Quite a few of my playing partners use this string and shared good reviews. When I tried their rackets, I was pleasantly surprised at how soft, yet firm this poly played.
A friend whom I string for asked if anything could be done to add a little more "finesse" and pocketing for touch shots like volleys or mid-court put aways. A little more power would be nice too.
From his reel, he cut out about 24 metres and asked me to "play around" with them, then share my findings. To prevent bianess, brand was withheld.
Some simple string test results I did revealed interesting differences from earlier poly strings.
This third/fourth generation poly string:
- has a much softer material composition that could be dented with my fingernails with some effort,
- appears to have a stiff inner core,
- has an inelastic elongation component only about half of some of my second generation poly strings,
- has its overall elasticity reduced slightly as well.
Since he wanted more pocketing and touch, the best way was to hybrid with a softer string. In this case, a syn gut in the crosses.
With its soft outer layer (not a coating), the poly was easy to string compared with traditional polys. Touch wise, it reminded me a little of pvc coated garden wire.
Playtest:
- Even though we played about 48 hours after stringing, the first few shots felt a little uncomfortable. A muted kind.
- It was not harsh. There was definitely some "cushioning" in the stringbed but insufficient. Somewhat like jogging on a concrete path with a very old pair of running shoes?
- Since I was not a poly lover, I handed it over to another partner to do the breaking-in, and to let me know his opinion only after the entire session.
- After about an hour, I resumed testing.
- The "harshness" was almost completely gone. It started to feel more like a fullbed of stiff and crisp syn gut.
- The "loading" of this hybrid was interesting. The stringbed felt tight for both low and high powered shots.
- Taps and blocks sometimes felt like it was not enough to load the string. That was fair. Yet, full swings conveyed a "not enough pocketing" kind of feedback sometimes.
- Middle of the range shots produced the best results. Those 60-70% smooth swings elicited soft, controlled feedback with spinny balls. It was very enjoyable and made me want to just rally that way forever.
- Low powered shots were slightly lower powered than other polys. All-out swings were also lower powered than other polys. Smooth swings yielded the closest to "normal" kind of power compared to other strings.
- This advantage was, power control could be delegated to the stringbed with less variation in our swings. We could swing away more freely.
- It also made me think, could this be the string company's attempt to market poly to "softer hitters"?
Since a tennis racket cannot move by itself, I am not sure if there can be "too much power" in any racket.
Through playing with friend's friends, I got to meet very different folks. Many have unique and interesting strokes and swings. Some have impeccably well disguised drop shots and inside outs. Most have formidably powerful forehands.
Between the young and old, male and female partners, there seem to be a trend of over-hitting, especially during friendlies. Could this be related to the trend of very polarized, stiff rackets with high swingweights?
When engaged in deep baseline exchanges, I usually lose from "under-hitting" after a few shots. Just one short ball landing around their service line, and I'm done for. How should I engage these chaps armed with nuclear-powered sticks?
I changed tactics.
Power shots were "switched off". Any other type of shots were used except deep baseline topspin rallies - drops, lobs, slices and heaps of very slow-paced low-powered angled blocks to the sidelines.
Then they self-destructed.
With the momentum of their body weight behind their running forehands or backhands, coupled with their "nuclear technology" sticks, many sent their shots to the moon! Or straight to the back wall with a heavy thud!
Several times, I asked different people, that if they were to compete with Lewis Hamilton for 10 laps on a F1 circuit, with them driving a F1 car and Hamilton a stock Toyota Corolla, who would win? All were unequivocally confident that Hamilton would eat their dust! Really?
The dichotomy between power and control exists in all sports. Anyone who can truly master both reigns. Just like Bruce Lee.
For lesser mortals like myself, I would stick with low to mid powered setups to maintain control for a broader spectrum of shots.
For some who suffer from shoulder, wrist or elbow pain from tennis, I thought I'll share a little tip I picked up from some senior playing partners.
Instead of using pressurized balls, convert to used Wilson Trainers.
Somehow, these Wilson trainers almost never lose their bounce. I've tested their bounce when new, and after 20+ hours. The drop was insignificant.
