VS Touch / Poly on a Radical MP

[AA5B Tiger]

I've been experimenting with VS Touch on 3 Radical MPs and have a few questions:

VS Touch Mains, MSV Co-Focus Crosses at 55/49 (constant pull) seems very, very, very good. At the danger of messing with a good thing:

1) What would be the effect of flip-flopping it? VS Touch on the crosses and Poly on mains? I would think the feel and that great natural gut feel on big full swings would suffer -- but I'm no expert and wanted to ask (without burning $30 in string).

2) On one racquet I accidentally strung it at 53/49 and, it still plays great, but I can feel the 55/49 Touch/Co-Focus setup is a little crisper/better for me. Should I go even larger on the tension gap -- i.e. 56/48, or is that getting too extreme?

3) A better cross than Co-Focus? I've been a big fan of MSV polys vs. Babolat and even Luxilon polys. Reading the reviews online, I noticed many people used Co-Focus as a VS Touch cross. 'Tried MSV Evo with VS Touch in one setup, but liked the Co-Focus better -- feels softer / better to me. Still, I am open to anything that stays fresh, is smooth and doesn't saw the VS Touch, offers great feel....

4) Tension good? I can take full, 110% swings and keep the ball within the baseline -- so I don't think the tension needs to go up. Yet, on touch shots, I get very nice feel and pop off the bed -- so I don't think the tension needs to go down either... But I'm no expert. Any suggestions for tensions? All-court player, love to hit with pace and mild top-spin, live by kicking in 2nd serves -- so spin is welcomed on the serve.

FWIW, all 3 of my Radical MPs were matched by TW by selecting similar frames from a box of Radicals -- i.e. no lead used / just 3 very similarly manufactured frames with the same static weight (within .02 oz of each other), same balance, same swingweight. Therefore, I feel I am truly comparing only the variances in string setups between the racquets and not feeling the differences between manufacturing inconsistencies.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[marosmith]

I think what you have is very good. Sonic pro at about 5 lbs less than the gut is probably my favorite. Gut in mains is the way to go, sort of a waste in the crosses IMO.

 

[AA5B Tiger]

Just chiming in to say I'm totally impressed with the durability of the VS Touch / Co-Focus in the 18X20 radical. I have been swinging all-out, hitting cutting slices and kick serves, etc. for about a dozen matches now, and there's barely any sign of fraying other than maybe 2-3 very, very small whiskers on the VS Touch.

All the horror stories of gut popping right off nearly made me not go with such a setup. As is, it's sublime -- durable and arguably plays better the more more I play with it. Previously, I'd be cutting out a poly setup by this point.

I'm sure the poly crosses are deadening-out by now, but I honestly don't feel it. If the VS Touch doesn't break in another 10-20 matches, I may try "surgery" by just removing and restring the poly portion only.

'Couldn't be happier with the setup (after trying scores of string combinations over the last year).

 

[canny]

I have vs in my mains at 55 and focus hex 18g soft in my crosses at 50. Plays nice but I really have to concentrate of making good contact with the ball. Either I get too much topspin (short ball) or it flies out. It's a process. My backhand/forhand slices and drop shots are phenomenal. Serves feel similar to my all focus hex setup. I wanna see if I can go lower. I need more spin. I wanna be able to confidentaly hit the ball without worrying if itll go out.

 

[AA5B Tiger]

I have vs in my mains at 55 and focus hex 18g soft in my crosses at 50. Plays nice but I really have to concentrate of making good contact with the ball. Either I get too much topspin (short ball) or it flies out. It's a process. My backhand/forhand slices and drop shots are phenomenal. Serves feel similar to my all focus hex setup. I wanna see if I can go lower. I need more spin. I wanna be able to confidentaly hit the ball without worrying if itll go out.

I used to play with the Extreme and know what you are talking about. To each his own / there's no one "right" answer: but I increasingly found myself hitting with more pace and grew out of the Extremes / I was managing my swings with the Extreme to keep the ball either in or deep. When I went to Radical, I no longer felt I had to manage the racquet -- I could just swing however I wanted -- flat, top, slice, hard, soft, etc. -- and it worked. Yet, I have other friends that curse the Radical and prefer the Extreme, Wilson racquets, etc.

As for the MSV Hex -- do you notice it sawing the VS Touch? I have a reel of Hex, but didn't want to use it due to the considerable edges on the string.

When I finally break a set, I'm looking forward to trying Head Sonic Pro as a cross, as someone suggested.

 

[PKfan1]

not trying to derail the thread, but why do people choose vs over tonic?
Is it just the gauge difference? Or is it that much better of a string to justify the price difference?

 

[KFwinds]

I think what you have is very good. Sonic pro at about 5 lbs less than the gut is probably my favorite. Gut in mains is the way to go, sort of a waste in the crosses IMO.

^^^ I agree with this. You are using arguably one of the most optimal setups for this racquet. Keep the gut in the mains. If you are curious to experiment, you could adjust the tension(s) by a few lbs one way or another. You could also try different polys for the crosses, but what you have is pretty darn good.

 

[AA5B Tiger]

not trying to derail the thread, but why do people choose vs over tonic?
Is it just the gauge difference? Or is it that much better of a string to justify the price difference?

I'm no expert, but my thinking in using VS Touch over Tonic: 1) If I'm going to shell out the cost for natural gut, I don't want to go 7/10th of way just save 10 dollars or so. 2) The reviews seem to suggest (but I have no experience) that the consistency of Tonic is not as good as VS Touch. 3) I wanted to set a benchmark against which to judge everything else I try / use. Vs Touch is the pinnacle for gut. 4) While I occasionally break strings, I typically cut out poly due to it getting a dead felling after a half dozen matches. With gut, the live feeling stays much longer and arguably gets better over time. Some of the reviews of Tonic make me question if I'd get the same feeling vs VS Touch -- and I didn't feel like a $10 savings was worth the risk...

 

[canny]

My beds in pretty good shape. I think the shaped edges are negligible. But for the price I rather use klip 18g gut. Feels & performs better imo than vs just less durability. Im going to try and go lower today. But thanks for the tip about the radical. I'm going to try and demo one soon.