Volkl V-Fuse Hybrid String Review

Control - Score: 83 / Power - Score: 87

According to our playtesters, V-Fuse Hybrid provided a stellar balance of power and control, but only after they dialed-in the tension. Brittany explained, "With the V-Icon Natural Gut in the mains and Volkl Cyclone in the crosses, I was able to tap into the lively feel of the natural gut while still maintaining the control and precision from the Cyclone co-poly. With my Yonex EZONE 100 300, there are times when I am looking for just a little more free power, especially when I’m in a defensive position. The natural gut mains provided that little extra boost, which allowed my shots to land deep in the court without flying long on me. I upped my tension three pounds from my usual 52 pounds with a full bed of co-poly. This allowed me to rein in the little bit of added power. Overall, I felt extremely confident when playing with this string. The stringbed offered a consistent response, and I knew exactly what I was getting out of it."

Troy also adjusted his tension to get the most from V-Fuse. He said, "There was definitely a more powerful and lively feel with this V-Fuse Hybrid compared to my usual full bed of co-poly. I noticed a lively response when taking a big rip on my groundstrokes. Initially, my shots tended to fly a little long. When I re-strung my racquet I bumped up the tension by a couple of pounds and made a bit of an adjustment with my targeting. I then started to appreciate the boost in power and easy depth. When I hit flat serves the ball felt like it was rocketing out of the stringbed with a lot of pace. On volleys, I was very appreciative of the lively feel that this hybrid gave me. It seemed much easier to get the ball to land deep in the court."

Spin - Score: 82

Our playtesters were content with the amount of spin they were able to generate with V-Fuse Hybrid. Although Brittany tends to hit with a flatter trajectory on her groundstrokes and Troy tends to generate more topspin, they were pretty much on the same page when it came to the spin potential of this hybrid. Brittany said, "I don't necessarily look for strings that offer high spin potential, but I always appreciate when I get a little extra spin. I wouldn't say this hybrid offered anything special in this category, but I was still able to get the spin I needed out of it. There was good snapback, and I never felt like the mains were out of position. I only wished for a little more spin when I was hitting short angled backhands. I wasn't quite getting the amount of spin that I get with a full bed of Volkl Cyclone, which made it more difficult to get the ball to dip down in the court on those short angles that I like to use."

Spin plays a major part in Troy's game. He described, "With V-Icon Natural Gut in the mains and Cyclone in the crosses, spin potential was better than just about any hybrid that I have tried. The main string snapback seemed good, and the natural gut is very elastic, which allows it to move freely when paired with the co-poly in the crosses. The only downside is that I didn't quite get the ball bite that I typically find from a full bed of shaped co-poly. My go-to strings, such as Solinco Hyper-G or Volkl Cyclone, provide me more grip on the ball, which results in easier lift on my groundstrokes, or what we refer to as a higher launch angle."

Comfort - Score: 89 / Feel - Score: 91

Both Brittany and Troy use a full bed of Volkl Cyclone on a regular basis and have become accustomed to its feel over the years. With the addition of the V-Icon Natural Gut in the mains, the playtesters were loving the feel and comfort of V-Fuse Hybrid. Troy said, "When it comes to comfort and feel, there is no comparing V-Fuse to my usual co-poly setup. This V-Fuse Hybrid blows it out of the water in terms of touch, feel and comfort. You could argue that there are some soft and relatively comfortable co-polys nowadays, but the feel and ball-pocketing are much better with V-Fuse than with any full bed of co-poly that I have tried. When hitting drop shots, volleys and finesse shots, the level of feel was superb. There was a very connected feel to the ball, and the pocketing allowed the ball to sink into the stringbed more than it does with a full bed of poly, which provided me more touch. The comfort was still great even when I increased the tension 6 to 8 pounds tighter than my usual tension with Solinco Hyper-G. With the V-Icon Natural Gut in the mains, the shock absorption is unmatched by most string setups I have tried."

Because Brittany's string of choice makes up half of this V-Fuse Hybrid, the feel was very much in her wheelhouse. She said, "I like the feel of Volkl Cyclone so much that it's my string of choice. I was still able to get the feel of Cyclone with this hybrid, and it blended perfectly with the natural gut. I would describe it as a livelier, much plusher version of Cyclone. This V-Fuse Hybrid was extremely comfortable, and I never once experienced any unwanted vibrations. I think I could increase the tension several more pounds and still find a very arm-friendly response."

Playability Duration - Score: 87

V-Fuse Hybrid is half natural gut, which is known to offer some of the best tension maintenance and playability duration. Brittany found this hybrid to have a better than average lifespan. She explained, "It is safe to say I was impressed with the playability duration of the V-Fuse Hybrid. V-Fuse held up better than most multi-poly hybrids that I have used in the past. I have 10-plus hours on court, and I am just starting to see a tiny bit of wear on the V-Icon Natural Gut. I definitely have some time left with this hybrid, and I'm going to be really sad when it goes."

Troy was also impressed with the playability duration, but as with most strings, it became a little lively after a couple of weeks. He noted, "I found the tension maintenance to be good. There was some gradual tension loss throughout the playtest, as with just about every string, but it was much better than any full bed of poly, synthetic gut or multifilament mixed with a poly. I was surprised how well this hybrid performed, even at 8 pounds tighter than my usual tension. The only downside was that around the 15 hour mark the tension dropped a bit and started to feel too lively on big swings. There were times I felt like the strings were adding a little too much juice to my shots, and the ball was flying just a bit as a result."

Overall - Score: 89