Wilson K Gut

Wilson K Gut
Gauge: 16 (1.32), 17 (1.27)
Price: $22/set
Type: Multi-filament with Fluorofibre
Color: Grey

Setup:
Main - Wilson K Gut 16G 55lbs
Cross - Pro Supex Big Ace 17G 52 lbs


Stringing:
The string has a very tacky feel to it when compared to other multifilaments. Other than that, just watch out not to kink the string when pulling through grommets.

Play:
Wilson claims that in a blind test, play testers agreed that KGut feels and plays very similar to natural gut than any other multi-filament. Previously I played with Head's natural gut and here is my comparison between the 2.

1. KGut plays much stiffer than Natural Gut.
2. Power is much lower.
3. Spin generation / ball bite is lower.
4. Feel is lower.
5. Ball pocketing is slightly less.
6. Tension maintenance is about the same.
7. Durability is better than natural gut.

When compared to other multi-filaments:
1. Power is lower
2. Spin generation / ball bite is lower.
3. Feel is on par.
4. Ball pocketing is on par
5. I still think this string is stiff for a multi.
6. Tension maintenance is superb.
7. Durability is poor.

My personal feeling:
KGut is similar to Natural Gut in ball pocketing and tension maintenance. I wish I could get more feel out of the string but again, this string IS NOT natural gut. Natural gut still is the king of tennis strings. Nothing can replace natural gut except natural gut.

As a multi-filament, KGut performs very well but the durability is very poor. KGut is easy on the arm if you have arm problems. Also if you are not a string breaker this string is one to try. The only drawback is the price. $22 a set is fairly expensive for a multi-filament. I think there are other multi-filaments that play similar to KGut but cheaper.

I was able to get about 6 hours of playing time out of KGut before it broke. I decided to hybrid it with a polyester because a full bed will be way too soft.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 7
Control: 7
Spin: 7
Stiffness: 5
Feel: 7
Durability: 3
Tension Maintenance: 8

Luxilon Alu Power Fluoro

Luxilon Alu Power Fluoro
Gauge: 17(1.23)
Price: $17/set
Type: Co-Polymer (Nylon)+Fluocarbon Resin+Aluminum Fibers enhanced with Fluorofiber Carbon during extrusion process
Color: Silver

Setup:
Main: Luxilon Alu Power Fluoro @ 53lbs
Cross: Prince Synthetic Gut w/ Duraflex @ 50lbs

Play:
Luxilon Fluoro is probably the most comfortable Alu Power polyester string by Luxilon. There is another string by Luxilon called M2 but the construction of the string is totally different from the Alu Power line up. Compared to the famous Alu Power and Alu Power Rough, Flouro is softer and easier on the arm. Tension maintenance is also much better. The string doesn't show a significant drop off in tension like its brothers. Fluoro provides the same amount of power, spin, and control capabilities as Alu Power but has added comfort and feel.

Other Comments:
The price of this string has also been reduced recently from $19 to $17 a set. Still I think it's a pretty expensive string for its performance. The gauge only comes in 17 and if you are a hard hitting string breaking monster, then this string can set you back many $$$.

Quick Reivew (out of 10):
Power: 9
Control: 9
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 6
Feel: 8
Durability: 6
Tension Maintenance: 6

Tecnifibre Pro Red Code

Tecnifibre Pro Red Code
Gauge: 16 (1.30), 17 (1.25), 18 (1.20)
Price: $12/set
Type: Polyester Mono-filament
Color: Red

Setup:
Main - Tecnifibre Pro Red Code 17G 55lbs
Cross - Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex 16G 52 lbs


Stringing:
Pretty tacky string when stringing. Same tackiness as Wilson Enduro Tour. Other than that, nothing special.

This string is stiff. I strung the 17 gauge at 55 lbs and it felt like I strung it at 62 lbs. The string bed felt so stiff that it was bothering my arm. During ground strokes, the string produces ample power, tremendous spin when hit dead center in the sweet spot. This string is not a powerful poly. You need to generate your own pace or all balls end up short mid court. Control was there and the durability was there as well. I didn't get much feel except it being so stiff. Once it lost tension, yes feel was there but was the average poly feel. Tension maintenance was average as well. Nothing exceptional.

