Grapplesnake Tour Sniper Review

by Jonas Eriksson

I’ve tested two Grapplesnake strings thoroughly and enjoyed both. I published my Grapplesnake Tour Sniper review on YouTube a while back.

My Grapplesnake Tour Sniper Review impressed me with excellent control, decent spin potential and good feel for a medium-firm polyester string. I always like to point out that although polyester strings are the most popular on tour and among club players by some margin, it’s not the choice for everyone. Players who are relatively new to the game or playing on a slightly lower level (up to NTRP 3.5) and are not hitting hard or with a lot of spin, are absolutely fine to use a multifilament or gut string. You get more power and more comfort with a multifilament/syn gut, while you get more control and spin potential with a polyester string.

Grapplesnake Tour Sniper

I have talked to the guys at Grapplesnake and I must say that their passion for strings and tennis in general shines through. It also shows in the products they produce. I have not tried all their strings, but the ones I’ve tried show some excellent potential. I’m now keen to test more strings in their range. This is what they say about Tour Sniper:

Tour Sniper has been engineered with a known formula in mind. With similar playing characteristics as Luxilon Alu Power, Solinco Tour Bite, and Kirschbaum Max Power, we decided to create a string that was softer, with more control, and pentagonal in shape.

Low-powered, Tour Sniper provides ultimate levels of control. It is ideal for players that enjoy this particular feel, but are not happy with how firm it normally is. It comes partially pre-streched to also minimize the significant initial tension loss normally associated with this family of strings.

Tour Sniper is ideal for heavy-hitters. Its edges are less sharp than our square offerings such as Cube, and launch angles are less dramatic. Very “silky”, it is extremely easy to string.

My review

Grapplesnake Tour Sniper comes in 1.25 gauge and grey color. It instantly reminded me of Alu Power, but with a bit more bite and grab on the ball. I felt like I could hit freely with confidence and the ball would dip in. It’s definitely a control string, but I had no issue with string stiffness. I would still not play with a poly if I have arm concerns, but a string like Tour Sniper will likely not create new issues if you don’t have any.

Thanks to being pre-stretched, I did not notice that drastic initial tension loss. And like they mention in their marketing text, stringing was not problem as the string feels smooth to the touch despite the pentagonal shape.

I tried the string in my Wilson Six One 95 and the Tecnifibre TF40 305 16×19 and enjoyed in both racquets. It held tension well even in the more open string bed of the TF40 16×19 and it wasn’t too stiff for the 18×20 pattern of the 6.1 95.

A very solid control string that’s worth a go if you’re in the hunt for one.

You can buy Grapplesnake strings here.

 

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1 comment

Jesse Ross April 29, 2024 - 13:10

After hundreds of pounds – if not a thousand – spent I can say tour sniper is my end game poly. Use it in Wilson shift pro at 55lbs. I enjoy it most when it has dropped to 52.

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