The gut/poly thread

Tao69 said:
Have you tried Poly Tour Strike? I use it as my cross for gut, holds tension nicely, no sharp drop off.
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Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I'm not spending $20 on a pack of polys in the crosses, when it contributes so little to the overall stringbed.
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I'm going against what I originally said, thanks for mentioning the Poly Tour Strike @Tao69

First impressions, I'm quite satisfied with it on the crosses, now let's see how long the tension lasts. I'm not expecting much, just don't want the stringbed to fall off the cliff.

Also, is it me? Or does the "1.25mm" feels less than 1.25mm? I thought it was such a narrow string when I was stringing it...
 
Babolat VS 16G 53 / Poly Tour Fire 17G 47 performs great for me for a couple of months playing 4 times a week but I am not a string breaker.

At about 2 months it does feel like it has lost it's mojo and it is time to restring.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I'm going against what I originally said, thanks for mentioning the Poly Tour Strike @Tao69

First impressions, I'm quite satisfied with it on the crosses, now let's see how long the tension lasts. I'm not expecting much, just don't want the stringbed to fall off the cliff.

Also, is it me? Or does the "1.25mm" feels less than 1.25mm? I thought it was such a narrow string when I was stringing it...
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Glad you’re happy with the Poly Tour Strike, I probably don’t have enough experience to comment on it’s thickness relative to other strings.

I finished my reel of Poly Tour Strike, and got a reel of Head Hawk Touch cheap to use as a cross. Not the same level of tension maintenance, but it does change the feel of the string bed more than I was expecting, much more crisp.
 
Going to experiment with gut mains and poly cross soon. I'll use 16g Wilson gut.

Currently, I'm considering crossing with ReString Sync to try to minimize the wear-and-tear on the gut, and maximize stringbed life. I have two questions:

1. Has anyone tried a gut + slippery cross hybrid? Does that detract from the gut's predictability significantly?

2. What would you expect, hours before breaking, for an aggressive baseliner at:
- 4.0
- 4.5
- 5.0

Thanks.
 
I’ve switched to gut/poly recently due to wrist pain. My current set up is VS touch 1.30 mains 24kg and Alu Power 1.25 crosses 22kg. Good pop, excellent control (mostly on the forehand side) but the feel is a bit boardy. I tried Max Power Rough in the crosses and while i liked the feel of it compared to the Alu set up, the control was simply not there. I could not trust my shots.

I also noticed that my backhand became worse since i switched to gut/poly. The balls tend to fly long too often compared to my go to poly hybrid Poly Tour Rev in the mains and Alu Power crosses. I am thinking about either using a thinner gut or to experiment with even deader poly in the crosses to add more control.

I have tried so many strings up to now but nothing gives me the same mix of power, spin and control as Alu Power. The only reason i wanna find a replacement is that it hurts my wrist and shoulder.

I
 
TropicalFruit said:
Going to experiment with gut mains and poly cross soon. I'll use 16g Wilson gut.

Currently, I'm considering crossing with ReString Sync to try to minimize the wear-and-tear on the gut, and maximize stringbed life. I have two questions:

1. Has anyone tried a gut + slippery cross hybrid? Does that detract from the gut's predictability significantly?

2. What would you expect, hours before breaking, for an aggressive baseliner at:
- 4.0
- 4.5
- 5.0

Thanks.
Click to expand...

DG21 said:
I’ve switched to gut/poly recently due to wrist pain. My current set up is VS touch 1.30 mains 24kg and Alu Power 1.25 crosses 22kg. Good pop, excellent control (mostly on the forehand side) but the feel is a bit boardy. I tried Max Power Rough in the crosses and while i liked the feel of it compared to the Alu set up, the control was simply not there. I could not trust my shots.

I also noticed that my backhand became worse since i switched to gut/poly. The balls tend to fly long too often compared to my go to poly hybrid Poly Tour Rev in the mains and Alu Power crosses. I am thinking about either using a thinner gut or to experiment with even deader poly in the crosses to add more control.

