For the same reason most people don't wear gloves when they play tennis-stringing, IME, requires a lot of feel for your machine, your tools, and of course, your string.
I had the opportunity to play this string again for another two hours and I was very pleasantly surprised. There was little to no drop off in tension, and the string movement problem wasn't much of an issue as it was the first time around. It still felt soft and comfortable, and the edges haven't seemed to have worn down yet. I'm enjoying my newfound ability to actually hit a flat, penetrating ball as much as I am enjoying the spin potential. The only downside so far is that the stringbed feels a bit springy on volleys, for whatever reason, but I mentioned in my original post that I would string it at 44lbs as opposed to 40lbs the next time around. For more of a breakdown...
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Groundies: 9.5/10
I hesitate to make this a 10/10 (for fanboyism's sake), but I really love hitting groundstrokes with this racquet. Every shot I have in the book is accessible at any given time, which truly is an awesome ability that I don't have with my normal BHBR rig. As a heavy spin player, this string allows me to hit rolling loopers while also using topspin to feather angles whenever I want to. It's like magic. Control-wise, there is more free power than there is with BHBR, IME, but it is by no means un-tameable. Directional control is not sacrificed, and is indeed very easy to come by. There simply happens to be some extra free pop on tap. On slices, this string really bites the ball. My one complaint is that I float slices a little bit more than I do with the BHBR, but they generally stay low(er than normal) and bounce how I want them to.
Serves: 8/10
While I haven't had much service practice with this string, it seems to perform just fine so far. There may be a little too much power at the time being, but spin and directional control are definitely there. There's a very nice pocketing feel at contact, and the ball really sinks into the strings. Flat serves are also easier with this string for me (because of the lack of a twisted shape? Hmm...), but it's too early to tell at this point. My serve has also improved in the past few months, so time will tell how this string really plays. It gets an 8/10 for now because I really don't know it that well and the power can be a little bit overwhelming sometimes.
Volleys: 7/10
This is where the power can get out of hand. Blocking back passes can get a little bit out of control sometimes, which isn't an issue I had previously. However, touch volleys and shots that generally wouldn't cause me much trouble at the net are just fine. Like on serve, there's a very soft pocketing feel, and control is not sacrificed when I have time to set up. Awkward balls, however, are much more awkward.
Comfort: 9/10
As a victim of the evils of tennis elbow, I choose my polys carefully. This one has so far not caused me any issues, after or during play. As previously mentioned, it almost cradles the ball and has a very grippy but soft feel. No pain for me is a nine in my book...we'll see if it can keep that ranking as time goes on.
Durability: TBD
So far, no real tension loss after 4 hours. We'll see...if it lasts longer than 8 hours I'll be as happy as a clam.
