TRU PRO (formerly Tier One Sports)

mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
g4driver said:
I keep offering all my Clemson tennis buddies OSU and 7 points, but for some reason I can't get any of that action in SC. I even offered 12 points to several Ohioans in my neighborhood, but they know another beat down is coming and and pass. One guy asked for me for 17 points. :-D They just keep waiving those OSU flags. I suspect those OSU flags will be removed from most porches by 945 pm Jan 1st.
Click to expand...

I hope you are right!
 
g4driver

g4driver

Legend
2ndServe said:
what's the pros of hgs/gw over hg/gw. I hate the notching so looking for a tough main and a soft cross. I've never used or ordered hgs
Click to expand...

HG is stiffer than HGS. My elbow doesn't like HG. GW is a soft poly, not a soft multi. When sting stiffness get north of the 200-210 and I play 3 days in a row with those stings my elbow feels it. Like TW's Own Resident String Expert Jonathan says "You can't argue with the data"

I don't know what you consider a "soft cross " Or a "tough main " to be.

GW is tougher than every multi. HGS 1.25mm gets me 20 hours so that great for my PA+
 
Happi

Happi

Hall of Fame
g4driver said:
I keep offering all my Clemson tennis buddies OSU and 7 points, but for some reason I can't get any of that action in SC. I even offered 12 points to several Ohioans in my neighborhood, but they know another beat down is coming and and pass. One guy asked for me for 17 points. :-D They just keep waiving those OSU flags. I suspect those OSU flags will be removed from most porches by 945 pm Jan 1st.
Click to expand...

Being European I have no clue to what you are telling me in this post - I am curious though.
 
2

2ndServe

Hall of Fame
g4driver said:
HG is stiffer than HGS. My elbow doesn't like HG. GW is a soft poly, not a soft multi. When sting stiffness get north of the 200-210 and I play 3 days in a row with those stings my elbow feels it. Like TW's Own Resident String Expert Jonathan says "You can't argue with the data"

I don't know what you consider a "soft cross " Or a "tough main " to be.

GW is tougher than every multi. HGS 1.25mm gets me 20 hours so that great for my PA+
Click to expand...

What tension are you stringing ghost wire at? Thanks

To me it's a very soft very low powered/control string which I like but I haven't found a tension a like. I like it in the 40s for my serve but I prefer it bit tighter for everything else but tighter I go the less effective my serve gets.
 
2nd Serve Ace

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
Giving a big (y) to strikeforce rip 1.18 as a great cross for natural gut.
Tremendous tension maintenance and durability. Enhances the spin for NG, adds some crispness, and tames the power. Maintains feel and comfort.
Probably best to string rip sorta high, like 56 or so.
 
megamind

megamind

Legend
A maybe controversial 17g Black Knight / 17g Ghostwire at 49/47lbs initial review

Powa -> I don't think it's low powered. You can definitely hit big with this setup. It is more low powered than a full bed of Ghostwire, but still pretty powerful imo. I hit some big serves and forehands, and I felt my backhands had more depth. I consider a string like Head Velocity low powered, as a point of reference. I feel like this point is probably controversial, so that's exactly why I'm sharing it. I am satisfied with the level of power, just don't think it's low.

Spin -> Pretty good spin tbh. Occasionally, the spin seems to die/goes away on a few balls randomly, but apart from that pretty good (could be my footwork, but haven't noticed this specific thing in other strings). Very satisfied.

Feel -> it is like playing with a brick. Not crazy stiff, but a brick none the less. Slices were good, but netplay wasnt so fun. This surprised me, FB Ghostwire had much better feel, and surprised so much of it seemed to go away with Black Knight. This was the lowpoint for me. I hope it plays better after some tension loss. Might have to try Black Knight with a synth gut maybe next time? Anyone here tried that?
* don't have arm pain or anything like that, it just feels brick-y

Control -> Very good depth control, good directional control. Quite satisfied.

It is a pretty decent setup, need to hit with it more. At the moment, don't know if it's gonna replace my #1 string pick. My main issue is with the feel. I was also puzzled by ppl saying this is a low powered setup.

Let me know if you have ideas of a slightly more comfy version of this setup. I don't mind sacrificing some performance with comfort.
 
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ChrisG

ChrisG

Professional
megamind said:
A maybe controversial 17g Black Knight / 17g Ghostwire at 49/47lbs initial review

Powa -> I don't think it's low powered. You can definitely hit big with this setup. It is more low powered than a full bed of Ghostwire, but still pretty powerful imo. I hit some big serves and forehands, and I felt my backhands had more depth. I consider a string like Head Velocity low powered, as a point of reference. I feel like this point is probably controversial, so that's exactly why I'm sharing it. I am satisfied with the level of power, just don't think it's low.

