Injured Again's Hyper-G Soft Review, Part 1:
Gauge received:
1.20 mm/17 gauge
Tension used for playtest:
I used a form of proportional stringing, with 51 pounds in the center eight mains decreasing to 37 pounds for the outer mains, and 45 pounds for the center five crosses decreasing to 32 pounds for the top and bottom cross. I did a light manual prestretch to reduce coil memory, and did a double pull on a lockout stringer (Gamma X-ST). I also have sets of regular Hyper-G 1.20/17 gauge and strung up a matching racquet for a comparison test.
Regular string setup and tension:
Over the last year and up until about a month ago, I used 17 gauge Tourna Silver 7 Tour as my go-to string. Initially, I used the same tensions as described above, but over time came to decrease tension by two pounds on every string. In the last month, I switched to 1.20 mm/18 gauge Cyclone Tour and have used 53 pounds in the center eight mains and 47 pounds in the center five crosses.
Racquet used for test:
I have two matching v6 Blade SW104 racquets. They are handle weighted for a strung weight of 350-351 grams, with a swingweight of approximately 345 kg/cm^2. They are 11 points HL when strung, and have an 18x19 pattern.
Power/Control of test string:
I started off by hitting with regular Hyper-G, and it felt as I remembered. It is medium powered, pretty muted on contact, and a bit more comfortable than average. Spin capability is very high, and the stringbed is consistent so that there is immediate familiarity with the high amount of control that Hyper-G offers. The launch angle is medium-high and linear in how it changes depending on the amount of spin put on the ball. This adds to the sense of control in that the angle of the ball leaving the stringbed is predictable, making it easy to control length of shot by the amount of spin placed on the ball.
Hyper-G Soft had a slightly higher power level and also a slightly higher launch angle. Spin capability, sensitivity to incoming spin, and control were all relatively the same as regular Hyper-G.
Compared to the other Solinco strings, in order of highest to lowest power, I would rate them in this order: Revolution, Hyper-G Soft, Hyper-G, Confidential, Tour Bite. Hyper-G Soft is not as powerful as Silver 7 Tour but has a more linear power delivery over the range of swing speeds. Hyper-G Soft is significantly less powerful than Cyclone Tour.
Control is almost in the reverse order of power. Rating them from best to worst control, the order would be Tour Bite, Confidential, Hyper-G Soft, Hyper-G, and Revolution. I'd rate control higher for Hyper-G Soft because there is more feedback in terms of crispness of the impact, which gives a psychological edge in feeling confident that a clean contact will direct the ball more accurately at a target. Control for Hyper-G Soft is better than both Silver 7 Tour and Cyclone Tour as those two strings are more powerful and smaller changes in swing velocity result in larger differences in shot length.
There were times when I missed the putaway power of Cyclone Tour versus Hyper-G Soft. It took more work to get the ball away from my opponent.
Feel (Stiff? Mushy? Muted? Crisp? Comfortable?):
Hyper-G Soft feels slightly less stiff than regular Hyper-G, which seems to match the slightly higher power level. Both Hyper-G Soft and Hyper-G have a muted stiffness that is almost rubbery feeling. Hyper-G Soft has a crisper response and produces a higher pitched impact noise that is not present with regular Hyper-G. The added crispness of response is offset by a slightly more elastic feel that firms up when swinging harder, but overall results in a slightly more comfortable stringbed both hitting and missing the sweetspot.
In terms of stiffness, I would rate the Solinco strings from most stiff to least stiff: Tour Bite, Confidential, Hyper-G, Hyper-G Soft, Revolution.
From most muted to least muted: Hyper-G, Confidential, Hyper-G Soft, Revolution, Tour Bite.
Most crisp to least crisp: Tour Bite, Revolution, Hyper-G Soft, Confidential, Hyper-G
Most comfortable to least comfortable: Revolution, Hyper-G Soft, Hyper-G, Confidential, Tour Bite
Comparing Silver 7 Tour to Hyper-G Soft: S7T is stiffer, less muted, more crisp, and less comfortable.
Comparing Cyclone Tour to Hyper-G Soft: CT is less stiff, less muted, more crisp, and more comfortable.
Spin:
The spin capability of Hyper-G Soft is basically identical to Hyper-G and is very high. Hyper-G Soft has a consistent ability to grab the ball whether swinging soft or hard, and whether hitting through the ball or hitting it with a skimming trajectory. The moderate power levels combined with high spin capability allowed me to frequently get the ball to at or above shoulder height of my opponent on the slower of our hard courts. Second serves felt more sure and even those that landed short in the service box had good action and a high bounce. I almost never experienced shots that felt like the ball slid off the strings.
Sensitivity to incoming spin was slightly more than average. Since I normally use shaped strings, there was minimal adjustment when testing Hyper-G Soft. The only instances where I was surprised by the ball reaction was on some underspin backhand shots where my timing wasn't good and I didn't make a firm swing. On those shots, where it seemed like the incoming spin rate was much faster than my downward swing, the ball came off the stringbed at an unexpectedly high angle. These occasions were pretty rare and almost certainly due to a poor swing.
The only strings I've tested that have greater spin capability were very sharply edged and moderately low powered. Those would be V-Square, V-Torque, Ultra Cable, and Cube, but each of them had some issue which made me not consider using them as a go-to string. Hyper-G Soft is in the category right below these four strings.
Comparing Hyper-G Soft to the other Solinco strings, I find no difference in spin capability between it and regular Hyper-G. In order from most spin capable to least spin capable, I would rate them: Hyper-G Soft/Hyper-G, Confidential, Revolution, Tour Bite.
Hyper-G Soft is more spin capable by a small amount over Silver 7 Tour, and by a slightly greater amount than Cyclone Tour. The higher power level of those two strings require a steeper swing trajectory so as to not hit the ball too long, and the lower contact pressure combined with less ball/string friction makes high, looping topspin shots harder to consistently generate.
Durability:
My wrist was slightly injured during this string test and so I didn't swing as normally would over the entire duration. The first four hours produced minimal notching. I then played all out during a two hour match in which I tried to hit maximal topspin shots as often and as strongly as I am capable. Notching increased from about 20% to more than 50%, and the string broke very soon into the next outing, at six hours of play. A section of string sheared from the corner of a deep notch and broke in the sweetspot area.
The six hours is relatively short duration. Revolution also notched quickly and broke, but Confidential, Tour Bite, and Hyper-G seemed to have greater durability. Silver 7 Tour was a notch-resistant string and would last me approximately twelve hours. Cyclone Tour lasts approximately eight to ten hours.