ReString Sync Review - Part 1: Expectations are the thief of joy

Timestamps below 👇🏽
This is a more critical review of ReString Sync than the ones I've come across so far, but I must emphasize that this is not a negative review.
I was not expecting Sync to play so similarly to Zero, and I think that took me by surprise. I'm left wondering if there's any purpose to playing it in a full bed.
I know Sync has been compared with Alu Power, but I have only played with it once and it was a long time ago.
I'm not sure my memory can be relied upon here, but Sync did not feel like Alu Power to me. Alu Power has a lot more 'feel', aka vibrations that come through the tennis racket and into your arm.
Also, inevitably someone will ask about a comparison with Toroline strings. I've only hit with K-Pop for 10-15 mins, and I did not like it because it felt muted and plasticky af.
I would place K-Pop and ReString's offerings into the same bucket in the sense that they do provide a lot of snapback (you can feel it while hitting heavy topspin), and are on the muted side. And this means that I wouldn't play with them.
Unfortunately I can't comment on K-Pop's tension maintenance seeing that I only hit with that setup for 10-15 mins.
This brings me to the cliff hanger at the end of the video. There will be a follow-up to this which will focus on exploring hybrid setups with Sync. I'm quite excited for these upcoming videos!
My racket sports and low tension history:
• WHY and HOW I came to ...
ReString Zero Revisited at 35 lbs - A lesson in string stiffness
• ReString Zero Revisite...
ReString Zero X Diadem Evolution:
• Pure consistency and c...
Check out ReString Sync and Zero; these are the pages where I got the screengrabs from for the first bit of the video:
shoprestring.com/pages/restri...
shoprestring.com/pages/zero-1
Check out BOLT rackets:
www.boltadvance.com/
(Not Sponsored)
00:00 Intro
00:28 ReString's own description of their offerings
00:44 What this video is going to focus on
00:55 Sync's excellent control
01:49 Sync's "enhanced" pocketing
03:28 Sync's feel: a little crisper than Zero
04:24 Sync's feel: racket sensitive
05:21 Sync: a round Zero? And who is it for?
06:49 Summary
07:12 Part 2: but what about Sync in a hybrid for us mortals (3.5-4.0)?

[@11sweetspot11]

I thought my friend Kent's review (from the channel Open Court) was also very fair and it complemented mine. I thought his take at the end of the video for who Sync is suited for is pretty good: "For players who like a firm but muted feel and want to wear down their opponent with groundstrokes....pusher or counter puncher type, someone who doesn't hit a lot of passing shots but plays with patience and consistency and waits for their opponents to make mistakes." You can watch it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moWwYqZsgNR_j7c

[@Richibald1]

Already watched it but Kent is stateside. Restring wants $25 shipping within Canada. Did you pay that mercenary shipping fee? There's no store in Vancouver that carries Synch or Zero. When paying 25% more for shipping than string you start questioning any wisdom in buying it. Do you know any shipper that doesn't scalp for Synch like that? Not ready for a spool of Synch yet, just want to try it out first. Good video thanks. Just got 4 Xsama Overgrip but you haven't done a video on the Chinese cloned Xsama X-glue. That was an awesome Davis Cup tennis dome in Kobe, incredible! 👍🎾

[@11sweetspot11]

I was down in the US recently, and I got it shipped to my location down there which is way more cost efficient. Yeah mate, it's robbery. It's always been this way for us Canadians. It's one of the reasons I have decided not to work with ReString (or any other company) at the moment because it doesn't feel like products are totally thought out; distribution is just as important. As you pointed out: who in their right mind is going to pay $25 CAD shipping for one $20 CAD set of Sync? Even in the US ReString charges $5 USD shipping on a $14 USD set of Sync, which is nuts seeing how ubiquitous free shipping is everywhere. I’d really like to see all inclusive pricing upfront, because anything else feels deceptive. Personally, I only care about the final price I have to pay and based on your comment we're not the only ones. So the strategy is to push folks into buying a reel, or multiple sets, or group buying if you're at a club. And I absolutely hate this. Thanks for the views mate, glad you liked the videos on my channel! Hopefully the Xamsa X-GLU grip works out for ya. Btw, what did you mean about the Chinese cloned Xamsa X-GLU? I'm sure I've never mentioned such a thing on my channel. Perhaps you meant the overgrip from Japan I mentioned towards the end of the Xamsa X-GLU video? That video is coming up in 3-5 weeks time, I wanted to make sure I tested it long term before giving my thoughts on it. Bear in mind that the Xamsa X-GLU is a grip, whereas what I mentioned towards the end of the video is an overgrip.

