Wilson Pro Staff 95s + Full Poly @ 48/45 lbs

If I recall correctly, I think Z mentioned that he clocked about 10 hours of play on the PS95s strung with 17g syn gut. And the string has not snapped yet! (link)

There was severe notching though...

It took me quite a bit of convincing before Z decided to try full poly again. He just liked the feel of syn gut too much even though durability was pathetic.


I selected a soft co-poly this round to see if the feel would closer mimic the syn gut that Z liked.

White strings go well with the racket...

After stringing, I added about 6 grams near 2 & 10 o'clock to beef up the swingweight to about 320 kg/cm².

Playtest:
- The plowthrough was better with increased stability, power and depth.
- However, Z did not like the typical stiffer stringbed with full poly, even when it was a soft poly. Comfort and ball feel are definitely prioritized way above durability for him.
- Surprisingly, spin was ridiculously low when I tried hitting with it. Even power and control was poor despite the full poly stringjob!
- Back to the drawing board...

More Power More Spin!

While I took a two decades break away from tennis, many of my old buddies did not.

I tracked down another old mate recently, hoping to catch up on some tennis. Unfortunately, it's his turn away from tennis now. Not a voluntary decision though. 

He developed severe tennis elbow and wrist pain around the ulnar area (link). Most days, he cannot even use his master hand to drink his morning coffee. It is disheartening to see him look seemingly healthy but suffering from such pains.

He shared how his quest for "more power more spin" drove him to stiffer and stiffer frames strung tightly with full poly. But he forgot he was aging!

Just a few years ago, he was the typical profile of many tennis players today who:
- wants more spin,
- wants more power,
- uses light & very stiff frames,
- strings too tight (above 50s) with full poly, and
- restrings his rackets only every few months.

But synthetic gut can generate heaps of spin too! And add plenty of comfort along the way!

To test that, I invited a few current tennis buddies, who are heavy spinners to try syn gut. Sadly, most declined, claiming syn gut is so very passe...

C and PK were two who matched the typical profile and accepted the blind test. (PK admitted that the last he used syn gut was a few years ago.) 

All they know, were their rackets were strung with syn gut. Nothing else was communicated.

Both were asked to track amounts of spin, comfort, control, power & durability compared to their usual full poly strings.

Here's one stiff frame I restrung with full syn gut...

When I cut the poly, there was minimal snap. The string stayed close together with only a tiny gap. To me, that was an indication either the poly was strung too tight or the string was dead from use.

Another clear sign was the very severe notching on the mains. To have continued playing with this was akin to committing arm suicide.

A modified proportional stringing method was used to better distribute the string tension around the stringbed. That helps to add ball cushioning and spin.

Playtest:
- Over the March 29-30 weekend, both C and PK clocked 4 and 5 hours of play respectively with the fullbed syn gut.
- While their ages may be apart by about a decade, their feedbacks were generally similar.
- Note that I did not watch nor play with either of them.
- I grouped their findings for ease of reading below...

Initial impressions
- Both thought the all black syn gut looked like full poly.
- C was completely blown away by how comfortable the syn gut played. 
- Barely 15 minutes into his rally with his usual buddies, C could no longer contain himself and let the cat out of the bag. His partners then took turns trying his racket and declared it "unusually advantageous".

Comfort
- Unanimously very good.

Spin
- C does not normally hit with heavy topspin as he felt it was an inefficient stroke and took away too much of his power. However, this setup provided very easy access to the spin he had wanted. He pulled off a lot of slice winners and "quite a few heavy topspin shots easily".
- I found PK's feedback on spin a little contradictory, so I thought I'll just quote what he wrote:

"Spin was normal but I find that I needed less power to generate the spin. I used new US open balls (US version). The whole racket was filled with fur."

"I felt my slices was awesome today as most of it went in with a lot of spin."

"This is the first time I have seen ball fur on the strings. Never on any polys I used even with hexagon shape strings."

"Tried to use 100% full swing. I noticed that if I hit prematurely, the ball files out. Spin was good only when the contact of the ball was during the brushing motion. If I can get my timing correct, my shots will be really deadly."

I play lousy tennis compared to C and PK, but from PK's words above, it seemed like there was indeed access to a lot of spin. However, some stroke or timing adjustments may be needed compared to their regular full poly setup. Or, was PK too excited to whip the ball that he was hitting early?

Control
- C did not notice any drop in control and accuracy. 
- However, C felt that the comfort of the syn gut stringbed gave him a lot more confidence to execute difficult shots without the fear of "stinging pain" on off-centred ball contacts. If this was taken into consideration, he felt control improved.
- Another observation by C was a huge increase in the sweetspot size. He felt he miss-hit less balls with this setup.
- PK commented:

"Control was a little off today maybe because I was not used to the strings. I could not hit hard with this setup as I could feel the trampoline effect."

