'Frying pan' ie semi western grip for forehand and backhand, only recommended for advance level players, this style, your strings will not last,no matter what string you use, since you are hitting the ball with the same racket face.

I was a continental grip user for the backhand, in my junior days, I can tell you its a GREAT grip, you can really take balls on the rise with grip, its especially excellent for balls that are waist high and lower, anything above ,and you have to have excellent timing to achieve decent results.

The loose wrist is a result of a relaxed followthrough and NOT the point of contact, your wrist has to FIRM. Also what exactly did you see the uncle do? Did his backhand cross the net high? If it did, naturally the ball bounce would bounce high as well, very rare does a ball cross the net a few inches and then bounce 3-4 feet high, unless you hit with a closed racket face and over top the ball, this is only used when trying to pass a volleyer, very low percentage shot when rallying.

Footwork is important on all strokes.

Ehhhh your backhand single or double leh....
now that you have elaborated abit more, the take back of the racket isn't that important , work with what makes you comfortable, I have a simple low to high take back so for me, I can hit backhands all day, infact my backhand is my strongest shot in my arsenal, though my forehand isn't any slouch either, people generally attack 'backhand' side as they assume its normally your weaker shot, go figure....

Depends on what hybrid stringing you do.... its all a matter of preference.

Most people hybrid coz they want to get the best of both worlds, ie durability and feel.
But what most people forget is the gauge, sometimes when we try hybridization , take for example say we put blackcode as a main , but we forget its 18G , as a cross we put in a synthetic gut 16G , well to be honest that combo suxs, its like mixing rocky road ice cream with lime sorbet...... unless you are very eccentric I doubt that combo will cater to your taste.


In general a stiff string as a main kevlar/poly allows you to hit with more spin/bite, opposed as gut /multifilament as a main this will provide more feel.

If the stringer recommended stringing same string with different tensions, I suspect they did a two piece job, ie same string cut into 2 and strung that way, its easier to string but tension drops more rapidly than a single string job.

Where as a single string job takes more longer and is more tedious to do, but tension will not drop as rapidly as a 2 piece job.

I have been told the reason why stringers string a higher main than cross, as this inhibits the main from moving.

:-p just dont tell everyone~!~

Yhaa I have this was the most expensive racket at one time, a whopping 800SGD I think when I was playing, it played quite stiff, many preferred the Graphite over the Boron but I suspect price was the factor.....

Definitely a keeper! Great racket for collection, may I ask how much did you/ your friend pay for this gem?

Boss if you are getting Big Ace PM me pricing, for both individual set and reel, may want to hybrid this with Blackcode and Zo-Twist.
>:-(
Dun firestone me leh, my Ferrari (not actually Ferrari,just same color scheme) just set for repairs.......cost me a BOMB to repair......

Add lead tape 3 and 9 o' clock first. Dont restring. KL got sell lead tape or not? If not I can cut and send you some for free, shipped by pos malaysia (normal mail).

Send me the EXO3! I will customize for you!!!

I can't believe its too heavy, static weight? Or when you swing?
More details please!

Have tried natural gut in the early 90's Bowbrand follow Ivan Lendl, natural gut is the ULTIMATE feeling, playability, retaining tension, but the strings frays easily, and though string is frayed, the tension still hold true to form, if in this lifetime you want to try natural gut, try at a higher tension, COZ Natural gut is DAMN friggin powerful..... if you use on a Babolat racket, powerful racket + powerful string= popeye tennis player.

I would recommend FULL set up, hybrid means your cross's (other string and NOT Natural gut) may cut into the natural gut, eg: You put Natural mains, and Blackcode as a cross, since BC is slightly pentagon shape, it will bite into your mains, hence shortening the span of life of your natural gut.

I am no sifu lah, Ben has a opinion and he is entitled to it, I certainly can understand his viewpoint.
If you hybrid, just use a normal synthetic gut or multi , you can go poly provided they don't have any special shape, if they are 'round' feel free to use poly.

Stringers will always recommend you 'hybrid' thats to save you money, but hehehehe if money is no object you owe to yourself to try FULL gut at least once in your lifetime.

There is a reason why no company in the world can replicate natural gut.

zdepth is totally correct on proper form required to string natural gut.If you gut broke ANYWHERE near the racket frame, its the fault of the stringer, if it broke smack down in the middle of the racket and the STRING is NOT frayed before hand, 50% stringer, 50% string.Why? If you recall when you buy a string its in a packet and coiled up in a nice circle for you, IF you( d stringer) does not uncoil the string properly it retains some coil memory and when you string the racket you naturally weave your cross's, by pulling them through the mains, you still have to get rid of the coil memory and your string has to be pre-stretched for optimal playability.

Natural gut are only people who hit predominately flat, strings hardly move if you hit flat,people that have arm/shoulder problems, natural gut does not lose tension that much maybe 1-2lbs, I know some people who have had Natural gut for a year and it still plays fine, ie like freshly strung.You know why pro's these days don't use natural gut, coz 1) the rackets these days are extremely powerful, you need a string that provides extreme control hence the thats how Luxilon become popular.Can any of you recall pro's in the 80-90's all using Natural gut, why, because their rackets were all about control, they just used gut as it was powerful.Ever wonder why Sampras was using Babolat VS 19G at 72lbs, his racket did the talking....