The gut/poly thread

[FIRETennis]

What kind of playability decrease do you notice with gut/poly in cold temperature or transporting them in the cold?

Personally I've traveled with them so around 15-20' in mid-30s temps and a few hours in the luggage hold of the plane.
The frame feels ice cold when I take them out of the suitcase.
After transporting them in those temps.... during indoor play in normal temps 60s... it feels I hit super long, high launch angle and less spin :/ I prefer to use poly at lower tension in the cold.

 

[stapletonj]

Think of those WWII bomber videos (B-17) where the waist gunners had those electrically heated suits and it was still FREEEEZZZING.
Like 30 below freezing. And going from 70 to that and back in a couple hours.
CANT be good for strings (esp gut) or frames either one. carry on is the way (at least when I was young, I haven't flown in years and years)

 

[1hander]

I'm currently using a Wilson Blade V9 strung with Tour Bite at 53 lbs. I recently got gifted a Wilson nCode 95 strung with Champion's Choice and absolutely loved it. I have been wanting to try a natural gut setup for fun—would Tour Bite pair well with natural gut, or would it be better to go with ALU Power instead?

 

[veelium]

I'm currently using a Wilson Blade V9 strung with Tour Bite at 53 lbs. I recently got gifted a Wilson nCode 95 strung with Champion's Choice and absolutely loved it. I have been wanting to try a natural gut setup for fun—would Tour Bite pair well with natural gut, or would it be better to go with ALU Power instead?

Tour bite round or tour bite diamond rough. Normal tour bite isn't kind to soft strings like gut.
If you never break strings it's probably ok but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[1hander]

Tour bite round or tour bite diamond rough. Normal tour bite isn't kind to soft strings like gut.
If you never break strings it's probably ok but I wouldn't recommend it.

Thanks! What gut gives the most crispy feeling? I found that the blade gets mushy so I like stiffer strings in it.

 

[veelium]

Thanks! What gut gives the most crispy feeling? I found that the blade gets mushy so I like stiffer strings in it.

Supposedly Luxilon is the stiffer gut but never tried it.
Babolat's gut is excellent and the "cheapest" option where I live so that's what I use.

 

[J011yroger]

I'm currently using a Wilson Blade V9 strung with Tour Bite at 53 lbs. I recently got gifted a Wilson nCode 95 strung with Champion's Choice and absolutely loved it. I have been wanting to try a natural gut setup for fun—would Tour Bite pair well with natural gut, or would it be better to go with ALU Power instead?

Tour bite sucks.

J

 

[thenewbig3]

Tour bite sucks.

J

Why J?

 

[J011yroger]

Why J?

If you swing fast it doesn't grab the ball.

Feels and plays fine at low swing speed.

J

 

[thenewbig3]

If you swing fast it doesn't grab the ball.

Feels and plays fine at low swing speed.

J

Every superman has his krytonite
Every J0lly has his tourbite

 

[LOBALOT]

What kind of playability decrease do you notice with gut/poly in cold temperature or transporting them in the cold?

Personally I've traveled with them so around 15-20' in mid-30s temps and a few hours in the luggage hold of the plane.
The frame feels ice cold when I take them out of the suitcase.
After transporting them in those temps.... during indoor play in normal temps 60s... it feels I hit super long, high launch angle and less spin :/ I prefer to use poly at lower tension in the cold.

Exactly what you see if you string up gut and or gut/poly and then stick it in a frozen trunk and then warm it up again and hit with it.

The gut constricts/tightens in the cold. Then heat it up and it relaxes again and the tension is lost. If you feel like an experiment with an expensive set of gut check the tension before and after for yourself and you will see the difference.

Gut / poly is an awesome setup and if you treat it well.... keep the racquets at a pretty fixed temperature is one way... it will last you a decent amount of time.

