The string poll has concluded and first of all, a big thank you to everyone who voted. An extra thank you to those of you who commented here on the site, because we will send out a few sample sets to three lucky winners.
The more string opinions we can gather, the better. Strings are such a personal topic and, as most of you know, a string can work brilliantly in one racquet and not at all in another. Some players love a round, slippery string with good snapback. Others prefer something shaped with more grab on the ball. Personally, I tend to choose the string depending on the racquet I am testing. I usually start with something familiar, because otherwise it becomes difficult to know what the racquet is doing and what the string is doing.
There is a lot of evolution happening in the string space right now, probably more than in the racquet space. And thankfully, testing strings is a lot cheaper than buying new racquets, which, as we all know, are not getting any cheaper.
Solinco Wins the Poll
The winner of the poll was Solinco, with 21% of the vote and more than 300 votes in total. You can see the poll result in the image above.
Solinco have made a strong statement as a string brand over quite a long time now. They are known for strings like Tour Bite, Hyper-G, Confidential, and the more recent Mach-10, which is slightly softer. Many of their strings are five-sided and offer a crisp feel with a lot of bite on the ball. They were also early on the colourful string trend with Hyper-G, which helped them stand out.
I have always liked Tour Bite, and Hyper-G has been a favourite for many years. The most recent Solinco string I tested was Confidential Soft, and I do enjoy it. It feels like a slightly softer Hyper-G (somewhere between Hyper-G and Hyper-G Soft) with very good playability. I think I prefer it over Mach-10.
Solinco also did a great job with college tennis and had the Bryan Bros endorsing the brand during their active years. They are still ambassadors, and you see plenty of players on tour using Solinco strings.
Luxilon Still a Legend
In second place we have Luxilon, which is obviously a legendary name in tennis strings.
You see Luxilon everywhere on tour, partly thanks to their strong partnership with Wilson. The brands are closely intertwined – Luxilon is not owned by Wilson, but many pros using Wilson racquets also use Alu Power or 4G strings. These are very popular on both the ATP and WTA tours, and that is probably not going to change anytime soon.
Luxilon also has a new prototype string on the way. I have only had two sets to test, so I cannot say too much yet, but both Henrik and I had positive first impressions. More on that when I have more information.
Head Beats Toroline in a Close Race
Third place was very tight, Head beat Toroline by just five votes.
Head is sometimes a little underestimated as a string brand. They are famous for racquets, somewhat infamous for balls, but their strings are genuinely good. Lynx Tour, Hawk Touch, and plenty of strong players using them – Musetti, Zverev and Sinner come to mind. A solid selection of both polyester and multifilament strings. I think most people still perceive Head primarily as a racquet brand, but third place is well deserved. Click here to get to the HEAD website to check them out.
Toroline: Excellent Products, Soft Focus
Toroline came very close to third place and they have done a great job on the marketing side. They make a lot of strings, very colourful strings, and excellent products.
Their focus has generally been on softer polyester for club players who want more free power and less arm concern. I like Toroline strings, but they have tended to be a bit soft for my personal taste. I prefer a crisper feel, like you get from many Solinco strings. That said, we have a new string collaboration coming up with Toroline, and this one has some serious bite to it. I think that crisper feel has been missing a little from their lineup, so stay tuned.
MSV: Quality Under the Radar
I recently did a video revisiting MSV, because they make some really solid strings that often fly under the radar. Solinco and Toroline might have more marketing presence, but MSV makes excellent products. Focus Hex and Focus Hex Ultra are dependable polys – Focus Hex Ultra is probably my favourite from them. Good softer options as well, and the prices are very reasonable.
The “Other” Category
There are so many string brands out there that it is almost impossible to list them all. Some that did not make the original poll include D-Rex, Pros Pro, and Pro String. Pros Pro is the budget option. D-Rex makes some solid strings. Pro String has some good offerings too.
If you voted for a brand that was not on the list, please comment below and let me know what you chose.
Yonex: Strong Racquets, Developing Strings
Yonex has a new string called Poly Tour Force, which seems to be replacing Poly Tour Strike. Strike was a pretty stiff round string, and Force is definitely a different string. I have only tried it briefly, but they have Joao Fonseca as a main endorser, and it could become one of their best offerings.
I am personally not a big Poly Tour Pro fan but if you want a soft poly, it is dependable and a lot of pros use it. You can also put together the Casper Ruud-style hybrid with Poly Tour Spin in the mains and Poly Tour Pro in the crosses. Ben Shelton apparently reverses it. They also have Poly Tour Rev, which is a decent shaped string.
Overall though, I do not think the strings quite reach the level of their racquets. The racquets are excellent and seemingly everywhere right now.
Babolat: Great When Fresh, But Often Stiff
Babolat is very popular on tour, but for the average club player, I think many of their polys are quite stiff. RPM Blast is a brilliant string when fresh but it goes dead pretty quickly. For pros who restring constantly, that is fine. For club players keeping the same string in the racquet too long, it can become a problem and potentially lead to arm issues.
