Which poly strings have the best playability duration?

S

Slapper

Semi-Pro
I realise that there have been several threads on this topic already, but I’m looking for additional information.

I would like to find a poly string that has superior playability duration. Tension maintenance is important, but it is not my primary concern. I am most concerned with maintenance of elasticity and feel. I can deal with tension loss (within reason) but I hate it when strings go boardy or mushy and produce lots of vibration/shock along with reduced racket head stability on off-centre shots.

I’m looking for a string that will last at least 6 hours, with at least 4 hours of good playability.

So far I can rule out the following strings, because they either break or go dead too soon:

- ALU Power 1.25
- Hyper-G 1.25/1.30
- Tour Bite 1.25/1.30
- Tour Bite Soft 1.25
- Revolution 1.25/1.30
- Black Code 1.24

I am particularly interested in comparisons between strings that have been specifically engineered for superior playability duration e.g. 4G, 4G Soft, Poly Tour Strike, Outlast etc.

EDIT: The strings that I currently have on hand are

- 4G 1.30
- Poly Tour Strike 1.25 (black)
- Poly Tour Pro 1.25 (yellow)
- Poly Tour Spin 1.25 (blue)
- RPM Blast 1.30
- RPM Blast Rough 1.25 (black)
- Pro Poly Plasma 1.28

What would you expect from the above in terms of playability duration?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
I just strung up my racket with PolyTour Strike 1.25; I'll post my thoughts when I'm done with it. I didn't realize polys had such short lifespan for some; I always thought the minimum was 10 hours and attributed loss of playability to tension maintenance. That's probably a product of using Volkl Cyclone Tour for the last month or so, which loses its tension at high rates.
 
Nav Dalmia said:
Try cyclone, best poly i've used. Solinco's trash, so don't even bother, Outlast is their only good string
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendations. Can you give any details? A comparison between Cyclone and Outlast, perhaps? And which gauge of Cyclone?
 
Slapper said:
I realise that there have been several threads on this topic already, but I’m looking for additional information.

I would like to find a poly string that has superior playability duration. Tension maintenance is important, but it is not my primary concern. I am most concerned with maintenance of elasticity and feel. I can deal with tension loss (within reason) but I hate it when strings go boardy or mushy and produce lots of vibration/shock along with reduced racket head stability on off-centre shots.

I’m looking for a string that will last at least 6 hours, with at least 4 hours of good playability.

So far I can rule out the following strings, because they either break or go dead too soon:

- ALU Power 1.25
- Hyper-G 1.25/1.30
- Tour Bite 1.25/1.30
- Tour Bite Soft 1.25
- Revolution 1.25/1.30
- Black Code 1.24

I am particularly interested in comparisons between strings that have been specifically engineered for superior playability duration e.g. 4G, 4G Soft, Poly Tour Strike, Outlast etc.

EDIT: The strings that I currently have on hand are

- 4G 1.30
- Poly Tour Strike 1.25 (black)
- Poly Tour Pro 1.25 (yellow)
- Poly Tour Spin 1.25 (blue)
- RPM Blast 1.30
- RPM Blast Rough 1.25 (black)
- Pro Poly Plasma 1.28

What would you expect from the above in terms of playability duration?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Are you trying to get 4 hours of play over the course of like two days or are we talking two weeks and losing tension due to sitting? I think many would say that a majority of the strings you listed will play reasonably well for the first 4-6 hours as long as its not like 2 hours on October 1st then you go and pick the racket back up for two more hours on October 15.
 
SavvyStringer said:
Are you trying to get 4 hours of play over the course of like two days or are we talking two weeks and losing tension due to sitting? I think many would say that a majority of the strings you listed will play reasonably well for the first 4-6 hours as long as its not like 2 hours on October 1st then you go and pick the racket back up for two more hours on October 15.
Click to expand...

I don’t think it matters because after the strings have been played with for a few hours there is negligible tension loss just sitting at room temperature, even over a few weeks. I’ve tested this with many strings using RacquetTune. In any case, as I mentioned in my first post, tension loss is not my primary concern.

I play for 2 hours each session, usually once or twice per week.

The strings in my list that I have ruled out lasted 2-3 hours. If I can get 4-6 hours of good playability my problem will be solved.
 
Slapper said:
Thanks for the recommendations. Can you give any details? A comparison between Cyclone and Outlast, perhaps? And which gauge of Cyclone?
Click to expand...

Cyclone is shaped, and has more bite. Go 16. Outlast holds tension better and has more durability, but is smooth and doesn't have any other redeeming qualities. They're both dead strings, so you can really swing at it.
 
