listed with low stiffness ratings in that list and found that they feel pretty harsh. So take the list as just one tool in looking for the right string, not the be all end all authority on stiffness.

Also, to be honest, I can get just about the same amount of spin with higher end gut strings as I can with most polys. Adding a poly cross seems to help the spin but reduces the durability even more. You may want to try a smaller gauge gut to see if that helps.

Personally, the softer polys I have used are things like Turbotwist 1.18, Blackcode 17, Big Ace Micro 1.15, Proline 2 17, Sonic Pro 17, and Hyperion 17.

 

[mikeler]

A good soft textured multi for spin is Head RIP Control. Head Intellitour is softer than RIP Control but you sacrifice some spin. RIP Control is just on the cusp of being soft enough for me to use though. If you feel any pain, cut it out and try a softer multi or natural gut if multis aggravate your arm. Good luck.

 

[tennisfreak565]

Solinco Barb Wire is supposed to have TONS of spin (even more then tour bite) and its soft on the arm. I would string it lower though to take out the stiffness.

 

[rocky b]

ashway dynamite soft 17 its like a pillow plus the 17g puts tons of spin on the ball. You also string it 15-20 percent below what you normally use.

 

[Kcraig]

The "spinniest" soft/arm friendly affordable string is Head Inttellitour--as much spin as poly with no ill-effects. I string it at 56/58 in a soft frame.

 

[coloskier]

ashway dynamite soft 17 its like a pillow plus the 17g puts tons of spin on the ball. You also string it 15-20 percent below what you normally use.

Yes, but you will be restringing it every 2-3 hours of play. It only lasted 75 minutes of hitting with me, and I don't hit with a lot of topspin.

 

[airman88]

Most of those polys are not soft, they are just softer than say ALU power.

 

[rocky b]

Yes, but you will be restringing it every 2-3 hours of play. It only lasted 75 minutes of hitting with me, and I don't hit with a lot of topspin.

I hit with alot of spin lasted 6 hours not bad. I guess each player is different. To play with no pain is priceless to me I would restring each time if I had to

 

[aggietex08]

If you are using natural gut in the mains than a softer copoly wouldnt be too rough on your arm. I would stick with something like cyclone, blackcode or something from Polyfibre, Hightec is nice. If you are looking for a multi ISO Speed Axon Multi has decent spin and very soft. I wasn't fond of Volkl Gripper though it is a textured multi. It was soft though.

 

[Tennis_Crazed]

Solinco Barb Wire is supposed to have TONS of spin (even more then tour bite) and its soft on the arm. I would string it lower though to take out the stiffness.

Tour Bite is a softer poly with huge spin. If you're having arm issues, might try it in a hybrid. Nat gut in the mains and tour bite in the crosses is pretty awesome.

 

[kevoT]

Cheaper Gut? 16L or 17g in that case.

 

[Baseballmenpc]

Thanks for the feedback. I am gonna look at some of these options, and check out the costs as well!

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Baseballman... You might want to check out the discussion about the low tension experiments found here... If you reduce tension low enough, you eliminate most of the trampoline issues and you pick up great ball pocketing.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=319527

To summarize the majority of the comments, string down to 30-40 lbs using a stiff poly. Spin is exceptional and most have found it very arm friendly.

 

[Baseballmenpc]

I looked at head intellitour, but it keeps bring up fxp blend, which looks like a kevlar in the mains and multi cross. wouldnt that be tough on the arm?

 

[Baseballmenpc]

Just realized it was a website glitch, looks like intellitour and fxp blend are two different products

 

[kiteboard]

vs team 17g mains/barb wire crosses or bg ultra at lower tens.

 

[hebrewhammer]

golden set torque. so much spin and its soft
http://goldensettennis.com/Zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71_149_156&products_id=370