My Tennis Warehouse Playtest: Yonex Poly Tour Strike 1.25
Hello folk, here is my in-depth review of the string. I know it was quick considering I received it on Friday and today is Monday, but I snapped my string right at the 5 hour mark unfortunately. This playtest was done hitting with #3 kid in the local college team so there was a lot of heavy exchanges. Anyway, here is the review for the string:
The string:
Tension used for playtest:
Full bed at 50 lbs.
Regular string set up:
Although it varies from time to time, my usual go-to string these days is Oehms Black Pearl Rough. It's the right combo of crisp and comfy at the right price point. It is a very different string than Yonex Poly Tour Strike, for what it is worth.
Racquet brand and model used for test:
Babolat Pure Storm Tour GT
Power of test string:
Above average power for a poly. It was not a low powered poly string, that is for sure. It also made for a lively stringbed which felt like a nice change but was erratic at times as well. Once the string settled in after initial few hits, the power/feedback became very consistent however.
Control of test string:
Control was inline with what a round string generally produces: predictable. Very similar to some good round polys like maybe YPTP or Head Hawk. I could take big cuts and still generate good directional control. I felt very confident that the ball will not fly on me on taking full, big cuts. I was hitting deep shots and I could feel the ball really well. With this confidence, I was going for fuller swings. As for trajectory, it was fairly neutral. Volleys were great, same for serves.
Feel/Comfort (Stiff? Mushy? Springy? Muted? Crisp? Off-Center shock?):
Ok, so this is medium-soft string I would say. There are definitely softer round strings out there (Polyfibre TCS, WC Silverstring, some Tourna Big Hitter lines etc) and then there are clearly crisper feeling ones (Luxilon 4G, Luxilon BBO, Kirshbaum Max Power etc) so I would say it is a very middle of the road string in terms of softness. It is very comfortable though and it plays crisp. Very good crisp, lets put it that way. I am not a regular user of YPTP (perhaps
@McLovin can chime in better there as he mentioned YPTP is his regular string) but this felt stiffer than YPTP to me. That said, it had the same predictable response and comfort. Very good feel and connection to the ball. The one thing I did notice was that there was considerable less dwell time on stringbed for the ball as compared to some other strings I use when strung at same tension. Comfort was top notch, no complaints whatsoever.
Spin:
Where I do feel this string is somewhat lacking is the spin department. Very mediocre spin. I generally hit moderate spin ground strokes (modern eastern forehand grip and OHBH) and I could hit good spin but only when I actually conscientiously tried to hit loopy with quicker RHS and longer takeback. I know spin is the result of a combination of factors like stroke mechanics, equipment etc but given everything else being the same, I can name at least half a dozen strings on top of my head that give me more spin on my regular strokes. In the serving department, flatter first serves and second serves were good. Slice and kick serves were nothing extraordinary.
Playability Duration (did the feel/response change over time? Explain):
Outstanding in this department. From the first hit (minus the initial few hits where the strings settled in) till it snapped, the feel and response stayed the same: predictable. I don't have a way to measure tension maintenance but I go by feel anyway. And I can tell you, this stuff felt great in terms of tension maintenance. This just wowed me with it's consistent playability throughout.
Would you install it at a different tension next time? Explain:
50 lbs worked well for me. I might go a couple of pounds lower next time just to see if I can get a softer feedback out of it. This is a very comfortable playing string so I can even recommend going higher towards mid fifties (this is coming from a guy who likes 50lb or under when using polys). I generally feel polys work best in the low 50s and below range though so my recommendation will be 48-52 lbs range in full bed setup.
List any additional thoughts (optional):
A few observations:
- As I mentioned in the beginning I snapped mine at 5 hour mark. Very bummed about it because I was really starting to gel with the string and it's feedback.
- It is advertised as a durability oriented string and I am not even a chronic string breaker! I have recently been on a string breaking spree though so I am not sure what the culprit is. It is really really hot and humid these days and I am right on the water. Maybe that is a factor too.
- The string felt thinner than 1.25 to me when holding in hand.
- I liked the consistent feedback of the string when hitting although at times I felt the dwell time was not as much as I am used to. Was happy with the performance though. If you're a player who likes taking big cuts all the time, definitely try this one.
- Overall, this is a good round copoly that was easy to string I am told (no kinking, easy tie-offs). Given the right price, I might look into getting maybe a few sets.
Finally, big thank you again to
@TW Staff for this playtest opportunity. If anyone has any questions about my experience/feedback please feel free to ask questions. Will be happy to answer as best as I can.