Go into the TWU string data base and report out on Total Tension loss % and sort by that. Make sure you select the appropriate ref tension and swing speed. The typical poly loses 40-50%. The pre-stretched ones lose 20-25%, which is more typical of SG. The TWU DB does not contain all the strings, but the USRSA has an archive of their tests which you would need to combine.
 
esgee48 said:
Go into the TWU string data base and report out on Total Tension loss % and sort by that. Make sure you select the appropriate ref tension and swing speed. The typical poly loses 40-50%. The pre-stretched ones lose 20-25%, which is more typical of SG. The TWU DB does not contain all the strings, but the USRSA has an archive of their tests which you would need to combine.
Click to expand...

I spent a lot of time trawling though data in the string database previously and found that it didn’t help me much. So now I rely more on recommendations and on court play testing.

As I said in my first post, tension maintenance is not my main concern.
 
Nav Dalmia said:
Cyclone is shaped, and has more bite. Go 16. Outlast holds tension better and has more durability, but is smooth and doesn't have any other redeeming qualities. They're both dead strings, so you can really swing at it.
Click to expand...

What about the comfort and feel when they go dead?
 
From what I have gathered over the years on these boards as well as playing some polys, Max Power is very good and silverstring is pretty good as well as pro poly plasma and pacific poly force and 4g.
 
CiscoPC600 said:
I just strung up my racket with PolyTour Strike 1.25; I'll post my thoughts when I'm done with it. I didn't realize polys had such short lifespan for some; I always thought the minimum was 10 hours and attributed loss of playability to tension maintenance. That's probably a product of using Volkl Cyclone Tour for the last month or so, which loses its tension at high rates.
Click to expand...

I too am using cyclone tour. I’ve got 16g in red in both my RF97 and my PS97. I’ve used both for over 5 hrs and I’m not noticing the tension loss that people report, so the playability hasn’t changed much but I’m not up to the 10hr plus to be able to comment yet either. CT in red isn’t dead feeling to me, although softer for a poly I’d say it still has some nice pop and I strung it a little higher than I would normally string other polys to reign in the power. So far so good.


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Last edited:
Slapper said:
I realise that there have been several threads on this topic already, but I’m looking for additional information.

I would like to find a poly string that has superior playability duration. Tension maintenance is important, but it is not my primary concern. I am most concerned with maintenance of elasticity and feel. I can deal with tension loss (within reason) but I hate it when strings go boardy or mushy and produce lots of vibration/shock along with reduced racket head stability on off-centre shots.

I’m looking for a string that will last at least 6 hours, with at least 4 hours of good playability.

So far I can rule out the following strings, because they either break or go dead too soon:

- ALU Power 1.25
- Hyper-G 1.25/1.30
- Tour Bite 1.25/1.30
- Tour Bite Soft 1.25
- Revolution 1.25/1.30
- Black Code 1.24

I am particularly interested in comparisons between strings that have been specifically engineered for superior playability duration e.g. 4G, 4G Soft, Poly Tour Strike, Outlast etc.

EDIT: The strings that I currently have on hand are

- 4G 1.30
- Poly Tour Strike 1.25 (black)
- Poly Tour Pro 1.25 (yellow)
- Poly Tour Spin 1.25 (blue)
- RPM Blast 1.30
- RPM Blast Rough 1.25 (black)
- Pro Poly Plasma 1.28

What would you expect from the above in terms of playability duration?

Thanks
Click to expand...

When you ask for a certain amount of time for playability, it would depend on a lot of different things, but the one variable that I would consider first when picking a string would be your level of play. For example, you would expect that a 3.5 player would not be able to generate the type of swing, power, spin etc that a 5.0 player would. So a 3.5 player would probably get more playability from their strings. So maybe 4hrs is pretty good if your level is high. Personally I’ve noticed from when I started using poly to now, the life of my strings have dropped and that’s because I’m hitting the ball cleaner and harder, more consistently now than what I used to. FWIW I used to use RPM Team. Decent playability and tension loss but each time I got a new set of strings the quicker I would want to restring because I felt I was improving and learning how to get the most out of the string thus reducing its playability. Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Kaznkul said:
When you ask for a certain amount of time for playability, it would depend on a lot of different things, but the one variable that I would consider first when picking a string would be your level of play. For example, you would expect that a 3.5 player would not be able to generate the type of swing, power, spin etc that a 5.0 player would. So a 3.5 player would probably get more playability from their strings. So maybe 4hrs is pretty good if your level is high. Personally I’ve noticed from when I started using poly to now, the life of my strings have dropped and that’s because I’m hitting the ball cleaner and harder, more consistently now than what I used to. FWIW I used to use RPM Team. Decent playability and tension loss but each time I got a new set of strings the quicker I would want to restring because I felt I was improving and learning how to get the most out of the string thus reducing its playability. Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Fair point. I'm 5.0-5.5 and play predominantly from the baseline with moderate to heavy spin. Am I asking for too much?
 
