Yonex Polytour Strike Review and Play Test
String: Yonex POLYTOUR STRIKE (17 1.20 mm)
Construction: Co-Polymer Monofilament
Racket Used: Tecnifibre TF40 305
Tension: 53 lbs (about 24 kg)
Cost: $17
Poly Tour Strike – What You Need to Know
The harder more control orientated Polytour string from Yonex. It’s got that sort of RPM blast design where it’s all about control at the expense of everything else. You can definitely take some big cuts at the ball and the string can take that and keeps the ball in play more than some. I like RPM better but I will say the first few hours were interesting and enjoyable. The string had a sticky sort of feel and felt pretty nice off the string bed initially. After about 3 hours the string fell off a cliff for me and become a very stiff generic polyester that but a real shock through my arm on certain strokes. At that point I just wanted to cut it out. I think if I’m only going to get a very limited amount of time out of a polyester string I’m going to stick with Alu Power.
Poly Tour Strike – What I Loved
The first few hours of playing with this string were overall enjoyable. Not the greatest polyester string I’ve ever used but certainly serviceable. There was a nice pop off the string bed considering how control forward the string is. But after a few hours the string really changed and all that was gone.
Poly Tour Strike – What I Hated
The settling in of this string was terrible. That’s always been a big issue with polyester strings (lack of consistency) but this one was very noticeable and extreme in the wrong direction. It also puts more strain on the arm (another issue with early polyester strings) than I’m used to but the packaging and description of the string warns you off it’s hard response. Otherwise it’s another fine polyester if you’re willing to restring frequently.
Value
Not great. This string is not exceptional and based on how fast it falls off playability wise it’s a tough sell. I actually think Polytour Pro is a better value because you’ll get better long term performance out of that string.
Who this string IS for
Players that like the firmer polyesters without arm issues that can afford to restring every few hours after the initial honeymoon phase ends. I enjoyed the way it felt and played initially but it still wasn’t anything that really blew me away.
Who this string is NOT for
This string is pretty rough on the arm so if you are going to use it make sure you know what you are getting into. It’s the sort of string that’s more catered to players in the 16-30 age that are taking real big cuts at the ball. This string wouldn’t really be suitable in a full bed for anyone else.
Final Verdict
It’s not a string I would play with again. Like so many polyester strings it’s fine and performs fairly predictably but the relative hard response on the arm coupled with the lack of enjoyable play time it’s a pass for me.