When new, most of them weighed about 59g. Quite consistently. And depending on how much fur was lost, I've seen some drop to as low as 49g.
But the best part was, these trainers' rubber rarely hardens up as much as other balls. And the lighter version played and felt the same as the heavier version, less the shock.
So, to lessen the shock to our arms during impact, use slightly lighter balls. The group of seniors really liked those about 52-55g.
(ITF stipulates the ball must weigh at least 56.0g (link)).
Or, if you wish, try shaving some fur off that new can of pressurized balls to 56g before playing. Your arm would feel the difference!
Along with this, you can also safely drop a few pounds of tension without suffering any loss of control.
Someone asked if I could somehow modify his racket and make it lighter. It was a vintage stick he had used since his younger days.
Although he could barely handle the weight now, playing just half hours with it intermittently, he remained deeply attached to them.
His story of how the sticks came to his possession was touching. And he was both willing to spend, and assume the full risk of possibly damaging one of the racket. Seeing how eager he was, I decided to give it a try despite low percentages of success.
He preferred to remain anonymous, so pictures and details would be limited.
The racket was so worn, I have absolutely no clue what make or brand it was. With the very head light balance, my suggestion was to try our luck to hunt for some embedded lead under the grip.
Before proceeding, I warned him:
(1) the foam pallet would be destroyed,
(2) modifying the weight would change the balance, feel and sweetspot location, and
(3) because of the changes, he would need to "rediscover" his strings and tension setups from scratch.
After removing the grip and destroying the already crumbling foam pallet, we were delighted to find two pieces of lead embedded in the graphite hairpin handle.
We dug them out carefully and were surprised it weighed SO MUCH!
22 grams of lead! Wow!
A little weight was also trimmed from shaving the grommet and bumper guard. Some weight was re-distributed to achieve the balance he wanted.
Finally, a very thin 18 gauge string was used to re-string his racket. That saved another 3 grams compared to the earlier 15 gauge string, lowering the swingweight by approximately 3 to 5 points.
This was a rewarding endeavor for both him and me.
Many of the newer polys are shaped or textured, claiming it would increase bite and spin.
Despite many polys I've tested, "The One" remains elusive. But the idea of a rough texture increasing spin through higher friction appeals to me. (link)
Since I no longer break strings like I used to, I cut them out after about 8-10 hours, or when they've lost their mojo.
Instead of cutting out one that's due, I thought I'll rough it up as an experiment.
Even with a 60 grit, sandpaper was too smooth. I wanted it REALLY rough! So the bastard file was deployed.
It was so rough it was impossible to draw the stringbed against the back of my hand. Perhaps a really sadistic person could do that, but I couldn't. Neither my partner.
How rough? Just think of a grating tool...
To preserve some durability, only one side of the stringbed was filed. The other was left untouched as a comparison.
Playtest:
- Before and after roughing the strings, I measured the stringbed frequency. It was the same. So tension was a non-factor, even after play.
- Within the first few hits, it was obvious that ball feel was A LOT better on the rough side. The difference was something like hitting with a 18g string versus a 16g.
- Another surprising find was an improvement in directional control.
- Even when hitting totally flat, it felt so much easier to aim and direct the ball.
- Comparing both sides, the smooth side felt slippery and that the ball was skidding a little across the strings during impact! Without a high speed camera, there was no way for me to verify that, it just felt that way to me.
- To ensure the greater accuracy was not mere psychology, I got my partner to feed me balls while I aimed at targets I usually found challenging. Five shots each were attempted with each side of the stringbed, alternating at every shot. The result was telling!
- I got my partner to try while I fed him easy balls, and he shared exactly the same sentiments.
- With the extra ball-to-string friction, all kinds of spin improved across all strokes, including serves.
- This extra bite on the ball was easily seen after less than ten strokes! The tennis ball fluffed up like a pom pom ball!
- The stringbed pic is below.
- Keep in mind, this stringbed was already used for about 9 hours before this. It was dead enough for me to want to cut it out.
- If you wish to test it, go easy on the roughing process. I snapped the earlier two attempts, this was the third.
- Even this snapped overnight after about an hour of play.
