Tennis Giant strings?

[Pmasterfunk]

This is probably aimed at Canadians more than anyone else. A local tennis store in Montreal is selling house brand string under their name, Tennis Giant. It's a square-shaped poly that is made in Germany.

I'm no expert on string manufacturers world-wide, but are there any string manufacturers in Germany apart from Signum Pro? Pro's Pro maybe? I'm wondering if this is a rebranded string that's already on the market.

The string is pretty cheap, so I may give a go. I'm just looking for any info at all.

Thanks,
P

 

[1HBHfanatic]

-I'm not in Canada, but here are my 2cents!!
-not uncommon these days "rebranding"
-i personally don't mind, as long as i like price/performance of the string

 

[esgee48]

Kirschbaum and IsoSpeed/Head.

 

[Pmasterfunk]

-I'm not in Canada, but here are my 2cents!!
-not uncommon these days "rebranding"
-i personally don't mind, as long as i like price/performance of the string

I like cheap strings, so it's definitely my bag.

Kirschbaum and IsoSpeed/Head.

They don't seem to have square strings in their catalogs. The only ones I've found that are square (on TW) are Ytex and Volkl. The Ytex in particular seems similar. Do you know where those are made? I wasn't able to find that info (at least not quickly).

I would be surprised it if were a unique product, but apart from the Ytex I haven't seen anything similar. It seems unlikely that a brand new string requiring new tooling and new formula would sell for so cheap, but you never know. I guess I'll grab a roll and report back.

 

[N-serve]

I like cheap strings, so it's definitely my bag.


They don't seem to have square strings in their catalogs. The only ones I've found that are square (on TW) are Ytex and Volkl. The Ytex in particular seems similar. Do you know where those are made? I wasn't able to find that info (at least not quickly).

I would be surprised it if were a unique product, but apart from the Ytex I haven't seen anything similar. It seems unlikely that a brand new string requiring new tooling and new formula would sell for so cheap, but you never know. I guess I'll grab a roll and report back.

Ytex strings are made in Germany

 

[croissant92]

Probably not a lot of extra info, but I'm subscribed to the tennis giant mailing list and got an email this week advertising their new string. It says designed in Canada for what its worth. Curious to see how it plays, as it goes for only 99$ CAD a reel.
"We're proud to introduce our latest project, an innovative and cost-efficient tennis string geared towards the everyday tennis player looking for a comfortable and durable string that also gives off just the right amount of power. Designed in Canada. Made in Germany."

 

[jugheadfla]

Grapplesnake is also made in Germany as well as Weiss cannon if I'm not mistaken

 

[Pmasterfunk]

Ytex strings are made in Germany

It seems very similar to the whit Ytex square string.

I've ordered a roll and will do a visual inspection when I get it. If I ever get to play some time soon, I'll even do a review.

99$ CAD a reel

A tiny bit more expensive than Golden Set, but still very much in my (very cheap) range.

 

[gvsbdisco]

maybe re-branded Ultra Cable? Its square isn't it?

 

[beepee1972]

Weiss Cannon would be my guess as well. Which colour is it?

weiss cannon

 

[Pmasterfunk]

Grapplesnake is also made in Germany as well as Weiss cannon if I'm not mistaken

Cube or cube extra-sharp seem to be similar apart from color, although they look to be marketed as control strings as opposed to "comfort" strings.

maybe re-branded Ultra Cable? Its square isn't it?

Weiss Cannon would be my guess as well. Which colour is it?

weiss cannon

The Tennis Giant string is white/whiteish, not yellow. WC is 17 gauge vs 16L for the TG, but that may have to do with how a square string is measured. It may be the same but a different color and marketed slightly differently for the gauge difference.
On some level, it's a bit odd that Weiss Cannon produces non-white string. I wonder if they originally produced a specifically white string and that's where the name comes from.

Anywho, currently my suspicions lie Ytex Square-X:
They're both 16L (or at least marketed as 16L)
They're both copoly + polyolefin
They both white-whiteish (though it's hard to compare colors online)
They're both square (though Ytex says "squared" technically)
They're both made in Germany

The TG string says it has a thermofoil cooling process, which isn't mentioned for Ytex, but the Ytex does seem to have some sort of coating.

Anyway, there's only one way to know if I'll like it, and that's by trying it out.

 

[Firepandas]

Pros Pro make their strings in Germany, right? And also Volkl?

 

[N-serve]

Ytex SquareX does not have sharp edges. From the pictures, it does look very similar.

 

[esgee48]

A great majority of Name brand string/manufacturers do all their R&D in small labs so they can produce and test for the characteristics of the strings they want. They all start from the same catalog of commercially available pellets, which are available by the ton. When they are ready to introduce a 'new' string to the masses, they will contract with a string factory and have it produced under a Non Disclosure Agreement. The factory has all the machines to melt, mix, extrude and post process the strings by the mile(s). That's why many strings say Designed at vs Made in. The dies and spinnerets are mainly the same. What is proprietary is the mix and a lot of the post processing. Strings may look the same, but their chemical composition is slightly different.

 

[Pmasterfunk]

A great majority of Name brand string/manufacturers do all their R&D in small labs so they can produce and test for the characteristics of the strings they want. They all start from the same catalog of commercially available pellets, which are available by the ton. When they are ready to introduce a 'new' string to the masses, they will contract with a string factory and have it produced under a Non Disclosure Agreement. The factory has all the machines to melt, mix, extrude and post process the strings by the mile(s). That's why many strings say Designed at vs Made in. The dies and spinnerets are mainly the same. What is proprietary is the mix and a lot of the post processing. Strings may look the same, but their chemical composition is slightly different.

Thanks, that was really informative.

 

[Pmasterfunk]

So I bought a reel a while ago and finally had a chance to try it out yesterday.

It plays fine, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I wasn't super impressed, but I'm not going to thrash it until I get a few more sessions in. I also recently changed racquets, so my baseline "feeling" isn't quite the same as it has been for the past few years, but anyway here are my first impressions.

I usually string my racquets at 37/42 lbs, with Golden Set Power Cord 17g or a similar soft poly. I did the same tension for the TG string, and it felt a bit stiffer than what I remember the Power Cord feeling when new (though I haven't strung PC in a while). If I hadn't read that it was squarish, I would not have noticed. I didn't see a big difference in spin from PC, to be honest, though I'm not a heavy spin player, so YMMV.

I'm going to keep playing with it to see how it feels once it has softened up a bit, but I will probably string a bit lower next time.

 

[Pmasterfunk]

It's long overdue, but here's an update.

I played the the string a second time after my previous post, only a few days later, and I didn't enjoy the string then. It felt a bit dead, and I couldn't seem to get much action on the ball unless I took really big cuts at it. My regular swing speed didn't seem to cut it, so I figured it was too much string for me.

I finally got around to playing again last night, and at first I started with my other racquet strung with Golden Set Power Cord (strung last summer probably). It was so mushy it was kind of unplayable, so I switched racquets and tried the TG string. Letting the string sit in the racquet for almost six months seemed to have worked some magic into it, because it was pretty good. It felt more comfortable than I remembered, and the ball made a great sound coming off the bed. I was playing doubles, so I barely hit any ground strokes, but I enjoyed it overall.

If I were to restring, I would drop the tension a bit, seeing how well it plays now. It's definitely stiffer than other "comfort" polys I've tried, which include PC (17g), Signum Pro Hyperion (17g), and Volkl Cyclone (18g). It reminded me a bit of Tourna Big Hitter Blue (16g), though I haven't played with that in a long time. Actually, I'll restring my other racquet with BHB and compare.