Dunlop AG200 + Full Multifilament @ 52/54 lbs

While bouncing a ball on the floor using the racket, the RPM/PSG hybrid stringbed felt springy and spongy. I couldn't decide whether to try playing a game with it.

When I found out that the racket was last strung about 3 months ago, I cut the strings immediately. Very few poly strings can last 8 hours of playtime. Even when strung and unused, poly can lose its playability in as little as two or three weeks. My thoughts were, since I have new strings and a machine, why risk any discomfort?

To me, multi strings are the safest bet. It is soft, comfortable and quite durable compared to most polys. Naturally, multi is my preferred string when testing rackets since I am familiar with how that string performs. Below pic shows the main strings completed.

18 by 20 in a 95 sq inch means a much denser stringbed compared to 16 by 18. Although the tension is "only" 52/54 lbs, this stringbed stiffness (~38 kg/cm) is the stiffest that I am going to try since I re-started playing tennis.

Playtest:
- the dense stringbed provides exceptionally good ball control
- at 52/54 lbs, I could do full swings without fear of hitting it long
- surprisingly, it is not difficult to generate spin at all
- the full multi bed is very soft, comfortable and yet crisp
- i could not feel any tension drop after an hour of hard hitting
- i enjoy this thin-beamed 95 sq in more than the 100 sq in 500 Tour
- this racket plays and feels very similar to my PSC6.1
- my friend that tested this said it feels like the Dunlop 200G
- overall I like this heavier 95 sq in much more than the 500 Tour

Bye Dunlop AG500 Tour... Hi Dunlop AG200...

Less than two months ago, I bought a new Dunlop Aerogel 500 Tour thinking that I'll need a lighter racket with a larger face since I've stopped playing for so long. 

Despite my best attempts, I could not get used to the racket. It felt too light. And there was not much space left to add lead tape! The face was too big, even though it was only 5 sq inch more than my usual 95 sq inch rackets. I couldn't hit the sweetspot regularly enough. So I searched online and traded it for the heavier and smaller face (95 sq inch) Dunlop Aerogel 200.

I like the thinner beam of the Aerogel 200. It looks less bulky. Although heavier, the stock specs at 11.9oz (337g) still feels light. To beef it up further, I added lead tape. You can see the 2 strips at the inner side of the frame.

I finally managed to bring it up to the same weight as my PSC6.1.

This racket came with a hybrid of RPM and Prince Synthetic Gut @ 52/54 lbs. I'll have to take it for a test drive before I can decide how to string up this new stick.

Spin Competition Day!!!

Having experienced the incredible spin from poly strings (link) and from kevlar (link), I thought maybe it would be interesting to compare the spin potential of different strings side-by-side rather than one at a time.

So, I re-strung two rackets this time:
- Pro Staff Classic 6.1 with Kevlar / Synthetic Gut hybrid
- Dunlop Aerogel 500 Tour with Full Poly

Before poly strings became popular, kevlar / synthetic gut hybrid has been the de facto king of spin. Few strings come close to its spin prowess. So I think this is going to be an exciting "competition".

Here's a pic of the PSC 6.1 completed. Afraid that the stringbed would play too stiff, I skipped the outer two main strings and outer two cross strings and converted the stringbed to a 14 by 16. Another reason is the slightly denser stringbed of the PSC 6.1 may give the Dunlop a slight advantage in spin generation potential. I hope this even out things a little.

Here's the Dunlop 500 Tour pics. This is done as a straightforward 2-piece job on the full 16 by 18.

Weaving the last cross. It's just so difficult to weave full poly!

Results:
PSC 6.1 + Kevlar / Syn Gut
- feels incredibly soft and powerful with absolutely no trampoline
- control was excellent and I was able to hit the corners accurately
- serves and volleys were good and very stable
- tension holding remains excellent after 30 min
- spin is excellent
- the racket sweetspot felt very large and easy to find

Dunlop 500 Tour + Shaped Poly / Soft Poly
- full poly wins in spin generation by a very slim margin
- stringbed felt soft, nice and powerful
- topspin increases automatically with harder hits and curls ball down
- a slight bouncy feel creeped in after about 15 min of hitting
- after 15 min, I could feel slight tension loss and string vibrations
- vibrations worsened after 30 min even with dampener
- started feeling harsh with buzzing vibrations which affected me

So overall, kevlar / synthetic gut hybrid gave me the better experience even though it lost in spin generation by a slim margin to full poly.

