Solinco Mach-10

heavyD

heavyD

Professional
www.tennisnerd.net

Solinco Mach-10 String

Solinco has released a new string called Mach-10. It is a softer, five-sided polyester string supposed to give you a mix of power and spin.
www.tennisnerd.net www.tennisnerd.net

I'm surprised nobody is talking about this new string. Seems like it could be a good string for multi users transitioning to poly or poly lovers with sensitive arms. Nice color too.
 
heavyD said:
www.tennisnerd.net

Solinco Mach-10 String

Solinco has released a new string called Mach-10. It is a softer, five-sided polyester string supposed to give you a mix of power and spin.
www.tennisnerd.net www.tennisnerd.net

I'm surprised nobody is talking about this new string. Seems like it could be a good string for multi users transitioning to poly or poly lovers with sensitive arms. Nice color too.
Click to expand...
There's a 7 page thread on it already and it's not for sensitive arms
 
Definitely not for multi transitioners. It’s still very much a Solinco poly in its identity. Low ish power, shaped, stiff ish (this one softer than the rest but still), spin friendly, colorful
 
I'm surprised too nobody ever talked about this new Solinco brand.... ;)

By the way, quite disapointed that TWE doesn't have it available today!!

Any clue on the European release date?
 
Definitely worth trying out and I would say it has a unique identity that many players will love! Also, you really can't beat the color, I love the ocean blue look of it.
 
Alcawrath said:
There's a 7 page thread on it already and it's not for sensitive arms
Click to expand...
So sorry. I expected a thread to be near the top half of the latest threads and didn't see anything. Low and behold it's the very top playtest lol. A couple of the reviews I watched said it was comfortable so I was going with that seeing there's not much in the way of reviews so far.
 
This is supposed to be the Solinco for people who say "I want power, tension maintenance, arm friendliness, and feel from a string" but are still too cool to use multi or gut. ;) But honestly the reviews have been pretty good; I will probably try it. I tend to go in and out of favor with Solinco strings depending on what type of racquet I'm using. I find they pair nicely with modern power frames with thicker beams.
 
maksp said:
So it's a 5 sided toroline or restring? Probably from same factory in Taiwan
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Riiight…funny how people think these random brands can hold a candle to solinco. Its basically proven performance vs “colors” and influencer snapback at this point. Doubt it will be long before Solinco addresses all these easy points like color and exaggerated snapback, the hard part seems to already be done, namely game changing strings
 
DropWideShot said:
Riiight…funny how people think these random brands can hold a candle to solinco. Its basically proven performance vs “colors” and influencer snapback at this point. Doubt it will be long before Solinco addresses all these easy points like color and exaggerated snapback, the hard part seems to already be done, namely game changing strings
Click to expand...
This is clearly an attempt to match ReString's Zero. I'm not very string sensitive, I can tell a poly from a syngut for the spin only. I can tell a "metallic" string like S7T, Tour Bite, Tour Sniper or ALU power for its strange pocketing sensation (or that's how I feel it at least). Other than that, most strings feel pretty good to me.
Zero though, stood out from everything else. A crisp, stiff string that clearly gave extra spin (over spin-oriented polys) and (I think by doing that) provides a comfortable and lively feeling? That's like too-good-to-be-true level of perfection.
And I have to say, I've tried "unreleased 4.0" by Solinco which I assume is the exact same as Mach 10 and it feels pretty much the same. Could be even better, I admit, but can't say as I haven't hit them back to back, more like same racket restrung with the next string, so the Zero was well beyond 10 hrs old, probably closer to 20 if not more. It also was 1.28 while ur4.0/M10 was 1.20 (strung a bit tighter though).
But even if it was better, imitation is the most sincere form of admiration. Solinco couldn't hold a candle to Luxilon/Babolat when they released Outlast either, and look where they are now.
ReString, Toroline (and Grapplesnake I dare say) are releasing some damn good strings, the best of what I've tried at least. Maybe I've succumbed to the "YT influencer" hype, but that doesn't change the fact that M10 is an imitation of Zero (well... IMHO).
Also, the bright color theme was already addressed long ago... I think they were the first to make it a trend with H-G actually!
 
