I’ve been searching for the perfect string now that I’ve settled on a racquet (more racquet reviews to come shortly anyway) and it’s for sure an interesting journey with a lot of high quality polys out there. One of them is MSV Focus-Hex Ultra.
The MSV Focus-Hex Ultra
is a white, co-poly hexagonal string which is supposed to give you a “comfortably firm feel, explosive power, reduced string movement and long lasting tension maintenance with maximum durability”. This is what it says on the box. And I’m happy to report that the box doesn’t line.
I usually prefer rather dead poly’s but the explosiveness of the MSV Focus-Hex Ultra can be quite intoxicating. You really feel the string grip the ball and catapult it towards your opponent with power and spin. The first hours with the string I was a bit hesitant because it felt more powerful than what I’m used to, but once I had settled with it and added some more spin to my swing it felt great.
It really does do what it says: it’s firm but comfortable and offers good power and spin. So if you have full strokes and are looking for those characteristics in a poly string, I really recommend to take it our for a swing. As an added bonus it’s quite inexpensive at around 75 EUR or 90 USD for a whole 200 meter reel!
It’s definitely a string I could see myself switch and I did enjoy it in a thinner gauge (1.20 mm) than what I usually gravitate towards (1.25 mm). The thinner profile will make the string slightly softer, but of course a little less durable.
I think for players that keep changing racquets, it can be a little easier to try to find the right string and tension for your stick. It’s cheaper, faster and does make a big difference on the playability of your racquet.
The MSV Focus-Hex Ultra was easy to string and lasts about the same time as a standard poly. Tension loss was pretty minimal, but if you want to be able to play a string until it breaks, I’d suggest natural gut. It costs more, but the tension loss is minimal and depending on your playing style it can last long enough to be a better option than a normally rather stiff poly string.
Good job, MSV. Another great poly string on the market making the choice even more difficult.
Below is the video review including footage from a recent tennis match using the string.
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6 comments
Hello, maybe a little off topic,but what is the racquet you settled?
Thanks, great reading you
Hi Gustavo,
I decided I’ll stick to the HEAD Liquidmetal Radical Tour and now have seven of them. Next item on the agenda is to find the best possible string setup.
Regards / Jonas
Hey, whats the stringtension you use for your setup? How long did it last for you until you have to cut it out? Are you using a ERT 300 or something?
Thanks :)
Hi Robert,
I usually do 23-24 kg for my racquets when stringing full poly. No, don’t have a stringing machine here at the moment, but plenty of people to string for me :)
Cheers / Jonas
Hi
I’ve been using the former MSV Focus Hex 1.23 strings for some years now, did you ever test this ones too ?
I would like to have an idea about the differences, since my reel is ending now.
The ups on the old Focus Hex were also the tension maintenance and durability, and great value for money, but I wouldn’t call them explosive strings – in fact, at least with the 1.23 gauge, I would say they were more control oriented strings than power strings, like the RPM Blast from Babolat.
Keep up the good work, I come here from time to time, I’m a racquetholic too (more on the classic graphite department, but still..), and I always like to read some input from playtesters, specially on the pro stock department – I only hand one pro stock racquet, it was a Dunlop Aerogel 4D 300 Tour, and I never got dialled with it.
Regards
Antonio
Hi,
Thanks for reading my blog! In my opinion the Focus Hex Ultra is an improvement over the Focus Hex. I think it’s softer and more powerful with pretty good durability. Worth at try though before you buy a reel.
The Dunlop Aerogel 4D 300 Tour pro stock is a nice racquet, but quite flexible and hence not everyone’s cup of tea. I remember selling three of them to a friend and he won’t let them go now.
Cheers / Jonas