Your softest hybrid setup for spin and control

[liftordie]

Hi,
I created this thread to let you post what hybrid setup are you using right now in 2018.
But ONLY setup with great comfort, spin and control. And WITHOUT natural gut.
Please give us also your tension and sorry but I would have answers from 4.0 level players minimum and who are spin players.
Thank you in advance!

 

[gvsbdisco]

PPC 16 mains at 52 lbs x Yonex PTP 1.20 at 42 lbs.

Full disclosure I use this racquet when it I play in super humid or light rain conditions. Main racquet is gut/poly.

 

[Sahit Dodda]

Kevlar, zx. You could make this shift by lowering tye zx tension to 40... and it works

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[SpinToWin]

Why hybrid but no natural gut? Just take a full bed of YPTP and replace it every 12 hours of play, that’ll do.

 

[liftordie]

Why hybrid but no natural gut? Just take a full bed of YPTP and replace it every 12 hours of play, that’ll do.

Because natural gut is way too much expansive and fragile!!

 

[USPTARF97]

Softest hybrid?

Isospeed Baseline 1.20 mains/ PSGD 1.30 crosses
48/48.

Came back from an arm injury playing with this set up and it is super inexpensive.

 

[liftordie]

Softest hybrid?

Isospeed Baseline 1.20 mains/ PSGD 1.30 crosses
48/48.

Came back from an arm injury playing with this set up and it is super inexpensive.

You had an arm injury with this set up or you played with it AFTER an arm injury??

 

[USPTARF97]

You had an arm injury with this set up or you played with it AFTER an arm injury??

After an arm injury.

 

[Doubles]

Because natural gut is way too much expansive and fragile!!

Gut isn’t nearly as fragile as people think. Recently, Ive been breaking a full bed of poly in 5-7 days (10-15 hours of play) depending on the surface. Babolat Tonic mains and a poly cross (assuming it doesn’t have sharp edges) lasts me roughly twice as long and plays consistently throughout.

 

[liftordie]

After an arm injury.

Ok I have a very old end of PSGD 15L reel, more than 20 years..... Do you think it is still playable??

Gut isn’t nearly as fragile as people think. Recently, Ive been breaking a full bed of poly in 5-7 days (10-15 hours of play) depending on the surface. Babolat Tonic mains and a poly cross (assuming it doesn’t have sharp edges) lasts me roughly twice as long and plays consistently throughout.

Good to know but gut react a lot with temp, humidity, weather in general, right?...

 

[ashridge]

Gut isn’t nearly as fragile as people think. Recently, Ive been breaking a full bed of poly in 5-7 days (10-15 hours of play) depending on the surface. Babolat Tonic mains and a poly cross (assuming it doesn’t have sharp edges) lasts me roughly twice as long and plays consistently throughout.

Agreed. At least from my limited experience with Gut. I have a little over 20 hours on a set of Tonic Longevity Gut mains with poly crosses in my Prince Graphite II with 14x18 pattern. Have replaced the poly crosses once already and the Gut mains are still going strong.

For the OP, I'm still looking for a set-up that is very spinny, good control, and very soft. I've tried several that have some of those qualities, but none yet that have all of them. Still searching.

 

[liftordie]

Have replaced the poly crosses once already and the Gut mains are still going strong.

Very bad for your frame...
What is your level?

 

[ashridge]

Very bad for your frame...
What is your level?

Have done it on several racquets multiple times, no problems yet. Gut is way too expensive for me to cut it out after 8-10 hours when the poly cross goes dead, especially when the Gut mains are still in great shape.

My level is 4.5+

 

[liftordie]

Have done it on several racquets multiple times, no problems yet. Gut is way too expensive for me to cut it out after 8-10 hours when the poly cross goes dead, especially when the Gut mains are still in great shape.

I understand perfectly but it is really bad for your frames in long or medium term...

 

[liftordie]

Who tried Mantis Comfort Synthetic as a cross?

 

[Doubles]

Ok I have a very old end of PSGD 15L reel, more than 20 years..... Do you think it is still playable??