Strings:

Pro Staff Classic 6.1 (95 sq inch, done 14x16)

Pro Supex Aramid 50 1.10mm mains @ 45lbs

Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 1.25mm cross @ 50lbs

Dunlop Aerogel 500 Tour (100 sq inch, done 16x18)

Pro Supex Super Nova Hex 1.23mm mains @ 47lbs

Pro Supex Big Ace Revo 1.25mm cross @ 45lbs

Strings: Useful Life, Tension Holding and Playability

When I just re-started playing tennis, I was not sure if I still liked the game or how often I would play. Neither did I know if I will be as particular about strings as when I was playing fanatically last time.

With all these uncertainties, the natural thing to do is to just play with whatever strings I found my old rackets with. And then take it from there, right?

Well, my 30+ years old "Woody" has natural gut about the same age. The stringbed felt nice and tight. So I hit with it for a while. It felt bouncy, like a trampoline. The most distinct feeling was how much vibrations it had. No matter where the ball contacted on the stringbed, the vibrations were huge!

Then, there was my old Pro Staff Classic with 10+ years old multifilaments. It felt flat. Absolutely no liveliness nor trampoline. And very low-powered. Huge vibrations again.

Another racket with 10+ years old synthetic gut also generated earthquakes down my arm with every hit, sweetspot or not.

After I've restrung the rackets, the vibrations almost disappeared. Off-centre hits were very manageable, especially with a dampener.

Thinking back, I'm glad I was fussy about strings. That's probably what saved my arm, elbow and shoulder from injuries. To me, paying for new strings is a much better deal than paying the doctors for scans, jabs or operations to fix tennis elbow.

So far, my experience with strings' playability and tension holding (based entirely on my feel) is:
- poly strings (hybrid) strung quickly lasts less than 4 hours
- poly strings (hybrid) strung slowly lasts about 8-10 hours
- multifilaments strung quickly remains playable about 3-4 hours
- multifilaments strung slowly remains playable about 6-8 hours
- synthetic gut strung quickly is playable for about 4-6 hours
- synthetic gut strung slowly remains playable up to 8-10 hours

I know it sounds strange that the time taken to re-string a racket would affect playability and tension holding, but my playing partner feels the same too..... 

Should we continue to be fussy?

A "Blind" Racket Stringing and Modification

As I age, I've become more wary of possible injuries. Almost all of my regular tennis buddies suffer some kind of pain in their wrists, arms or shoulders after each game.  If I want to enjoy tennis for a long time, then steps must be taken to ensure I remain injury free.

This thought led me to read up on one of the most commonly discussed tennis injuries - tennis elbow.

There's a mountain of information on tennis elbow with many differing opinions. For me, I lean towards the view that tennis elbow is caused by:
- stiff and light rackets
- stiff strings strung at high tension
- playing with aged / dead strings
- recurring vibrations from non-sweetspot contact
- improper strokes

Even with tennis elbow, many players still could not stay away from the game. So I wondered if making some adjustments to the racket and / or stringing could alleviate the pain from TE.

Here is a Wilson BLX Surge racket handed to me for a "blind" modification. I merely asked how the owner felt hitting with this racket and what felt good or bad. The only instruction given was not to use poly strings.

First step was to measure all current specs like strung weight, balance point and any existing modifications. Then I cut and removed the old strings!

A quick check of the unstrung weight with overgrip on.

Preparing for re-stringing. Since the objective is comfort, I selected a soft 16g multifilament mains and a 17g synthetic gut cross to help retain tension better. A thinner gauge for cross would help to balance up the 20-30% lower tension that the cross strings would suffer due to friction. 

Verifying the total weight again with the new strings. 14g added.

Here's how it looks after restringing with multifilament mains and synthetic gut cross. Nothing fanciful here. Straightforward 2-piece stringing.

