which has more power: Lux 4g or 4g Rough

nysaga2222

New User
I'm using 4g Rough now, love everything about it but was wondering if 4g regular would provide more power.
thanks
 

ONgame

Semi-Pro
According to TW's reviews of both strings, 4G regular has more power
4G has a power score of 65
4G rough - 48
 

ThirdEye

Semi-Pro
I think the rough version should be more powerful as it's slightly thinner because of how they get the rough surface.
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
According to TW's reviews of both strings, 4G regular has more power
4G has a power score of 65
4G rough - 48
Yes,,i always found TW power score to be very very confusing....... How on earth the same string made of same material, have such different power scores????????????? How does that happen ? and you will notice the similar number discrepencies with Solinco Tourbite and Tourbite soft as well.............
 

Dominic

Semi-Pro
I'm a big fan and user of 4G and have used 4G Rough on many occasions.
I find 4G Rough has a fair bit extra power then 4G.
4G last a fair bit extra as well (but then 4G last longer then all/most strings)
 

CopolyX

Hall of Fame
Here is a string comparison:
Property Luxilon 4G 16L (1.25) Luxilon 4G Rough 16L Difference %
Material
Polyester Polyester NA
Stiffness (lb/in) 259 216 -17
Tension Loss (%) 21 33 57
Energy Return (%) 91 90 -1
Spin Potential 3.9 4.2 8
String to String Friction (COF) 0.095 0.094 -1
String to Ball Friction (COF) 0.366 0.399 9
 

TennisManiac

Hall of Fame
4G Rough grabs the ball a little more. Which sends the ball off of the stringbed at a slightly higher launch angle. Some people confuse this higher launch angle with "power". Neither one should be any more powerful then the other. Those who say otherwise are imaging things.
 

Chipnkick

Rookie
The scores of the reviews are just the playtesters' individual scores averaged. 4g had 4 playtesters that all said either 6 or 7 out of 10 for power. The only playtester that was on both reviews was chris, and he rated 4g rough higher than 4g for power. However the playtests were 2 years apart and 4g rough had only chris and andy as playtesters, definitely not helped by andy giving 4g rough a 3 out of 10 for power
 

ThirdEye

Semi-Pro
4G Rough grabs the ball a little more. Which sends the ball off of the stringbed at a slightly higher launch angle. Some people confuse this higher launch angle with "power". Neither one should be any more powerful then the other. Those who say otherwise are imaging things.

Yes and no. Rough Luxilon strings are obtained by "removing" a bit of the material from the smooth strings to make the surface rough afaik, thus making them a bit thinner. A thinner string, in general, is always more flexible and less stiff than a thicker one, right? That makes the Rough versions of Alu and 4G different than their smooth counterparts.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
Yes,,i always found TW power score to be very very confusing....... How on earth the same string made of same material, have such different power scores????????????? How does that happen ? and you will notice the similar number discrepencies with Solinco Tourbite and Tourbite soft as well.............
That’s why you can’t trust them because they are not accurate, you have to hit with both strings to know which has more power.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
What is power from strings anyway?

The question makes no sense.

Players with great technique and crush the ball want stiffer strings so more of the energy they generate is transferred to the ball in the opposite direction.

Lower level players with slower racquet head speed want more trampoline from their setup to shoot the ball forward out of their racquet.

what is more power from string?
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
What is power from strings anyway?

The question makes no sense.

Players with great technique and crush the ball want stiffer strings so more of the energy they generate is transferred to the ball in the opposite direction.

Lower level players with slower racquet head speed want more trampoline from their setup to shoot the ball forward out of their racquet.

what is more power from string?
4G is arm killer anyway...
 

LOBALOT

Legend
it don't matter if you have the game or not... it will destroy your elbow , wrist and shoulder or all of them. even the ATP tour players are staying away from this string

Do you recall when the string came out and they would have all the advertisements about it being a revolutionary string that was the next generation in string (i.e. 4G for 4th Generation)?
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
Do you recall when the string came out and they would have all the advertisements about it being a revolutionary string that was the next generation in string (i.e. 4G for 4th Generation)?