Alcawrath said:
Mach 10 feels softer to me than standard confidential. I do not find confidential arm friendly, but if you do, then I don't think you'll have an issue with Mach 10. Enjoy!!
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Yes, i thought the tourbite was very hard on the arm but when i tried confidential, it felt so much better on the arm. but then i only play 2 times a week at most so,, maybe my arm doesn't take as much pounding. it is bit odd also,, some polys like Restring Zero, feel like my arm will fall off just after playing 10 minutes with it...LOL
 
heavyD said:
www.tennisnerd.net

Solinco Mach-10 String

Solinco has released a new string called Mach-10. It is a softer, five-sided polyester string supposed to give you a mix of power and spin.
www.tennisnerd.net www.tennisnerd.net

I'm surprised nobody is talking about this new string. Seems like it could be a good string for multi users transitioning to poly or poly lovers with sensitive arms. Nice color too.
Click to expand...
That's definitely not their target audience- it is simply a more user friendly version of one of the least user friendly polys on the market. Still pretty difficult to use, and it's still not at all arm friendly. Tons of spin and control though. Multi transitioners will probably prefer Hyper G or Hyper G soft- much more muted and arm friendly, HGS probably has a bit more power too.

SupahMan5000 said:
Definitely not for multi transitioners. It’s still very much a Solinco poly in its identity. Low ish power, shaped, stiff ish (this one softer than the rest but still), spin friendly, colorful
Click to expand...
Yeah, there's power, but only compared to ultra-low powered polys like 4g and Confidential. I'd pretty much agree with this statement.

time_fly said:
This is supposed to be the Solinco for people who say "I want power, tension maintenance, arm friendliness, and feel from a string" but are still too cool to use multi or gut. ;)
Click to expand...
See my comments above as to why I don't believe this to be the case.

time_fly said:
But honestly the reviews have been pretty good; I will probably try it. I tend to go in and out of favor with Solinco strings depending on what type of racquet I'm using. I find they pair nicely with modern power frames with thicker beams.
Click to expand...
I use an Ezone 98, and I absolutely agree with this statement. The lower powered, high spin nature of Solinco strings leads to quite a bit of control and margin with the ease of use of a more powerful frame- With the M10/HGR hybrid, I get the ease of use of an Ezone 98, but the precision and and spin of a much more control and spin focused racket.

DropWideShot said:
Riiight…funny how people think these random brands can hold a candle to solinco. Its basically proven performance vs “colors” and influencer snapback at this point. Doubt it will be long before Solinco addresses all these easy points like color and exaggerated snapback, the hard part seems to already be done, namely game changing strings
Click to expand...
I don't necessarily agree to this- yes, Solinco is the more proven brand, but I think that brands like GS, Restring, and Toroline have some good strings that are definitely worth a try.

Miguelin said:
This is clearly an attempt to match ReString's Zero. I'm not very string sensitive, I can tell a poly from a syngut for the spin only. I can tell a "metallic" string like S7T, Tour Bite, Tour Sniper or ALU power for its strange pocketing sensation (or that's how I feel it at least). Other than that, most strings feel pretty good to me.
Click to expand...
Honestly, I don't think that it is an attempt to match Restring Zero- M10 doesn't have the slickness or the power of Zero, and Zero is a lot more muted and less controlled.
 
DropWideShot said:
I think M10 has been in the works longer than restring the company as a whole
Click to expand...
Yes, I think you're right. ReString says in its website it was funded in spring 2020 and started the research and development of his first string in winter 2020, which was released fall 22. Other user here says he was getting M10 prototypes already in 2020 (I believe back then it was called Confidential 3.0). Also, I think I read or heard somewhere (maybe at Solinco's own website, fow what it's worth) that M10 has been in development for 10 years.
So, could it be Zero is actually a rip-off of M10/C3.0?
Was C3.0 already in development before C2.0 (standard Solinco Confidential, if I'm not mistaken C1.0 was the codename for H-G when it was in development), which came out Jan 20?
If so, why the change to code name C4.0 / unreleased 4.0 if it's a development of the same project? Just curious.
And how a new company managed to develop a string so similar (imo) to theirs, or at least that good, in under 2 years of development? Maybe RS was funded by Solinco former members/spin-offs with inside knowledge on C3.0?
Is it that Solinco spends a lot of time in testing with pros and sending samples to get feedback? Because these new brands seem to be releasing almost a string a month sometimes (imo a little excessive) like Toroline, several a year like GS, or at the very least one every other year like RS.