 

[veelium]

As another recommendation, not sure if it has been mentioned in here before. There are oval strings from stringlab, called Orbitour.
Like rexxxer, they are produced by isospeed but comes in 3 different colours with different amounts of flatness.
I've tried silver (the flattest) and red (medium) for a few hours, both good. They both feel very similar to rexxxer, red maybe more but not sure I'd recognise the difference in a blind test.

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

I'm curious if anyone here has tried Solinco Hyper G ROUND as a cross here?

I'm looking for a new cross string after using the same set up for so many years (Kirschbaum Max Power cross). I don't know what to think of it
- Hyper G ROUND felt like it added a bit more air to my shots
- It "sounded" different, kind of sounded more plastic-like... if that makes sense
- I likely have had close to 10 hours in the current stringbed and I feel as if I am losing control. Do these strings die/sharp drop-off? It's very likely that I had a few bad days too in a row.

Thanks!

 

[Tao69]

Thanks! What gut gives the most crispy feeling? I found that the blade gets mushy so I like stiffer strings in it.

I found the black coated Klip Legend Tour plays a little stiffer than Babolat, haven’t tried Luxilon.

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

I found the black coated Klip Legend Tour plays a little stiffer than Babolat, haven’t tried Luxilon.

Klip Legend as a whole is almost always the "crisper/stiffer" choice of natural gut.

 

[mctennis]

I prefer the softer feeling of Luxilon once it gets broken in. I think I get better feedback and accuracy with Luxilon.

 

[thenewbig3]

I prefer the softer feeling of Luxilon once it gets broken in. I think I get better feedback and accuracy with Luxilon.

I also find that the extra coating it has let it be more resilient/resistant to moisture issues compared to every other major NG

 

[Happi]

Zverev told the umpire today at the AO final that he wantet a new racquet strung at 15.9/16.9 kg (35/37 lb) poly/nat gut.

 

[FIRETennis]

Exactly what you see if you string up gut and or gut/poly and then stick it in a frozen trunk and then warm it up again and hit with it.

The gut constricts/tightens in the cold. Then heat it up and it relaxes again and the tension is lost. If you feel like an experiment with an expensive set of gut check the tension before and after for yourself and you will see the difference.

Gut / poly is an awesome setup and if you treat it well.... keep the racquets at a pretty fixed temperature is one way... it will last you a decent amount of time.

Jeez I didn't really use my brain then when I checked in my strung frames. Next time, on board or empty frames. Some low cost airlines complain about the frames so it's a bit of a hit and miss with the boarding crew (ie Ryanair).

 

[veelium]

VS/Orbitour silver.
Like Rexxxer and irukandji it does a good job of keeping the gut alive.
Too flat though compared to Rexxxer, the thin part is the thinnest of all the orbitour strings and I got ~10-15 hours of playtime.

 

[Happi]

VS/Orbitour silver.
Like Rexxxer and irukandji it does a good job of keeping the gut alive.
Too flat though compared to Rexxxer, the thin part is the thinnest of all the orbitour strings and I got ~10-15 hours of playtime.

Do you restring the crosses and keep the gut for another round ?

 

[AndrewUtz]

VS/Orbitour silver.
Like Rexxxer and irukandji it does a good job of keeping the gut alive.
Too flat though compared to Rexxxer, the thin part is the thinnest of all the orbitour strings and I got ~10-15 hours of playtime.

I'm currently using the g360+ mp as my main racquet. The g360+ Prestige line is a true winner. I have the pro and love that as well. Would love to hit the mid!

 

[Eudaimorium]

VS/Orbitour silver.
Like Rexxxer and irukandji it does a good job of keeping the gut alive.
Too flat though compared to Rexxxer, the thin part is the thinnest of all the orbitour strings and I got ~10-15 hours of playtime.

What tension are you using for this setup?

 

[veelium]

Do you restring the crosses and keep the gut for another round ?

Not decided yet, I probably will. For tournament play it's a bit too used but good enough otherwise.