Good to know but gut react a lot with temp, humidity, weather in general, right?...

To extremely hot and humid weather, yes. But if you aren’t playing on a wet court or right before/after a rainstorm you’ll be fine.
If you can hit indoors it’s not really an issue, either.

 

[Doubles]

Who tried Mantis Comfort Synthetic as a cross?

It’s very soft, to the point where it really doesn’t have much power, but has great feel. It’ll shred quickly with poly mains.

 

[SpinToWin]

Because natural gut is way too much expansive and fragile!!

It’s way more durable than both multi and syn gut

 

[liftordie]

Maybe but way more expensive.

So please go back to the subject of this thread: NO NATURAL GUT.

I created this thread to let you post what hybrid setup are you using right now in 2018.
But ONLY setup with great comfort, spin and control. And WITHOUT natural gut.
Please give us also your tension and sorry but I would have answers from 4.0 level players minimum and who are spin players.

Thank you!

 

[ROCKinCourier]

I understand perfectly but it is really bad for your frames in long or medium term...

No it’s not.

 

[liftordie]

No it’s not.

 

[ROCKinCourier]

Lots of experience and info on TT about this. At the end of the day, what's the difference in stringing up a hybrid (or 2 string pattern) and just replacing the cross string? Not a dang thing. You just have to be careful not to damage the mains as you take the old cross out and put the new cross in.

 

[SeeItHitIt]

I understand perfectly but it is really bad for your frames in long or medium term...

Evidenced by? Not to steal your thread, but I and many others do it all the time. Four frames (Ps97’s and one Rf97) that are 3 years old now yet don’t seem to mind. I’ll leave the frame before it leaves me. I tried an APD ‘13 back when and had a full bed of NxT power in there, or crossed with YPTP. Does most of what you’re looking for imo.

Good luck with your search.

 

[liftordie]

Thank you. The quest seems to be long...
I need real comfort because I want to preserve my arm because I play a lot and I'm pretty soon 40. But I need spin and control for my game. And I don't want to pay so much for natural gut.
I have already some good options for crosses with my beloved Double AR Diablo 1.24 as mains. I will test.

 

[Muppet]

I understand perfectly but it is really bad for your frames in long or medium term...

The only ways I can think of that it could be bad for the racquet:

1) if you don't mount the racquet correctly
2) the racquet doesn't get a chance to relax for an hour or more without strings in it, before installing the new strings. I always do this when I do a whole string job, but when I do just the crosses, I get the new string in as quickly as possible to get the mains back under tension.
3) some mains will permanently deform to the old weave. But this shouldn't be a problem with natural gut.

Otherwise it's just like backing off to the end of installing the mains and finishing out the racquet with new crosses. Something the racquet has seen before. Sorry, not 4.0 yet.

 

[Traffic]

Hi,
I created this thread to let you post what hybrid setup are you using right now in 2018.
But ONLY setup with great comfort, spin and control. And WITHOUT natural gut.
Please give us also your tension and sorry but I would have answers from 4.0 level players minimum and who are spin players.
Thank you in advance!

What's your current setup? String? Tension? How long does it last?
I'm not a 4.0 player. But I string for my 15 y/o son who has beaten every 4.0 player he's faced. He hits with a TON of spin in a Pure Strike 98 16x19. He plays with HyperG 18 @ 49/48. I have him only play for 12 hrs and then we re-string. During HS season, that means I re-string his racquet every week.

I've played with this setup and I can see it is too stiff for me. Yes, I can play for about 30min. But I couldn't last for 2hrs which was how long his match was yesterday.

I play with Klip Legend 17 crossed with Head Velocity 17. I hit with moderate spin on my groundstrokes and I have a topspin 1st serve and kicker 2nd. I can play about 15-20hrs before I have to cut out Velocity (worn) and re-string only the cross. I weave opposite pattern to the first stringing and can get another 15hrs of play. So for 35hrs of play, I pay $40.

For my son, it costs $39 for him to play 36hrs.

If you are a string breaker, then maybe Velocity won't last long enough for you. But if you are not a string breaker, then a gut hybrid could provide what you are looking for. If you have a harder and more consistent spin swing, then crossing with a round poly will work well to get a bit more spin. I don't like it as much since I get a little different launch angles when I hit more neutral shots.

 

[Shroud]

I understand perfectly but it is really bad for your frames in long or medium term...

Been doing it for years no issues. If you mount the frame before cutting the crosses there should be no issues. Never had any frame issues.

What is long or medium term?

 

[liftordie]

What's your current setup? String? Tension? How long does it last?
I'm not a 4.0 player. But I string for my 15 y/o son who has beaten every 4.0 player he's faced. He hits with a TON of spin in a Pure Strike 98 16x19. He plays with HyperG 18 @ 49/48. I have him only play for 12 hrs and then we re-string. During HS season, that means I re-string his racquet every week.

I've played with this setup and I can see it is too stiff for me. Yes, I can play for about 30min. But I couldn't last for 2hrs which was how long his match was yesterday.

I play with Klip Legend 17 crossed with Head Velocity 17. I hit with moderate spin on my groundstrokes and I have a topspin 1st serve and kicker 2nd. I can play about 15-20hrs before I have to cut out Velocity (worn) and re-string only the cross. I weave opposite pattern to the first stringing and can get another 15hrs of play. So for 35hrs of play, I pay $40.

For my son, it costs $39 for him to play 36hrs.

If you are a string breaker, then maybe Velocity won't last long enough for you. But if you are not a string breaker, then a gut hybrid could provide what you are looking for. If you have a harder and more consistent spin swing, then crossing with a round poly will work well to get a bit more spin. I don't like it as much since I get a little different launch angles when I hit more neutral shots.

Good luck to the joints of your son.....
I played tonight a 3 hours match and my arm say STOP.
You can play with the softest poly of the world, it will ALWAYS destroy your joints. Poly was created for PRO players who are changing racket every 30mn....... It is not for us.
We could play with poly in acceptable conditions ONLY if we restring every MAX 2 hours..... That is the reality.
But amateur players, like me and all here, want the spin and control of a poly........ It is just crazy!!!!
So now I say bye bye poly and I will search the best multi for my spin game. If you have some names in mind, I take it!
I have already tried Prince Premier Control 16 and it was not good.
I have tried Gosen AK Control 17 and it was nice.
Thanks for reading!

 

[Sahit Dodda]

Good luck to the joints of your son.....
I played tonight a 3 hours match and my arm say STOP.
You can play with the softest poly of the world, it will ALWAYS destroy your joints. Poly was created for PRO players who are changing racket every 30mn....... It is not for us.
We could play with poly in acceptable conditions ONLY if we restring every MAX 2 hours..... That is the reality.
But amateur players, like me and all here, want the spin and control of a poly........ It is just crazy!!!!
So now I say bye bye poly and I will search the best multi for my spin game. If you have some names in mind, I take it!
I have already tried Prince Premier Control 16 and it was not good.
I have tried Gosen AK Control 17 and it was nice.
Thanks for reading!

You should tell him to try kev/zx. It plays similar to polys, doesn't die, and is pretty durable.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[ByeByePoly]

So now I say bye bye poly

Trademark infringement

 

[ByeByePoly]

Good luck to the joints of your son.....
I played tonight a 3 hours match and my arm say STOP.
You can play with the softest poly of the world, it will ALWAYS destroy your joints. Poly was created for PRO players who are changing racket every 30mn....... It is not for us.
We could play with poly in acceptable conditions ONLY if we restring every MAX 2 hours..... That is the reality.
But amateur players, like me and all here, want the spin and control of a poly........ It is just crazy!!!!
So now I say bye bye poly and I will search the best multi for my spin game. If you have some names in mind, I take it!
I have already tried Prince Premier Control 16 and it was not good.
I have tried Gosen AK Control 17 and it was nice.
Thanks for reading!