It is a great string,, and they were right. they just had no way knowing it would make people's arm fall off :-D
 

PRS

Professional
I remember back when it came out (or more likely not too long after). I knew nothing about racquets or strings. My coach didn't know much either. I first tried it in college, at 60+ pounds in a stiff racquet. Luckily I was young and healthy so my body could take it, but looking back it hurts just thinking about it, hahaha. Still a great string, but I prefer the "soft" version (still not soft but slightly better) and putting it in a gut/poly hybrid. Works great there!
 

LOBALOT

Legend
It is a great string. My son used it for a period when he was young and it first came out as his coach at the time recommended it (Coach was Wilson/Lux sponsored). He used it in the Wilson Ultra 97 which was a great stick which Wilson had in those BLX type days (I think he was around 53#). I recall grabbing one of his racquets to warm him up prior to tournaments and thinking how the heck does he hit with this thing.

As you said I can't imagine using it or putting it in a kids racquet today.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
I use it at 64 lbs with no problems and don’t notice any harshness, it actually has a nice comfy feel.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
What is power from strings anyway?

The question makes no sense.

Players with great technique and crush the ball want stiffer strings so more of the energy they generate is transferred to the ball in the opposite direction.

Lower level players with slower racquet head speed want more trampoline from their setup to shoot the ball forward out of their racquet.

what is more power from string?

Try natural gut at 50lbs then try a poly at 60lbs in the same racket and then let me know if you understand power from strings.
 

GodlessEndeavor

Professional
What is power from strings anyway?

The question makes no sense.

Players with great technique and crush the ball want stiffer strings so more of the energy they generate is transferred to the ball in the opposite direction.

Lower level players with slower racquet head speed want more trampoline from their setup to shoot the ball forward out of their racquet.

what is more power from string?

All strings absorb some energy (converting it into sound / heat from friction / racquet movement / racquet vibration) and reflect the rest of the energy back into the ball. The fraction of energy lost varies between strings.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
have not tried rough, but 4g soft had more power than 4g to me and still retains a very good amount of control. I’d reccomend it over regular 4g honestly.
Sounds interesting but for me the control is the best thing about 4G so would be tough to give up the control for a little more power.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
Try natural gut at 50lbs then try a poly at 60lbs in the same racket and then let me know if you understand power from strings.

Grab a racquet. Any racquet. Hit a red ball as hard as you can and as far as you can and then do the same with an adult tennis ball.

The red ball is softer than the standard tennis ball yet the adult tennis ball goes further.

The physics is much more complex than your silly analogy between soft and stiff string.
 

AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
Sounds interesting but for me the control is the best thing about 4G so would be tough to give up the control for a little more power.
still very much a control oriented string, 4g was just hurting my arm a little bit. I strung both @ 54lbs. slightly higher launch angle so it took me a session or two to get used to it but i definitely recommend giving it a try.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
Grab a racquet. Any racquet. Hit a red ball as hard as you can and as far as you can and then do the same with an adult tennis ball.

The red ball is softer than the standard tennis ball yet the adult tennis ball goes further.

The physics is much more complex than your silly analogy between soft and stiff string.
My silly analogy will show exactly what the discussion is about the difference in power of different strings and tensions. The topic is about strings not red balls compared to tennis balls.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
My silly analogy will show exactly what the discussion is about the difference in power of different strings and tensions. The topic is about strings not red balls compared to tennis balls.

Nope we are talking about transfer and dissipation of energy. It is much more complex than what you state and exactly the same concept.
 

AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
poly strings originally became popular because you could really smack the **** out the ball and it would still go in. while gut does provide more energy return it’s also harder to keep the ball in with gut than poly. but this isn’t the thread for this topic.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
yeah natural gut has a higher energy return percentage

Are you sure? If I throw a tennis ball against a wall and I throw a tennis ball against a tennis net which ball be thrown back toward me further?

The tennis ball net is softer. The wall is harder.