Spin -> Pretty good spin tbh. Occasionally, the spin seems to die/goes away on a few balls randomly, but apart from that pretty good (could be my footwork, but haven't noticed this specific thing in other strings). Very satisfied.

Feel -> it is like playing with a brick. Not crazy stiff, but a brick none the less. Slices were good, but netplay wasnt so fun. This surprised me, FB Ghostwire had much better feel, and surprised so much of it seemed to go away with Black Knight. This was the lowpoint for me. I hope it plays better after some tension loss. Might have to try Black Knight with a synth gut maybe next time? Anyone here tried that?
* don't have arm pain or anything like that, it just feels brick-y

Control -> Very good depth control, good directional control. Quite satisfied.

It is a pretty decent setup, need to hit with it more. At the moment, don't know if it's gonna replace my #1 string pick. My main issue is with the feel. I was also puzzled by ppl saying this is a low powered setup.

Let me know if you have ideas of a slightly more comfy version of this setup. I don't mind sacrificing some performance with comfort.
Click to expand...
I've played BK full bed (16g) for 2 years before playing the last year with Tourna S7T.
After reading some nice reviews on this hybrid, I decided to try it these past weeks. I've played 4-5 times on a TC95 16x19 @ 22kg.
I agree on most of your impressions, and I've never considered BK to be a low power string (but TC95 is quite a powerful frame).
Also feel was quite off during the first 2 sessions, brick-y as you said. It was a bad surprise as I remember BK as a nice feeling string. And GW should be a soft string so I don't know why it doesn't feel right from the start. It seems to get better on the last sessions, but feel is still harsher outside the sweetspot than with a full bed of BK. very strange I must say.
I'm happy to see than I'm not the only one to get some erratic response from the string bed in the spin department, seems like the same swing can sail long or grab the ball and stay inside.
Overall, I'm not too keen on poly hybrids in general because I feel like it makes things even more complex, and my few experiments haven't been an improvement over a full bed.
My intuition is that it really matters if you hybrid poly with gut or synth gut, but poly poly is more difficult to get it right.
 
E

eah123

Professional
They aren’t allowed to promote their sales here, but they have been having them since the start of the Aussi open, even before the President’s day one. You just have to know where to look. Try Zuck’s site.
 
L

Louis33

Semi-Pro
Strung up Black knight/ghost wire hybrid 17g at 48/48 in my head 360+ prestige mid. Initial thoughts were positive. The feel was soft. Felt springy but without the launchy response is the best I can describe it. Control and power were there on the forehand and backhand side but I was most impressed with the backhand slice. I could feel the grab and was getting more action on the ball. After about 30 minutes I could feel the power increasing as the strings lost tension and after the hour mark I was hugging the baseline pretty tight. Next hitting session the strings seemed to stabilize and performance remained the same. I couldn’t find anything I disliked about this hybrid besides a noticeable but manageable loss of control, but with how soft the stringbed felt I don’t see a problem with bumping up the tension 3 pounds to 51/51. I plan to test black knight 17g full bed around 50/50 and also black knight 17g/Kirschbaum max power 18g to see how they compare.
 
U

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Louis33 said:
Strung up Black knight/ghost wire hybrid 17g at 48/48 in my head 360+ prestige mid. Initial thoughts were positive. The feel was soft. Felt springy but without the launchy response is the best I can describe it. Control and power were there on the forehand and backhand side but I was most impressed with the backhand slice. I could feel the grab and was getting more action on the ball. After about 30 minutes I could feel the power increasing as the strings lost tension and after the hour mark I was hugging the baseline pretty tight. Next hitting session the strings seemed to stabilize and performance remained the same. I couldn’t find anything I disliked about this hybrid besides a noticeable but manageable loss of control, but with how soft the stringbed felt I don’t see a problem with bumping up the tension 3 pounds to 51/51. I plan to test black knight 17g full bed around 50/50 and also black knight 17g/Kirschbaum max power 18g to see how they compare.
Click to expand...

Playing with Black Knight 1.23 in a Prestige 360+ Mid at 49/49. Awesome string, great control. Interested in trying BK/ GW at some point. Please let us know after you try BK and compare it to BK/GW.
 
