Just for reference, badminton string is only about 0.70mm.
The problem is that the previous fishing line was supposedly a very high-end premium line. My friend bought it in Japan during a tour. We cannot understand the wordings and do not even know what kind of line it is! Some angler he is huh?
To cut short this testing curve, I strung two rackets at one go. One full-bed and the other hybrid with syn gut.
All who tried the previous premium line asked about the setup. It is not straight-forward stringing. The very stretchy line had to be pre-stretched for at least 48 hours to stabilize tension holding.
I tested pre-stretching from a few hours to several days. Too little, and the tension would not hold, causing a very mushy stringbed. Too much and it plays very harsh and dead. I've even tried soaking it in cold, warm and saltwater!
Residual elasticity (link1)(link2) after the pre-stretch (or string abuse) was tested and desired stringbed stiffness and tension was then extrapolated. The result was a 20+lbs tension differential between mains and crosses! Please do not attempt this on your rackets (link).
Yet it played incredibly well! Power, control, comfort, spin and durability are all in abundance! About a dozen people have tried it so far. All loved it except one, who intensely disliked my test racket from the start, but remained inconclusively about the fishing line.
Here's some pics of the Wilson PSC6.1 done fullbed...
Below's the PK Blace Ace 98 hybrid with syn gut.
To understand how thin 0.90mm is, just compare it with the 1.25mm black synthetic cross string.
Playtest:
- The fullbed felt extremely harsh immediately after stringing. All I did was bounce a ball on the ground and the vibrations were earth shattering! Keep in mind the PSC6.1 is an extremely stiff frame at RA72. So I set it aside to let the strings settle-in.
- On the contrary, the hybrid felt very comfortable. There was nice plushy pocketing with power. The thin string bites very well too so I took it out for a hit.
- After warming up with another racket, I tested the hybrid. Immediately, it felt too softly strung. I pre-stretched this for 40+ hours and it is still insufficient.
- This "under-tensioning" (or inability to hold tension) created an out-of-sync feeling where the swing (and racket) was moving forward but the ball felt like it was moving backwards, deeper into the stringbed.
- However, when I got my timing right, the spin was absolutely incredible!
- Two 4.5+ players who tested this commented it was just a touch too soft but were impressed by the bite and spin potential.
- String movement was huge.
- Looks like it is back to the drawing board for this hybrid.
16Sep2013 update:
- After almost two weeks, the fullbed 0.90mm fishing line in the PSC6.1 lost a significant amount of tension. Even when it was totally unplayed. I only used it to bounce the ball around the house a few times.
- The harsh feel gradually disappeared and comfort set in, with some really nice pocketing.
- I took it out for some hits. The bite is extremely good. The spin really stands out.
- Surprisingly, the string did not break. Even on full baseline shots, swinging volleys and overheads. It held up well during serves too.
- After about 10 minutes, I noticed the string movement was increasing. Along with that was a dip in directional control.
- While power is very good, the loss of tension rendered the control only at borderline. I have no confidence to use this for a match.
- The Black Ace hybrid was re-strung at a much higher tension than previously. (Above the recommended tension of the racket...)
- Before stringing, both strings were also heavily pre-stretched to see if tension holding could be improved.
- And yes it did! Control was greatly improved. It almost felt like normal tennis strings except for the colour and incredible bite.
- My playing partner liked it within a few hits. He was impressed with the comfort!
- So far, I tested serves, volleys, and groundstrokes. I cannot find any fault with this setup yet. Everything performed well. Will have to monitor how this plays the second session.
- String movement is very minimal.
23Sep2013 update:
- The PSC6.1 fullbed 0.90mm fishing line was re-done at a much higher tension about a week ago.
- I have yet to play with the racket but I monitored the tension holding with a frequency meter. Without pre-stretch, the tension loss was about 35% in 24 hours. After very heavy pre-stretch, I managed to narrow this to about 18%. Note this numbers vary drastically for different types of fishing lines.
- Another note to highlight, is that the cheaper fishing lines just cannot make it as tennis strings. Most cannot hold tension. And those that do, play extremely harsh, literally elbow-breaking harsh. So far, none of the 16 different types of budget fishing lines I tested made the grade. Few made it to the tennis court as they usually break or lose heaps of tension.
- I remain intrigued by fishing line not for the price but the extremely thin gauge with amazing bite for spin. When prepared and strung appropriately, it actually plays much better than multi, syn gut, poly and even natural gut! Just imagine the string offering the comfort of gut and the bite and slickness of poly!
- Will update once I get to play with the re-done fullbed PSC6.1.
28Sep2013 update:
- The restrung fullbed 0.90mm fishing line played very well today!
- Control improved a lot over the previous stringjob. I had no problems with aiming at all this time.
- The most unexpected change was the massive increase in spin. If my memory of how my other stringjobs played is correct, this setup generates the most amount of spin most easily.
- The bite is so good that merely after 10 minutes of rally, I could see lots of ball fur stuck on my black shorts!
- My playing partner also exclaimed many times on how hard and high the ball kicked off the ground. He moved a few steps back even though my shots were still landing near the service line.
- Practise serves were good and very spinny too.
- Unfortunately, the string snapped after about 40 minutes of rally. The gauge is just too thin.
- It was not a shank nor mishit. The last shot was a good hit very near the sweetspot.
No comments:
Post a Comment