I'm currently using the g360+ mp as my main racquet. The g360+ Prestige line is a true winner. I have the pro and love that as well. Would love to hit the mid!

MP is great too, I have 2 of those as well. The mid layup is a bit more explosive, I felt the serve lacking a bit with the MP but super nice to hit with otherwise. Don't have a Pro of that gen but it's great.
Paintjob just too good to not play with them.

What tension are you using for this setup?

24/22.5 with 10% prestretch on the gut.
Could have gone higher but was good overall.
I prefer my usual hawk rough 1.30 crosses though, better control.

 

[AndrewUtz]

I prefer my usual hawk rough 1.30 crosses though, better control.

Recently bought a reel after trying a pack from the recommendation of @dr325i. Wonderful string! I never do gut but I may have to splurge and buy a pack.

 

[KC!]

I just dropped off a 2023 Pure Aeo 100 to be strung with Hawk Rough/vs gut 54/52 & a 2024 Speed Legend MP with Poly Tour Strike/vs gut 54/52. In the past i’ve put the gut in the mains, but decided to try flipping it. Sometimes the gut in the mains just feels to soft. We’ll see how it feels & how much play I can get out of them. Still experimenting before spring season starts.

 

[AndrewUtz]

I just dropped off a 2023 Pure Aeo 100 to be strung with Hawk Rough/vs gut 54/52 & a 2024 Speed Legend MP with Poly Tour Strike/vs gut 54/52. In the past i’ve put the gut in the mains, but decided to try flipping it. Sometimes the gut in the mains just feels to soft. We’ll see how it feels & how much play I can get out of them. Still experimenting before spring season starts.

Damn! Everyone is using Hawk Rough!

 

[KC!]

Damn! Everyone is using Hawk Rough!

I bought a bunch of it when they discontinued it. But rumor is they are bringing it back as Head Hawk Touch Rough I think. Control is amazing & so is tension maintenance on it. Poly Tour Strike just had addictive crispy feel to hit. It holds tension really well too.

 

[AndrewUtz]

I bought a bunch of it when they discontinued it. But rumor is they are bringing it back as Head Hawk Touch Rough I think. Control is amazing & so is tension maintenance on it. Poly Tour Strike just had addictive crispy feel to hit. It holds tension really well too.

maybe i’ll have to try it… i wouldn’t mind trying poly tour rev as well

 

[veelium]

I just dropped off a 2023 Pure Aeo 100 to be strung with Hawk Rough/vs gut 54/52 & a 2024 Speed Legend MP with Poly Tour Strike/vs gut 54/52. In the past i’ve put the gut in the mains, but decided to try flipping it. Sometimes the gut in the mains just feels to soft. We’ll see how it feels & how much play I can get out of them. Still experimenting before spring season starts.

Sounds good too, haven't tried it that way round in many years.

 

[veelium]

I'm wondering how gut plays with lower tension but higher prestretch (my machine goes to 25%).
Instead of going 24 with 10%, going 21 with 25%, both would prestretch up to around 26.5.
Has someone tried a comparison?

 

[Eudaimorium]

24/22.5 with 10% prestretch on the gut.
Could have gone higher but was good overall.
I prefer my usual hawk rough 1.30 crosses though, better control.

Thanks! That's similar to my tension for the gut, albeit with a larger differential on the poly. Did you notice any clear difference in spin among the Orbitour, Rexxxer, and Irukandji?

 

[veelium]

Thanks! That's similar to my tension for the gut, albeit with a larger differential on the poly. Did you notice any clear difference in spin among the Orbitour, Rexxxer, and Irukandji?

No, all too similar.

 

[happyandbob]

I prefer my usual hawk rough 1.30 crosses though, better control.

the TW database says Hawk Rough has much higher string to string friction than regular Hawk. Do you find that the gut mains stick? Have you tried regular Hawk as well?

 

[veelium]

the TW database says Hawk Rough has much higher string to string friction than regular Hawk. Do you find that the gut mains stick? Have you tried regular Hawk as well?

