Several months ago we tested some small samples of NG natural gut string.  The results were not exciting so the data was not published.

Recently we tested some new versions of NG Strings, the PROV5+, and have some results to post.

First, the packaging is top notch.

Second, the two (2) 12m lengths per set is perfect, in our opinion, since all racquets should be strung using two (2) pieces of string, no one piece or ATW.  There may be a manufacturing component to the 2 piece decision, also.

The “squiggles” we see in the two (2) NG Strings may be the tiny changes in the bonding agent(s) that occurs under load. We have seen this in some early Luxilon gut.  We refer to it as a “break-in period”.  Pre-stretching the entire piece length will reduce the break-in period.

Third, the gauge is much more consistent than previous samples.

This initial post will include stress/strain and ultimate tensile strength plots compared to Babolat VS Touch 17, our most used natural gut.

The first plot is UTS:

Natural Gut UTS

This visual tells the story but if you want the numbers they are at the failure end of each string.  The stress/strain cycle shows the relative “softness” of each string.  The higher the deflection the softer the string, so NG16 is the stiffest of the three and NG 17 is the softest.

We will be adding Knot Strength so check back soon the see how each string reacts to knots!

We will do several other tests before the string goes into a racquet for player feedback.

In summary this version shows tremendous improvement over the first version we tested…  give it a try.