Dont dispair, durability is also dependable on the racquets you have. As long as you dont have these spin effect 16x16 racquets you could be fine. Maybe even use 16x20?
Anyway, i myself have positive experiences with the cheap Pro's Pro Concept 1.28. It even doesnt loose that much tension nor does it dent easily. Its no powerstring, but it doesnt surprise you. You get reasonable control and spin. But dont string it above 24kg otherwise its not pleasant.
An other candidate could be Luxilon Original, which is also in 1.38 gauge, or Luxilon 4G S in 1.40, which should last a lifetime ;)
 
ron schaap said:
Dont dispair, durability is also dependable on the racquets you have. As long as you dont have these spin effect 16x16 racquets you could be fine. Maybe even use 16x20?
Anyway, i myself have positive experiences with the cheap Pro's Pro Concept 1.28. It even doesnt loose that much tension nor does it dent easily. Its no powerstring, but it doesnt surprise you. You get reasonable control and spin. But dont string it above 24kg otherwise its not pleasant.
An other candidate could be Luxilon Original, which is also in 1.38 gauge, or Luxilon 4G S in 1.40, which should last a lifetime ;)
Click to expand...

Tension loss and durability are not my main concerns here. It’s the the rapid loss of elasticity, comfort and feel. A perfect example is Solinco Revolution. It is extremely durable and I don’t mind the tension loss, but it is unplayable after 2 hours as it becomes boardy, so the excellent durability provides no benefit. It just allows me to play longer with dead strings that feel terrible.
 
Slapper said:
Tension loss and durability are not my main concerns here. It’s the the rapid loss of elasticity, comfort and feel. A perfect example is Solinco Revolution. It is extremely durable and I don’t mind the tension loss, but it is unplayable after 2 hours as it becomes boardy, so the excellent durability provides no benefit. It just allows me to play longer with dead strings that feel terrible.
Click to expand...
So why not try concept 1.28, or the analoque Scorpion of Weisscanon as some mention?
 
travlerajm said:
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...et-to-preventing-poly-from-going-dead.563630/
Click to expand...

The main issue I am grappling with is rapid loss of elasticity, comfort and feel.

It’s not clear to me how stringing with a 40 lbs differential would result in the strings remaining playable for longer. And in any case, stringing with such an extreme differential is not a practice that I can see myself adopting, although I may try it one day for a fun experiment.

As for prestretching poly, that is something I am interested in trying. However, common sense tells me that although pre-stretching may reduce tension loss (which is not a problem for me anyway), it will also reduce elasticity (which would exacerbate the problem I am grappling with).
 
Last edited:
That sounds goofy and not logical. Polys are supposed to be strung at lower tensions overall (makes their qualities last longer). I've been stringing at 42-46 for awhile now, and I get a good amount of use from the Volkl Cyclone Tour 17g and 18g (usually 8-10 hours) but that's not enough given how often I play. Now I'm trying to find strings with better tension maintenance in the hopes it lasts me 12-15 hours. That might not happen though but we will see. Currently testing Yonex PolyTour Strike.
 
Golden Set Snake Bite has pretty good playability maintenance. I would estimate that it plays nicely about twice as long as RPM Blast or Solinco Tourbite. It's really cheap, but plays quite stiff in general.
 
Slapper said:
The main issue I am grappling with is rapid loss of elasticity, comfort and feel.

It’s not clear to me how stringing with a 40 lbs differential would result in the strings remaining playable for longer. And in any case, stringing with such an extreme differential is not a practice that I can see myself adopting, although I may try it one day for a fun experiment.

As for prestretching poly, that is something I am interested in trying. However, common sense tells me that although pre-stretching may reduce tension loss (which is not a problem for me anyway), it will also reduce elasticity (which would exacerbate the problem I am grappling with).
Click to expand...

Have you tried hybrids then? My next restring will be a poly/ poly hybrid but you may benefit from a gut/ poly hybrid. Might help in maintaining the elasticity of your setup as a lot of people on here have said natural gut will last the longest and playability doesn’t change much throughout its life. NG is more expensive but it might be better value if it stays in your racquet for longer and offers you what you are looking for. Most will recommend NG mains with a smooth poly cross to knock off the power. There are a gazillion threads on this as well to get a better understanding.


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Poly Tour Pro will lose tension and notch up but the feel remains fairly consistent. Doesn't get all steel wire-like.
 