As the string lost tension, playing became more comfortable but spin production and control suffered. I also played a lot during the evening when temperatures were in the low 40s. Playing with polyester strings in low temperature makes everything more difficult. The string bed feels stiffer and there is a significant amount of drop in power. I suggest Pro Red Code is best suited for players who have sound fast strokes. For the general tennis population, either string extreme low (in the 40) or stay away from this string.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 7
Control: 7
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 9
Feel: 6
Durability: 8
Tension Maintenance: 6

Wilson Enduro Tour - Take 2

I strung my second racket with Wilson Enduro Tour 17 and Prince Synthetic Gut w/ Duraflex like my previous one but... this time I went 5% lower on my crosses. Why? Well Yonex recommends that you string your crosses 5% lower than your mains for maximum performance. So I gave it a try.

Setup:
Mains Wilson Enduro Tour 17G 55lbs
Cross Prince Synthetic Gut w/ Duraflex 16G 52lbs

My honest opinion is... I am not sure. It feels like the sweetspot was increseased slightly and I got a little more power compared to my previous setup. But then again, it may be just the placebo effect taking place. Whatever the situation I will have to try different setups with the Yonex recommended tension and continue to evaulate the outcome. If it's going to improve my game because of the placebo effect so be it.

Wilson Enduro Tour

Wilson Enduro Tour
Gauge: 16 (1.30), 17 (1.25), 18 (1.21)
Price: $5/set
Type: Polyester Mono-filament
Color: White

Setup:
Main - Wilson Enduro Tour 17G 55lbs
Cross - Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex 16G 57 lbs

Stringing:
Enduro Tour has a very tacky feeling when running the string through your hands. Other polyesters that I have strung were very smooth and silky. Also Enduro Tour stretched quite a bit when pulling tension. Other polyesters that were strung before did not stretch as much.

During this setup I strung the crosses 2 lbs higher than the mains. Why? Because synthetic guts are softer and I decided to up the tension to stiffen the string bed.

For only $5 a set, this string performs very well. Power is average. If you are used to strings such as Luxilon Alu Power or Pro Supex Big Ace, you will be feeling that Enduro is very under powered. But you have to keep in mind that those strings are powerful strings. The spin generation on Enduro is very good. I was able to get very good ball bite and produce some wicked spin. On ground strokes, the spin came in handy for short wide angle shots. Very useful for kick and slice serves. Serves were kicking high and away.

This string is fairly durable initially. After 4 hours of play very little notching is present. But then about 10 hours of play its very close to breaking. Feel is average in the beginning but then dies in about 30mins to an hour. That's pretty quick in my opinion. Start to lose a lot of control and spin. The other complaint I have is string movement. After 30mins of hitting the strings started to move. That's pretty short in my opinion. But I guess for $5 a set what do you expect.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 5
Control: 6
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 5
Feel: 5
Durability: 5
Tension Maintenance: 4

Head Natural Gut

Head Natural Gut
Gauge: 16G (1.30)
Price: $24/ half-set
Type: Natural Gut
Color: Clear and Slightly Natural

Setup: Head Natural Gut 16G 55 lbs / Luxilon Alu Power Fluoro 17G 55 lbs

So head makes natural gut. I don't have a lot of experience with natural gut because it's too expensive and it doesn't last. After playing with this monster, I found out why pros choose natural gut over any other string.

Stringing:
So I give it a little pre-stretching action and away we go. Very easy to string. Half set so no cutting and installation on mains was a breeze. Just have to be careful not to kink the string when pulling through holes. Make sure to adjust clamps and tension head so you don't damage the string.

By the way, my set up is very similar to what the Japanese ATP pro Kei Nishikori uses. He uses Wilson natural instead of Head natural. Hybrid of gut and Luxilon Alu Power Fluoro.

Ground Strokes:
Very good power generation. Spin generation was very easy and the feel was awesome. You can actually FEEEEEEEL the ball with gut mains. Good ball pocketing and the control was superb. I was able to get a heavy topspin shot with ease.

Serves:
Again really good ball bite for slice and kick serves. Was able to kick high and away from opponent. Kick height was about shoulder to head level. When needed to blast a flat serve, ample power was there.

