Solinco Confidential, but without the shape?

[Bottle Rocket]

I just burned through my first reel of Solinco Confidential (1.25 mm) after playing Topspin Cyber Flash for the prior 15 years, so I'm in need of another reel.

I really like the consistent playability of the Confidential up until it snaps. And though I wouldn't call this string particularly lively or particularly dead, I generally find the feel to be just right for me in all of the rackets that I've got it in. I'd say it is nicely crisp.

The downside is that I hate the shape. I think the spin gains, if any, that you may get from the shape are potentially canceled out by the increased friction of the strings on each other, especially after a bit of play time on them when they begin to notch. I find that they move more without snapping back than other poly's that I've tried, which is particularly annoying in frames with more open string patterns. It's also possible this is because I'm playing the Confidential at significantly lower tensions than I have before, but hard to say.

I tend to settle in on tighter string patterns (18x20's), but am making an intermittent effort to move to something more open since that seems to be what the kids are doing these days. The kids also seem to like Confidential and they weren't wrong about that.

Anyway, I'm looking for a modern poly with same or close playability throughout its life that isn't mushy and isn't shaped. Cost isn't a primary decision factor. I've also always preferred a full bed of poly. Is Luxilon 4G the best round alternative?

I'd prefer only folks who have used Confidential for a meaningful amount of time chime in here. Looking forward to hearing what you all think!

 

[jhick]

I prefer to hit flat, but like the option of spin at times, and like to spin my serves. I am liking WeissCannon silverstring a lot although I'm only using it in the crosses. FWIW it's a round string

 

[WYK]

You may want to try Tour Bite. If you pre stretch it before you install it, it holds tension fairly well.

 

[yessir]

Man , what the heck are you talking about

 

[Mischko]

yonex poly tour rev, lower tensions. although it says it's octogonal it's almost round, good and consistent in every way

 

[colan5934]

I just burned through my first reel of Solinco Confidential (1.25 mm) after playing Topspin Cyber Flash for the prior 15 years, so I'm in need of another reel.

I really like the consistent playability of the Confidential up until it snaps. And though I wouldn't call this string particularly lively or particularly dead, I generally find the feel to be just right for me in all of the rackets that I've got it in. I'd say it is nicely crisp.

The downside is that I hate the shape. I think the spin gains, if any, that you may get from the shape are potentially canceled out by the increased friction of the strings on each other, especially after a bit of play time on them when they begin to notch. I find that they move more without snapping back than other poly's that I've tried, which is particularly annoying in frames with more open string patterns. It's also possible this is because I'm playing the Confidential at significantly lower tensions than I have before, but hard to say.

I tend to settle in on tighter string patterns (18x20's), but am making an intermittent effort to move to something more open since that seems to be what the kids are doing these days. The kids also seem to like Confidential and they weren't wrong about that.

Anyway, I'm looking for a modern poly with same or close playability throughout its life that isn't mushy and isn't shaped. Cost isn't a primary decision factor. I've also always preferred a full bed of poly. Is Luxilon 4G the best round alternative?

I'd prefer only folks who have used Confidential for a meaningful amount of time chime in here. Looking forward to hearing what you all think!

Gone through quite a few reels of confidential. If you want something less shape-y but with similar characteristics, try lynx tour in the gold/champagne color. It plays pretty round for a shaped poly. Keeps playability well and is crisp and controlled.

Or try a smooth poly in the crosses with confidential mains.

Lux 4g is dead from the get-go and remains that way. Performance isn't great but it's linear throughout the strings lifespan. If that's good for you, then it's worth a try.

Apparently Lux is also coming out with "Vibe" or "ALU Power Vibe." Not sure exactly which name it'll be under. Supposedly a dampened version of ALU...which is how I interpret confidential. I have a few sets on the way to test eventually.

 

[eah123]

Isospeed Baseline 16

 

[jimmy8]

Luxilon adrenaline

 

[Sean Sullivan]

You could try hybrid stringing it with a round, slippery poly with similar playability, so that you can keep the feel and upside of the Confidential mains while allowing for better spin/snapback.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

I ended up buying another reel of confidential that I have since burned through and am now back in the market, and still looking for a round alternative.

I recently played a full string job of ALU Power (1.30) to remind myself of what it was like 20 years ago when I first tried it. And it was sweet. Really sweet. I'm super tempted to buy a reel of this...

Of course, the playability change after the first few hours is sup-optimal, but the performance for the remainder of it's life is still great. I'm looking for this feeling for the duration of the string bed to avoid playability and feel changes. Suspect there are numerous more modern silver polys that are pre-stretched that fit the bill? Also, why on earth doesn't solinco just make a round version of confidential?

 

[NewcomerfromBalkan]

Razor soft

 

[konstantinos kalfountzos]

Also, why on earth doesn't solinco just make a round version of confidential?

If you're in Europe, you can get a round-shaped variation of Solinco Confidential. It's called Confidential LB (light blue) Round 1.30.

It's the Portuguese distributor of ReString, Grapplesnake and Toroline, Joao aka tennisrackets(dot)eu

I received mine directly from Solinco about a year ago, along with the unreleased then version of Hyper G Round 1.30.

 

[HypnoticLasagna]

If you're in Europe, you can get a round-shaped variation of Solinco Confidential. It's called Confidential LB (light blue) Round 1.30.

It's the Portuguese distributor of ReString, Grapplesnake and Toroline, Joao aka tennisrackets(dot)eu

I received mine directly from Solinco about a year ago, along with the unreleased then version of Hyper G Round 1.30.

I'd argue that Hyper G round plays more like black confidential, than the blue one. plus dont get too attached to the blue as the blue round is out of production, just some reels floating around.

 

[konstantinos kalfountzos]

I'd argue that Hyper G round plays more like black confidential, than the blue one. plus dont get too attached to the blue as the blue round is out of production, just some reels floating around.

Apart from the super fast snapback, I can't say it stood-out from other round-shaped polys on the market.
Just another slick surfaced/semi-stiff/round poly. Plenty of those already.

 

[Torps]

I ended up buying another reel of confidential that I have since burned through and am now back in the market, and still looking for a round alternative.

I recently played a full string job of ALU Power (1.30) to remind myself of what it was like 20 years ago when I first tried it. And it was sweet. Really sweet. I'm super tempted to buy a reel of this...

Of course, the playability change after the first few hours is sup-optimal, but the performance for the remainder of it's life is still great. I'm looking for this feeling for the duration of the string bed to avoid playability and feel changes. Suspect there are numerous more modern silver polys that are pre-stretched that fit the bill? Also, why on earth doesn't solinco just make a round version of confidential?

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