I am not a huge fan of Hurricaine either, it feels a bit old school. I think Babolat could do more work on comfort-oriented polyester strings. Their natural gut is excellent, and their multifilaments are high level, but the poly range feels a little limited.
Restring: Vivo Is the One
Restring is a smaller brand I really like. Their first string, Zero, was good but a little lively. Sync was perhaps a little too dead. But ReString Vivo is the one I fell in love with. It is a crisp, shaped string that gives me confidence in many different racquets. That is generally my vibe – shaped, crisp strings with good bite on the ball.
We’ve also been testing Restring Slap, and first impressions are good. It snaps back well and is a solid six-sided string, a bit softer than his usual Dunlop Explosive Spin setup. But for me, Vivo remains the best Restring string. Btw, Visit the Restring site here and use code TENNISNERD10 at checkout for a 10% discount.
Grapplesnake: Small Brand, Excellent Products
Grapplesnake is another smaller brand that has made waves through strong products. Tour M8 is a really solid string, eight-sided but quite smooth, so you get close to a round string feel while still having some bite. Tour Sniper is another favourite. I have not tried their latest offerings yet, but Grapplesnake deserves a mention.
Tecnifibre Racer Spin
Tecnifibre recently released Razor Spin, a four-sided string with their PU additive. It is somewhat soft but still has stiffness and crispness, a medium string. It does not feel as harsh as many four-sided strings, which is a good thing.
Volkl Cyclone Still Deserves Respect
Volkl is an underrated string brand, and they are pretty synonymous with Cyclone. It is a classic… still reasonably priced, though it has gone up a little. Cyclone Tour is the softer version, and they have good multifilaments as well. But when you talk Volkl strings, you mostly talk Cyclone.
Wilson and the Luxilon Factor
Because of the partnership with Luxilon, Wilson does not really need to focus heavily on polyester strings. Their multifilaments are good – NXT, NXT Comfort, NXT Control – but the Revolve strings are not my favourites. I find they drop tension too quickly. When it comes to poly under the Wilson name, Luxilon is really the story.
Kirschbaum: A Dependable Classic
Kirschbaum is a classic brand. Pro Line II and Max Power are well-known and used by some tour players. They make dependable strings you can count on. I have not seen them as much recently from my perspective as a tester, but they remain a quality brand.
True Pro Pure Rush Is Still a Favourite
True Pro Pure Rush is a string I have recommended many times and will keep recommending. It is a perfect middle-ground poly, not too stiff and not too soft. It just works in many different racquets.
They also have Pure Rush Razor, which is an eight-sided star-shaped string with very aggressive bite. I do like crisp shaped strings, but this one felt a little too aggressive for me. I still prefer the original Pure Rush. You can also read Chris opinions on these two strings here.
Dunlop: Firm but Underrated
Dunlop strings are underrated. Daniel, who you might have seen in some of my videos, likes them a lot. The Explosive series tends to be pretty firm. Good strings, but not always the easiest on the arm, so string accordingly and consider going lower on tension. They do not do a lot of advertising, but there are some solid offerings there for players who like a firmer feel.
Diadem, Signum Pro, Weiss Cannon and More
Diadem has been doing well with racquets lately and their strings are decent. Pro X, which Svitolina uses, is a solid poly. They also had Flash, a softer white poly.
Signum Pro is a brand people do not talk about enough. Firestorm has been used by Berrettini, and Experience has a Hyper-G-like profile. Some excellent strings from a brand that deserves more attention.
Weiss Cannon is mostly famous for Ultra Cable – an extremely aggressively shaped string that produces crazy spin. Not for everyone, but worth mentioning if you like that extreme bite.
Prince makes decent strings, though nothing that particularly excites me. Tourna is of course more famous for their grips, but Big Hitter has its fans.
Isospeed: Impressive Factory, Solid Strings
I spent some time at the Isospeed factory in Austria and it was a really cool experience. They put a lot of attention and love into their products, and they also make strings for other brands.
Black Fire, Grey Fire, and Black Fire S are all good strings. Black Fire S is probably my favourite from them, as I really like shaped strings.
Nordicdots, String Project and Topspin
Nordicdots has TS127, which I think is their best string. They now have a softer version as well, which is pretty good. These days they might be more famous for their racquets, but the strings are worth mentioning.
String Project has some good strings. Magic is one I often recommend to veteran players who want to use a poly but need something very soft, it almost feels like a blend between a multifilament and a poly in terms of stiffness. Sirius is a good round poly, and I also really like their multifilament called Gold.
Topspin has Cyber Blue and the very spin-friendly Max Rotation. Good names for a brand called Topspin.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Solinco wins the poll, and I think it is a pretty fair result.
Some brands clearly put a lot more effort into developing new strings than others. Some have very solid classics, while others need to do more work… especially on comfort-oriented options for club players.
I want to do more of these polls because they give us an interesting overview and might even give the brands some useful feedback.