JK208 said:
Honestly, I don't think that it is an attempt to match Restring Zero- M10 doesn't have the slickness or the power of Zero, and Zero is a lot more muted and less controlled.
Click to expand...
Well it seems it was already in development way before Zero, so probably not, although I'm curious why the change in codename from C3.0 to C4.0/UR4.0.
I haven't had the pleasure to try C3.0 but UR4.0 definitely felt as slick as Zero (or very close) to me, and hence as spin loaded. I can't be totally sure about power, I remember Z surprised me because I was expecting a stiff string when I first tried it and it felt super powerful and spinny, but when I changed to 4.0 (same as the released M10 I assume) the Z was already playing acceptably but very notched, not as spinny, and probably a little loose. The M10 was definitely strung tighter because it was a thinner gauge, and I felt like it was a little less powered because balls were dipping fast but a little shorter than with Zero. I was unsure though if that was just a product of old Z putting less spin and adding more SW to the racket (it was close to a 3 gram difference iirc). It was all very subtle and the comparison wasn't perfect, but if I had to say anything I'd agree about the power, not about the spin/slickness.
I'll try to test them back to back as soon as I get some M10 16g
 
Miguelin said:
Yes, I think you're right. ReString says in its website it was funded in spring 2020 and started the research and development of his first string in winter 2020, which was released fall 22. Other user here says he was getting M10 prototypes already in 2020 (I believe back then it was called Confidential 3.0). Also, I think I read or heard somewhere (maybe at Solinco's own website, fow what it's worth) that M10 has been in development for 10 years.
So, could it be Zero is actually a rip-off of M10/C3.0?
Was C3.0 already in development before C2.0 (standard Solinco Confidential, if I'm not mistaken C1.0 was the codename for H-G when it was in development), which came out Jan 20?
If so, why the change to code name C4.0 / unreleased 4.0 if it's a development of the same project? Just curious.
And how a new company managed to develop a string so similar (imo) to theirs, or at least that good, in under 2 years of development? Maybe RS was funded by Solinco former members/spin-offs with inside knowledge on C3.0?
Is it that Solinco spends a lot of time in testing with pros and sending samples to get feedback? Because these new brands seem to be releasing almost a string a month sometimes (imo a little excessive) like Toroline, several a year like GS, or at the very least one every other year like RS.
Click to expand...

I went through at least 10-11 prototypes of M10 going back to 2020. I don't remember Hyper G ever getting a C1.0 designation. I tested that one for a few years before release as well and it was always labeled NGDY (if you know, you know :-D) . With M10, they might have changed C3.0/C4.0 designation when they made major switches to the formula and then they had more specific designators behind that for small variations in the same "family". This is me just guessing based on how things came over to me and what I know about the issues they were trying to solve along the way.

I don't know about RS but I've long felt Toroline was perhaps ex Solinco people. They're based out of a similar area, produce string in the same location and seemed to use the Hyper G playbook. I think with Solinco, they're established enough with brand presence and market share that they can take their time to test & iterate on new strings to make sure it is fully what they want to bring to market. They have their established products to rely on consistent sales while they develop new ones. Strings is a very crowded market so a company like Toroline needs to rely on 1. Make noise via YT influencers, social media and easy visual identifiers (aka bright colors) and 2. Use a "throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks" approach. String is pretty cheap to produce so why not crank out a bunch of bright colors and slight variations when you're new to see what resonates in the market. If it doesn't sell well, quietly drop it.

With there being a limited number of OEM string manufacturers, there's bound to be some crossover in the material offerings they can provide brands. There's proprietary combinations, etc but when things are coming from the same factory, I'd expect at least a few of the strings to bear some similarities.
 
Well I don't remember being aware of the release of H-G back then, and maybe I phrased it incorrectly, it wasn't known by the code name "confidential 1.0", just as "Solinco Confidential" while testing in reference to the confidentiality of the samples or something, maybe the word "confidential" appeared on the samples not intended as a name but it catched on, and then when they repeated the testing with the actual Confidential they used the code name "Confidential 2.0".
I got it from this source;
Maybe he made it up completely
 
I've found another reference to "confidential" in this forum (pretty old thread as expected). NGDY is supposed to mean "Nova-G Donald Young"?
Not sure what the G stands for though, but I'm assuming it's where Hyper-G got it from.
Always thought it had to do with acceleration (like G-forces).
garytan68 said:
solinco nova G for sale

Hi drljva,

I have a used reel for sale. Only used several sets.

On the reel, it is written Solinco - confidential NGDY 16L

Will sell for a good price against what I paid for the reel initially. shipped USA.