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megamind

megamind

Legend
ChrisG said:
I've played BK full bed (16g) for 2 years before playing the last year with Tourna S7T.
After reading some nice reviews on this hybrid, I decided to try it these past weeks. I've played 4-5 times on a TC95 16x19 @ 22kg.
I agree on most of your impressions, and I've never considered BK to be a low power string (but TC95 is quite a powerful frame).
Also feel was quite off during the first 2 sessions, brick-y as you said. It was a bad surprise as I remember BK as a nice feeling string. And GW should be a soft string so I don't know why it doesn't feel right from the start. It seems to get better on the last sessions, but feel is still harsher outside the sweetspot than with a full bed of BK. very strange I must say.
I'm happy to see than I'm not the only one to get some erratic response from the string bed in the spin department, seems like the same swing can sail long or grab the ball and stay inside.
Overall, I'm not too keen on poly hybrids in general because I feel like it makes things even more complex, and my few experiments haven't been an improvement over a full bed.
My intuition is that it really matters if you hybrid poly with gut or synth gut, but poly poly is more difficult to get it right.
Click to expand...
Happy you feel the same way

I was kinda confused to see that it didn’t quite meet my expectations based on what ppl said here
 
J

Jouke

Professional
megamind said:
Happy you feel the same way

I was kinda confused to see that it didn’t quite meet my expectations based on what ppl said here
Click to expand...
Well, I can reassure you. You are not the only one not liking bk/gw hybrid. I bought both and did the hybrid. Really disliked it. No control there for me.. maybe I will try BK full bed, but so far both feeling and control I didnt like. Way too powerfull for me also..
 
U

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Jouke said:
Well, I can reassure you. You are not the only one not liking bk/gw hybrid. I bought both and did the hybrid. Really disliked it. No control there for me.. maybe I will try BK full bed, but so far both feeling and control I didnt like. Way too powerfull for me also..
Click to expand...
Sounds like I just need to just stay with BK. Don’t have any complaints. Just ordered another reel.
 
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M

mctennis

Legend
2nd Serve Ace said:
Giving a big (y) to strikeforce rip 1.18 as a great cross for natural gut.
Tremendous tension maintenance and durability. Enhances the spin for NG, adds some crispness, and tames the power. Maintains feel and comfort.
Probably best to string rip sorta high, like 56 or so.
Click to expand...
What do you string your natural gut at if you string the strikeforce at 56?
 
D

drak

Hall of Fame
Jouke said:
Well, I can reassure you. You are not the only one not liking bk/gw hybrid. I bought both and did the hybrid. Really disliked it. No control there for me.. maybe I will try BK full bed, but so far both feeling and control I didnt like. Way too powerfull for me also..
Click to expand...
I tried a Black Knight/GW combo today and frankly the only thing I really liked was the softness and pretty decent feel. Don't get me wrong I don't hate it but I much prefer the spin I get from my BOOST set up, for me the spin dropoff was significant. The power level also was higher than I expected and I had to be careful swinging out. Did like the plush feel, I wonder if I'd prefer an all BK string job? I have been finding the larger gauge BOOST combo just a bit stiff, wonder if I dropped the gauge down to 1.25/1.23 in the Boost combo I'd find it soft enough? I am also considering a Hyper G Soft 1.25/1.23 GW combo - any feedback on that one?
 
megamind

megamind

Legend
drak said:
I tried a Black Knight/GW combo today and frankly the only thing I really liked was the softness and pretty decent feel. Don't get me wrong I don't hate it but I much prefer the spin I get from my BOOST set up, for me the spin dropoff was significant. The power level also was higher than I expected and I had to be careful swinging out. Did like the plush feel, I wonder if I'd prefer an all BK string job? I have been finding the larger gauge BOOST combo just a bit stiff, wonder if I dropped the gauge down to 1.25/1.23 in the Boost combo I'd find it soft enough? I am also considering a Hyper G Soft 1.25/1.23 GW combo - any feedback on that one?
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity what tension did u string bk/gw

49/47 felt bricky to me
 
D

drak

Hall of Fame
megamind said:
Out of curiosity what tension did u string bk/gw

49/47 felt bricky to me
Click to expand...
49/47 for BK/GW large gauge in a 98 V7 Spin, felt a bit too powerful with lacking spin vs Boost similar huate strung at 48/46

Was wondering has anyone tried Monoguz ZX as a cross with Firewire? If not I may have to try it
 
beltsman

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
I tried BK too and didn't like it. But I'm a lower level player. I think BK is for high level. Not saying you guys aren't, but idk. I found Tour Status to fit me much better.

Tour Status has less hype but probably fits more players. My two cents.
 
D

drak

Hall of Fame
For fun today I strung up a "ZX Boost" with FW mains and Monogut ZX crosses at 52/41, I wanted to try to mimic "somewhat" the Kevlar/ZX high tension differential I really liked in my 98 S rackets - the Kev was just too stiff for my shoulder over time. Figured I'd have some fun and try it out, I'll report back.
 
megamind

megamind

Legend
2nd hit with Black Knight x Ghost Wire

Definitely more comfortable, still wouldn’t call it comfy, but better than the initial bricky feeling

Anyone played BK with syngut crosses and ghostwire crosses, and can compare the comfort levels for both?
 
megamind

megamind

Legend
megamind said:
2nd hit with Black Knight x Ghost Wire

Definitely more comfortable, still wouldn’t call it comfy, but better than the initial bricky feeling

Anyone played BK with syngut crosses and ghostwire crosses, and can compare the comfort levels for both?
Click to expand...
I think I remember @J011yroger mentioning something about that initial bricky feeling too
 
U

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
J011yroger said:
Yea, you gotta break in BK like a good pair of dress shoes.

