String hybrids

String hybrids are becoming increasingly popular on the pro tours, but also among club level players. Have you tried a hybrid?

String hybrids are when you string the mains and the crosses with different strings. The idea is to achieve an ideal blend of power, spin, comfort, control, and feel. 

Since combinations are seemingly endless, this can get confusing and no exact science exists around the topic. However, I have learned a few things over the years testing various string hybrids and will delve into some of that in the post below.

If you want to get a custom string hybrid for your game, you can check out the Toroline Omakase program, which we had a small hand in developing. You can read more about it in this article.

Natural gut hybrids

Let’s start with the most common string hybrid on the top level, the gut and polyester hybrid.

Polyester strings changed the game in 1997 when Guga Kuerten used Luxilon Big Banger in his HEAD Pro Tour 630 and got impressive levels of spin on his shots. Besides his immense natural ability and talent, the string arguably helped him win the French Open.

The downside of polyester strings is that they are firm and drop tension quickly. There are obviously lots of different types of polyesters, so-called monofilament strings, but overall, that is the common characteristic. Check out our recommended strings here.

Many top tennis players like to combine natural gut and polyester string to reduce some of the stiffness of the polyester and improve the feel. This combination also adds some control and spin, which you won’t get from a full bed of natural gut.

Players who do this are numerous, if we just look at the absolute top, we have Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. You get more power and comfort if you put the gut in the mains, like Djokovic. If you put the poly in the mains, you get a bit of control and spin potential, (Murray used to do that until last year). The mains are the main ingredient.

But even from the current top ten, only Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud are not using a half set of natural gut.

Hybrids on the WTA Tour

Natural gut hybrids are also present on the women’s side, but not as common as in men’s tennis. Perhaps because women tend to hit flatter and enjoy the slightly higher launch angle you get from a full bed of polyester.

If you haven’t tried a gut hybrid, you are missing out. The combination of feel, control and sound you get is hard to beat. But it comes at a cost, as natural gut is still the most expensive string by a long shot. However, you get rewarded with fantastic tension maintenance and feel.

Poly poly hybrids

Gut poly hybrids are very popular and will remain so for years to come. But, there is another type of hybrid on the rise. We have seen high-ranking players like Casper Ruud and Ben Shelton (he seems to have gone to a full bed of Poly Tour Pro recently), to name two, hybrid two different polyester strings. The idea is the same as with natural gut hybrids, to get a good balance of power, spin, control, and feel.

Lorenzo Musetti uses a hybrid of HEAD Hawk Touch in the mains and HEAD Lynx Tour in the crosses, for example.

Manufacturers have experimented with offering prepackaged hybrid sets. Most recently, Solinco offered a Hyper-G hybrid of Hyper-G Round paired with regular Hyper-G. The rounder string will help the string bed move more and snap back into place. 

You can of course hybrid two shaped strings, but there is a high likelihood of the strings locking together and you miss out on the snapback that you will get from the string moving and snapping back into place. You can see this with Casper Ruuds setup, where he uses the round Poly Tour Pro in the mains and the shaped Poly Tour Spin in the crosses.

The combinations with poly/poly hybrids are endless, but in my experience I think a slippery round string in the crosses paired with a shaped string in the mains works best to optimize snapback and spin potential.

I am sure we will see more poly poly hybrids on the market in the coming years. Toroline has managed to repopularize it among club players with combinations like their K-Pro string hybrid as used by YouTuber and pro player Karue Sell.

We will see if the trend continues. If you have tried a good poly/poly hybrid, please share your setup in the comments below.