"Annual Pilgrimage" with Budget Natural Gut

Over Christmas, after the gift exchanges, a friend gave a set of budget natural gut to me. He received it but did not care for it.

I happily accepted it and offered to post my review. 

It was in a transparent plastic bag. No names nor labels. Just a type-written sticker pasted over the sealed bag, saying "Naturel Gut".

The gut looks very smooth and had a translucent glow, something like Klip and Babolat VS. Other than the packaging, it does not look like budget stuff to me.

After clearing most of the backlog of work and stringing requests, I thought maybe it's time for my annual pilgrimage with the ProStaff 6.0 again... (link1)(link2)(link3)...

All the standard steps were strictly adhered to. Things like cleaning clamps, prestretching gut to remove coil memory, checking grommets for sharp edges, etc.

However, the natural gut snapped during tensioning. I had only completed 6 mains when it happened. All at a modest tension of 55 lbs.

Fortunately, the snap point still left me enough gut to fill only the centre mains in the ProStaff 6.0, like in the "Lendl Pattern" (link).

So I filled the outer perimeter with poly first, then started on the mains very very carefully and slowly...

But just when I was tensioning the second last main string, the natural gut snapped again! Somehow, the first snap point triggered a second snap point in the natural gut!!!

Of the three snaps so far, none occurred at the clamps.

Could installing budget natural gut into the ProStaff 6.0 be disrespectful and blasphemous? Was that why the gut kept snapping? Because the ProStaff 6.0 rejected it?

After one hour, two failed attempts, with three snap points, I was beginning to understand why my friend was so "generous" to give me that pack. 

Since I had gone so far, I decided to continue with the remaining half-set in the pack and be done with it. Successful or not!

At last! 

Ended up with so many short pieces of snapped natural gut! 

It played very well, but I doubt I would use these budget stuff again. Really a waste of time!




     

1.10mm Kelvar + Syn Gut in Black Ace 98

After getting tired of the constant need to restring the "snappy" fishing line, I thought of using Kevlar to give myself a "stringing break".

I got hold of a pack of 1.10mm aramid for the mains and paired it up with syn gut.

Playtest:
- Kevlar usually has a break-in period of about an hour or two where it stretches very marginally. Thereafter, it stabilises until it breaks or gets restrung. 
- I was looking forward to this but was sorely disappointed. It lasted less than 30 minutes of play before snapping!
- Those 30 minutes played stiff as a board - powerless and spinless.
- I may need to re-test this.

Skipping Every Third Cross (16x12)

While the second attempt of the Lendl pattern (link) offered a lot more comfort, power and control over the first, it was still not enough to placate this syn gut lover.

My set of old and lazy bones needed just a little more comfort, a little more pocketing and a LOT more power. Extra spin would be nice too!

However hard I try, my footwork was no longer fast enough. That meant insufficient time for those old school long loopy swings that I have been accustomed to.

Many previous attempts skipping crosses compromised control in return for comfort, power and spin. (link1)(link2)(link3)

Now, by skipping every third instead of alternate cross, maybe I could tone down some power and add back control? In addition, I was also hoping for a little more pocketing to deal with the harsh feel when the stiff poly stringbed stops giving.

Not sure how to interpret the ITF tennis rules regarding this string pattern (link):

"The hitting surface, defined as the main area of the stringing pattern bordered by the points of entry of the strings into the head or points of contact of the strings with the head, whichever is the smaller, shall be flat and consist of a pattern of crossed strings, which shall be alternately interlaced or bonded where they cross. The stringing pattern must be generally uniform and, in particular, not less dense in the centre than in any other area. The racket shall be designed and strung such that the playing characteristics are identical on both faces."

Probably best left to the professional umpires and judges while I have fun trodding down unconventional paths!

Another variation could be skipping every fourth cross instead... I'll let the playtest dictate where this goes...