You need to just play origin/velocity ... thank @Dartagnan64 ... and enjoy your tennis.

OR fb velocity ... better than fb ppc imo

What about @Traffic 's question ... are you a string breaker?

 

[Doubles]

The answer is very obvious here. Use gut.

 

[Traffic]

Good luck to the joints of your son.....
I played tonight a 3 hours match and my arm say STOP.
You can play with the softest poly of the world, it will ALWAYS destroy your joints. Poly was created for PRO players who are changing racket every 30mn....... It is not for us.
We could play with poly in acceptable conditions ONLY if we restring every MAX 2 hours..... That is the reality.
But amateur players, like me and all here, want the spin and control of a poly........ It is just crazy!!!!
So now I say bye bye poly and I will search the best multi for my spin game. If you have some names in mind, I take it!
I have already tried Prince Premier Control 16 and it was not good.
I have tried Gosen AK Control 17 and it was nice.
Thanks for reading!

I'm sure there is an equal severity curve that can be plotted and where the lines cross for performance gained and damage to health is different for different people.
Glad you are taking arm health into consideration for your string choice.

I think I'm pretty comfortable with "soft" (is there such a thing?) poly strung at low tension and replaced frequently. Remember that having a very heavy spin stroke promotes the strings sliding on itself and has similar energy redirection as a locked stringbed deflection of sgut.

 

[ashridge]

Good luck to the joints of your son.....
I played tonight a 3 hours match and my arm say STOP.
You can play with the softest poly of the world, it will ALWAYS destroy your joints. Poly was created for PRO players who are changing racket every 30mn....... It is not for us.
We could play with poly in acceptable conditions ONLY if we restring every MAX 2 hours..... That is the reality.
But amateur players, like me and all here, want the spin and control of a poly........ It is just crazy!!!!
So now I say bye bye poly and I will search the best multi for my spin game. If you have some names in mind, I take it!
I have already tried Prince Premier Control 16 and it was not good.
I have tried Gosen AK Control 17 and it was nice.
Thanks for reading!

If a lot of spin is an important part of your game, you may end up drawing some disappointing conclusions if you're looking to find a multi that is going to give you really good spin. I've tried half a dozen or so and I could get adequate spin out of all of them, but nothing special from any of them. Maybe if your racquet head speed is really fast you could be happy with them, but I can't. And usually they aren't very durable if you hit a lot of spin and are a stringbreaker as I am.

You should tell him to try kev/zx. It plays similar to polys, doesn't die, and is pretty durable.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

If he doesn't want to use poly because of concerns about joint damage, kev/zx is going to be even worse. I tried it myself and absolutely loved the way it played. Then my elbow and shoulder both hurt significantly for a week after I played, and it just wasn't worth it to me so I cut it out to find something else.

 

[liftordie]

Trademark infringement

Bye Bye Poly ©

 

[liftordie]

I will try this: https://challengersport.fr/cordage-tennis/259-gel-touch-200m-125.html

 

[liftordie]

You need to just play origin/velocity ... thank @Dartagnan64 ... and enjoy your tennis.

OR fb velocity ... better than fb ppc imo

What about @Traffic 's question ... are you a string breaker?

I don't break poly 1.25 in 6 or 7 hours of play, moment that I cut it. I don't know for multi...

Velocity is better than Rip Control for spin? And what are you thinking about Pro's Pro Hex Multi??

 

[ByeByePoly]

I don't break poly 1.25 in 6 or 7 hours of play, moment that I cut it. I don't know for multi...

Velocity is better than Rip Control for spin? And what are you thinking about Pro's Pro Hex Multi??

You need to find out how fast you break multi. If it breaks faster than you are willing to restring, you can rule it out. Also ... a test with something like fb velocity will tell you if you can rule out multi because of your spin preference. If I ask you is 2/3 poly spin ok for you ... what is your answer. If no ... you can limit your chouces to full spin options... fb poly, poly/nylon, gut/poly, zx, kev/zx. Players like me had the 2/3 spin question answered for us because of past TE ... just accept best spin possible within "arm friendly". The closest to arm friendly with max spin is probably gut/poly ... and good durability but all accept worse string breakers. I notice poly even behind gut mains ... but it works for some post TE.

