General information about me
I'm a current college club 4.5 player with teaching/coaching experience at my local country club back home. Play extreme eastern forehand and eastern one-handed backhand. I play with flatter strokes with moderate to heavy spin. Using my height to my advantage, I'm inclined to use my serve to set up short points and am comfortable up at net.
What gauge did I receive
I received the 18 gauge variant of this string from TW to playtest. Familiar with Volkl Cyclone Black in gauges 16,17, and 19, I was interested to see how this string compared.
Tension(s) used for playtest
53M/55X lbs on a Gamma Drop-weight stringer. I used a hybrid with Gosen OG Sheep Micro 17 White in the crosses. I usually go 50/52 with my usual setup (below), but decided to up the tension a bit to tame the expected power of the 18 gauge mains.
Regular string set up
I typically use 16 gauge Solinco Hyper G in the mains and 17 gauge Gosen OG Sheep Micro (White) in the crosses. Also it's important to note that I typically use my RF97, but have been playing with a couple customized Technifibre TFight 315 LTD 16x19s. I have to admit I regret not stringing my RF97 with this string, since it would have both made my comparisons to my regular setup more meaningful and honestly I think the tested V-Pro would be pretty nice in the stick.
However, I have played poly main/nylon crosses on a variety of sticks in the past, including the C10 pro, which offers the closest feel that I've come across to the Technifibres.
Racquet used for test
Customized Technifibre 315 LTD 16x19s with 12 grams of lead in the hoop from 9, 12, and 3 o'clock positions.
Power of test string
This 18 gauge gave me a bit more pop that my usual setup, but not by much. As many previous posters have mentioned. The power alone didn't take too much of an adjustment, but with the higher launch angle, I found a bit of an adjustment. Combined with the high flex on my TFights, the string had a longer break-in period than other strings, but once dialed in, I enjoyed the little bit of extra pop, especially on serves.
Feel (Stiff? Mushy? Muted? Crisp? Boardy off-center?)
The string retained its crisp feel for most of the playtest and it reminded me a bit of hyper-g in its general response, which I enjoyed. Feel started to get softer and mushy right before snapping.
Spin
Good spin, about on par compared to my usual Hyper G setup. The spin generation was a bit inconsistent, however, which may be thicker crosses creating more friction for the mains than usual. This can probably be avoided by stringing in a full bed. I found my returns struggling for a bit with the slight increase in spin, as I was catching the top of the tape of the net when taking rips at second serves. Second serves are also a good indicator of how much spin I can get out of a string, and I was happy with slice and kick I could get out of this setup. Good stuff.
Comfort
This string is crisp and offers feedback, but I have no arm issues and the 315 LTDs are pillows so I had no comfort issues at all. I have played much stiffer strings, and I wouldn't categorize this in the "harsh" category. Without significant arm issues, though, I always disclaim this category should be taken with a grain of salt from me.
Durability
This hybrid lasted about 8 hours of mixed intense hitting and match play. The crosses popped on me, as they usually do. This is on-par with my normal setup, so I'd say this string offers slightly above average durability for an 18 gauge.
Playability Duration
The crispness, power, and firmness remained for a large portion of the playtest, and I'm happy with the consistency after the break-in and adjustment periods out of the way. I got a good 5-6 hours of peak performance from this string, out of the total ~8 hours played.
Control
I had slight inconsistency issues with spin, but that is likely due to my main gauge difference from my typical setup. I really enjoyed the directional control with this string, and power wasn't too much more than my normal setup, but just enough to get a slightly deeper ball. On low approach shots, the spin and fast response allowed me to attack corners and pin opponents in their backhand corner with a sharp slice. The firmness of the string bed in contrast with the firm TFight response worked out pretty well for me, as I would be playing with wet noodle if I played a soft string in these frames. The firmness up at net worked nicely as well as the directional control for put away shots was really welcome.
Compare to string used most often
This string is slightly firmer than my Hyper-G setup, with a larger launch angle and similar spin. My biggest gripe (which is still pretty small) was the difference in response and unusual inconsistency with spin using this string. The firmness and crispness were nice, but Hyper-G offers a bit more pocketing and consistency to which I've grown quite attached. I also found the little break in period with this setup, while Hyper-G plays great right off the stringer, then levels off a bit after break-in. The setups are pretty similar though, and I enjoyed the playtest as a whole.
List any additional thoughts (optional)
Cosmetically, I really like how my blue and white hybrid looked in my TFights (very 'Merica). As a big Volkl fan of their racquets and string, it's great to see another great offering from the company.
Thanks to TW and Volkl for the awesome opportunity! Love doing this stuff.
V-Pro Test
