two very different strings so if you are playing and comparing a full bed of each...it's going to be very different. What do you normally use?
I have come back to the sport after a multi year hiatus. My C10 Pros were strung with Babolat RPM Team 17 mains and Babolat Xcel 16 crosses. I broke those in all 3 of my rackets after coming back (6 year old string LOL) and now have tried Solinco Confidential full bed and Luxilon element full bed. I liked Element more between the two.
Awesome! I just realized i have 1.2 HGS but will still plan on hybriding with my single pack of GW that just arrived today. Thanks!
the RPM Team/Xcel combo sounds pretty comfy. Confidential is a fairly firm string. more so than HG. Element is a soft string.
About a decade ago playing college tennis my philosophy was strictly using the most durable monofilament main crossed with anything cheap. Then once I left college, and my own stringing machine, I went to a local shop and just asked for some type of durable hybrid and RPM Team/Xcel combo is what they chose for me. Fast forward to now coming back to the game I am realizing how far some of the "new age" co-polys are and how much they can enhance spin and power while also providing durability. I never had any problems with RPM Team/Xcel before I took some time away from the game but boy, coming back and using some other string has sure opened my eyes. I strung up 1.2 HGS mains and 1.22 GW crosses last night on my new Pure Aero VS. Very excited to try! Thanks for all the advice!
Definitely, got a sense that Excel was pretty fragile but back when i was playing and using excel as a cross string I was getting ~10-12 hours out of it which I didn't feel too bad but that also was the first time since my junior days i was paying someone else to string my rackets. I love your blind test outline. I plan to refer back to this and may experiment with some of your options and criteria you do with your clients. I probably wouldn't have gotten my own stringing machine again had there been someone like you locally for me to work with.@wollumeg as a previous collegiate player, you likely hit with more RHS than 90-95 % of the readers on this forum. The stringer at the local shop who picked RPM Team / Excel as a durable hybrid did themselves a favor not you. Multifilaments like Excel are the least durable strings you can buy. Multifilaments break faster than any other string other than ZX when stringing ZX
The Pure Aero VS is a 16x20 frame (although that last cross is so close to the bottom that it is nearly identical to a 16x19 frame.
Plenty of strings for you to choose from.
The strings I am currently using in my blind playtest (I simply string their frames without telling them anything about the strings) for 4.0 to 5.0 men if a player has no injuries and just wants to try several polys:
1) Solinco Hyper G (Green) 1.25mm
2) Tier One 1.25mm Boost (FireWire 1.25 mm mains/ Ghostwire 1.22mm crosses)
3) Lynx Tour 1.25mm
4) Volkl Cyclone Tour (VCT) 1.30mm if you have a sensitive elbow and like to play strings until breakage
For those players that are frequent string breakers of 1.25mm polys, I use 1.30mm strings in the playtest for these players.
Can you share more details about the blind playtest process?
This started when 4.5 and 5.0 guys were looking for string setups they like. I now offer this playtest to all players. The player gives me three frames of the same make/model if they have three frames and I ask these questions:
1) Any tennis elbow, wrist, or shoulder issues?
2) How often do you break strings?
3) What are you currently playing with and what tension?
They get three poly setups or three hybrids if they have tennis elbow/ wrist or shoulder issues. They don't get any info on the strings I put in their frames. None. Not the brand, string, gauge, or tension. Nada. They pay me nothing. They play with the three frames and if they like one setup, they give me back the two frames they didn't pick and I restring those two frames with the same string they did pick. They pay me $30 for stringing five frames and pay me the cost of strings for two packs of strings. $30 + cost for two sets of strings and they walk away with three strung frames. If they like none of them, they give me all three frames and the playtest continues with three more setups. Only one guy has given me back three frames, and eventually, he went head to head with Solinco Revolution 1.30mm vs TierOne Firewire 1.30mm, picking FireWire. He told me he picked FW because it was cheaper but he liked both strings equally and could play with either string.
Curious to hear why you wouldnt use GW full bed? I really like it!
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Curious to hear your opinion on the full bed when you try it! I like BK full bed and Ghostwire full bed. Tried the combination once (bk mains/gw crosses ) and didnt like that as much as the full beds.
Me too. GUT/Multi all are round strings.
I mean why GW round slick poly is bad in FB?Because multi or GUT strings are also round.
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maybe I'll tie it up today. I do have a PD with prince silencer that is bottoming out. I'm just using it from time to time and it's about to break anyways.
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Some players believe that black strings in generally play more muted and have reduced power. Our personal experience showed very few differences between FW black vs red.
I swear by Ghostwire as a cross for a poly main, wasn’t a huge fan with a natural gut main. The best crosses for me with NG main are 4G Soft or KB Max Power.
I have been reading that, but I have also read reviews on the string that state Ghostwire maybe the softest poly on the market. If so, I had concerns that the stringed with the gut might become too mushy.
It might be a good combo for me with the gut mains and the GW crosses. I prefer a control set of strings in my racquet. I know what you mean about being too mushy. I can tell when the strings in my racquet go from the control aspect to the mushy feel. Time to cut them out. It is all in the feel. Hours is a guideline but I go more by feel and control in a set. But if they are too mushy from the get go, I am not happy. I have only had one combo feel like that from the start. It has been years ago and I think it was from a string company that is no longer in business.
IMHE I have seen stringbeds that are locked up and both the mains and the crosses are not moving freely.
If I remember correctly from an older post, it is 188.
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