I haven't played Rip C ... but several players here, including @Dartagnan64 played both Rip C and Velocity. It sounds like they are both close in spin ... higher end spin for a multi. If you are trying to measure spin difference in a multi beyond fb velocity you are probably just splitting hairs. I got a bump in spin from fb v and o/v ... but on the margins.

I know nothing about pro hex multi.

Just an fyi on your "4.0 level" player input filter. I have found the better way to compare strings with ttw members is try and find similar swing speeds, playing style/spin, string breakage, shared arm/elbow issues ... etc. I get much better input/comparison from other flattish moderate pace/moderate spin players regardless of level ... then say a Jolly that breaks poly in a few hours. Different string needs/preference. The biggest, heaviest spin I ever faced was a guy hitting 15g forten sweet. What he could do with strings with his swing speed was not relevant to what would work best for me.

 

[Tennisist]

Volkl cyclone 1.18 / Isospeed Baseline 1.25 @ 54 / 52 lbs. in Prince Tour ESP (spin racquet). Not the strongest spin, but I need a fair amount of comfort, hence the compromise.

 

[petetennis54]

I've used Volkl V Torque Tour 17 @45 (having changed from Cyclone Tour) in the mains and Ashaway Monogut Zyex 17 @ 48 in the cross in a Blade 98 16x19 for several years. The Volkl breaks first. Very easy on arm and good spin. Problems are that you have to double pull the ZX and its price has gone way up.

 

[Muppet]

I don't break poly 1.25 in 6 or 7 hours of play, moment that I cut it. I don't know for multi...

Velocity is better than Rip Control for spin? And what are you thinking about Pro's Pro Hex Multi??

Hex Multi is soft and muted. I used to use it for my crosses with Cyber Flash mains when it was offered by Dunlop as Hexy Fiber. This was in my MW racquet in my signature. It's a nice string, but I was getting too much shock to my upper arm and I switched to a Gutex Ultra cross. But since GU isn't giving me much accuracy on my serve I'm now trying Kirsch SG cross for that racquet. It's sufficiently comfortable, but CF/GU was very plush.

 

[ron schaap]

Good luck to the joints of your son.....
I played tonight a 3 hours match and my arm say STOP.
You can play with the softest poly of the world, it will ALWAYS destroy your joints. Poly was created for PRO players who are changing racket every 30mn....... It is not for us.
We could play with poly in acceptable conditions ONLY if we restring every MAX 2 hours..... That is the reality.
But amateur players, like me and all here, want the spin and control of a poly........ It is just crazy!!!!
So now I say bye bye poly and I will search the best multi for my spin game. If you have some names in mind, I take it!
I have already tried Prince Premier Control 16 and it was not good.
I have tried Gosen AK Control 17 and it was nice.
Thanks for reading!

I think its nonsense that poly is created for pros only. Suppliers wouldnt make much of that was true. The real problem is that a lot of poly players think that they have to string as tight as a full gut or multi set up. O say go low, better for your arm and you dont have to restring so much. Multis arent created for spin. They dent very fast and then there is even less snapback and spin potential.

 

[liftordie]

I think its nonsense that poly is created for pros only. Suppliers wouldnt make much of that was true. The real problem is that a lot of poly players think that they have to string as tight as a full gut or multi set up. O say go low, better for your arm and you dont have to restring so much. Multis arent created for spin. They dent very fast and then there is even less snapback and spin potential.

You are soooo true haha!!!!!
Now I found my perfect poly hybrid setup and I'm SO happy!!!!!

 

[jakefromstatefarm]

@liftordie What is your perfect poly hybrid set up? I am now doing mains of multifeel 1.30mm 50 lbs x crosses of yonex poly tour air 48 lbs. Feels awesome.