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.