No issues with that, spin and snapback are good. Over the last 2 years I've tried plenty of crosses and nothing stood out to me as having noticably more spin.
I haven't tried regular Hawk in a gut/poly setup so can't comment on that.

 

[KC!]

I just dropped off a 2023 Pure Aeo 100 to be strung with Hawk Rough/vs gut 54/52 & a 2024 Speed Legend MP with Poly Tour Strike/vs gut 54/52. In the past i’ve put the gut in the mains, but decided to try flipping it. Sometimes the gut in the mains just feels to soft. We’ll see how it feels & how much play I can get out of them. Still experimenting before spring season starts.

Hit with my Aero last night & it felt amazing. Serves were bigger & was so much easier on my arm than a full bed of poly. It’s like playing 3 hours on clay vs 3 hours on a hard court. So much easier on the arm. The one thing I did notice was the swing weight was 5 points less with the hawk rough/gut hybrid. So I had to add 1.5 grams of tungsten tape to 12 o’clock.

 

[veelium]

Hit with my Aero last night & it felt amazing. Serves were bigger & was so much easier on my arm than a full bed of poly. It’s like playing 3 hours on clay vs 3 hours on a hard court. So much easier on the arm. The one thing I did notice was the swing weight was 5 points less with the hawk rough/gut hybrid. So I had to add 1.5 grams of tungsten tape to 12 o’clock.

Compared to what? Nat gut is normally not that light.

 

[KC!]

I just have been hitting with Poly sense last winter. I just forget how much lighter gut is than poly. Luckily I decided to measure swing weight after getting it from stringer.

 

[Happi]

I just have been hitting with Poly sense last winter. I just forget how much lighter gut is than poly. Luckily I decided to measure swing weight after getting it from stringer.

No, gut in general is heavier than poly at the same guage.

 

[stapletonj]

I'm curious if anyone here has tried Solinco Hyper G ROUND as a cross here?

I'm looking for a new cross string after using the same set up for so many years (Kirschbaum Max Power cross). I don't know what to think of it
- Hyper G ROUND felt like it added a bit more air to my shots
- It "sounded" different, kind of sounded more plastic-like... if that makes sense
- I likely have had close to 10 hours in the current stringbed and I feel as if I am losing control. Do these strings die/sharp drop-off? It's very likely that I had a few bad days too in a row.

Thanks!

I did once. didn't like the plasticy feel, even though I have used hyper G in my "bad weather racket" and it was fine. I would def. look into whether you are intrepid enough to change out just the crosses if you go hyper G

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

I did once. didn't like the plasticy feel, even though I have used hyper G in my "bad weather racket" and it was fine. I would def. look into whether you are intrepid enough to change out just the crosses if you go hyper G

I stopped using it, too big of a drop off after like... 5-6 hours (to me)

 

[KaiserW]

I stopped using it, too big of a drop off after like... 5-6 hours (to me)

Try 4G if you have not yet. Best cross for gut I have found and I experimented a lot.

Holds tension well and feel my ball had extra jump versus other strings.

 

[Parabellum]

Just switched to a Pro Staff v14 and looking to try gut/poly for the first time, currently using full multi (Velocity MLT) but looking for a bit more power, while retaining some spin properties and comfort. After a bunch of research these are some combos I have found, which ones would suit me best and be the most durable?

**I have a OHBH with an eastern grip forehand.

• Luxilon NG/Poly Tour Fire
• Luxilon NG/4G or 4G Soft (unsure the benefits of soft?)
• Luxilon NG/Wilson Revolve
• Wilsons Champions Choice (durability of ALU is horrible though)
• Also open to suggestions

Also, unsure if I should go with Luxilon or Babolat VS, I hear VS has a tad bit more power but Luxilon is more durable.

I would experiment but the cost is high so I'm hoping with your suggestions I can pick a good one the first time lol.