Volleys and Overhead:
Again nice feel and it's pretty much the same as above.

Durability Issue:
First 2 hours of play was superb. Excellent feel, excellent ball pocketing, excellent power. You get the picture. At the 1 hour mark it started to fray slightly. I was expecting it to fray more but it started to fall apart rather than fray. At the 2 hour mark, signs of complete coating breakage and unraveling were seen. 2.5-3 hour mark it was gone.

Conclusion:
Head's natural gut performs very well in all areas. If you are not a string breaker and can afford gut, this is one to try. The only drawback is that it's fairly expensive for only a half set. A full set of Babolat VS is $42. $24 for a half set is...uhhh yea.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 9
Control: 9
Spin: 9
Stiffness: 5
Feel: 9
Durability: 2
Tension Maintenance: 10

Genesis Black Magic

Genesis Black Magic
Gauge: 16 (1.29), 17 (1.23)
Price: $8/set
Type: Mono-filament Co-polymer
Color: Black

My setup: Black Magic 17G 55lbs / Gosen OG Micro 16G 55lbs

WOW.... This string is something.

VERY VERY nice string. When freshly strung, crisp but not too crisp. Great power, great spin. Very nice control, very nice feel, and very nice tension maintenance. The string is not too soft and not too stiff. It's just about right. In my opinion, this string does everything well. And the price, it can't beat it. If you swing fast enough you can feel ball pocketing. Clocked about 10 hours on this string and yes the there is tension loss but it's very minimal.

Really good amount of power can be generated. but some players may think this string has too much power. If that is the case get the 16G and string a little be tighter. This is one of my favorite polyesters to date. Probably will be in my top 3 choices.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 9
Control: 9
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 7
Feel: 8
Durability: 8
Tension Maintenance: 8

Pro Supex Blue Gear

Pro Supex Blue Gear
Gauge: 16 (1.28), 17 (1.25), 18 (1.19)
Price: $10/set
Type: Co-polymer
Color: Pearl Blue, Pearl White

Spin me in the court baby! This string has sick bite. You literally rip the fuzz off the ball every time you come in contact with the ball. After your follow-through, you breathe tennis fuzz.

This string to date, produces the most spin out of any rough/textured string that I played with (gauge relative). No other string compares to the amount of spin you can generate with Blue Gear. The 16 gauge probably generates more spin than a typical 18 gauge poly. What creates all this spin? Pro Supex claims that this string is hexagonal but I say its more like a star with 6 vertices. If you run your nails around this string, you can hear the ribs. Luxilon Alu Power Rough comes no where near how much spin you can produce with Blue Gear. The 16 gauge is probably the most textured.

This string is stiff. Stiffer than Luxilon. If you have arm problems, string LOW, or hybrid it with a synthetic. Not much feel on this string but adiquate power and massive spin. Really nice string if you are looking for spin. Durability is good and tension maintenance is better than the average poly. Only problem with this string is that it tends to get mushy before it breaks. Not a really good feeling at the end. Other than that, very nice string and spin production for its price.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 8
Control: 7
Spin: 10
Stiffness: 9
Feel: 6
Durability: 8
Tension Maintenance: 7

Luxilon Alu Power Rough

Luxilon Alu Power Rough
Gauge: 16L (1.25)
Price: $16/set
Type: Co-polymer+Fluocarbon Resin+Aluminum Fibers
Color: Silver

Oh, the great Luxilon. The brand that boast most of the ATP tour pros use this brand. The brand that claims GOAT Roger Federer uses this specific string. The brand that most recreational players swear by that this brand produces the best polyester strings. So I come across this profound brand and one of its most popular string of all, Alu Power Rough.

So this string only comes in 1 type. No deviations of this string exist. Well there is a non-rough version but that's about it. 1 gauge, 1 color, no options. I string this baby up at 55lbs. This string is fairly stiff when fresh. Great ball bite and spin production. Play about 1-2 hours and you are in the sweet spot with this string. Excellent blend of power, spin, feel, and control. No wonder the majority of players like this string. It's probably one of the most powerful polys that I have played to date and it doesn't compromise on spin, feel, and control.

