Prince Diablo Prism 17 Gauge String Review

Power - Score: 38 / Control - Score: 90

With its firm feel and low-powered response, Diablo Prism is one of the better control strings our team has tested. Although it lacks the "free power" preferred by beginners and players with shorter strokes, it enabled Chris to execute his long, fast strokes to great effect. He explained, "Diablo Prism doesn't have a whole lot of power, and that makes it my kind of string! I loved the level of control this string added to my powerful Tecnifibre TFlash 300 PS racquet. I was able to take big cuts at the ball without fear of over hitting. Strung at 48 pounds, Diablo Prism gave me ample power to help put shots away, while the emphasis was still primarily on control. My serves had solid pace, and I was still able to find my targets with good consistency. I had lots of confidence with this string and found the power level to be trustworthy even when playing aggressively."

"This was definitely a low-powered string, which is what I love," said Michelle, who also got a lot of confidence from this co-poly. "It provided great control off the ground, which made it easier for me to attack the ball and add my own power. I strung it in my racquet of choice, the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph, as well as the powerful Babolat Pure Drive Roddick Plus. In the more powerful racquet, I could crank up the tension and rein in some of the excess power without any comfort issues. In my RF97, Diablo Prism played wonderfully and was almost a perfect blend of all the things I need out of a string: enough control to keep my balls from flying but still enough give in the string to hit big and put balls away. It felt on par with my string of choice, Solinco Hyper-G."

Spin - Score: 85

Although Diablo Prism lacks the sharp bite of a shaped poly, it was designed to offer good pocketing and snapback, two features that definitely help generate spin. Diablo Prism also has a low power level, which enables the explosive stoke speed that is so crucial to spin. This helps explain why Michelle found spin so easy to generate with this string. She described, "Diablo Prism provided more than enough spin for my game. Although not a huge factor in how I play, I always like having the option to add some good movement to the ball, especially off returns and when I'm trying to dip the ball cross court. Also, I do look for some good movement on my second serves, and I could really get the ball jumping off my kick serves with this string. It seemed to be pretty comparable to other spin-friendly polyesters, like Babolat RPM Blast or even Hyper-G."

"I found a very solid level of spin with this string," said Chris, who gave this string high marks for in this category. "Diablo Prism may lack the bite of RPM Blast, but I still found plenty of spin. I also felt very in control of the spin I was getting and was never surprised by how my shots left the racquet. I was able to judge the depth of lobs and angles well. I liked how much I could trust the amount of spin I could generate because that allowed me to hit aggressively and remain consistent."

Comfort - Score: 53

Diablo Prism is not designed to offer the soft, comfortable response of a multifilament or natural gut string. Having said that, neither of our players reported excessive impact shock on off-center hits, and Diablo Prism's high level of control enabled Chris to install it at a lower, more comfortable tension without compromising the response. He explained, "Diablo Prism is a firm string. However, I strung it low and thought it offered some nice pocketing when down in the 48-pound range. I did not have any comfort issues, but then again, I prefer stiffer strings. Diablo Prism felt more forgiving than Prince Twisted (the original two-tone string). I found the comfort to be on a similar level to that of Babolat RPM Blast, which for me puts it on the firmer side of poly-based strings."

Given her penchant for firm strings, Michelle had zero issues with this string's comfort level. She said, "This is not going to be a soft, mushy poly. It is on the firmer side, in my opinion. But again, that is what I gravitate toward and what I like when I string. That being said, I didn't have any issues with discomfort through the playtest. I had the chance to hit with these strings right off the stringer on two occasions, and they felt very firm in those initial hits, but never uncomfortable. The strings maintained their playability, but they softened up after those initial hits."

Feel - Score: 79

Our team gave Diablo Prism an impressive score for feel. This string delivered a firm, controlled and connected feel without ever getting overly stiff or brassy on slower strokes and off-center contact. Michelle appreciated that Diablo Prism didn't put a lot of fancy technologies between her and the ball. She explained, "Diablo Prism feels low powered and firm. It was a bit on the dead side, but I prefer that over strings that are too elastic and powerful. There's nothing too crazy going on with Diablo Prism, aside from the fun colors. I always joke about how I like the 'basic' polys that add control to my game but don't have anything too crazy in terms of fancy, new technologies. I would say this string fits in that category in the best way possible. It's a no-frills poly that does exactly what it's meant to do! Plus, it looks awesome on the court!"

Chris also appreciated this string's feel. He said, "Diablo Prism felt firm, but also somewhat muted. I think that combination made the string play more comfortably than I expected. I still felt very connected to my shots. Judging depth and direction was easy thanks to the predictable response of the string. I was able to get lots of control and spin on all of my shots with this string, and I felt very comfortable with it in my racquets."

Playability Duration - Score: 75

As with every string we've playtested, Diablo Prism lost tension over time. Thankfully, for Chris, the tension loss didn't compromise the playing characteristics during the two-week playtest. He described, "I found that Diablo Prism lasted well. It felt like there was a big initial dropoff in tension after the first hit, and then the string settled in and lasted well. I was able to get about six one-hour hitting sessions on the string spread over two weeks with it still feeling pretty good. I was still able to find ample spin and control at the end of the test, and that's not always the case with poly-based strings."

"I found the playability to be about average for a poly of this type," said Michelle. "It held tension well for the first few weeks. In my RF97, I really didn't notice a drop in playability. In the more powerful Pure Drive Roddick Plus, I did note that the strings felt looser as the playtest went on, and I wanted to restring after about two and a half weeks of solid use. The strings just became a bit springy, and that didn't work well with the more powerful racquet. I didn't notice that at all with the RF97, though."

Overall - Score: 87