"I felt control was a little off after 3rd hr of playing."

Power 
- From what I heard and read, there was an abundance of power experienced by both. Only PK used the word "trampoline" once. (Note: PK is in his mid-30s, about 1.8m tall, fit, muscular and very athletic)

Durability
- There was no string breakages, no mention of string movement or notching. So I deduced it either did not happen or it was so minimal it did not bother them.
- Since I did not get to meet them, I could not measure the frequency drop after play as well.


After their feedback, I expressed thanks to both for their willingness to risk messing up their strokes to try this setup. My only objective was to prove that syn gut CAN offer heavy spin with comfort. From what I have read, I am satisfied.

Wilson Blade 93 (18x20)

After being convinced that strings can make a huge difference to how the racket plays (link), Z started having second thoughts about selling all his 18x20 sticks and converting to open patterns.

Unfortunately, the fishing line I used in the Dunlop (link) was not readily available. So he asked for recommendations. And I suggested a shaped poly with syn gut hybrid.

Z had already restrung the Blade 93 thrice with different setups, none to his liking. This was the last chance for the 18x20. He had two Blade 93 and has already sold one.

I wanted to get it right for him. The added advantage was, I have played with Z, so I understand his hitting style, strength, spin preference and racket prep. 

Despite the decent swingweight (333 kg/cm²) of this racket (link), string tension would be kept low due to the dense 18x20 string pattern. The base tension would be 45 lbs for mains and 43 lbs for crosses, with some variations at different strings.

Z was so excited that he picked up the racket for play right after I finished stringing it. He arranged for another hitting partner and agreed to update me via sms.

After just an hour of playtest, a flurry of messages was exchanged between Z and me. I extracted a few below...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Z: The blade bites like hell!!!! My topspins were heavier and deeper. U revived my blackie!!!!!!! Omg this is much better than the 95s!!! U hv to try it. I can feel the cutting and the biting!!! And though tension was low. Its well controlled and just nice. Deeep enough but doesnt fly the balls! U are genius

Z: Did u remove some weight from the racquet! The power is there even though i felt like i was late for the ball

me: Thanks! Glad u like it. It's a proven setup... done it many times...

me: Yes, prob dropped a few grams cos syn gut lighter than poly. Your hands r very sensitive.

Z: U hv to try the blade and blog it...i swear it could b one of ur finest work
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do not be afraid of using low tensions in poly/syn gut hybrids. Polys are designed with that in mind in the first place. Worst case scenario, is to send a few tennis balls into orbit in space. Then, just cut the strings out and add a few pounds of tension in the next re-string.

Here's a pic after about 10 hours of use... and it's still going strong and playing extremely well!

Wilson PSC6.1 with 0.90mm Fishing Line hybrid

A few friends have been asking how this thin fishing line would perform in a hybrid, when strung in an open patterned racket.

Then I recalled that previous attempts were either:
(1) fullbed in open patterned racket, or
(2) hybrid in dense patterned racket. (link)

So I got down to doing that heavy pre-stretch again to get the string ready and then laced one up...

It's amazing how thin this line is. The incredible ball feel is just indescribable.

Playtest:
- Tested this racket against a very fit partner named PK.
- Throughout the session, I could not reconcile how and why this stringbed felt so soft, limp and a little uncontrollable.
- Power level was very low. Had to take full loopy swings to get the ball deep on the other side.
- Feel, bite and spin remained very good though.
- After I reached home, showered and changed, I took the racket out to check if tension loss was excessive. Then I saw the mains had snapped in the bag...

- I still have a few wanting to test this setup, so I did that "taboo" stuff again (link) and restrung only the mains...

- Then it dawned on me! PK brought the wrong can of balls! Instead of new ones, he brought an opened can previously used for play in the rain. We tested the bounce and it was only about 45% at best. 
- The ITF stipulates ball bounce from 100" to be between 53"-58", or 53-58% (link). 
- With the flat balls, both of us unconsciously hit much harder, leading to less control and greater stress on the stringbed (link1)(link2). No wonder the mains snapped...
- Will do another playtest with fresh balls and update here.


23Mar2014 update:
- The difference in stringbed performance was very significant between old and new balls.
- This session was very fun and enjoyable. With proper bouncing balls, control and accuracy was very good. 
- Hitting deep was easy since there was more than enough spin to dip the ball down before it flies out. There's no need to hold back and we could just let it rip.
- Comfort remains excellent and string movement minimal.
- Next few sessions would throw up more info on tension maintenance since I did a different type of pre-stretch for the fishing line.