Then, the weight, balance and vibration dampening modifications. Lead weight is added inside the butt cap together with foam to secure the lead. Both the lead and  foam absorb vibrations.

The balance is checked a few times at various stages to ensure it does not go off too far away. Lead tape is added to the hoop at 12, 3 and 9 o'clock to add some plow-through, move the balance slightly higher and increase twist-weight for better stability on off-centre shots. The sweetspot would also be enlarged slightly and move 2-3cm higher.

Just to recap that this is purely a "blind" stringing and racket modification. The racket owner is totally unaware of the string tension, how much weight is added and balance re-tuned. Let's see how this player with TE feels.

Playtest:
- owner is not used to strings, it felt a little too loose
- owner is still unable to hit sweetspot regularly and has tendency to hit racket frame more often
- sweetspot contacts felt very nice and soft

Strings:

Pro Supex Maxim Touch 16g 1.30mm mains @ 52lbs

Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 17g 1.25mm cross @ 52lbs

Dunlop AG500 Tour + Poly/Syn Gut @ 50/52 lbs

After only about 30 minutes of hitting, it is very clear the the skipped cross strings with Big Ace Poly strings is too soft and unstable (link).

I cut out the poly crosses and installed a synthetic gut to revert it back to a normal string job. Here's how it looks.

Playtest:
- big ace is a very soft poly string whether used as mains or crosses
- there is a distinct springy feel for big ace and it is quite powerful
- this is a nice and comfortable combination
- spin seems to increase the harder i hit
- i still prefer multi/big ace for its superb feel

Strings:

Pro Supex Big Ace Revo (Poly) 1.25mm @ 50 lbs

Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 1.25mm @ 52 lbs

Another 30+ Years Old Racket by Head

I think I'm feeling nostalgic. I grew up watching Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Jimmy Conner play tennis and I've always wondered how their sticks would feel and perform.

Instead of merely reminiscing, why not just string up the oldies and play with them!

So here's another old racket I believe was introduced in the 1970's or maybe 1980's. It is the Head Arthur Ashe Competition 3. It's a composite racket made of aluminium and boron graphite. It feels exactly like a wood racket. Whichever year it was introduced, the racket should be at least 30+ years old by now.

If you look carefully at the strings, you can see the brand "Gutex". From what I've read online, it is a multifilament nylon string introduced in the 70s or 80s. So the strings should be the same age as the racket!

Power pads, or small pieces of leather are usually placed near the holes in the throat area to protect the strings and the holes. Seems like the original ones are still firmly in place.

Some last measurements and inspections before stringing it up with new synthetic gut...

Some of the holes have been cut by the previous stringjob. Teflon tubes would not fit well to protect the holes since this racket have 4 shared holes (7 & 9 Top & Bottom, Skip 8). I think I'll just use some synthetic leather pieces over the holes that I can.

With such a tight 16 by 20 pattern in such a small 70 square inch frame, the string pattern is really dense. It is very difficult to weave the last few crosses. The picture above shows how much space I have to weave the last bottom cross and it is through a shared hole!

But the hard work is all worth it! Take a look at Woody (无敌) and the Head Arthur Ashe below! Together they have become 无敌-铁金钢!

How about a "Back to the 80s" tournament using these rackets?

Strings:

Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Spiral Flex 16g 1.30mm @ 45 lbs strung 2 piece

Yonex RDS003 + Poly/Syn Gut @ 47/52 lbs

After quite a few strings and rackets tests, my friend M still prefers the feel of poly and synthetic gut hybrid (link). The most amazing thing to us was how durable the RD7 poly/syn gut hybrid is. We've clocked about 8-10 hours of play over 3 weeks and the tension is still holding up very very well. In fact, it still plays like it was in its second hour of hitting. It is certainly something we did not expect.

So M wants his RDS003 done the same as the RD7. I thought maybe this time I'll try another synthetic gut instead and see how it performs. Since the RDS003 has a 100 sq in face, I increased the tension slightly from the RD7's 45/50.

Here's some pics of the RDS003.

