String Choice of Pro's - Why is there a huge preference for round poly's?

EasternRocks

EasternRocks

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Curious to know what people's theories are. It appears that shaped poly's do not get much love on the ATP/WTA tours. Luxilon obviously dominates and most play with the ALU Power, but even when people are not using that string, they are opting for other round polyesters. I can't think of people that use Sonic Pro Edge, Cyclone, Focus Hex on tour. I guess the only geometric string that I can think of that gets used on tour is RPM Blast, but even that string is smoothed out.

Is it perhaps because spin is achieved more efficiently using a round string (better snapback) than a shaped string (harder for strings to snapback)?

Another question is, why do these pro's not opt to go with thinner strings? If they can re-string and have 10 racquets for each match, why don't they try to maximize the playability out of their strings? Ex: Go with Lux Feel 1.20 instead of the regular ALU 1.25
 
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These Pros get immense racket head speed. That generated plenty of spin. With ROUND polys the ball will come off the strings at a more consistent angle and response compared to a shaped string. Consistency is the name of the game for pros when it is a game of inches.

Some are using Tour Bite and such but the majority of them dont need the shape for spin. Hope this helps.
 
mpournaras said:
These Pros get immense racket head speed. That generated plenty of spin. With ROUND polys the ball will come off the strings at a more consistent angle and response compared to a shaped string. Consistency is the name of the game for pros when it is a game of inches.

Some are using Tour Bite and such but the majority of them dont need the shape for spin. Hope this helps.
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That makes a lot of sense. Do you have an answer for my 2nd inquiry about gauges and the overall preference for a 1.25-1.30 string versus a 1.20?
 
EasternRocks said:
Is there that big of a difference in predictability from a 1.25 to a 1.20? I know there is a big difference in feel, comfort, and liveliness.
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Thinner gauges drop tension faster than thicker. That plays a role. The other thing is a lot of them stick with what they used as juniors. When kids play juniors they want something more durable, hence thicker gauges.

I remember reading a couple years ago now, that the reason Nadal uses 15g RPM is due to the fact that when he tried thinner gauges he had problems overspinning the ball. As he he was hitting too much top spin where the ball was starting to fall short in the court. There was an article at some point, who knows if it is still around though. Just some food for thought.

-Fuji
 
Same reason as spin effect racquets are not as popular on the tour. They are much less predictable and pros do not need shortcuts to creating spin.
 
EasternRocks said:
Curious to know what people's theories are. It appears that shaped poly's do not get much love on the ATP/WTA tours. Luxilon obviously dominates and most play with the ALU Power, but even when people are not using that string, they are opting for other round polyesters. I can't think of people that use Sonic Pro Edge, Cyclone, Focus Hex on tour. I guess the only geometric string that I can think of that gets used on tour is RPM Blast, but even that string is smoothed out.

Is it perhaps because spin is achieved more efficiently using a round string (better snapback) than a shaped string (harder for strings to snapback)?

Another question is, why do these pro's not opt to go with thinner strings? If they can re-string and have 10 racquets for each match, why don't they try to maximize the playability out of their strings? Ex: Go with Lux Feel 1.20 instead of the regular ALU 1.25
Click to expand...

I'd also argue that the 1.25 favoritism came about from the use of Luxilon. The original Big Banger was released in 1.25 and I guess it was such a good balance in playability and durability that it just settled in as the norm.
 
mpournaras said:
I'd also argue that the 1.25 favoritism came about from the use of Luxilon. The original Big Banger was released in 1.25 and I guess it was such a good balance in playability and durability that it just settled in as the norm.
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I wonder if any pro's have tried the 1.20. To me it's a very nice string.

It's baffling the % of people on Tour that use Luxilon. I sometimes wonder how many of that % are people that play with it because they tried a lot of other strings and it's actually favored or people that just use it because it's "popular" and they are sponsored by the company.

Thoughts?
 
Plenty of pros use thinner gauges.

As for textured strings, simple fact is they really don't do much for performance and don't feel as good.
 
drakulie said:
Plenty of pros use thinner gauges.

As for textured strings, simple fact is they really don't do much for performance and don't feel as good.
Click to expand...

Do you know any off the top of your head?

It's funny how so many good college players and people who aren't on the tour, whom are very good, play with textured strings. Once you move up to the next level usage of these strings just plummets.
 
Me thinks that a more rounder, smoother string increases the "snap back" effect because of less friction between the mains and crosses. Thus, a textured string will decrease the probability of such reaction upon impact/contact. Does this make sense?

Hope all is well and have a great week,

Puddy
 
EasternRocks said:
Do you know any off the top of your head?

It's funny how so many good college players and people who aren't on the tour, whom are very good, play with textured strings. Once you move up to the next level usage of these strings just plummets.
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Anyone using Alu power.
Lots of players that are using 4G.
Anyone using luxilon premier ace.


Also, many colleges, being that they are on tight budgets for tennis, get strings from companies that give them great deals to use their strings (genesis,solinco,isospeed,etc). Many of the coaches that purchase the string buy into the hype that textured strings provide more spin.
 
drakulie said:
Anyone using Alu power.
Lots of players that are using 4G.
Anyone using luxilon premier ace.


Also, many colleges, being that they are on tight budgets for tennis, get strings from companies that give them great deals to use their strings (genesis,solinco,isospeed,etc). Many of the coaches that purchase the string buy into the hype that textured strings provide more spin.
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Interesting. Is there even a 1.20 4G? I guess whenever these string logs say Luxilon, you can't be sure what gauge it is, whether its the 1.25 or the 1.20... or even a 1.30 (not sure if Lux would make a special diameter for pro's)
 
EasternRocks said:
Interesting. Is there even a 1.20 4G? I guess whenever these string logs say Luxilon, you can't be sure what gauge it is, whether its the 1.25 or the 1.20... or even a 1.30 (not sure if Lux would make a special diameter for pro's)
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I have never seen a Luxilon string that is special for pros. They typically give me their reels, and I have even see them go to the tents at tournaments where typical fans go to buy strings because they run out.

Stepanek uses timo as does marry fish also my with 17g gut in a hybrid. . (Just remembered that)
 
drakulie said:
Anyone using Alu power.
Lots of players that are using 4G.
Anyone using luxilon premier ace.


Also, many colleges, being that they are on tight budgets for tennis, get strings from companies that give them great deals to use their strings (genesis,solinco,isospeed,etc). Many of the coaches that purchase the string buy into the hype that textured strings provide more spin.
Click to expand...

My opponents complain more about my spin when I use a textured string. It does seem to produce more spin for me but that is obviously not the case for you. Just my own personal experience, not trying to argue since tennis is an individual sports and your mileage may vary from mine. Are you stringing at Delray this year?
 
I too think I get more spin from textured strings, but I think it's accurate when posters have said that with the textured strings you get a little less predictability. It's a trade off I'm sure no pro wants to make.

As for no special Luxilon being made, perhaps the # of people who use thinner than 1.25 is very small then. Timo, Ace, Feel, and Fluoro are barely used on Tour.
 
drakulie said:
I have never seen a Luxilon string that is special for pros. They typically give me their reels, and I have even see them go to the tents at tournaments where typical fans go to buy strings because they run out.
Click to expand...

That's hilarious! I can see it now:
Pro Player: I need a reel of Luxilon ALU Rough.

Pimply Faced teen: That will be $265.

Pro Player: Here's my American Express

Pimply Faced teen: Thank you. May I see some ID, Mr. Federer?​
 
I'm of the opinion that additional spin generated by shaped polys is minimal if any--and that any perceived difference in spin is due to a faulty comparison regardless of string shape.

Shaped polys (in order to sell) MUST be engineered to be very spin friendly. A company who creates a textured/shaped string without being mindful of its spin characteristics would be stupid. I think a more relevant question is: why do so many more players use Luxilon on tour than anything else, shaped or not?

I used it in college back when it first became the hot property on tour. My teammate from Europe showed up with it my sophomore year, talking it up as the best string he had ever used. And at first I hated it. I didn't like the feel, it took a while to adjust to how much net clearance I needed to get the ball near the baseline. But after a while I just couldn't get over how much control I had with it. My play(and my ranking) skyrocketed. To top it off, I wasn't breaking the string for almost a week instead of one or two a match. But...even though it has a long life-the string becomes absolutely brutal on your arm before you break the string. I'd never experienced arm issues until using alu-power for a semester, and the pain I experienced was eye-watering by nationals.

Luxilon, when freshly strung, somehow manages to perform better than any other poly on the market by a large enough margin to keep professionals paying for it without an endorsement. The only thing I can think of, and to answer your original question(sorry to be so long winded, I'm a newb) is that most polys playing characteristics dramatically change with the elements(temp-tension maintenance-humidity etc) but luxilon is shockingly consistent. And this includes spin. My current string, Kirchbaum PL II, loses tension faster and is far more finicky with the elements. At some point PL2 becomes literally unplayable. But I didn't make it to the next level after school, and I don't want to cut out my $15 strings after every time I play. So to answer your original question, I think luxilon might not provide any more spin that the popular polys on TT or on stringforum (PLII being one of them) but Luxilon Alu Power just performs more consistently.
 
hackofalltrade said:
....I think a more relevant question is: why do so many more players use Luxilon on tour than anything else, shaped or not?

...Luxilon, when freshly strung, somehow manages to perform better than any other poly on the market by a large enough margin to keep professionals paying for it without an endorsement...
Click to expand...
This is the correct answer. Luxilon is popular because it is a known quantity play-wise right off the bat, unlike many other polys.

The downside thought it Luxilon strings die off quicker than tons of other polys- but that's irrelevant to the players who people on the boards here desperately try to copy details of. They use the frames for 30 minutes and then change to a fresh one.

I've only tried three different Luxilon strings and they all had less than 1/2 the useful playable life of strings like WeissCannon Silversting or Black 5 Edge. Others here would be able to reel off stacks of other strings which do similar.
 
Bobby Jr said:
I've only tried three different Luxilon strings and they all had less than 1/2 the useful playable life of strings like WeissCannon Silversting or Black 5 Edge. Others here would be able to reel off stacks of other strings which do similar.
Click to expand...

I like both of those strings, AND I like the fact that they take 20-30 minutes of hitting before they start feeling ideal. It allows me to play with them for a few days without "dying" like luxilon does. And I agree that people need to stop trying to copy their favorite players in racquet/string makeup unless they are willing to string 1000 racquets a year with expensive, short lived poly.
 
I have a question.... If the pro's use round strings to have a consistent ball response then why do I feel like most pro's use open string patterns (besides Rog and Djokovic) even though they would have a more erratic response? It's not because they need the extra spin or power I assume, right?
 
Puddy said:
Me thinks that a more rounder, smoother string increases the "snap back" effect because of less friction between the mains and crosses. Thus, a textured string will decrease the probability of such reaction upon impact/contact. Does this make sense?

Hope all is well and have a great week,

Puddy
Click to expand...

In our testing, strings that are shaped (but not "rough") create flat surfaces to slide against each other better. This reduction in friction allows for the creation of more spin (assuming the player can swing hard enough to move the strings at a given tension).

However, not all players prefer this sensation.
 
I think that round polys are just more predictable. That sliding sensation can be more non linear with shaped strings like Volkl Cyclone or Tour Bite Diamond rough. Both are great strings and I enjoy their intense spin but they just arent as consistent when you really lay into them.
 
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Just from personal experience, the shaped polys I used (Black widow and BHB7) seemed to have a lot less control when I wanted to drive through the ball (or hit a flatter shot) more. Hitting a drive inside out forehand seemed very unpredictable compared with using alu power.
 
Babolat Official said:
In our testing, strings that are shaped (but not "rough") create flat surfaces to slide against each other better. This reduction in friction allows for the creation of more spin (assuming the player can swing hard enough to move the strings at a given tension).

However, not all players prefer this sensation.
Click to expand...

So does RPM Blast have a flat surface? Because the pictures of it represent a string with rounded edges which look to be about half the amount of protrusion as a round string, which would then (in a hybrid with any round string) cut the coefficient of friction by about half for RPM and make the friction slightly higher for the round string (by about one 20th maybe) and ultimately make that hybrid have a far lower combined COF (than RPM on its own). If its edges are not rounded though (unlike what the picture suggests), then it will just do the same thing in the given hybrid that any shaped poly would do. That's my take on it.
 
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My experience is that you get better string bite with high-SW frames and Pros use frames with SWs higher than typical retail.

I talked to a guy with a device that makes strings rough in a particular area to increase spin and he said that the rough surfaces and textures wear off with play.
 
lolminraise said:
Just from personal experience, the shaped polys I used (Black widow and BHB7) seemed to have a lot less control when I wanted to drive through the ball (or hit a flatter shot) more. Hitting a drive inside out forehand seemed very unpredictable compared with using alu power.
Click to expand...

I agree actually with this.
 
derek08844 said:
I have a question.... If the pro's use round strings to have a consistent ball response then why do I feel like most pro's use open string patterns (besides Rog and Djokovic) even though they would have a more erratic response? It's not because they need the extra spin or power I assume, right?
Click to expand...

What pros use open patterns? 16x19 or 18x20 are the two most commonly used string patterns.
 
I'm far from a pro but I can vouch. I was a long time user of Pro Hurricane tour but was always baffled at how one shot out of every 10-15 or so just seemed to have a different trajectory. Every now and then it would just launch higher but the extra bite usually produced a spinny ball that would bring it back down into the court. Bothered me over time. Switched to ALU power and a noticeable difference indeed. Way more predictable. More control too IMO.
 
Im thinking its becaUse they are used to playing with one string and they don't wanna think about changing. Too many go try.
and with their busy schedules and results in the line. You can see why they stick to what they know up to that point..
What I wanna know is if ALL players carry their own string? Or do they just know that in the major tournaments will have:
Luxilon original.
Babolat rpm.
Solinco tourbite.
TECN.redcode
What other string di you commonly see
 
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1HBHfanatic said:
Im thinking its becaUse they are used to playing with one string and they don't wanna think about changing. Too many go try.
and with their busy schedules and results in the line. You can see why they stick to what they know up to that point..
What I wanna know is if ALL players carry their own string? Or do they just know that in the major tournaments will have:
Luxilon original.
Babolat rpm.
Solinco tourbite.
TECN.redcode
What other string di you commonly see
Click to expand...

To answer your question, yes, ALL pro players carry their own strings.
 
It's just preference. Pros have good enough technique they could play with just about anything they want. They could play with 90 inch frames or 95, or 105 and they would still play a very high level.

With the Swingweight they typically use, and their technique/grips they can generate plenty of spin. So they just pick whatever feels best to them. Usually that means not changing what works. A lot of people that are serious about tennis just pick one frame, one string and one general tension range and stick with it. And that makes sense. Tweaking your game, not your gear is a lot simpler. At most they tweak the frame weighting very gently over time.
 
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