RPM Power Vs Blast

Aloha Philip,

Sorry, it’s not Tim and I don’t have those numbers you requested, but thought I could give you some input regarding RPM Blast and RPM Power.

From what I’ve heard and read, RPM Power does have more pop and is softer. It’s also comparable to Luxilon Element. It’s a round polyester, but does tend to notch more easily than RPM Blast.

However, I’ve heard good things about RPM Soft, which may be a good option for your customers you mentioned. I don’t know if this may be the case for you, but there are players that really shouldn’t be playing with a full bed of polyester.

Here’s a write-up on RPM Soft:

Unlike a stiff polyester monofilament, this string is constructed with a uniquely flexible polyamide core, giving it the most arm-friendly response in the RPM line. To help with durability, RPM Soft is built with two co-polyamide outer layers – one of which is reinforced with aramid powder and the other treated with silicone. Ultimately, as the softest and most comfortable member of the RPM family, this is a great option for players who want a more arm-friendly control string. 

Check out this video by Babolat featuring the RPM Soft HERE.

I hope this helps!

Albert

Philip:
I haven’t gotten to use or test it, but I have strung quite a lot of it at the NCAA Division 1 and World Team Tennis. It seems softer than regular RPM, for sure, and stretches more under tension. Also, it’s a real pain to string and straighten.

Hi Philip

Sorry I’m a little late to the party on this one. Matt’s first hand experience of working with the string and Albert’s info certainly gives a little insight into the string. What I’d like to add is something from a different perspective since we’ve not tested the string here at IART.

Albert points out that it’s comparable to Luxilon Element and Babolat states that it’s the most comfortable string in the RPM line. We have elongation data on the Element string but unfortunately, it looks like we’ve never tested any of the RPM. The Element 1,25mm measured 4.54 and the 1,30mm was 4.37, still a stiff string by any measure when you consider that the softest string we’ve tested is the Ashaway MonoGut 16 at 15.64–that’s a HUGE difference! Babolat makes the following statement per Albert:

“RPM Soft is built with two co-polyamide outer layers – one of which is reinforced with aramid powder and the other treated with silicone.”

Aramid fibers are heat resistant and extremely strong and it appears that Babolat is using this in powder form to enhance the durability of the string. When I hear anything dealing with aramid I aways think of the Ashaway braided Kevlar string. It’s soft to the touch and very pliable when you handle it. However, you’ll have a tough time breaking it in the racquet and when it loses tension it gets pretty sloppy. Using aramid powder to strengthen the outer core of a string makes perfect sense to me and then, by adding silicone, it would appear they’re trying to increase the strings ability to snap back more effectively during play.

I would think that this would be a reasonable option to try for someone who is currently using RPM. It’s going to come down to how they actually feel during play as to whether or not it’s that much different than the RPM they’ve been playing with.