Not so much if you play almost exclusively with full bed of stiff polys. Besides, it's so much easier and cheaper to re-do retired poly in crosses.
Stiff polys? No thanks, ouch!!! I do not use that fullw estern grip so I would not benefit from a very stiff full poly bed.
Depends on your technique and physical shape obviously! Yonex Poly Pro Tour 1.25 is actually on a softer side, I have to string it 57-58lbs.
If there's a racket what can tolerate stiff polys at higher tensions, it's VCP HD!
I am getting ready to try some Yonex Poly Tour Air in a week or so.
You mean Poly Pro is softer?
Yes, that’s what my experience with Poly Pro Tour 1.25 neon was like. Had to up tensions to 57-58lbs from my typical 53-55lbs for full bed of poly in order to tame some softness and power.
What Tension did you string this?
So here my quick update on poly/gut hybrid in VCP HD. I strung mains with Lux 4G 1.25 at 55lbs (no pre-stretch) and crossed with Klip Natural Gut 1.35 (natural color with a bit of hand stretch only) at 60lbs. I use lockout MiStringer machine and pre-stretch is quite tough to do and stringing nattygut or multi is a bit of pain in a neck. Stringing polys is always a blast tho! I also used half a pack of Babolat Elastocross string-savers mostly in the center of the stringbed and a bit towards the hoop (there I tend to hit a lot of shots). First hour-1.5h with my poly/gut hybrid was a bit muted and too powerful for my liking but then strings settled and power levels became more tamed and I started to get more feel, slice and spin from these strings. It feels battery smooth and doesn't hurt my tender wrists and elbows at all even at highest power serves or FHs, despite having one of the stiffest Luxilon polys at 55lbs in the mains! I would never go full bed of this poly at 55lbs, 51-52 tops and my elbows/wrists will be suffering. It wouldn't be too bad because of low stiffness of VCP HD but definitely noticeable. I'm with 6-7 hours of hitting on this set and still liking it and gut isn't fraying yet, just looks a tad dirty. I'm in North California and wild fires got us real bad in 2020, all courts are covered in ash
I think I can get around 15 hours before I cut retired (low tension) Lux 4G and redo the crosses. Keep you posted.22/22kg
Thanks! I’ve got the GS Tour Sniper in there at 23/23 and like it very much.
I’m sorry but I haven’t tried hg. I know I’m alone with my opinion on this string here but I don’t like it at all. To me it’s a very unpredictable string. The balls came flying off my string bed completely differently while having the same swings. Tour bite is a very predictable string to me though to me. I don’t know, maybe I haven’t given hg the right amount of time. But I felt so out of control of my shots, which is pretty strange for me. I am usually a very controlled driver of the ball.
As I was expecting after about 16 hours Lux 4G lost tension significantly and hybrid started to spray. And since it's the main string I couldn't really redo it
I just use this frame for warmups, service practice seshs then I don't necessarily need extra control and don't have to hurt my arm. If someone is using gut mains and poly crosses then such hybrid can serve longer by redoing poly in crosses once it's done. Such setup gives me too much power even if gut strung well over 65lbs. and for some reason neon lasts and plays better than graphene colored one. Both in 1.25mm and both at 57 lbs 1-piece ATW. I believe the difference is in a bit of surface texture that graphene string has and neon one doesn't (it is completely smooth and slick).
To me they are quite different racquets. Power is lower in the 93p and control is incredible with it. It seems like that you can string it with every poly at 40 pounds and still maintain great control. The maneuverability is better with the 93p and the sweet spot area is also very generous with the right string at a low tension. QC is not as good as the HD. My four 93p s were quite different and I had to lead them up to the same specs.
Wow, I have pretty similar experience with VCP HD! I had some reservations after demo-ing it for just 3-4 hours and even then some after purchasing one HD frame. But then I dialed in and started to win these 6:0,6:1,6:2 kinda easy sets
against folks I usually play pretty tight, two more HDs were on their way to Alex! I never tried Prince 93p but I had Head Prestige Mid 18x20 and I know what "frame which never misses" plays like! I string my HDs quite high, 55+ lbs and I'm getting similar "never gonna miss" feel but with some added comfort, power and spin. And man, hitting big BIG serves and finishing with drive-volleys or even bigger forehands is HD's jam 
Alpha is similar to yptp but with better spin and great feel, not so dead feel like yptp
Really great to hear!Wow, I have pretty similar experience with VCP HD! I had some reservations after demo-ing it for just 3-4 hours and even then some after purchasing one HD frame. But then I dialed in and started to win these 6:0,6:1,6:2 kinda easy sets
I think I settled on 1-piece ATW with Yonex Poly Tour Pro 1.25mm at 57lbs. Have it on two (out of three) of my HD frames. Plays great, tension maintenance is good, try neon version first. I’m getting 20-30 hours of hitting out of this string! Neon seems better than graphite version IMO and you can see more of this neon string on pro tour (ATP/WTA) as well. I haven’t tried new blue version yet tho. It’s on my check list now. The third frame has blue Babolat Pro Hurricane (not tour version) 1.25mm at 55lbs. Nice string too but loses tension quite fast, works for 8 maybe 10 hours max for me before I have to restring.
