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There are thousands of strings now avail. to all of us, and hundreds of frames. Some of us like to string/frame for power. Some for spin. Some for control. Some for feel/sound. The bottom line is what the score ends up at, isn't it?
The top pros pick a string, and stick with it, as do their frames, for consistency under great pressure, so we see Nadal with the aeropro drive non cortex, duralast before rpm, for 12 years, and counting. We see Joker, Fed, Murray, Roddick, all combining vs team (wilson premium) and alu power which only comes in 1.25mm. The uber hitters: Tsonga, Gulbis, Soderling, Berdych, Delpo, all use alu power full bed at around 60lbs, and at 360-363g. The sound they make with their shots is the alu sound, a thwack.
With the h22, the frame is stiff and powerful, and best for serves and volleys, and for depth/pace. 18 x 20 frame, as is the pt57a, but is more flexible than the h22 and the tgk models. You are either a flexy frame type or a stiff frame type.
When we play we all want consistency, yet few string/frame for it. Consistent strings, and tensions, and frames, are all similar. Flexy frames, higher tens. maint. strings, less lively strings, offer more consistency due to fewer shots out long, and less power imparted to the ball.
Everyone mostly used to play with all gut jobs, before poly, pros. Very few do now. It's harder to control gut jobs, due to the power and depth issues. So why do so many top pros use alu power or vs/alu? Alu tames the power of gut, is teflon coated, and aluminum infused fluorocarbin resin, and is not a particularly powerful string, but has tens. maint. issues, as the teflon wears off fast, not pertinent to top pros, as they only use a frame for 8 games/1/2 hr. or so before changing out. Alu is like high performance racing tires. The rest of us, have to suffer with the shots going long on hard hit drives long past the point of tens. loss, as all lux strings suffer from that... Some top strings tens. wise: blackcode, sppp, natural gut.
Those who string for consistency often long for power. Those who string for power often long for consistency. That's why Fed/joker/murray/ etc. , and top players cross the vs team with alu, to get the best of both worlds... For most of us, a $55 string job is not practical. Nadal, is just a freak of nature, with his 340g frame, and rpm. It's ten pt.s head heavy! 9g at 12. Those who string for spin, often long for control. Those who string for control long for more spin. Too bad they don't make a cross that imparts spins as much as a main spin string does. A metal ribbed string would do it, but it would also eat the mains alive! I've crossed vs team with barb wire, blue gear, bgu, ash. kev., alu, adren., ace 18g, duralast, blackcode, redcode, etc.... While vs team mains give me the most control, the same string set up in the h22 feels so diff, than in the pt57a! The h22 is power, and the pt57a is feel.
Some drop/change tens. of crosses vs. mains, to shape the sweet spot, either compress or elongate it. Proportional stringing, making the mains ping out to the same tone, and crosses, stiffens the bed and makes it feel like a board all around the bed. Dropping tens. on the top crosses ala Davydenko, aims to increase the sweet spot out towards the top of the hoop, where he hits the ball, between the 3-6 crosses down. Many drop crosses by 2-4lbs, to compress the sweet spot towards 3 and 9 and provide more power due to the lower tens. of the tensioning crosses. The truth is, you can string the mains low, and if the crosses are normal, the job will feel almost normal tens. with more trampoline. But the combo that gives us the most feel/controlled response, is what I'm really after.. That's a vs team main, proportionally strung, and a blackcode cross, normally tensioned, in a pt57a for feel, or an h22 for power.
For those of us who hit out towards the end of the hoop, elongation makes sense: higher cross tensions, and looser crosses 3-6 down from the top will elongate the sweet spot out. Compression makes sense for those who hit lower, and in center, towards 3 and 9. Dropping cross tensions 2-4lbs will do this. Of course, hybrid strings with diff. tens. characteristics, will effect the bed, as tens. main. will not be the same for both strings, ever, sometimes, not even in the same reel of string, such as redcode (more brittle in the second half of the reel).
The top pros pick a string, and stick with it, as do their frames, for consistency under great pressure, so we see Nadal with the aeropro drive non cortex, duralast before rpm, for 12 years, and counting. We see Joker, Fed, Murray, Roddick, all combining vs team (wilson premium) and alu power which only comes in 1.25mm. The uber hitters: Tsonga, Gulbis, Soderling, Berdych, Delpo, all use alu power full bed at around 60lbs, and at 360-363g. The sound they make with their shots is the alu sound, a thwack.
With the h22, the frame is stiff and powerful, and best for serves and volleys, and for depth/pace. 18 x 20 frame, as is the pt57a, but is more flexible than the h22 and the tgk models. You are either a flexy frame type or a stiff frame type.
When we play we all want consistency, yet few string/frame for it. Consistent strings, and tensions, and frames, are all similar. Flexy frames, higher tens. maint. strings, less lively strings, offer more consistency due to fewer shots out long, and less power imparted to the ball.
Everyone mostly used to play with all gut jobs, before poly, pros. Very few do now. It's harder to control gut jobs, due to the power and depth issues. So why do so many top pros use alu power or vs/alu? Alu tames the power of gut, is teflon coated, and aluminum infused fluorocarbin resin, and is not a particularly powerful string, but has tens. maint. issues, as the teflon wears off fast, not pertinent to top pros, as they only use a frame for 8 games/1/2 hr. or so before changing out. Alu is like high performance racing tires. The rest of us, have to suffer with the shots going long on hard hit drives long past the point of tens. loss, as all lux strings suffer from that... Some top strings tens. wise: blackcode, sppp, natural gut.
Those who string for consistency often long for power. Those who string for power often long for consistency. That's why Fed/joker/murray/ etc. , and top players cross the vs team with alu, to get the best of both worlds... For most of us, a $55 string job is not practical. Nadal, is just a freak of nature, with his 340g frame, and rpm. It's ten pt.s head heavy! 9g at 12. Those who string for spin, often long for control. Those who string for control long for more spin. Too bad they don't make a cross that imparts spins as much as a main spin string does. A metal ribbed string would do it, but it would also eat the mains alive! I've crossed vs team with barb wire, blue gear, bgu, ash. kev., alu, adren., ace 18g, duralast, blackcode, redcode, etc.... While vs team mains give me the most control, the same string set up in the h22 feels so diff, than in the pt57a! The h22 is power, and the pt57a is feel.
Some drop/change tens. of crosses vs. mains, to shape the sweet spot, either compress or elongate it. Proportional stringing, making the mains ping out to the same tone, and crosses, stiffens the bed and makes it feel like a board all around the bed. Dropping tens. on the top crosses ala Davydenko, aims to increase the sweet spot out towards the top of the hoop, where he hits the ball, between the 3-6 crosses down. Many drop crosses by 2-4lbs, to compress the sweet spot towards 3 and 9 and provide more power due to the lower tens. of the tensioning crosses. The truth is, you can string the mains low, and if the crosses are normal, the job will feel almost normal tens. with more trampoline. But the combo that gives us the most feel/controlled response, is what I'm really after.. That's a vs team main, proportionally strung, and a blackcode cross, normally tensioned, in a pt57a for feel, or an h22 for power.
For those of us who hit out towards the end of the hoop, elongation makes sense: higher cross tensions, and looser crosses 3-6 down from the top will elongate the sweet spot out. Compression makes sense for those who hit lower, and in center, towards 3 and 9. Dropping cross tensions 2-4lbs will do this. Of course, hybrid strings with diff. tens. characteristics, will effect the bed, as tens. main. will not be the same for both strings, ever, sometimes, not even in the same reel of string, such as redcode (more brittle in the second half of the reel).