Gut is softer, like a trampoline, the wall is stiffer like poly.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
poly strings originally became popular because you could really smack the **** out the ball and it would still go in. while gut does provide more energy return it’s also harder to keep the ball in with gut than poly. but this isn’t the thread for this topic.

I agree. It is a silly discussion because it is a complex topic which was my point.
 

AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
Are you sure? If I throw a tennis ball against a wall and I throw a tennis ball against a tennis net which ball be thrown back toward me further?

The tennis ball net is softer. The wall is harder.

Gut is softer, like a trampoline, the wall is stiffer like poly.
a tennis net has about 0 elasticity though. if energy return was simply about hardness and softness marathon shoes would just have hard rubber instead of the high rebound foam they currently have. that being said, i play full poly.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
a tennis net has about 0 elasticity though. if energy return was simply about hardness and softness marathon shoes would just have hard rubber instead of the high rebound foam they currently have. that being said, i play full poly.
Exactly my point, pick something with more elasticity but less stiffness than poly and depending on how hard the ball is thrown/contact is made you will find a point where they are equal and then one will exceed the other. Go the other way and it will be less.

My point is that depending on the player one setup will produce more "power" than another so in the end the concept makes no sense when comparing strings as it is dependent on the player and how they play.

Look I am not genius and do not claim to be an expert. My point is the concept is much more complex than oversimplified analogies.
 
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AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
Exactly my point, pick something with more elasticity but less stiffness than poly and depending on how hard the ball is thrown/contact is made you will find a point where they are equal and then one will exceed the other. Go the other way and it will be less.

My point is that depending on the player one setup will produce more "power" than another so in the end the concept makes no sense when comparing strings as it is dependent on the player and how they play.
still, strings inherently do have a higher or lower energy return percentage regardless of player. how often do you guys thing about the roman empire?
 

LOBALOT

Legend
i mean think* not thing

Sure. Have you looked at the "Energy Return" differences on the TWU string comparison tool between Natty gut (pick your brand) and Lux 4G? I think you would be surprised in the marginal difference in %age terms.

For example the "Energy Return" for Lux 4G 16L is 91 and VS 16 is 95. Certainly not a large difference.
 
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AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
Sure. Have you looked at the "Energy Return" differences on the TWU string comparison tool between Natty gut (pick your brand) and Lux 4G? I think you would be surprised in the marginal difference in %age terms.

For example the "Energy Return" for Lux 4G 16L is 91 and VS 16 is 95. Certainly not a large difference.
wait which one had higher energy return percentage
 

LOBALOT

Legend
wait which one had higher energy return percentage

Gut by a huge 4%. I bet you expected more.

What if I dropped the tension of 4G by 1 lb compared to the gut would that make a difference or if I hit with a higher force that changes the factor?

It is more than energy return at play.
 

AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
Gut by


Gut by a huge 4%.

What if I dropped the tension of 4G by 1 lb compared to the gut would that make a difference or if I hit with a higher force that changes the factor?

It is more than energy return at play.
when we talk about tennis strings small percentages like this offer a huge difference in feel. big banger original is 85, only 11% away from natural gut but stringing big banger og 11% lower is still not going to get you anywhere close to gut. you have to consider what the lowest energy return string is is and make that your 0% and make natural gut 100% and then put them on a chart to really see the energy return difference. because although in reality it is 91% compared to complete absorption there is no tennis string that has complete absorption of all energy.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
Sure. Have you looked at the "Energy Return" differences on the TWU string comparison tool between Natty gut (pick your brand) and Lux 4G? I think you would be surprised in the marginal difference in %age terms.

For example the "Energy Return" for Lux 4G 16L is 91 and VS 16 is 95. Certainly not a large difference.
Sorry but a lot of the lab tests don’t match real life play.
 

AndrewUtz

Semi-Pro
Sorry but a lot of the lab tests don’t match real life play.
don’t bother man. lab tests do match real life most of the time but this guy refuses to think of energy return and tennis strings on a bell curve and views them entirely as a full percentage from 0%-100%, his logic is clearly flawed.
 
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