That is quite high for a poly in an 18x20, isn’t it? Well, I prefer 23 kilos in this frame as well, but the Tour Sniper is very stiff and controlled, so I’ll even try 20 next time. With my Kirschbaum Max Power Rough I found 22 top low to feel confident and go for my shots. I usually try to take everything very early and need the confidence to not hit long. I’m actually standing on the baseline normally.
Yeah, I heard people saying that YPTP has no feel at all and kinda dead. It wasn't my experience with this string though. I guess Nick K and bunch of other YPTP pros disagree about dead/no feel comments as well. What really feels dead to me is blue Yonex Poly Tour Spin 1.25 and I tried it at various tensions and in different frames. Yes, it got a ton of spin but nothing else IMO.
Man, you are trying to compare string jobs from various stringers/places. I remember 3-4 years back I had to do and could never find a good match so I decided to string myself. Found 100$ used Klippermate drop weight and studied from zero. It's not a rocket science and I like the idea of honing my weapons
noone messes with my 250$ rackets anymore! Klippermate was so so but a good start and about a year ago I got lockout MiStringer and it's a game changer. Super consistent string jobs and it's quite affordable, robust and whole thing can fit in your tennis bag.I like strings that are not springy and lively and where you can still feel the ball on the strings. The GS Tour Sniper is exactly this. I have a leather basic grip and a very thin over grip to get the most feeling out of it.
Same here, I like to swing big and fast. I have plenty of topspin in my groundies but there's always spinkles of flattened out high-pace injections! Such flattened out shots from out of balance positions tended to be all over the place with Ai98 and it's much higher percentage of same "slapped out of hope" kinda shots landing amazingly close to the lines
then I use VCP HD! And same on serve being break point(s) down and going for the biggest serves or biggest kick on second is fire with HD. Ai98 felt kinda hollow and no power/no feel in comparison, so I sold all 4 of them now. And I string around 25kg and prefer medium to stiff polys, give me lots of confidence you talk about. Not a fan of leather grips, they give me crazy blisters, just use some soft cushy and slightly grippy OGs (depending on weather condish) with stock Yonex grip.
Go for some common poly strings if your body can handle it. I mean basically any poly option from Luxilon, Babolat, Yonex, Wilson, Volkl, Solinco, Head etc. will work in terms of providing spin and control and being under 20$. Generally tensions range is anywhere between 45 and 55 lbs, go lower or use thinner gauge softer poly if you need/want more power or have tender wrists or elbows or go higher or use stiffer poly if added control is a must for you and you can stand such beating on your body.
and need more practice from my sideezone tour is pretty heavy i from her specification i wouldnt recomand if u are not a very advanced player,even a top200 atp player confirmed me that for him is good but he think also that for amateur will be too heavy.Hello, this is my first post, I have been reading a lot this topic and I would really appreciate some advice to get the 97HD over the ezone tour 98 (tour ??) racket
My current setup is a VCORE PRO 100, 300gr, with some lead on 10-2. Serves are Amazing, forehand gets nice spins, I manage good directions on the spot, but not super aggressive shots like opponent cannot shot back, not to talk about backhands which need a lot of efford to place them to baseline, definitely lacking power
I play with hyperG, 1.15 strung around 23-24kg
I was going towards the VCORE PRO 97 HD after reading all your comments ! having tried for few mins the blade v7, i thought that yonex deserves a try in the 18x20 area and i got used to the yonex frame.
But now the ezone tour 98 came out and I truly cannot decide ! anyone has tried both and can give realistic opinions ? my level is about 4.5, and my goal is to get more precision attacking balls in the forehand, bit heavier stable racket when returning balls back and easy to do a double hand backhand.. thanks !
I have been waiting to demo both, what would u recommend to check ?
Anyone tried both ezone 98 and vcore 97hd and can give me some insights ? thanks !!!Yes but the HD is more HL then the Tour and has a lower SW.
Then this will definitely be my next racket ! I hope it is considered as an "upgrade" from vcore pro 100 (300g)
VCP HD will obviously challenge you more to keep hitting consistently heavy ball for extended times. Someone already said that you'll have to use your body [rotations] as opposed to powering with the arm. The latter is OK with tweener frame like vcore pro 100 (300g) and most likely won't work with VCP HD, unless you wanna experiment with gut or gut-like powerful strings.
