String Playability - Mountain Climbers vs Dowhhill Skiers

[Kalin]

We all know and love to hate the strings that start out as world-beaters right from the start just to turn into unplayable mush/re-bar a few short (and expensive) hours later. Some (in)famous examples are the Alu Power and the RPM Blast; admittedly I've only tried the Alu Power and the playability indeed changes dramatically after a very short while.

More important, IMO, is to know what strings need a few hours of hitting before they come alive and start playing at their best. Most of us love to test strings and an unfortunate side effect is that we often dismiss and cut out a string after one or two sessions when we probably should have waited a bit more.

So, which are your favourite slow starters - strings that feel meh in the beginning but really hit their stride after one, or even a few, hitting sessions?

Mine has been the WC Turbo Twist; I thought it started playing much better after a couple of sessions. Yes, I know it could always mean that I had it too tight but still...

 

[CopolyX]

If you have a Beers T. ERT, it really helps to take out the guessing game.....

 

[Chotobaka]

I definitely agree that most strings take some hitting before they come into their own. With any of my preferred string/tension set-ups, optimum play never occurs right off the stringing machine. It does not take much time to break in, but it definitely takes a little hitting before it settles in and then plays consistently, with a mostly linear tension drop, for the remaining life of the string job.

For me, it is a simple process to have more than one freshly strung racquet in my bag so I can do this on my own schedule. Then when I reach for a "fresh" racquet, it is already at the appropriate DT.

If you string for optimum playability immediately after stringing, yeah, tension will drop and you will feel that string performance falls off rapidly. And, by "immediately after stringing" I mean after the initial static tension drop. So, I allow for overnight tension drop before my break-in hits.

 

[WarrenMP]

I am a Gosen OGSM man. It is okay all round, which works for me. I had string that losses tension and playability. That is why I avoid texture strings. They start off great but they notch so easily. I do like Kirschbaum Pro Line X. They start off stiff, but warm up after a hour or so. They last long because they are prestretched.