[@dennispadiernos]

Great review! Subscribed.

[@11sweetspot11]

🙏🏽 Thanks mate! A lot more to come so stay tuned!

[@mteca5093]

Your the only on KZbin that say they are close

[@11sweetspot11]

Try it for yourself and see how you feel.

[@rawrss]

Thanks - what's your favourite/go-to for soft & crisp strings?

[@11sweetspot11]

That's a good question; this is exactly what I'm tackling over the next 5 videos. My fav setup for this so far, assuming you play at the 3.5-4.0 level, is YTEX Pro Tour Blue (soft poly) crossed with Gosen OG Sheep Micro (nylon) 😎 I'll have more to say on this in the next 5 videos (trying not to ruin the surprise)! 😄

[@opencourt808]

Nice! We released our Sync reviews on the same day

[@11sweetspot11]

LOL I saw that! Nice review mate, I think it compliments what I had to say in my review! I enjoyed your take at the end about who Sync is for 👍🏽

[@jorgeandrescoppiano.5715]

Sync vs Hawk Touch? 👋🏼

[@11sweetspot11]

Hey mate, I haven't played with Hawk Touch before but I watched reviews of it before replying to your comment. That's an interesting h2h, because they're both and on the muted and control side of things. I don't think I would enjoy this h2h very much lol since I like softer and crisp setups. At the moment I'm much more interested in finding way to unlock playability out of Sync for my preferences by hybriding it (stay tuned!). If I were a betting man, I would say Sync would win hands down because it's snapback would be leagues better than Hawk Touch. If you've hit with these strings, what has your experience been like?

[@jorgeandrescoppiano.5715]

@@11sweetspot11 Thank you for that input! I haven't played with Hawk Touch or Sync yet. But they are on my list. As I would say I can feel the differences in the sensations, thanks to God. So lowish power, great predictability, and plush feel is what I look for. I do see that you get that from low tensions, softness, and crispness. Which also feels great! As we talked on another video of yours... reallyold syn gut. Will write you about it when I play them, God willingly.

[@11sweetspot11]

Based on what you said, I have a racket review coming up that you might be interested in (very shortly, in 1-3 weeks' time) Yes, we've talked about it before, syn gut is a super underrated string. I feel it plays good in almost every racket. Let me know how you feel about Sync and Hawk Touch when you try them. I've tried Sync with syn git (OGSM) and it played really well, although I can see a crisper syn gut like Prince Lightning Pro being really good with Sync too.

[@ryansolomon4178]

Have you tried Grapplesnake Tour M8?

[@11sweetspot11]

Not yet. I have a set though, and I plan on testing it in the next month or so. Folks keep recommending it!

[@ryansolomon4178]

@@11sweetspot11 It's one where apparently having it low tension or high tension is supposed to me awesome.

[@11sweetspot11]

Yeah, I saw a few reviews online that have mirrored what you said. Let's see how it goes, I'll report back with a video 🫡

[@ryansolomon4178]

@@11sweetspot11 great!

[@derekpappas1556]

This is just a cheep way for manufactures to take an existing base and tweak it to put out a new product rather than update your existing product. Later they will return to the base product from what they did to create new products , in order to enhance the base product . A real new product should be done from shared base elements but not allmost all of it .

[@11sweetspot11]

Tbh I'm only hypothesizing that Sync is just Zero but with a different dye in the base polyester mix. This might not be the case. But I completely understand your sentiment. I feel the same way, that products should be adequately differentiated. I would have received Sync less critically if it was presented to me as, for e.g., Zero Feel.

[@derekpappas1556]

@@11sweetspot11 to just change the color baked in would have to have been a strong economic decision to minimize costs . What is preventing anyone from making new polys since the cost to produce Is low compared to how it was when in the earlier years . there probably whould have been a higher bar of entry . If they had to produce it themselves in house or in their own country , I am sure alot more performance and quality would be the result . What seems the case now looking from the outside is that China can easily create an assortment of colors and standardize on certain elements that can be reorganized to create new concoctions . The efforts to create polys is why you see it everywhere and everyone getting into it . Imagine how difficult it would be to design , perfect and manufacture Ashaway's cross fire ZX pro .

[@11sweetspot11]

Finally, someone else aware of Ashaway’s tennis strings! Ya, I hear you mate, hopefully we see a bit more innovation in this space.