Please contact me at gary tan 68 @ hot mail . com (join the spaces)

Gary
Click to expand...
 
Miguelin said:
Well I don't remember being aware of the release of H-G back then, and maybe I phrased it incorrectly, it wasn't known by the code name "confidential 1.0", just as "Solinco Confidential" while testing in reference to the confidentiality of the samples or something, maybe the word "confidential" appeared on the samples not intended as a name but it catched on, and then when they repeated the testing with the actual Confidential they used the code name "Confidential 2.0".
I got it from this source;
Maybe he made it up completely
Click to expand...
Yeah I don't know. I only ever got Hyper G as NGDY (Neon Green Donald Young) since that was who they were developing it for/with and that was probably for 2 years at least before it released. Then Confidential just ended up being called that. I also checked my notes and I was actually getting M10 test sets as far back as September 2019 and it ended up being more like 12+ variations over time.
 
the_faceless_player said:
Yeah I don't know. I only ever got Hyper G as NGDY (Neon Green Donald Young) since that was who they were developing it for/with and that was probably for 2 years at least before it released. Then Confidential just ended up being called that. I also checked my notes and I was actually getting M10 test sets as far back as September 2019. .
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Oh, neon green? Yes that makes sense, I feel dumb now.
There were these other strings mentioned in that thread, marketed in asia or something, called Nova-G and Nova-O. I guess they were green and orange respectively haha.
 
Miguelin said:
Oh, neon green? Yes that makes sense, I feel dumb now.
There were these other strings mentioned in that thread, marketed in asia or something, called Nova-G and Nova-O. I guess they were green and orange respectively haha.
Click to expand...
Yeah I vaguely remember asking if I could trial them back in the day and I think I got told they were lower cost strings built for the Asian markets specifically.
 

Reviewer says, this is the most POWERFUL amongst Solinco polys.
Many posters here is stating that this Mach 10 is NOT powerful. <--- wrong
 
pub said:

Reviewer says, this is the most POWERFUL amongst Solinco polys.
Many posters here is stating that this Mach 10 is NOT powerful. <---
Click to expand...

1. I don’t really care for this reviewer- they have been known to have some very biased reviews in the past.

2. Two things can be true at once. Searching for the most powerful poly is like searching for the fastest sloth- one will be faster (and I do agree that M10 is the most powerful solinco poly), but that doesn’t mean it’s fast.
 
pub said:
Reviewer says, this is the most POWERFUL amongst Solinco polys.
Many posters here is stating that this Mach 10 is NOT powerful. <--- wrong
Click to expand...
I've been trying it a little more lately (disclaimer, it's C/UR 4.0 not Mach-10, for whatever difference there might be) and imho I agree with the power being not too high. Definitely not on the lower end for Solinco, although I haven't tried the soft versions. It's funny that, along Mach-10, almost all polys from Solinco that I can think of are marketed as for "power" along with another characteristic except for Outlast and Barb wire, even Confidential which may be their stiffest poly.
But back to Mach-10, definitely not as powerful as Zero.
But even Zero is supposed to be on the stiff side, so to some extent I wonder how much of that power perception actually comes from spin.
I recall a conversation about "dead poly" in a thread about tennis elbow where someone suggested the "harshness" of dead poly comes from the loss of its "lateral elasticity" due to the lock up of the strings when it is too notched (the mains not being able to slide back and forth along the crosses). It made a lot of sense, as "dead poly" is often described in apparently contradictory terms by players, some of them not coherent with the physical testing of the strings. For example, some players feel the ball goes flying, which is understandable as the tension has dropped severely and the strings locking up deprive you from a huge chunk of the spin you're able to impart, particularly when swinging big at the ball. Other players though feel like the string becomes "harsh" and underpowered, as if it has lost all its elasticity, which is not something that physically occurs (string should feel more elastic, or more precisely softer or less stiff, as tension drops –actually one could also argue that the break-in period is the string gaining elasticity, as little plastic deformations in the string will be progressively smaller).
Some have hypothesized this may be because the loss of spin makes them adapt their swing so the ball doesn't fly long, hitting slower. Others think a spinny ball is perceived as faster because it lands quicker. Of course, if a ball falls faster, when launched at the same angle, it needs to go horizontally faster as well to land at the same depth (as another less spinny ball which will fall at 9.8 m/s2).
So, could it be that our perception of Mach-10's (and Zero's) power is influenced by the string being very slick and spin loaded?
After all, a string's actual power should always be defined by its stiffness (relative to the ball's) and energy return (or elastic efficiency), another thing is what the string's playability allows the player to do with the ball...
 