Playtest:
- The stringbed softened significantly and became as comfortable as any soft syn gut or multi.
- Directional control were good for medium hits, but when I cranked up the power, the control dipped terribly. The crosses were just not enough to support the heavy impact.
- By control dipping, what I meant was the ball depressing very deep into the stringbed and an exceptionally high rebound angle. So heavy topspin shots became topspin lobs which was fun to see, especially towards the end when it dived down steeply.
- Strangely, other aspects of control remained intact, even for serves.
- Spin was good as the mains could really slide and snap-back.
- Volleys were good too and effortless to execute. Just get the racket in the way of the ball and voila! Perfect dropshot!
- Since the rules dictate that the stringing pattern cannot be less dense in the centre, I think it will be good for anyone intending to try this, to string an extra one or two crosses in the centre of the stringbed. That might stiffen up the sweetspot a little to bring ball trajectory nearing to earth.
- Another option could be to string the same but using poly in the crosses instead of syn gut.
- Not much string movement after play, but some ball fur stuck on the strings.

Revisiting the "Lendl Pattern"...

Someone emailed me after reading my previous "Lendl Pattern" attempt (link). 

He suggested I string the outside perimeter strings first, then the centre mains and crosses. Previously, I used a soft poly in the centre and syn gut around the perimeter.

The explanation was interesting and sounded convincing. Syn gut, being the softer string is almost always strung at a higher tension than poly. If the lower-tensioned poly was strung before the syn gut, he noticed that his racket frame would compress a little more during the syn gut stringing.

Since the frame was compressed, that led to some "tension loss" of the poly which made it play flat and dead from the first hit.

But how did he know the frame shortened since the racket was mounted?

Well... he claimed he dismounted the racket after completing the poly centre mains and crosses and measured hoop length and width. Complete with a starting clamp dangling at the side!

And he measured again after the softer perimeter strings were done. Shorter it was!

However, when the order was reversed, the dimensions remained constant, he claimed.

While I have several experimental frames to muck around with, I have no intention of finding out how my racket internals look like yet. 

So for me, no dismounting halfway, but I'm game enough to give it a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Also, he added that soft poly strings play much better when strung with lock-out machines as compared to the constant tensioning of electronic and dropweight machines.

Below pic shows the higher-tensioned outer perimeter syn gut being completed first...

Could it be Lendl himself who sent the email? Or his stringer?

Playtest:
- I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable and yet controlled this stringbed played from the first hit!
- The sweetspot was right smack in the middle of the poly strings. It was very easy to find because it was so soft. I cannot recall when have I ever enjoyed this poly so much before.
- Spin seemed average to me, perhaps because I have been using so many extreme spin setups that this did not stand out. As usual, backhand slices were better than forehand topspins.
- Compared to the dead, stiff, boardy and powerless previous attempt (link), this felt like a totally different racket with different strings and different tension. Yet, everything was the same! Only the order of stringing was different!
- Pocketing was nice and harder flat hits were rewarded with accurate and powerful rebounds, with some unintended winners.
- Compared to syn gut, the poly pocketing was still "limited" in how much it gives before the feeling of hitting a wall took over.
- That was the only thing I disliked because the distinct stiff feel of poly was most clearly felt there, when the pocketing reached its limit.

Fancy: Wilson Hammer 5.8 + Poly/Syn Gut @ 45lbs

Since stringing my first racket at ELT, I have been testing many different setups to fine tune the tensions. Most played very well.

Recently, there was an opponent who was exceptionally adept at generating spin with power. Maybe I'm a lousy hacker, or the people I hit with play too nice with me. But I have never encountered this levels of spin and power together.

For once, the very heavy ball I had to return challenged the control and stability of the ELT stringbed. Directional control and depth was lacking. Some return of serves kicked off at very odd angles while others sprayed long, left and right, or into the net. Has ELT met its nemesis?