25Mar2014 update:
- Due to the previous premature snapping of the fishing line, I was caught unprepared. I did not provide enough time for the pre-stretch before stringing and string tension dipped drastically.
- I cut out everything and restrung from scratch. I cannot recall how many iterations of this fishing line I've tried, but the cost so far is definitely in the hundreds...
- I was running low on this fishing line, so I thought I'll just string up the centre mains this time. I measured thrice to ensure the line was really pre-stretched very well before stringing.
- Although each re-string brought me closer to the ideal setup, there are still many issues to review, especially tension holding, durability and string movement.
- I tested this racket playing with a big and strong chap named W. He admitted the spin was extraordinary, even with just a seemingly light brush that I did. Throughout the two hour session, he confessed that all he thought of, was how to crack my spin.
- Looking at the stringbed after two hours, I think the string movement issue can now be considered resolved.

Unknown Poly String Test

After reading "String Death & A Little History on Poly Strings..." (link), an acquaintance, CK, asked if I could help him test a poly string. 

He bought a reel of that poly based on good reviews but has never liked it. On the contrary, his experience was very different from what he read. 

CK was worried if international shipping could have damaged the string through heat, humidity or other stresses. I assured him not. And poly probably has a long enough shelf life (unstrung) to remain playable even for his great great great grandchildren!

Primarily, CK wanted to know: 
(1) what is the "useful tension range" of the poly, and 
(2) what are my experiences after using it.

He handed me two coils of about 12 metres each in an unmarked envelope. I have asked not to be told what brand or gauge to remain unbiased.

According to his peers, CK is about a ntrp 4.0 all courter. He uses a 100 sq inch racket with 16x19 string pattern. The closest similar configuration I have is my Wilson Hammer 5.8. As mine was just restrung, CK agreed to wait until my strings are worn before I test his strings.

Physical attributes:
- It is a black coloured poly.
- Looks hexagonally shaped.

- When I tried bending and twisting a short end of the string, it felt very firm and stiff. To me, that was the first hint it could be a stiff poly.
- The string measured very close to 1.15mm on my gauge. It was consistent at ten random spots throughout the entire coil. I'm amazed as there are not many polys this thin.

I chose a poly/syn gut hybrid first, to test how it would perform in just the mains. Also, I like to start from extreme ends then work back towards the mean. So tension would be 55/53 lbs.

While stringing, I weaved a few crosses with the same piece of poly to get a feel of how stiff it was, and also to understand how easy it was to notch. The mains sliding action while playing is a common cause of notching and breakage. This poly is easily notched.

On its own, it can be difficult to assess how much spin it has. So, I always bring a familiar racket and strings setup as a benchmark. It's the Yamaha again.

Playtest observations:
- This is a stiff and low-powered poly. It played so much boardier than almost every stiff poly I've tried.
- The string did not yield much. Surprisingly, it felt very similar to dead poly - flat and lifeless. 
- I thought it could be still "too fresh" from stringing, so I hit some hard and flat rally shots with us standing about 2 metres behind the baseline to try to "break-in" the strings. Still no change.
- Spin was pathetic. A poor performance considering it is hex-shaped. Even when I got my partner to feed me easy balls, I could not get my topspin to kick. Many flew out. I am beginning to understand CK's disappointment with this premium string.
- I moved my dampener to 12 o'clock. That added about 10 swingweight points to my plowthrough. Still dead.
- After an hour of hits, it still felt boardy. Any attempts to serve with heavy spin were futile. There wasn't much string movement nor ball fur stuck on the strings either.

- Compare that with the ball fur on the Yamaha with very well worn full bed syn gut below.

- Incidentally, I took a very close look at the Yamaha's syn gut and realised that the main strings' sliding action has "abraded" the cross strings and made them flat instead of round! What do you think that'll do for spin? Easier to slide?

- I'll give this poly some time to settle-in before thinking of my next course of action.

Note:
I will eventually know what brand this string is, but I will not be posting any details about the strings here.

19Mar2014 update:
- I think my strokes are too weak to soften the stringbed, so I got a big hitting poly-loving friend to play with this racket for an hour. Strangely, he loved it.
- I tracked the stringbed frequency. A day after stringing, it dropped about 18Hz. After an hour of play, dropped 13Hz. After my friend hit for an hour, dropped 7Hz. Total drop is only 38Hz so far, and at a declining rate of loss!
- This poly has very impressive tension holding and stability! 55 lbs was definitely way too high!



