In 1997, Brazilian player, Gustavo Kuerten changed the game of tennis when he won the French Open using a revolutionary (pun intended) string: polyester. That is the material it’s made of. Prior to 1997, strings were either made of: Natural gut, nylon or kevlar.

What did it do? Well, it allowed him to spin the ball more than any other player. He was hitting passing shots on Sampras at the net with ease. Many wondered if it was the end of the “serve and volley” way of playing tennis. Needless to say, the sport hasn’t looked back and it ushered the era of modern tennis. Rafa Nadal is the poster child of this new way of playing with the new strings. Topspin. Lots of topspin. However there is a drawback to this miracle advancement in tech: your joints.

Not to fear, there is a way to make poly more comfortable. Many players will cross poly with natural gut. Natural gut is made of cow intestines and is stretchy, soft and an excellent way of softening up the stringbed. You’ll see it strung in the mains or crosses but I personally don’t like putting natural gut in the crosses because it starts to fray VERY quickly.

Thats where PEEK comes to the rescue. It has the softness and stretch of natural gut but because it is also a smooth monofilament (like poly), it allows those main strings to spin the ball with ease. I’ve had many high level players utilize this hybrid when they don’t want to sacrifice the performance of a poly but need for comfort for their joints.

But wait, I thought you had something against polyester strings?! I actually do not. But that doesn’t mean I would never recommend it. I just don’t think it’s useful to 95% of recreational players. Mostly because: (1) it doesn’t last (it may be durable but it loses tension so quickly and it goes “dead) and (2) it doesn’t have any forgiveness when you hit outside of the sweet spot (because it’s super super stiff). But if you want a taste of what it’s like to use the same string setup as some, possibly many, of your favorite professional tennis players, then why not?! Just know the limitations of the strings and re-string OFTEN!

• ALU power dies quickly (2-8hours of play)
• string same tension as your normal poly setup
• I will not string this in a kids racquet
• only suitable for high level players (4.5+)