I chanced upon a 95 sq in used Wilson Hammer 5.8. I remembered this played similar to my Wilson Pro Staff Classic so I bought it. It was still strung with the original factory set of synthetic gut strings. I think the strings should be at least a decade old or more.
Online forums claimed that very old strings often drop to about 30+ lbs or less. So I tried playing with it, wondering if it would play as comfortable as newly strung low tension strings.
Nope, it did not play well at all. The strings are totally dead and vibrations are aplenty. Ball impact actually felt very stiff and incredibly low powered. Needless to say, I cut it!
Having tried synthetic gut with excellent results at low tension, I decided to give soft poly a try to assess the comfort and spin potential. My previous experiment (link) with low tension poly did not go well, but I was told it was because the tension was NOT low enough!
So here I am, working on a truly LOW tension full poly setup!
There was not much elongation during stringing. However, after it was done, when hitting the strings against my palm, I was quite surprised that the stringbed stiffness felt similar to poly or hybrid done in the 40-50s!
Playtest:
- It plays quite similar to full poly strung at 50+ lbs. The difference is more comfort, less power and less spin
- Sweetspot or near sweetspot hits are very soft and comfortable but contacts further away are still harsh
- Directional control is equally good as normal-tensioned poly
- Spin is very very weak, almost none despite my full upward swipe!
- Power level is super low. It feels like I am using a badminton racket to play tennis! Even hitting completely flat feels low-powered to my partner!
- It is very comfortable compared to full poly in the 40-50lbs. But against 30+lbs syn gut, this setup feels so harsh and full of vibrations!
Strings:
Pro Supex Big Ace Revo 1.25mm @ 32lbs
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