Playtest:
- increase in tension from the RD7's 45/50 felt good and appropriate
- directional control is good
- synthetic gut spiral flex is as soft as synthetic gut titan
- stringbed is very soft when hit on or near sweetspot
- at 300g, this racket feels too light compared to the 340g RD7
- we believe the pocketing and spin will increase when the weight of this racket is beefed up

- RDS003 adjusted to 340g to match the RD7 (Balance 32.3cm)

Strings:

Pro Supex Black Fusion 18g 1.19mm mains @ 47lbs

Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Spiral Flex 16g 1.30mm cross @ 52lbs

Yonex Super RD Tour 95 + Full Poly @ 43/41 lbs (14x17)

The earlier setup of full poly did not play too well (link). Not that it's bad, it's just that the strings doesn't seem to come "alive" yet. It's like driving a Ferrari at 50 km/h and wondering why the car feels so sluggish and draggy...

With full permission (...and full damage waiver) from the Yonex racket's owner, we decided to re-use the set of strings and up the tension!!!

At only 30+ lbs, I did not bother to mount the racket. I just cut off the knots and slowly removed the poly strings. I did not hear the usual racket crackling sounds when strings are cut. This again confirms the previous tension was too loose. 

I re-installed the centre 14 mains @ 43 lbs and skipped both outer mains to soften the stringbed. This racket's sweet spot is almost near the top one-third of the stringbed. And my friend likes it that way.

So, after some measurements, I decided to skip two consecutive crosses at the bottom instead of two outer crosses to preserve the stability of that sweet spot. It will surely look odd later...

The completed 14 by 17 open pattern with my friend's favourite hitting spot right smack in the middle of the centre stringbed!

Playtest:
- despite the skipped outer strings, the stringbed still feels very harsh
- the previous strings buzzing is gone
- power level has dropped significantly from the previous  38/36 lbs
- the usually insane spin from the textured poly strings did not happen
- not an ideal setup at all

Dunlop AG500 Tour + Full Poly @ 50/55 lbs (16x12)

After about 6-8 hours, there is deep notching on the old multifilament main strings (link). The multi's tension has dropped significantly and I can feel it is mainly the poly strings holding up the shots. Time to cut and try something new.

I am still impressed by the kevlar/poly hybrid with open stringing (link), so I thought I'd modify it slightly and test it out with the Dunlop 500 Tour. (Click the link to recall some of the issues I faced in the playtest.)

Primarily, the objectives are to (from most important to less important):

- maintain softness / comfort to keep tennis elbow and injuries away
- maintain high levels of spin
- reduce power
- tighten the feel of the stringbed for better control and volley
- maintain durability so either kevlar/poly combo or full poly
- ensure stringing pattern is still legal according to the rules

Since kevlar plays much much stiffer than poly. So logically, I should up the tension slightly if I want to maintain a similar feel.

Measurements are done first again. I am very curious and a little concerned about possible frame distortion. Some here's what I measured with the old multi/poly installed as a comparison.

Then I started stringing full poly with a 2 piece job. Perhaps you can make a guess what I was thinking?

And here's the completed racket. The length of the frame has shortened by about 3mm whereas the width of the frame remains the same as the multi/poly combo. Not surprising since I skipped 6 cross strings. But nothing alarming too.

When I skipped alternate cross strings with the kevlar/poly hybrid earlier, although it was not mushy but I still preferred the stringbed to feel slightly tighter. Yet, comfort and elbow safety must be preserved. That's how I arrived at this.

By the way, I think this pattern may still be legal..... 

Extract from Rules of Tennis 2012:
"The hitting surface, defined as the main area of the stringing pattern bordered by the points of entry of the strings into the frame or points of contact of the strings with the frame, whichever is the smaller, shall be flat and consist of a pattern of crossed strings connected to a frame and alternately interlaced or bonded where they cross. The stringing pattern must be generally uniform and, in particular, not less dense in the centre than in any other area."

"Generally uniform?" I'm not sure on that. But "not less dense in the centre", I think that is fully complied with.

Playtest:
- very soft despite full bed of poly strings
- the centre full stringing helped to stabilise the sweetspot slightly
- the extra spin I was hoping for was not fulfilled
- could not feel very well for serve and volley
- i would rate this playable but not very enjoyable

Strings:

Pro Supex Big Ace Revo (Poly) 1.25mm @ 50/55 lbs strung 2 piece

Why Poly Strings?

When I first started reading about poly strings, all I found was that poly is a stiff and uncomfortable string which caused a lot of different injuries for many people. The other camp that favoured it enjoyed more spin and that's about it.

Naturally, I dismissed it as just another fad due to some clever marketing.

And then I thought... Why not just give poly a chance? How bad can it be? At the most, I'll just cut the strings and re-do them, just like when I was string testing in the past.

My first experience with poly totally converted me. It was a poly / synthetic gut hybrid done at 45/50 lbs. After the break-in, the wicked spin started appearing. Both backhand and forehand undercut sidespin shots that landed in the court kicked almost 90 degrees sideways!

The slice serve and topspin serves were so much easier to execute compared to just a full bed of multi or synthetic gut. It can't be me! I just re-started playing tennis after more than a decade of not even touching a tennis racket!!!

Areas in the court that were previously unaccessible suddenly opened up. I could hit a full swing forehand topspin crosscourt from within my service line and get it to land WITHIN the service line in my opponent's side! I can imagine, if he's standing at the baseline when I executed this crosscourt shot, he'll have to sprint and then dive like Boris Becker just to return that! (And probably break a rib on the hard courts we're playing at!)

Poly strings excel in spin. Spin increases control so we can hit the ball much harder. By hitting harder, with more automatically generated spin, the pace of the game increases. Every shot now delivers a heavier ball. And previously shoulder height topspin shots would now be kicking up to ear level at least! We'll have to stand further back to return that shot. Or change our swing timing and take it early like Andre Agassi.

This is my experience and why I'm a convert. Just remember to pay extra caution to any pain or soreness and to restring poly strings regularly at lower tensions.

Wilson PSC 6.1 + Kevlar/Poly @ 45/50 lbs (14x10)

Having laid off tennis for so long means I can no longer find tiny sweet spots with ease. So the previous kevlar / poly hybrid has to go... (link)

Up till now, I still cannot fully understand poly strings. But I'm going to try pushing my luck! With my racket mounted, I carefully removed the poly strings again for re-use!

The kevlar @ 45 lbs is left untouched. I re-installed the poly at 50 lbs, skipping alternate cross strings to try to keep the stringbed soft for this combination of stiff strings. Another objective is to allow the kevlar room to slide for more topspin!

Weaving the crosses is a breeze! With flying clamps, I had to rely on the starting pin to keep each cross string tensioned. Definitely unusual, but that's what this blog is all about.

Even though it is a mere 5 lbs higher tension than previously strung, the poly string CONTINUES to stretch! The amount of slack during stringing and how far the dropweight falls is STILL more than the amount @ 45 lbs. (I had cleaned the clamps and jaws before this job so string slippage is very unlikely.)

Due to the skipped crosses, I had to choose another location for tie-off. Again, this is a no-no in conventional stringing as it has been known to cause cracks in the racket! Why I still did that is because I am not pulling tension across both grommets, merely tying off a knot. Unorthodox!

Here's the very open 14 mains by 10 crosses stringing pattern! From what I've read online so far, this is still within the rules governing the hitting surface of the racket. So it's legal for competition play! (http://www.itftennis.com/technical/rules/equipment/appendixii.asp)

Playtest:
- stringbed feels extremely soft but not mushy
- very powerful, way beyond rocket launchers and entering into nuclear territory!
- spin is MORE than shaped poly mains!!! Jack's waist-high forehand topspin shots kicked up to my ear level!!!
- control is still very good despite open stringing
- tension holding feels good after about 30 minutes
- needs getting used to the very soft stringbed
- even J who has tennis elbow found this combination very soft and comfortable

(Special thanks to J and J's coach Jack for their feedback after testing this string combination as well)

Update:
A friend who saw the racket was sharp enough to notice another peculiarity. To even out the spacing between cross strings, the second cross from the bottom was actually strung through the grommets for the last mains string!