Then the honeymoon is over. About 4 hours+ tension loss creeps in. Whats even more surprising is that you can feel the loss of tension hour by hour. At this time the roughness is turns into smoothness. The ribs wear off and all you are left is a smooth string. 6+ hours on this string and it feels like a trampoline. At this time its too much power and great loss of control. Really springy feeling. Durability is above average for a string that's 1.25mm. Just a tad bit durable for a typical 1.25mm string. Nothing special.

For the price of the string, you will get a good 2-3 hours of excellent playability. No other poly compares to Alu Power Rough's playability during that time. After that, in my opinion, it's pure garbage. I guess pros use it for those 2-3 hours. After that they cut that baby out for a new set. They have the money and they probably are sponsored by Luxilon. For the general public, pretty expensive routine if you decide to cut them out after only 2-3 hours of play. Price to playability ratio is low in my opinion.

As one guy put it "Alu Power is (metaphorically speaking) Selma Hayek for around two hours. After that, It's still the blonde chick from "Heart" for another six, but after that it's Kim Clijsters. I cut it out at that point, because I didn't see the point of waiting for Hillary Clinton to show up."

Good description

If you have the money go for it. If you don't look elsewhere. There are many strings out there that perform similarly but at a cheaper price.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 10
Control: 10 (first 2-4 hours only)
Spin: 9 (first 2-4 hours only)
Stiffness: 8 (first 2-4 hours only)
Feel: 8 (first 2-4 hours only)
Durability: 7
Tension Maintenance: 4

Topspin Concept Pure

Topspin Concept Pure
Gauge: 16 (1.29), 17 (1.24)
Price: $9/set
Type: Co-Polyester
Color: Natural

Comfort, comfort, comfort!

This string is one of the softest and comfortable polyesters that I have played to date. It is extremely comfortable and the power generation is far above average. Very nice string for those players who are looking for an arm friendly poly. Hybrid this with synthetic gut and the string bed would become even softer. Control and spin production is great but not outstanding when compared to stiffer strings. If one wants to achieve better control and spin, up the tension 3-5 lbs and the string should perform very well. Very comfortable at 50-55 lbs tension. The tension maintenance of the string is very good.

Highly recommended for performance-price ratio

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 8
Control: 7
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 6
Feel: 7
Durability: 7
Tension Maintenance: 7

Gosen Polylon Comfort

Gosen Polylon Comfort
Gauge: 16 (1.30), 17 (1.24)
Price: $7/set
Type: Textured Polyester Monofilament
Color: White

This is Gosen's textured polyester string available on the US market. The string itself is very soft compared to the average polyester. It almost feels like a multifilament. This is a good thing if you are looking for a very soft poly that is textured. The string has small slits in them making the string rough for added spin. Power, feel, and control are just average. Nothing special. That's probably the only good thing I can comment on about this string.

Now for the bad part. This string is subpar compared to any of its competitors. After stringing, the string surface is not as rough compared to similar products such as, Luxilon Alu Power Rough and Pro Supex Blue Gear. Added spin? Not much that was noticable. Also the durability on this string is extermely poor for a polyester. It lasted me 6 hours of court time before the string snapped. On the package it says this string has good durability. I am not sure about that one.... After about an hour of hitting, the roughness is totally gone and you are left with a smooth surface.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 7
Control: 6
Spin: 5
Stiffness: 4
Feel: 6
Durability: 3
Tension Maintenance: 7

Tecnifibre Black Code

Tecnifibre Black Code
Gauge: 16(1.28), 17(1.24), 18(1.18)
Price: $12/set
Type: Co-polyester mono-fiber
Color: Black

Black Code is the newest polyester string available from Tencifibre. This polyester has a pentegonal profile for added spin production. Like any other profiled string, the pentagonal profile does go away after a few hitting sessions. The string has a good blend of power, control, and spin. Not much feel can be achieved from this string but it has good durability and the tension maintenance is above average for a polyester. For the performance of the string, $12/pack is just about right.

Quick Review (out of 10):
Power: 7
Control: 8
Spin: 8
Stiffness: 7
Feel: 6
Durability: 7
Tension Maintenance: 7

Comparable strings:
Luxilon Alu Power Rough
Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour