I may have mentioned that I am an avid tennis player. I don't play as much as I used to or as much as I would like to but I do try to play at least once a week on Saturday mornings. Occasionally, I have daddy or family duties that interrupt my tennis Saturdays but I try.
As a tennis player, I am considered a power hitter with a lot of top spin. There is nothing like cranking a forehand down the line for the winner or smacking it directly at the player at the net (oh yeah, I typically play doubles on Saturdays with a group of guys I've been playing against for around 12 years) and watching him squeal like a pig while trying to dodge my purposefully placed shot at his nads!
Being such a player, I typically break a lot of strings even in with the infrequency of my play. I just haven't found a durable string other than my latest attempt with polyester. These polyester strings are durable but that's about it. I have a mixture of game play - 80% power and spin, 10% touch and precision. With the polyester, there is no such thing as touch. Every shot has to be hit with some power behind it otherwise a drop shot will be very short or a spin shot will be more like a grounder to third. I have to swing through EVERY shot otherwise it's like hitting the ball with a wooden ping pong paddle. My arm is tired after playing a few sets and that NEVER happens to me!
My favorite strings to play with in the past few years are called Head RIP Ti.Fiber 16g. They are a silver colored string and they have lasted me for months at a time. I just broke my last set a few weeks ago and I am lost because I'm stuck with choosing a shitty string or going to my un-favorite polyester purely for their durability. I've searched the world wide web for these RIP strings because they have been discontinued. Why you ask? Well, why would a company sell a string that rarely needs replacing. They can't make any money like that. You want people to buy strings and buy them often. Hence, they discontinue the quality string and leave us tennis players with crap - unless you are a professional who gets his/her strings for free anyway. I just can't justify paying $15+ for a set of strings that I will break in about 3-4 hours of play and I'm not hitting half as hard as the pros.
Anyway, if you come across a string called Head RIP Ti.Fiber 16g for sale at a reasonable price (I have found it for 11.99 but out of stock at one web store and $14.50 - up from $11.85 four days ago - in stock at another, please comment and let me know. I've looked and looked and these two are the best I can find, although I did find an entire 660 ft reel for $400. That's a little...a lot...out of my price range although that reel could contain at least 15-20 or so stringings.
Here's a picture of the string package.
As a tennis player, I am considered a power hitter with a lot of top spin. There is nothing like cranking a forehand down the line for the winner or smacking it directly at the player at the net (oh yeah, I typically play doubles on Saturdays with a group of guys I've been playing against for around 12 years) and watching him squeal like a pig while trying to dodge my purposefully placed shot at his nads!
Being such a player, I typically break a lot of strings even in with the infrequency of my play. I just haven't found a durable string other than my latest attempt with polyester. These polyester strings are durable but that's about it. I have a mixture of game play - 80% power and spin, 10% touch and precision. With the polyester, there is no such thing as touch. Every shot has to be hit with some power behind it otherwise a drop shot will be very short or a spin shot will be more like a grounder to third. I have to swing through EVERY shot otherwise it's like hitting the ball with a wooden ping pong paddle. My arm is tired after playing a few sets and that NEVER happens to me!
My favorite strings to play with in the past few years are called Head RIP Ti.Fiber 16g. They are a silver colored string and they have lasted me for months at a time. I just broke my last set a few weeks ago and I am lost because I'm stuck with choosing a shitty string or going to my un-favorite polyester purely for their durability. I've searched the world wide web for these RIP strings because they have been discontinued. Why you ask? Well, why would a company sell a string that rarely needs replacing. They can't make any money like that. You want people to buy strings and buy them often. Hence, they discontinue the quality string and leave us tennis players with crap - unless you are a professional who gets his/her strings for free anyway. I just can't justify paying $15+ for a set of strings that I will break in about 3-4 hours of play and I'm not hitting half as hard as the pros.
Anyway, if you come across a string called Head RIP Ti.Fiber 16g for sale at a reasonable price (I have found it for 11.99 but out of stock at one web store and $14.50 - up from $11.85 four days ago - in stock at another, please comment and let me know. I've looked and looked and these two are the best I can find, although I did find an entire 660 ft reel for $400. That's a little...a lot...out of my price range although that reel could contain at least 15-20 or so stringings.
Here's a picture of the string package.
1 comment:
Hi Jay
I came across your blog when I was trying to find out details about this Head string was - I got a 200m reel of it together with several reels of other strings. I realise this post is many years old, but should you happen to be still interested let me know - 20$ plus shipping from CH. At least 60% of those 200m are still on the reel.
cheers,
Martin
hodinar@gmx.ch
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