String help needed

[Clarky75]

Hi All,

Here is my situation, hoping to get some guidance

I have been away from tennis around 5 years, I am 48 yo now but always played to a high level, was a 5.0 - 5.5 and was a notorious string breaker, so ended up with Prince Pro Blend and then to polyester when they come out

I did have some arm issues not related to tennis, so I am back into the game and looking for some string help. I did have issues with polys initially for 2 reasons, one I strung them way too high, secondly I left them in way too long.

I have a Pure Drive Aero 98 currently

The tennis I will be playing is mostly social with strong players, plus signing up for a few flex leagues to play, but I won't be playing the 4-5 hours a day that I used too. My game is all court when needed, but I would say primarily a baseliner, heavy topspin and one hand backhanded, topspin also love to hit my slice backhand

Here is my thoughts and dilemma

1. Nat Gut is out - it is way too expensive in Australia, and for me I didn't enjoy it that much especially for the price paid
2. Multis I was always told go Multi, I hated them, and I tried a lot, so mushy and I just don't enjoy them, I much prefer the syn gut or poly
3. Syn Gut - I grew up on this string and I loved it, still do, I used mostly Prince Syn Gut, or my favourite was the old Prince Topspin, I would break these sometime over 3 sets, sometimes in an hour, not sure how a syn gut would go in a PD Aero 98 either. I do not like the Prince Syn Gut with Duraflex they have now
4. Poly - A definite option, but with so many around now, its a minefield and you get lost, my current frame has Babolat RPM Blast at 52lbs, and I will be trying that out over the coming days

I was looking at maybe the following options

1. Gosen OG Sheep Micro 17 for a syn gut, never tried heard good things, my issue is I am assuming I will chew through it in an hour or maybe one match, with the tennis I play now I just don't want to be off to the pro shop weekly for a restring. Happy to hear any other syn gut options, just not anything with Duraflex in it
2. Poly - Maybe Solinco Confidential, Grapplesnake Tour or M8, Tourna Silver 7 tour. The only thing with poly is I would need to cut it out, and not leave it in as long as I used too

I guess for me when I played last and I used syn gut for the first time since I was a kid, it felt like home and I loved it, but I certainly did not get the spin and control I did from the poly

Tough decisions, back in the day it was easy as not many strings around, now it is just overwhelming and you get lost in choice

Thanks for reading and any advice you can give

 

[blai212]

low tension poly is probably your best bet (low 40s tension)
now it’s a matter of taste…silver strings tend to be more crisp, black is muted, neon color is lively
hyperG 1.25/ghostwire 1.22 seems like it would be a good combo and probably break before the strings die…
alu spin1.27/element 1.25 might be a good combo as well if you like the beefiness of alu (strings are heavier causing more weight in hoop and higher sw)
4G and max power are also great strings at low tension due to their great tension maintenance

 

[socallefty]

If you play with poly, all you have to do is cut it out as soon as you feel some tightness in wrist/elbow/arm even before you get pain. With stiff polys like RPM Blast or ALU Power, it might happen within 10 hours as they go dead fast. With today’s soft polys, they might last around 15 hours - HyperG Soft, HyperG, Cyclone Tour are good polys worth trying out. Try stringing soft polys in the mid-forties as they don’t change much in control when you drop tension, but comfort goes up.

 

[jimmy8]

Try MSV Focus Hex Plus 38 Black 120 - soft, hexagonal shape for spin

Try hybrid with syn gut in the cross and above string in the mains.

Cut out the strings after 8-10 hours of play because your elasticity will be gone, tension will be gone, then health will be gone.

Buy a used stringing machine, it will pay for itself, and you can probably sell it for the same price you got it for.

 

[Cerdany]

If you play with poly, all you have to do is cut it out as soon as you feel some tightness in wrist/elbow/arm even before you get pain. With stiff polys like RPM Blast or ALU Power, it might happen within 10 hours as they go dead fast. With today’s soft polys, they might last around 15 hours - HyperG Soft, HyperG, Cyclone Tour are good polys worth trying out. Try stringing soft polys in the mid-forties as they don’t change much in control when you drop tension, but comfort goes up.

/thread

 

[fuzz nation]

Hi All,

Here is my situation, hoping to get some guidance

I have been away from tennis around 5 years, I am 48 yo now but always played to a high level, was a 5.0 - 5.5 and was a notorious string breaker, so ended up with Prince Pro Blend and then to polyester when they come out

I did have some arm issues not related to tennis, so I am back into the game and looking for some string help. I did have issues with polys initially for 2 reasons, one I strung them way too high, secondly I left them in way too long.

I have a Pure Drive Aero 98 currently

The tennis I will be playing is mostly social with strong players, plus signing up for a few flex leagues to play, but I won't be playing the 4-5 hours a day that I used too. My game is all court when needed, but I would say primarily a baseliner, heavy topspin and one hand backhanded, topspin also love to hit my slice backhand

Here is my thoughts and dilemma

1. Nat Gut is out - it is way too expensive in Australia, and for me I didn't enjoy it that much especially for the price paid
2. Multis I was always told go Multi, I hated them, and I tried a lot, so mushy and I just don't enjoy them, I much prefer the syn gut or poly
3. Syn Gut - I grew up on this string and I loved it, still do, I used mostly Prince Syn Gut, or my favourite was the old Prince Topspin, I would break these sometime over 3 sets, sometimes in an hour, not sure how a syn gut would go in a PD Aero 98 either. I do not like the Prince Syn Gut with Duraflex they have now
4. Poly - A definite option, but with so many around now, its a minefield and you get lost, my current frame has Babolat RPM Blast at 52lbs, and I will be trying that out over the coming days

I was looking at maybe the following options

1. Gosen OG Sheep Micro 17 for a syn gut, never tried heard good things, my issue is I am assuming I will chew through it in an hour or maybe one match, with the tennis I play now I just don't want to be off to the pro shop weekly for a restring. Happy to hear any other syn gut options, just not anything with Duraflex in it
2. Poly - Maybe Solinco Confidential, Grapplesnake Tour or M8, Tourna Silver 7 tour. The only thing with poly is I would need to cut it out, and not leave it in as long as I used too

I guess for me when I played last and I used syn gut for the first time since I was a kid, it felt like home and I loved it, but I certainly did not get the spin and control I did from the poly

Tough decisions, back in the day it was easy as not many strings around, now it is just overwhelming and you get lost in choice

Thanks for reading and any advice you can give

Dump the RPM Blast immediately - overpriced garbage that has wrecked so many arms (especially when installed in Babolat frames) that it's become a cliche.

Some labels have come out with softer polys, but I can't say specifically what to try - I don't use poly in my own frames. I'm 57 and I can slug comfortably using syn. gut, but I also string at home. Average durability isn't an issue for me. My favorite syn. gut these days is Kirschbaum, but I'd expect that you would probably chew this string up rather fast with the open pattern in your racquet... and your level of play.

I also don't care for Prince SG with Duraflex - at least the 16 ga. version. Too clunky for me. I get sort of the same impression from Gosen OG Sheep Micro 16, but I could probably live with this at a lower tension in a pinch. I can say that I get along with this Gosen in the 17 ga. version in one of my frames having a dense 18x20 pattern.

Gosen OGSM 16 does seem to work as a decent performing cross in a poly hybrid. If you go the hybrid route, you may find a nice combo of performance, comfort, and acceptable service life if you pair a softer poly main with this Gosen syn. gut as a cross. It seems that a hybrid like this will "go dead" less drastically than a full bed of the poly - syn. gut retains more resilience over time.

There are "softer" polys out there, but you may also get some extra comfort by using a relatively light gauge of any poly. I'll sometimes offer a hybrid of Isospeed Baseline 1.20mm mains and Gosen OGSM crosses at moderate tension when a syn. gut or multi user wants to try a poly setup for the first time. This particular hybrid seems to be only about as firm as a full bed of syn. gut. If the lighter gauge doesn't last too long for that player, then we'll try the next gauge up - 1.25mm - and probably drop a pound or two of tension in the poly. Lighter gauges just aren't as clunky as the heavier options (same as with any string I guess).

Speaking of Isospeed, they also have a string - Isospeed Cream - that's a rubber based polymer, not a stiffer polyester/co-poly. Some of our pals here have raved about its relative softness and comfort compared with polyester offerings and it seems to also be somewhat popular as either a main or a cross string in some hybrid layouts.

If shaped poly is your thing, I can say that a few locals have really enjoyed Volkl Cyclone 17, usually in a hybrid when I install it for them. There are certainly other shaped polys, but I've seen a few friends and acquaintances around here get terrific results with this string. Some of our pals here on the TT boards prefer Cyclone Tour, but again, I can't offer any of my own observations.

 

[Steve Huff]

If it were me, I'd try Gamma Marathon 15L before going to any poly. If you were a string breaker, you'll go through Gosen OG Micro 17 quickly. I think you'll get just as good of play, and just as much enjoyment, out of a good 15L syn gut, and one like Marathon is designed to last longer.

 

[Znak]

Would add Head Velocity or Tec Triax to the list as they're not your traditional multis and could fit the bill