Kaznkul said:
Have you tried hybrids then? My next restring will be a poly/ poly hybrid but you may benefit from a gut/ poly hybrid. Might help in maintaining the elasticity of your setup as a lot of people on here have said natural gut will last the longest and playability doesn’t change much throughout its life. NG is more expensive but it might be better value if it stays in your racquet for longer and offers you what you are looking for. Most will recommend NG mains with a smooth poly cross to knock off the power. There are a gazillion threads on this as well to get a better understanding.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I haven’t tried gut/poly but I would like to. However, I cannot imagine that it will be economical considering the cost of gut.
 
Slapper said:
I haven’t tried gut/poly but I would like to. However, I cannot imagine that it will be economical considering the cost of gut.
Click to expand...

Maybe, maybe not. I have no experience with gut/ poly hybrid but I am definitely going to try it. Klip offer reasonably priced NG strings and if you get more hours out of them then it might even out. Like I said, there are a lot of threads on hybrids with some good info on what options there are. What racquet do you use? Are you playing competitively or just recreational?


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Slapper said:
I haven’t tried gut/poly but I would like to. However, I cannot imagine that it will be economical considering the cost of gut.
Click to expand...

Leave the gut in and change the poly cross every 4-6 hours.

You can try 4G it will feel dead and awful from fresh and not change within 4 hours.
 
CosmosMpower said:
Leave the gut in and change the poly cross every 4-6 hours.

You can try 4G it will feel dead and awful from fresh and not change within 4 hours.
Click to expand...

I break full poly 1.25 in 4-6 hours so I assume that gut will break even sooner.

I’m looking for 4 hours of good playability and no breakage within 6 hours, but I’m told that I can’t have that.

I’m going to try 4G. It can’t be that bad if Tsitsipas, de Minaur and others are using it. Will try 4G Soft too.
 
Slapper said:
I break full poly 1.25 in 4-6 hours so I assume that gut will break even sooner.

I’m looking for 4 hours of good playability and no breakage within 6 hours, but I’m told that I can’t have that.

I’m going to try 4G. It can’t be that bad if Tsitsipas, de Minaur and others are using it. Will try 4G Soft too.
Click to expand...

Luxilon Gut will last you more than that for sure. I am a 5.0 player who plays with it full bed and got 30 hours out of it, I cut it out because I wanted to test another string but it wasn't even close to breaking at the 30 hour mark.
 
aaron_h27 said:
Luxilon Gut will last you more than that for sure. I am a 5.0 player who plays with it full bed and got 30 hours out of it, I cut it out because I wanted to test another string but it wasn't even close to breaking at the 30 hour mark.
Click to expand...

Wow. My friend who uses Luxilon gut told me that it is durable, but I never realised that it could be that durable. Having said that, I could never use a full bed of gut and I assume that durability would be lower when used as a main with poly cross.

What is your style of play and how did the playability change over those 30 hours?
 
Slapper said:
Wow. My friend who uses Luxilon gut told me that it is durable, but I never realised that it could be that durable. Having said that, I could never use a full bed of gut and I assume that durability would be lower when used as a main with poly cross.

What is your style of play and how did the playability change over those 30 hours?
Click to expand...

I am a all-court counter puncher with a 1HBH, I like to use dropshots and slice backhands to throw my opponent off while also using my forehand to control the point. Think Roberta Vinci, Steve Darcis, Steve Johnson (minus the 2 hander), Henin.

I'd say try it in a hybrid and see !
 
I had a similar issue as OP when I was looking for polys. I strung them up high cuz I'm a big swinger and they would feel great for 1 hour and then play totally differently..so much so that I could not adjust my shots when they dropped tension and the ball would sail.
I'm only mentioning this because I couldn't play with ALU or Lux original, yonex poly tour pro, tec black code, etc. After stringing at 58-60lbs, they would die so fast.
However, I am now successfully using all of those strings at 50-54lbs and they definitely play ok for 8-10 hrs. Now I'm considering going down to 45lbs for hyperG and other newer polys that don't lose as much initial tension after stringing.

Anyway, I agree with Cisco that you might enjoy longer lasting poly strung looser. Good luck!
(I agree the string database is a waste of time, btw!)
 
datsveryinterestin said:
I had a similar issue as OP when I was looking for polys. I strung them up high cuz I'm a big swinger and they would feel great for 1 hour and then play totally differently..so much so that I could not adjust my shots when they dropped tension and the ball would sail.
I'm only mentioning this because I couldn't play with ALU or Lux original, yonex poly tour pro, tec black code, etc. After stringing at 58-60lbs, they would die so fast.
However, I am now successfully using all of those strings at 50-54lbs and they definitely play ok for 8-10 hrs. Now I'm considering going down to 45lbs for hyperG and other newer polys that don't lose as much initial tension after stringing.

Anyway, I agree with Cisco that you might enjoy longer lasting poly strung looser. Good luck!
(I agree the string database is a waste of time, btw!)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion but I am already stringing in the low 40’s.
 
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