26Mar2014 update:
- While I enjoy string testing and exploring fanciful string patterns, my old body cannot withstand the rigours of daily tennis anymore. So I delegated this poly test to another poly loving partner of mine. I will still hit with it but only for a short while, and intermittently.
- I cut out the previous setup and restrung at 45/43 lbs. Ten pounds is a significant drop, I think.
- Through googling, I realised that there are actually factory pre-stretched poly strings for sale. To me, this defies logic. There is so little elasticity in poly, and most are already over-tensioning poly. And now factory pre-stretched? I suspect this mystery string could be one.
- Not surprisingly, after about 90 minutes of play, this friend remarked that the string played almost similar to the previous setup at 55/53 lbs! Huh? Could be a first clue this string was pre-stretched.
- As usual, I'll let the stringbed settle and try it out myself.


28Mar14 update:
- I played an hour with this setup. Perhaps my friend has already broken-in the string for me, but it felt so much softer and responsive today compared to previously.
- Spin was more than at 55 lbs but it did not wow me nor my partner. 
- Comfort improved a lot. Power was still low.
- After a total of about 3 hours of hits, tension loss was a measly 28Hz, or about 2.8 lbs.
- Pretty sure this is the pre-stretched stuff now.
- Will advise CK to string this poly really low. 40 lbs could be a good start for a hybrid and high 30s for a fullbed. Reason being it was pre-stretched, and also to allow some ball pocketing, without which there would not be heavy spin.

Wilson Pro Staff 95s with Syn Gut + Spin Challenge

Online forums reported on how quickly strings break in the PS95s. While the very open 16x15 stringing pattern is excellent for spin, it is terrible for string durability.

As a result, everyone strings with either full poly, kevlar or 15g syn gut. Even then, most enjoyed only a few hours of play before it snapped.

After trying Z's PS95s (link), I was exceedingly curious: 
(1) how long would 17g syn gut last in that racket, and
(2) between racket, type of strings and stringing method, which factor would influence the amount of spin more?

Since Z also felt that his PS95s was due for a restring, he gave me a free hand on how it was to be done. 

I chose full syn gut modified proportional stringing with base tension of 50lbs. A lot of the strings would end much MUCH LOWER than the recommended range of 54-64 lbs!

Then we took it out for a playtest cum spin challenge with some of my previously strung spin setups.

Rackets in above pic, from top to bottom:
Wilson Hammer 5.8 + syn gut varied tension (link)
Wilson ProStaff 95s + syn gut proportional stringing
Head Prestige Mid + full poly
Dunlop AG200 + fullbed fishing line (0.9mm mains)(link)
Yamaha EOS + 17g syn gut (link)

Our ranking was unanimous. From best spin to worst, it was:

1. Dunlop AG200

2. Yamaha EOS

3. Wilson PS95s

4. Wilson Hammer 5.8

5. Head Prestige Mid

What we gathered there was:

Stringing Pattern

Even dense string patterns (18x20) can generate heaps of spin. Although the Dunlop was strung as 16x19, the gaps between the strings remain small and tight. The fishing line bites extremely well compared to the full poly in the Head Prestige, which ranked last.

String Wear

The Yamaha ranked 2nd while Hammer was 4th. Reason being different hours of use - Yamaha had about 6 hours versus 10 hours (or more) for the Hammer.

Stringing Method & Swingweight

The Yamaha, PS95s & Hammer were all strung with a modified form of proportional stringing that varies tension among the strings. The same 17g syn gut was used for all. 

Despite that, spin in the Yamaha trumps PS95s. Why?

I believe it's the low total and low swingweight of the PS95s. Both the Yamaha and Hammer have modified swingweights of about 330-340 kg/cm² whereas the PS95s was only about 300 kg/cm². That is a huge difference!

String Type and Tension
It is indisputable that poly is excellent for spin. But with so many different types of polys & co-polys, many stringers get confused about what tension to use. 

All polys have a very narrow useful plastic range before it fails. Once exceeded, poly plays totally dead (link). The 18x20 Head Prestige was strung at 60lbs.

Here's some pics of the stringbed after play... look at the amount of ball fur...

So what next?

I believe there is a lot of modification potential in the PS95s. Forums are rife with comments to add weight under the buttcap. That's one avenue to explore.

Another would be to add swingweight. (link) I cannot help but wonder, did the PS95s designers intentionally kept swingweight low to prevent the strings from snapping too fast, like in the Steam 99s? 

According to their spec sheets, both PS95s and 99s have 16x15 string patterns. Other specs like total weight and flex are very close. However, swingweight differs by 28 kg/cm².