Sometimes it goes into god-mode the last 10% of its life, I can't explain it.

J
Click to expand...

Yea, have had BK in my Prestige Mids for awhile. Keep hitting with the tighter one of the two every time I go out. Plays better the longer it is in the frame.
 
D

drak

Hall of Fame
drak said:
For fun today I strung up a "ZX Boost" with FW mains and Monogut ZX crosses at 52/41, I wanted to try to mimic "somewhat" the Kevlar/ZX high tension differential I really liked in my 98 S rackets - the Kev was just too stiff for my shoulder over time. Figured I'd have some fun and try it out, I'll report back.
Click to expand...
Interesting hit with the "ZX Boost" today. First 15 minutes it was holy hell this cannot it be this good and close to KEV/ZX but way more comfy, more power, and everything was dropping in? Then it was weird and I started hitting a lot more fliers, still had definitely better spin than regular Boost but I think I need to restring the ZX crossses at like 47/48 lbs and give that a whirl as I think ZX at 41 (I did prestretch) is just too loose. I used to string my KEV ZX at 62/45 and that worked well but Kev is so low powered. Anyhow fun to play with these combos
 
D

drak

Hall of Fame
Got my Hyper G 1.25 in late last week and strung it up with GW 1.22 cross at 51/49, first off what an easy string job. Hit with wife yesterday and played singles this mornin with a regular opponent. The one thing that struck me was how predictable the string bed was, no fliers and really good directional control and spin when wanted, but was very pleased how "predictable" the "flatter" hitting was and this was in a Blade 98S. About the perfect power level for my game, I am workin on trying to flatten out my FH more since I play at altitude on fast indoor courts, had a lot of success with that today. Seemed plenty comfortable, not mushy at all yet nor harsh, sorta middle of the road which is good for what I like. I think I will like the tension it is settling at and I expect it to have good tension maintenance - will be very happy if I get 10-12 hrs of play at this level without serious dropoff. I will string up my other frame with FW boost at same gauge and do a more direct comparison when I can get some more court time in. From recent memory they seen reasonably close in playability, perhaps a bit more power and better directional control with HGS/GW, but I need some side by side comparison time
 
R

Remioli

Rookie
Got that deal a while back with all five poly sets for like $25. I’ve now hit with all tier one polyester strings (with syn gut crosses) and I’m pretty impressed. They’re not all for me (obviously) but some are awesome. Here’s my extremely brief review of each (in order of how much I liked them). Racquet is a blade 16x19.

Durafluxx: stiff and low powered.

Black Knight: nothing stood out good or bad. A touch stiff?

Tour status: very similar, maybe less stiff than BK, really an all around poly like they say.

Ghost Whire: softest poly I’ve ever used. Love how when I make good contact, I just hardly feel the ball hit the racket. Almost ended up sticking with this.

Strike Force Rip: awesome string all around. Soft and a lot of pop.

Firewire: amazing and probably my favorite string (still choosing between this and strike force) pop, spin, soft. I hate terms like “bite” cause I just don’t get what people mean, but this string defines it imo.

Impressive stuff to Tier one. When are you gonna start making rackets?
 
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S

snoflewis

Legend
currently using BK 1.28 mains with GW 1.27 crosses. i'm finding that since BK is so dense that it eats through the GW crosses. is the only play here to go full BK?
 
J011yroger

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
snoflewis said:
currently using BK 1.28 mains with GW 1.27 crosses. i'm finding that since BK is so dense that it eats through the GW crosses. is the only play here to go full BK?
Click to expand...
300px-There_Is_Another.jpg


J
 
T

tomato123

Professional
Throwing out a long shot question here.

So I have a half set of this black string which I **think** is Black Knight because it very much looks 6-sided but I don't remember ever having used it in any hybrid. Does it seem like it is indeed BK, or any reason to believe this is not BK? (Can't really think of too many other 6 sided black poly strings out there and I don't think I've tried very many)

8cIhpIdm.jpg


LeWadQom.jpg
 
TomTennis495

TomTennis495

Professional
So i just got a yonex tour 98 off the classifieds with Firewire BOOST strung @52. I didnt know anything about the string so went in with no expectations. I play with luxilon element or alu power @54 usually. Was really impressed with this string combo pack. Power isnt great but control and feel are pretty good. i felt alot more accurate. Going to have to look into their polys.
 
beltsman

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
I had GW 19g break on me while stringing! This is the first poly I've ever had break on me while stringing. It was while pulling tension on a cross. I didn't see any kinks or damage to the string. I had to substitute Cream instead because I had no GW left!
 
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