I have tried so many strings up to now but nothing gives me the same mix of power, spin and control as Alu Power. The only reason i wanna find a replacement is that it hurts my wrist and shoulder.

I
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Try Hawk Rough as a cross, Bespann service de might still have some. Stuff sailing long is kind of part of the gut/poly experience though, the comfort is worth a few balls sailing long. RPM rough maybe worth trying too.
 
veelium said:
Try Hawk Rough as a cross, Bespann service de might still have some. Stuff sailing long is kind of part of the gut/poly experience though, the comfort is worth a few balls sailing long. RPM rough maybe worth trying too.
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RPM rough is only good for a couple hours until the slick coating wears off
 
DG21 said:
I’ve switched to gut/poly recently due to wrist pain. My current set up is VS touch 1.30 mains 24kg and Alu Power 1.25 crosses 22kg. Good pop, excellent control (mostly on the forehand side) but the feel is a bit boardy. I tried Max Power Rough in the crosses and while i liked the feel of it compared to the Alu set up, the control was simply not there. I could not trust my shots.

I also noticed that my backhand became worse since i switched to gut/poly. The balls tend to fly long too often compared to my go to poly hybrid Poly Tour Rev in the mains and Alu Power crosses. I am thinking about either using a thinner gut or to experiment with even deader poly in the crosses to add more control.

I have tried so many strings up to now but nothing gives me the same mix of power, spin and control as Alu Power. The only reason i wanna find a replacement is that it hurts my wrist and shoulder.

I
Click to expand...
What’s the tension differential between this gut/poly and your usual full poly setup? Personally, I find I need to increase tension by 15-20% to achieve similar depth control.

Secondly, with the current setup, try swinging more loose and relaxed. Zero exertion when uncoiling from your unit turn, or your arm swing. Just let the natural momentum from unloading take its course. You might be surprised by how cleanly you strike the ball and how this fluid motion actually produces a better quality ball. At least that was my realisation when I first tried gut/poly and thought I had strung too low. Instead, I realised I was arming or forcing the shot too much with full poly, in order to get the depth I desired. And also how much energy I was wasting. So I eventually dropped my full poly by 10-15% in order to continue swinging in this relaxed manner. For clarity, the 15-20% increase was calibrated after, i.e. I still need that 15-20% tension bump for gut/poly and swing relaxed to get the desired ball quality.
 
I currently am using Wilson gut mains and 4G rough crosses and its lasting a good amount tension maintence wise, but I will admit, it is a shame that they snap pretty quickly (especially since I use the gravity 98). I have a weak semi/strong eastern forehand with a one hand backhand.
 
veelium said:
Try Hawk Rough as a cross, Bespann service de might still have some. Stuff sailing long is kind of part of the gut/poly experience though, the comfort is worth a few balls sailing long. RPM rough maybe worth trying too.
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Thanks. It’s actually not a problem to find it here in Germany. I will give it a shot. After i test Solinco Outlast i ordered. I also wanna try regular Hawk.
 
forzamr_b said:
What’s the tension differential between this gut/poly and your usual full poly setup? Personally, I find I need to increase tension by 15-20% to achieve similar depth control.

Secondly, with the current setup, try swinging more loose and relaxed. Zero exertion when uncoiling from your unit turn, or your arm swing. Just let the natural momentum from unloading take its course. You might be surprised by how cleanly you strike the ball and how this fluid motion actually produces a better quality ball. At least that was my realisation when I first tried gut/poly and thought I had strung too low. Instead, I realised I was arming or forcing the shot too much with full poly, in order to get the depth I desired. And also how much energy I was wasting. So I eventually dropped my full poly by 10-15% in order to continue swinging in this relaxed manner. For clarity, the 15-20% increase was calibrated after, i.e. I still need that 15-20% tension bump for gut/poly and swing relaxed to get the desired ball quality.
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Thank you for the advice. The tension with my go to poly/poly hybrid was 21/20kg but it was in winter when played indoors. PT Rev/Alu Power gave me smth unique i have never experienced before - superb depth control with tons of spin and pop. Though i generate almost the same amount of spin with gut/poly, confirmed by my club peers. It’s only the backhand that i still need to calibrate. What is definitely improved with gut/poly is comfort and feel (after couple of hours though) I can finally drop shot aka Alcaraz :)
 
