Tennis Warehouse Playtest: Tourna Grit 17
Folk, here is my review Tourna Grit 17 string. Thank you to
@TW Staff for this opportunity as always. It is much appreciated. Hope you enjoy my review.
Tension(s) used for playtest:
49 lbs full bed. Strung on Gamma ELS 5800 stringer.
Regular string set up:
I am tennis geek and I am always trying new strings and equipment whenever I can. These past few weeks I have been using Volkl Cyclone 17 strung anywhere from 48-52 lbs depending on racquet.
Racquet used for playtest:
Babolat Pure Storm Tour GT. I enjoy Volkl Cyclone in high 40s tensions in this frame and figured Tourna Grit would be a good fit in that tension range.
Power of test string:
Power was ample. More than Cyclone. I would call it medium powered. I found it very similar to Yonex Poly Tour Strike in terms of power feedback. Generous spin and decent pop on groundstrokes and volleys as well. First serves had good pop. Second serves had a good mix of spin and pop.
Feel (Comfortable, Stiff? Mushy? Muted? Crisp?):
I found Tourna Grit 17 to be a very comfortable string. Softer than Volkl Cyclone, if we compare the two. Dwell time was excellent and I could feel the ball pocket well. I felt really connected on court. No buzzing, jarring or weird vibrations at all. And comfortable feel was consistent all throughout the playtest.
Spin:
I found the spin to be just average much below what I get from Cyclone 17. The string was not very slick as well hence I did not feel a lot of snapback happening. It is also lively feeling and round so I wasn't expecting too much spin anyway. In my opinion, there is enough spin for bigger, advanced level hitters. But do not expect the string to help you generate spin. I did find that I could shape my groundstrokes because of the dwell time and pocketing. That ball pocket feeling also helped a lot when serving second serves and getting feel.
Durability:
This is a durable string in my opinion. I am not a chronic string breaker compared to some of the guys I hit with but feedback I am getting tells me I will be cutting it out before I break it. I feel it to be more durable than Cyclone 17. I am also not seeing a lot of notching which speaks highly of durability for me.
Playability Duration:
Nothing extraordinary really. I would say it is decent and on par with most of the good polyester strings out there in the market. I am on the 9 hour mark and balls have started flying so I am going to be cutting it out soon after hitting one more time. I did notice that playability was constant all throughout. So playability was around 8-10 hours for me which is what I get from most decent polyester strings. I also felt that tension maintenance was good throughout and there was no drop off anywhere.
Control:
This is definitely a control oriented string in my opinion. I felt there was good point and shoot sort of control. Even though I feel that it was not a spin monster, you could always whip the ball and expect it to dip and land inside the line. Ball pocketing helps that as well. Great control on flat shots. Overall control was consistent from a very reliable string bed response on all types of strokes. I really liked sliced second serves, very tempered and controlled.
Tension Recommendations: if you strung this string again, would you use a different tension strategy? Why/why not?
I feel that 49 lbs was ideal in my 16x20 racquet and complemented the string. I would string same tension (in this same racquet) as I was happy with the consistent and reliable feedback I was getting. Since the string is soft enough, I will recommend going tighter a couple of pounds in more open patterns for a bit more control and to tame that little bit extra power I felt. The feedback of the string really is comfortable enough to be kept in mid-high 40s in denser patterns for optimum balance of comfort and control.
Compare to string used most often:
Tourna Grit 17 is more powerful, comfortable and durable than Cyclone 17. Playability duration is the same as Cyclone 17. I do feel that however that it suffers in the spin department when compared to Cyclone 17.
List any additional thoughts (optional):
I was excited to do this playtest as I had heard about Grit a few months back and never got a chance to try it. A few observations below:
1) Let me just say that the name 'grit' was a bit misleading for me in a way. I think sandpaper the moment I hear 'grit'. This string however is a smooth round poly, not some rough textured/twisted sort of a string. My stringer also said he was pleasantly surprised as he isn't a fan of stringing textured stiff strings.
2) I found this string to be a very good overall string however I did not find it excelling in any one department. It does everything good so I would recommend it for someone looking for a well balanced string. Caveat here that you will find very similar strings in the marketthat do things similarly well, if not better.
3) While the price point is good (under 10 bucks a set), I don't really see a convincing enough reason to switch to it for good. That said, I will think about keeping a few sets of Tourna Grit 17 nearby just to mix things up. For some reason I am curious about trying this in a hybrid setup.
And finally, thank you
@TW Staff and Tourna once again for this opportunity to try this string. Really had fun.