This got me thinking... until I chanced upon Ivan Lendl's very interesting stringing pattern. (link1)(link2) I watched a lot of Lendl's matches when I was young. It is amazing that this idol that I adore, is now again "nudging" me to think out of the box!

This is one way for me to address the lack of control issue with that powerful and spinny shot! Why not?

I plan to use 4 knots with this hybrid. The centre 10 mains are strung with poly first. There is a short side and a long side for this centre mains.

Below pic shows me starting on the 4th cross string.

With flying clamps, a starting pin is necessary.

I'm finishing the crosses. Note I still have the clamp on the main string. This is to let the tension settle-in as I am using different tensions on mains and crosses even with just one poly string.

The poly centre strings have been completed. So I'm filling in the outer mains and crosses with synthetic gut. I am using low-tension proportional stringing on these outer strings to create a soft perimeter. 

The most important step is to plan for blocked holes. You can see me threading the top crosses first before pulling tension.

Here's how the blocked holes looked like. If you look carefully, you can see two red dots on each end of the long white poly string. The red dot marks the change in tension I used from mains to crosses. If the red dot moves, it means tension may have evened out slightly. Several previous experiments have proved that they remain stable after play.

Here's the completed look. I like the white centre with black perimeter.

Playtest:
- After warming up for about 30 min with my ELT stick, I took this out for a spin. (A hard-hitting friend played with it for about 20min to help me break-in the strings)
- The immediate difference, switching from the ELT syn gut, was how stiff this stringbed played. I thought I missed the sweetspot so I tried aiming at different parts of the stringbed - high, low, left and right. Everywhere played stiff and boardy.
- I had to rely on the absence of vibrations to tell if I hit the sweetspot.
- Power level was very low. Compared to ELT syn gut, I had to swing all out to get the ball past the service line.
- Spin was negligible compared to ELT syn gut. Even with a full whip, I could not get the ball to curl in the air nor kick high off the ground. Strangely, the strings felt slippery. Smooth poly maybe?
- I could not feel any pocketing at all.
- With such a stiff bed, directional control was very good indeed. Aiming was easy. However, the lesser amounts of spin (compared to ELT syn gut) affected accuracy for some shots executed under pressure. I still prefer the high-spin setup.
- I'll test this some more later, especially against that chap who gave me problems with his spin and power.

13Jun2013 update:
- This stringbed behaved very well against that big and spinny serving chap. No problems with returns.
- At least this assures me that my service returns are fine. It's soft stringbeds that give me problems.
- Power is still very low. Full swing flat shots barely made it to the other baseline.
- Contact feel is hollow and flat. Not like the plushy synthetic gut feedback.
- One important observation is that the sweetspot moved downwards from the top third to right smack in the middle of the centre poly strings. This is the first time I experienced a sweetspot moving due to stringing and not weight.
- While I cannot say it is uncomfortable, but there is absolutely no doubt at all during play that there is a poly feel to it. Just not that harsh as a pure poly setup.

15Jun2013 update:
- The breaking-in of poly strings seems to take longer than for synthetic gut. I can feel a softening of the poly centre instead of a boardy feel.
- With the softening, power increased slightly together with pocketing.
- Spin levels have also gone up slightly compared to the first two sessions.
- A very good player named "A" tried this racket and commented that the sweetspot is unusually big for a 95 sq in. Control was good. However, off-centre hits feels dead to him. His usual stick is Pro Kennex Ki15 with kevlar/syn gut hybrid strung in the mid 50s.


16Jul2013 update:
- I cannot recall how many hours I've hit with this strings but I can clearly feel the stringbed softened a lot compared to previous sessions.
- Slightly off-centre hits gives a feeling of loss of directional control. The ball would bounce off at a tangent. I think it is due to the softer perimeter which was strung with syn gut that "gives" more than the poly centre.
- Comfort is good, but power, spin and control are seriously lacking.

Strings:
Pro Supex Big Ace Revo 1.25mm

Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 1.25mm