It is Z's racket after all, he'll call the shots how he wants it to be done after this syn gut wears or snaps. Or maybe, he'll just stick with the 18x20...

Spin Challenge: 16x18 Syn Gut vs 16x15 Full Poly

Haze or not, I guess the amount of PM2.5 in the air is not enough to deter me from tennis.

I met an interesting chap named Z. He claimed to be an NTRP 1.0 but runs me all over the court, front to back, left to right. He places the ball very well.

Claiming that he only started playing tennis from Nov 2013, his backhand slice is almost unreturnable! It skids extremely LOW, hard and fast after hitting the ground. How do I return these shots that are only 3 or 4 inches off the ground? He makes Steffi Graf's backhand look like child's play!

Then, I realised what his racket was! He was using the 16x15 Wilson Pro Staff 95s!!! (link) I think... See for yourself...

He did not like the colour, so he sanded off the paintjob. Initially, I thought it looked familiar, but dismissed it as another old racket looking at the amount of paint "wear" it had. I was fooled!

After the "Aha!" moment, everything started falling in place. His footwork gave him away as a beginner. However, his forehand topspin and backhand slice were pretty good, especially the backhand.

For someone who has played tennis for only 4 months, he could generate some serious spin. I'm reminded of another playing partner, M, whose topspin shots mostly kicks up to my head level.

So I changed my strokes. I hit flat or slice off both wings and kept the ball deep and very low. Now, it's my turn to run him around.

I was extremely curious just how much spin this 16x15 could perform. So I asked if we could swap rackets for a while. He kindly agreed.

Here's my observations:
- The full poly stringjob was old. It felt a little flat.
- He did not use any dampeners, so vibrations are present.
- The Amplifeel took away a lot of ball feel. It was muted.
- Since it was full poly, control was very good. It felt a little like syn gut in the 60s. There was no hints at all that this had only 15 cross strings.
- The flex felt just right, neither too stiff nor too flexy. It was a nice compromise that offered comfort and yet maintaining the level of accuracy I expected.
- Relaxed hits had ordinary spin. But when I stepped it up, the spin increased! It was a matter of watching the ball kick up to his hips level versus ear level, both with the same level of net clearance. And yes, my backhand slices could probably be on par with Steffi Graf's too!
- As a comparison, I repeated the same test after swapping back to my 16x18 Yamaha strung with syn gut at varied tension. (similar to the Hammer5.8 link)
- The Yamaha fared better for spin. Much better. Even with about 7-8 hours of use on the syn gut, the spin latitude is much wider. I could whip and the spin increases. But with the poly strung 95s, the range of spin is less. In other words, with relaxed hits, the Yamaha had more spin. When I hit hard, it was also the Yamaha that outshone the 95s.
- One significant difference I felt was the very low swingweight of the 95s. The specs stated 305 with balance at 32.08cm. It did feel very light and maneuverable, very fast. 
- However, the plowthrough and the feel of compressing the ball was absent. The poly did not give much pocketing as well, compared to the syn gut. Ball directional changes also needed more effort or accuracy would suffer.
- If I owned this racket, I would beef up the swingweight and stick with syn gut. I wonder how it will play with syn gut strung with varied tension?

Note:
As a recreational player, I hit with many different partners. I rarely meet players that generate more spin than me, but there are. So it is very different when I am on the receiving end of this amounts of spin instead of from the hitting perspective. That's why I had problems determining whether the 95s was indeed a spinny racket initially.

The Haze is Back...

Tennis will have to take a back seat till this clears up...

(AFP photo from sg.news.yahoo.com)

Just ½" Wider & ¾" Longer...

That's the difference (inside hoop measurements) between my 95 sq inch ProStaff Classic versus the ProStaff 85.

Whenever I bring the PS85 out for some fun hits, friends and acquaintances would advise me to switch up to a larger sized frame.

"Keep the PS85... it's a collectors item... you cannot play with that..." they'll say. All well intentioned, of course.

But after they have had a few hits with it themselves, most started nodding their heads at how well it played compared to their regular sticks.

Instead of opting for a larger frame size, I believe appropriate stringing can optimize the sweetspot size much better. Improper tensioning not only reduces the sweetspot size, it also warps the frame.

Small headsizes also have the added advantage of a naturally higher sweetspot which many preferred. To some, that ½-¾" higher sweetspot means about 15g of weight need not be added at 12 o'clock. That is significant.

Other than the PS85, occasionally, I still hit around with my 65 sq in woody (link1)(link2). It's excellent for training how to find the sweetspot consistently.

For a while, I've been thinking about "God's racket" (link). That will probably be the only stick whose sweetspot cannot be optimized however it's strung.