Spin on hybrids - poly main vs. poly cross

NLBwell

Legend
I've played with all poly and hybrided the same polys with a multi cross string.
Lots of spin with all poly and almost the same amount of spin with a multi cross string. A little more comfortable, though.
Of course for a full multi setup there is significantly less spin than the poly with much more comfort and power.
My question is:
If I string a racket with a multi main and a poly cross does it:
1) Act like a full multi bed with just subtle differences in spin and comfort, or
2) Act much like a hybrid with poly mains with just less durability on the main strings?

#1 makes sense because the main strings are the most important in determining how a stringbed plays
#2 makes sense if the poly cross allows the strings to slide and act more like a poly stringbed.

If 10 is how much spin a given full poly stringbed would give, 9 is how much spin a hybrid would give, and 1 is how much spin a full multi bed would give, what level of spin would a multi-main poly-cross setup give?
 

J_aces

Semi-Pro
First, the poly would chew through that multi mains in no time. It will feel much more like a multi but a bit stiffer and spin increases a little from full multi but not by much
 

NLBwell

Legend
First, the poly would chew through that multi mains in no time. It will feel much more like a multi but a bit stiffer and spin increases a little from full multi but not by much

So you think that the spin would only be a 2 or so on my scale?
 

dadozen

Hall of Fame
Once I had the same question as you. Decided to string multi/poly, and it lasted me less than 2h. And I'm NOT a string breaker.

Spin was average, not much better than full multi. I don't see a point to string multi mains and poly crosses.
 

SFeigl

New User
If you thing about it this way it might help you. The main string is like a primary string, and the cross string is like a secondary string. IE. most of the feeling, control, spin, power comes from the main (primary) string, and it is influenced in part by the cross (secondary) string.
 
Once I had the same question as you. Decided to string multi/poly, and it lasted me less than 2h. And I'm NOT a string breaker.

Spin was average, not much better than full multi. I don't see a point to string multi mains and poly crosses.

I agree with this totally. I tried the multi main/poly cross and all i got was board stiffness and uncontrollable power, seemed to bring out the negative charactistics of both strings rather than the positive. I was very happy when it broke.
 

dadozen

Hall of Fame
I agree with this totally. I tried the multi main/poly cross and all i got was board stiffness and uncontrollable power, seemed to bring out the negative charactistics of both strings rather than the positive. I was very happy when it broke.

You nailed it. That's exactly what happened to me as well.
 

dadozen

Hall of Fame
If you thing about it this way it might help you. The main string is like a primary string, and the cross string is like a secondary string. IE. most of the feeling, control, spin, power comes from the main (primary) string, and it is influenced in part by the cross (secondary) string.

I agree with that, but to a point. I think that control comes from the crosses, at least that's what I got when I did hybrids.

For example: full Hyperion was too powerful for me, when I used Hyperion x Scorpion, it gave me much better control.
 
Yeah I feel like the crosses control the power level a little more with the mains contributing more to the spin. Ultimately though I like to think of the mains and crosses as a 50/50 relationship because think about it, string a racquet at 60 or whatever as a basis for comparison. If you increase the tension in the mains OR the crosses it will increase the overall stiffness of the stringbed and lowering the tension in either will decrease the stiffness in the stringbed. So really both contribute to the power/control, and the spin too IF you feel like a stiffer stringbed gives you more spin.
 

havens5257

New User
If you thing about it this way it might help you. The main string is like a primary string, and the cross string is like a secondary string. IE. most of the feeling, control, spin, power comes from the main (primary) string, and it is influenced in part by the cross (secondary) string.

I agree with this completely... let's say you have 4 qualities power spin control and feel and strings fall all along the spectrum with different amounts of each quality... Usually strings elan towards a more dominant spin and control combination or more dominant power and feel combination however not always again it's a spectrum not four boxes that string types go into.

With all of that said for the mains your primary string you choose a string that has the qualities that will accent your game the most then in the crosses you can do a number of things that will either increase or decrease the original potential of each quality displayed in the mains.

So if you want power most then spin or control second put a powerful string in mains and poly or control/textured oriented string in crosses.
If you want most of just one quality not much of any thing else then use string that targets that quality to your taste and string in both mains and crosses this is where you will find non-hybrids. (Not that you can't hybrid a string job towards one or two qualities). I feel like we categorize string a little to much these days if you buy a racket based on specs do the same with string the strings specs being the 4 qualities

Durability is not a quality because it has a direct impact on the other qualities every time where as the other 4 can act independently
 

havens5257

New User
The cross string seams to play more of a roll in the power however it is mostly because of the length of the string. Crosses are much shorter than mains.

For example if you and a friend stretch 100 feet of rope as tight as you could then did the same with 10 feet the 100 feet would have more slack or more droop than the 10 feet so to avoid the problem with the crosses affecting power, string the crosses 2-4 pounds lower than the mains.
However some strings stretch more than others so with a poly/string with good tension maintenance/stiff string 4-6 pounds lower this should increase the size of the sweet spot increase spin increase power and decrease stiffness (board - like feeling. Essentially the string beds potential to pocket the ball increases. So if it were me stringing the multi mains poly crosses and I normally string around 55 I would string the mains at 57ish and the crosses at 53ish dending on strings qualities. For a hybrid with poly mains and multi cross I string with a 2 pound drop like 56 mains and 54 crosses because the more elastic string is now in the crosses it's a shorter string so yes string a little looser but it will stretch out more than a poly cross would so you need to have a smaller drop to avoid to large of a tenision gap after a short period. Notice how the string that has more elasticity gets pulled tighter in comparison to a poly in its place due to faster tension loss.
NOTE the tension drop method only works in 2 piece string jobs
 

BlueB

Legend
If you do multi/poly or even syngut/poly, you need to do really high tension differential. Like 15-20 lbs. Mains need to be tighter then you'd normally do the full bed multi. Crosses need to be looser then you'd do a full bed poly. Also prestretch the poly. This would give you longer life and more spin, with decent comfort and power.
I use to be a fan of these setups. ..

However, I recently experimented again with conventional poly/syngut at 5 lbs dif. with very good results. The syngut I used has very low string to string friction, though.
 
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