What should I do: POG, NXG, or ROK????

[dak95_00]

I've been using the same POG for a long, long time. It is a single stripe 1984 series 90. I took a long hiatus from tennis of nearly 10 years and I'm starting to play more regularly now. I used to get the racquet strung w/ Prince Pro Blend @ 63lbs because I liked the feel of tight strings and I would break anything else in 30 minutes or less. The Pro Blend would last 4 weeks.

Power has never been an issue unless too much is a problem. I'd like more control. I hit fairly flat but sometimes I go through periods where my strokes are kicking like crazy but usually I'm flat. I'd like advice on getting more control either through strings or racquets along w/ tension recommendations and durability.

Here is what I have after a few thrift purchases:
I have a couple of POG 90s. I have a POG 110. I have a Prince Michael Chang Titanium 110. I have 2 Prince NXGraphite mids. I have two new Wilson Pro Staff ROK mids w/ double braided hyper carbon and I have a stringing machine.

I am probably a 4.0/4.5 player at worst. I want more control but I am a feel person. I tried the NXGs last summer and didn't like them at first and went back to the POGs because it felt too flexible. They were purchased last summer as new w/ plastic on the grips demo models w/ the demo strings. Do you think that I might like them better w/ different strings. If so, what strings and what tension. I really didn't like my serve w/ this stick. My POGs service was booming aces or service winners w/ the 63lb tension and fresh crappy synthetic strings. I bought an ektelon model D stringer that was upgraded to a model H and came w/ some old packages of string that I played around w/ and strung my favorite POG because it didn't have strings. I also had to approximate the tension as its dial isn't that great. They're tight though.

Should I go to an oversize? I hesitate to do that since when I was younger (back in the 80s) I borrowed a teammates POG 110 and kept hitting myself in the back of the leg behind the knee with my loopy swing as I was charging the net w/ an approach. One time the racquet went flying from my hands and that was embarrassing after I hit myself and since it wasn't my racquet.

Money is an issue...... I don;t want to be trying every combination of everything. I just want to swing away, land some serves w/ control, and not watch my balls go flying into the back fence when the spin isn't kicking.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the help.

 

[NLBwell]

A few people love the NXG's, but most thought they were not good at all (I didn't try it myself). Same for the ROK, which was underpowered and difficult to get spin with (and my playtest agreed with that). The POG is a classic because it does everything well. I'm surprised you didn't come up with better alternatives.
I used Problend in my Wilson ProStaff for many years. I now use NXT Max at 58 lbs in my POG when I'm feeling rich (ie. not worrying about breaking strings) and usually use Signum Pro Poly Plasma Pure (SPPPP) mains and Alphagut 2000 crosses at 53 lbs. The hybrid setup feels good - more spin and less power than the NXT Max. Easy enough on the arm for me to play with it with a torn elbow tendon.
For longevity, usually the Alphagut will break before the poly goes dead, but if I don't play much, the poly goes dead first. I may try the NXT Max as crosses as an experiment here soon.

 

[fuzz nation]

As far as durability goes, I don't know what will hold up longer than those Problend sets - I'm assuming they're the kevlar hybrid sets. I don't mess with poly at all but aside from that, I think the Problend is a good bet for longevity.

The NXG mid is my favorite frame these days and I can definately understand the flex issue - haven't had a go with the POG mid, but I understand that it's a lot more crisp than some of the softies out there. Given the flex and weight of the NXG, you can easily choke the life out of it with too tight or unlively of a stringjob, but if the stringbed is too loose and soft, the feel evaporates and the things behaves like a bundle of rubber bands - anyone's guess as to where a lot of shots will end up.

I love this frame with a crisp multifiber - for me, LaserFibre Phenom 17 ga. does the trick - and I string it at 58 lbs. It can also accomodate a thin syn gut pretty well and the dense pattern definately helps to extend the service life of the strings. What the dense layout doesn't do is limit my spin potential - I've only tried a couple of other racquets that could match my rpm production on the ball. The NXG turned out to be "the one that I didn't see coming" and it took me a bit of time to get used to it. You might get along with yours better with the right string setup, but it sounds like you've got a good thing going with your POG's.

 

[dak95_00]

I did have a good thing w/ the POGs. It's just that I don't play as I did 10 or even 20 years ago. I'd like to think that I could bring it back but I worked hard back then. Now, I go out w/ my little girls to play or I'm playing against some pusher and I don't have the finishing shots I used to think I had.

I guess I should try some of these strings and consult MRT up the street for some advice too. He's a nice guy and would even go out to hit w/ me when he isn't working and I'm not busy being a parent.

I think I'm going to try some new strings in the NXG and the POG to try to generate the control/power that I want. I mostly want more control w/ the POG and just more everything from the NXG. The NXGs were the first matching pair of racquets that I ever bought and the first new racquets I bought since high school in the late 80s.

Let's have some stringing ideas that I can run by my friend the MRT. Also, if you don't mind, give me some ideas of endurance and cost.