Yonex POLYTOUR REV String Review

Control - Score: 88 / Power - Score: 60

Like the majority of co-polyester monofilaments we've playtested, POLYTOUR REV is a firm and low-powered control string. In other words, it was perfect for Chris, who has been using stiff polyester strings for a long time. He said, "POLYTOUR REV offers lots of control. I like firm, control-oriented polys, so I felt right at home with this string in my racquet. I liked how I could take a full cut at the ball and not have to worry about my shots flying long. I hit POLYTOUR REV in several racquets, but primarily in the Yonex VCORE 95 and my Tecnifibre TF40 305. For every racquet I hit with this string, the emphasis was always on control and the response was always consistent."

To swing big and execute her power game, Michelle requires a high level of control from her strings. Needless to say, she appreciated POLYTOUR REV's controlled response. She said, "This string is definitely more control oriented, which is exactly what I need for attacking the ball and playing aggressive tennis. I found it to be firm, but also a bit muted, which helped with comfort. I played with it in several racquets at several tensions, and it always offered loads of control, which allowed me to hit out with confidence."

Spin - Score: 85

POLYTOUR REV was clearly built for spin. In addition to its shaped profile and silicone-infused construction, it has a low-powered and predictable response, making it easier for our playtesters to achieve the explosive stroke speed required for effective spin. Even our resident flat-ball hitter, Michelle, got loads of spin from this string. She said, "I found great spin potential from POLYTOUR REV. I wouldn't say it had the most bite compared to some other strings with fewer sides, but it worked just fine for what I demand in a string. I had fun mixing up the height of my shots, and the spin helped keep balls in play and within the baseline."

For Chris, POLYTOUR REV proved very spin-friendly. He explained, "I was able to get plenty of spin when hitting with POLYTOUR REV. I got decent bite on the ball, and the controlled response allowed me to use a lot of racquet head speed and turn that into lots of spin. My topspin angles were dipping nicely inside the lines, and I felt like I had good feel for the amount of spin I was generating. I also had good success driving my slice backhand with this string. I got enough grip on the ball to hit an aggressive slice that stayed within the lines and skidded low off the bounce."

Comfort - Score: 74 / Feel - Score: 79

Our playtesters found POLYTOUR REV to have sufficient comfort considering its firm construction. They also found it to feel fairly muted, which helped to minimize harsh vibrations. Although Chris tends to prefer a crisper feel with more direct feedback, he had no problem measuring his shots with this co-poly. He said, "I found POLYTOUR REV to offer a somewhat muted response. I thought it softened the edge of the string's stiffness and added some comfort without taking away all of the feel. I felt connected enough to know where my shots were going, and even though this string is not as crisp as a string like POLYTOUR STRIKE, I still felt very confident on my touch shots thanks to the high level of control."

Like Chris, Michelle also thought this string was on the comfortable end of the stiffness spectrum. She added, "As far as Yonex strings go, I'm most familiar with POLYTOUR PRO, and I found this REV string to feel and play firmer than POLYTOUR PRO. It did feel muted at contact, which helped it feel comfortable and dissipated any harsh shock. It did not feel as firm as some of the other control-oriented strings, like Hyper-G, but it felt pretty on par with Luxilon ALU Power."

Playability Duration - Score: 74

There is no denying it — all strings lose tension and playability over time, especially co-polys like POLYTOUR REV. As a result, most co-polys have to be cut out before they snap. That said, POLYTOUR REV posted an above-average score for tension maintenance in our Tennis Warehouse University String Lab. It also held up quite well for Michelle. She described, "I had this string in many of my racquets, and I think it had above-average playability duration. It seemed like the string held tension well and played consistently through the playtest in all the racquets I was using. I also appreciated that it never felt mushy, even when strung at lower tensions."

"After about three weeks of hitting (around 10 to 13 hours on court), I was ready for a fresh set of POLYTOUR REV," said Chris. "Once the tension dropped, I found this string to get a little flighty, and my shots would fly long. I found the string to last best in my TF40 305. Its dense 18x20 string pattern retained more control over time compared to some of the open-patterned racquets I used to test POLYTOUR REV. I was impressed with how the surface resisted scuffing and notching, allowing the strings to still snap back."

Overall - Score: 83