 

[ryushen21]

Just switched to a Pro Staff v14 and looking to try gut/poly for the first time, currently using full multi (Velocity MLT) but looking for a bit more power, while retaining some spin properties and comfort. After a bunch of research these are some combos I have found, which ones would suit me best and be the most durable?

**I have a OHBH with an eastern grip forehand.

• Luxilon NG/Poly Tour Fire
• Luxilon NG/4G or 4G Soft (unsure the benefits of soft?)
• Luxilon NG/Wilson Revolve
• Wilsons Champions Choice (durability of ALU is horrible though)
• Also open to suggestions

Also, unsure if I should go with Luxilon or Babolat VS, I hear VS has a tad bit more power but Luxilon is more durable.

I would experiment but the cost is high so I'm hoping with your suggestions I can pick a good one the first time lol.

I like Lux Gut, I know some don't. Cross it with some Head Hawk Rough if you can find it.

 

[veelium]

Just switched to a Pro Staff v14 and looking to try gut/poly for the first time, currently using full multi (Velocity MLT) but looking for a bit more power, while retaining some spin properties and comfort. After a bunch of research these are some combos I have found, which ones would suit me best and be the most durable?

**I have a OHBH with an eastern grip forehand.

• Luxilon NG/Poly Tour Fire
• Luxilon NG/4G or 4G Soft (unsure the benefits of soft?)
• Luxilon NG/Wilson Revolve
• Wilsons Champions Choice (durability of ALU is horrible though)
• Also open to suggestions

Also, unsure if I should go with Luxilon or Babolat VS, I hear VS has a tad bit more power but Luxilon is more durable.

I would experiment but the cost is high so I'm hoping with your suggestions I can pick a good one the first time lol.

VS is plenty durable from my experience.
If you are purely looking to get a bit more power and not change to much otherwise, you could also just try a different multi like Xone. Velocity is rather low powered.

Anyway, Hawk rough (my fave), 4g soft, Hawk or polytour fire are all decent options, no need to overthink. No matter what cross you choose from that list, it's gonna play distinctly like gut/poly and you will know whether you like this type of setup.
What tension on velocity?

 

[Parabellum]

I like Lux Gut, I know some don't. Cross it with some Head Hawk Rough if you can find it.

Thanks, I’ll look out for Hawk Rough.

VS is plenty durable from my experience.
If you are purely looking to get a bit more power and not change to much otherwise, you could also just try a different multi like Xone. Velocity is rather low powered.

Anyway, Hawk rough (my fave), 4g soft, Hawk or polytour fire are all decent options, no need to overthink. No matter what cross you choose from that list, it's gonna play distinctly like gut/poly and you will know whether you like this type of setup.
What tension on velocity?

Good to know about VS, sounds like you really can’t go wrong with either.

I didn’t even think about trying out a different multi, is X-One BiPhase considered more powerful? I know it’s double the price of Velocity but that doesn’t matter, is it worth the extra cost? Another Hawk Rough rec, definitely gonna try to find it

As far as tension, I had Velocity MLT at 52.

 

[mctennis]

I like Lux Gut, I know some don't. Cross it with some Head Hawk Rough if you can find it.

I am with you, I personally like Lux Gut.

 

[veelium]

Thanks, I’ll look out for Hawk Rough.



Good to know about VS, sounds like you really can’t go wrong with either.

I didn’t even think about trying out a different multi, is X-One BiPhase considered more powerful? I know it’s double the price of Velocity but that doesn’t matter, is it worth the extra cost? Another Hawk Rough rec, definitely gonna try to find it

As far as tension, I had Velocity MLT at 52.

Yeah X-one is more powerful. It's a bit less durable than velocity but I like it more otherwise (pricey though).

If velocity at 52, I'd likely 56/52 on VS/poly. Not sure about Lux, maybe a bit lower?

 

[skip11]

Gut/Alu rough is still king. Nothing beats it.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Gut/Alu rough is still king. Nothing beats it.

For the first two hours.