Luxilon strings are well known as some of the best, if not the best polyester strings available to tennis players today. Luxilon is the most popular brand of polyester strings on the ATP tour, as 70 percent of the pros on tour use them. Luxilon Big Banger is probably one of the company’s most popular strings, and a set normally runs around $16 or $17. Many recreational players find this string expensive as they can get synthetic strings for much cheaper. A new offering from Luxilon is now affordable for the masses. This new string is Luxilon Adrenaline and it is available from many retailers for around $10.
During the last few weeks I have had the chance to put Luxilon Adrenaline 16g to the test. I was able to playtest the string in several different setups. First I strung it up as a hybrid at 60lbs with the Luxilon in the mains and Wilson Synthetic Gut in the crosses. After I playtested the string with this setup, I was able to string up my racquet with all Adrenaline at 56lbs.
After playing with the Adrenaline hybrid, I found that the string was an enjoyable hit from all areas of the court. I found that I was getting good spin on the ball from the baseline and on serves. I have definitely played with hybrid setups where I was getting more spin on the ball, but overall I was impressed with the spin potential of this string. As I moved to the net I found nice feel on volleys and touch shots. Just like Big Banger and other Luxilon strings, I found Adrenaline to offer good control from all areas of the court. The Adrenaline has a crisp/firm feel to it, but when strung as a hybrid it was fairly easy on the arm so it didn’t feel as harsh.
Hitting with Adrenaline in a hybrid was enjoyable but I felt it really reached its potential for me when strung as full poly in my racquet. I immediately found even more control over the ball from the baseline. I was able to hit out much more than with the hybrid, without fear of hitting long. I also found much more spin potential from the full poly setup. I was able to get good pop on the ball from the baseline and on serve, as I felt I could really unleash fast swings with this string. Around the net I felt very confident with this string. I was able to really punch the ball deep with no problems. Touch shots didn’t have as good a feel as the hybrid, but that is one of the tradeoffs that comes with stringing a racquet with all poly. The serve was the shot that really stood out for me with the full poly setup. I was getting tremendous spin off my serve when hitting topspin and slice. I would hit the ball well above the net thinking it would go long, and then the ball would seemingly drop from the sky right into the box and kick up above my opponents shoulders. I felt I was getting some of the best spin I have had on serves in a long time. My opponent said I almost knocked the racquet out of his hand on a few of my first serves.
Overall I was really impressed with the Adrenaline string, especially because of its price. I felt like it outplayed many other polys I have tried in the same price range or that were even a bit more expensive. The string had a crisper/firmer feeling to it and I found it a little harsher than Big Banger, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I think anyone who is a big hitter from the baseline would really enjoy playing with this string, as it is an affordable polyester with all the quality you would expect from Luxilon.