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My regular tension with gut/alu rough is 59/56, I might try 58/55 next time see how it feels. The tension loss of the alu rough isn't as bad as people make it out to be when it's strung in a hybrid with gut. I rotate 3 rackets with this set up and they last 3-4 weeks before the string break or control is loss.
 
DG21 said:
I’ve switched to gut/poly recently due to wrist pain. My current set up is VS touch 1.30 mains 24kg and Alu Power 1.25 crosses 22kg. Good pop, excellent control (mostly on the forehand side) but the feel is a bit boardy. I tried Max Power Rough in the crosses and while i liked the feel of it compared to the Alu set up, the control was simply not there. I could not trust my shots.

I also noticed that my backhand became worse since i switched to gut/poly. The balls tend to fly long too often compared to my go to poly hybrid Poly Tour Rev in the mains and Alu Power crosses. I am thinking about either using a thinner gut or to experiment with even deader poly in the crosses to add more control.

I have tried so many strings up to now but nothing gives me the same mix of power, spin and control as Alu Power. The only reason i wanna find a replacement is that it hurts my wrist and shoulder.

I
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What racket? Mainly asking because gut/alu at 24/22 being boardy sounds surprising to me.
 
DG21 said:
I find it interesting when people suggest non trivial strings. Thanks. What is so special about this set up?
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Love the crisper feel of Lux gut and the coating combined with the smooth cross gives great snap back and spin. The poly takes a long time to bag out so you can play many many hours - virtually until the gut breaks. Happy hitting!!
 
lefty10spro said:
Love the crisper feel of Lux gut and the coating combined with the smooth cross gives great snap back and spin. The poly takes a long time to bag out so you can play many many hours - virtually until the gut breaks. Happy hitting!!
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Which tension would you suggest?
 
DG21 said:
Which tension would you suggest?
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Sounds like you found 50/45 a bit boardy so you might try my tension - 45/40. I use quite a bit of spin and have vertical strokes not horizontal like most old dudes. Flatter hitters may have to bump up the tension. FWIW I use the 2019 Prince Textreme Tour 310 (twaron version) which is the Prince GOAT stick!
 
lefty10spro said:
Sounds like you found 50/45 a bit boardy so you might try my tension - 45/40. I use quite a bit of spin and have vertical strokes not horizontal like most old dudes. Flatter hitters may have to bump up the tension. FWIW I use the 2019 Prince Textreme Tour 310 (twaron version) which is the Prince GOAT stick!
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I played with Prince as a kid. I loved it. Damn it, a new racket was the last thing i needed (i just bought 3 of Dunlop SX300) but after reading your comments and the big 30 pages thread about this racket, i could not help but buy it… i found the 2019 version for a very good price and it’s almost brand new. Lets see. SX300 is a brilliant racket but i cant groove with it on my first flat serve.
 
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xsVZBoW.jpeg


KWbCguJ.jpeg


VS gut 1.30 / Hawk Rough 1.30 in a Prince ATS tour 95.
Suprisingly playable until the end of its life.
 
Happi said:
This is my favorite racquet, such a great feel. Just strung one up with RIP Control 1.20 and Isospeed Professional Classic 1.20 and that is a sweet combo for the ATS 95.
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Yeah, very nice racquet. Also the stock weight distribution feels very good to swing around, I liked that from the first shadow swing onwards.
Not 100 percent sold on the open pattern but with full multi that wouldn't bother me. I've used the Rip control / Professional Classic combo lately in a backup prestige and it was such a good combo for everything besides mega-topspin-full-power-ball-bashing (where it was still decent).
 
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