Miguelin said:
I recall a conversation about "dead poly" in a thread about tennis elbow where someone suggested the "harshness" of dead poly comes from the loss of its "lateral elasticity" due to the lock up of the strings when it is too notched (the mains not being able to slide back and forth along the crosses). It made a lot of sense, as "dead poly" is often described in apparently contradictory terms by players, some of them not coherent with the physical testing of the strings. For example, some players feel the ball goes flying, which is understandable as the tension has dropped severely and the strings locking up deprive you from a huge chunk of the spin you're able to impart, particularly when swinging big at the ball. Other players though feel like the string becomes "harsh" and underpowered, as if it has lost all its elasticity, which is not something that physically occurs (string should feel more elastic, or more precisely softer or less stiff, as tension drops –actually one could also argue that the break-in period is the string gaining elasticity, as little plastic deformations in the string will be progressively smaller).
Some have hypothesized this may be because the loss of spin makes them adapt their swing so the ball doesn't fly long, hitting slower. Others think a spinny ball is perceived as faster because it lands quicker. Of course, if a ball falls faster, when launched at the same angle, it needs to go horizontally faster as well to land at the same depth (as another less spinny ball which will fall at 9.8 m/s2).
So, could it be that our perception of Mach-10's (and Zero's) power is influenced by the string being very slick and spin loaded?
After all, a string's actual power should always be defined by its stiffness (relative to the ball's) and energy return (or elastic efficiency), another thing is what the string's playability allows the player to do with the ball...
Click to expand...
Either you’re super smart with an advanced degree in physics or engineering or something…..or else you’re full of sh|T and just making stuff up!

So, really…..for anyone else…..is “dead poly” more, or less, elastic than freshly strung poly??
 
Anyone snapping these fresh? I’m not a string breaker, but mine only lasted 10 minutes on the new easel and ripped on the lower left hand of the face. Really weird.
 
Mircat said:
Anyone snapping these fresh? I’m not a string breaker, but mine only lasted 10 minutes on the new easel and ripped on the lower left hand of the face. Really weird.
Click to expand...
I snapped em, but after 6ish hour and I was using the 18s, so not too surprising
 
MtgJr said:
Either you’re super smart with an advanced degree in physics or engineering or something…..or else you’re full of sh|T and just making stuff up!
Click to expand...
Well, for what it's worth, I do have an advanced degree in engineering, branch of materials science. Although polymers aren't my particular area of expertise, I do speak from what I've studied when it comes to concepts like elasticity, stiffness, etc (and I could make mistakes like anyone else).
Although you don't have to take my word for it, most of the things I said in my previous comment come from the things I read about tennis gear and the physics involved in it in articles, books, or in this forum. You can check the introduction in this article about dead strings at Tennis Warehouse University:

The Physics of Tennis: How Tennis Strings "Go Dead — Part 1"

Study to determine the physical parameters that correlate to what tennis players refer to when they say a string goes dead or loses tension and resiliency.
twu.tennis-warehouse.com
 
Mircat said:
Anyone snapping these fresh? I’m not a string breaker, but mine only lasted 10 minutes on the new easel and ripped on the lower left hand of the face. Really weird.
Click to expand...

Solinco string quality has been top notch over the years - Ive only seen these sort of breakages on really bad string jobs
 
First match done with Mach - 10

Acutally a very pleasant experience, it is like ReString Zero but with all the things I would want to change
Similar levels of spin, but a lot more comfort without losing control or predictability. A lot more power, but without the plasticky feeling
Very plush impact and good touch also on volleys and dropshots

Strung up in the Aero 98 at 23/22kgs currently, 2.5 hours of matchplay and no sign of performance changing etc
will update with more asap :)
 
yourtennisfit said:
First match done with Mach - 10

Acutally a very pleasant experience, it is like ReString Zero but with all the things I would want to change
Similar levels of spin, but a lot more comfort without losing control or predictability. A lot more power, but without the plasticky feeling
Very plush impact and good touch also on volleys and dropshots

Strung up in the Aero 98 at 23/22kgs currently, 2.5 hours of matchplay and no sign of performance changing etc
will update with more asap :)
Click to expand...
So you think it offers more power than Zero? That would be nice.
 
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