Yonex PolyTour Fire String Review

Power and spin can sometimes be at odds when it comes to tennis strings. The fact is, powerful tennis strings tend to be soft, smooth and forgiving, whereas a more spinny, control oriented string will often be stiff.

This is simply because a softer string naturally has greater elasticity which delivers more power, whereas a stiffer string will be able to stay in place and brush the ball more easily, imparting more spin.

Combining both of these attributes is something that many tennis string manufacturers claim to be able to do, but few actually achieve.

In the case of Yonex PolyTour Fire, power and spin have both shone through pretty well. Of course, this is a firm polyester string so it definitely feels firm and isn’t ultra lively like some of the most elastic natural gut or best multifilament strings out there.

That being said, power is pretty easy to access with Yonex PolyTour Fire considering it is a string mainly designed for control and spin. Despite it being firm, it is still punchy enough to give you some weight to your shots without being overwhelming.

There is a solid, thick feel to this string which feels great when you are ripping heavy ground strokes from the baseline.

PolyTour Fire is made for clubbing forehands and backhands, and you can tell that it was designed to do this for hours on end! It rewards racket head speed and strikes a great balance between controllable power, spin and control.

This is a great all rounder for an intermediate to advanced player that is looking for a relatively low powered poly that still offers plenty of spin, but also won’t be too harsh on the arm.

Yonex PolyTour Fire is a pretty control oriented string. It is not quite as stiff as Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour for example, but it still offers a pretty consistent response as a firm poly string should.

For a round, non textured poly string there is a lot of predictability in PolyTour Fire. As far as control goes, it is a solid performer.

It doesn’t match some of the stiffest strings out there in terms of out and out precision, simply because the power of this string makes it a little more lively.

This is not a problem by any means, in fact it actually makes the string more accessible and enjoyable to play with on most shots.

But, for those super advanced players that desire a stiff as a board setup that will give them the last word in control and consistency, there are other strings out there that pip Yonex PolyTour Fire to the post.

You do get a very uniform feel across the string bed with the Fire variant. You won’t notice much change in feedback when you hit the ball off centre, which again is great for intermediate players that may miss time the ball more often.

However, if you are an advanced player that loves that satisfyingly plush feeling out of the sweet spot and want to know exactly when you have middled your shots and when you haven’t, there are more control oriented strings out there for you.

Overall though, as far as control goes, there is more than enough of it in all areas of the court with Yonex PolyTour Fire. The combination of power and spin gives the string a nice, meaty feel which is just as satisfying when crunching ground strokes as it is carving out an angle on a wide serve.

Touch and feel are not generally strengths of firm polyester strings. The control oriented and spin friendly nature of polys means they can feel a bit dead or muted when you need to turn on the finesse and pull out a deft drop shot in the middle of a rally.

This is why so many professional players will combine a stiffer, spinny polyester string with a soft, feelsome natural gut string. Basically, it gives them the best of both worlds!

As far as Yonex PolyTour Fire is concerned, it does a pretty good job of absorbing shocks and offering enough feedback to make changing the pace easy, despite being a firm poly.

This is not an easy thing for a spin friendly string to do. Sure, some of the rougher string variants tend to be a little softer than their rounded counterparts, but in general spin friendly strings are still pretty muted in the feel department.

You get enough feel to play an all court game comfortably with Yonex PolyTour Fire and that again adds to its solid all rounder credentials.

Spin is the name of the game with Yonex PolyTour Fire. It does a great job of generating plenty of RPMs, especially considering it is a smooth, rounded string.

The combination of power and spin that the string offers is great for intermediate to advanced level players who need that robust feel.

Yonex have achieved great spin potential whilst maintaining a relatively pliant feel by introducing their revolutionary Silicone Oil Infused Filament technology.

This basically coats the string in a slippery material which allows for much more string bed snapback. Basically, allowing the strings to move more and then immediately snap back into position means it is easier to generate lots of heavy topspin, even for a non textured string.

This means players can benefit from a slightly more comfortable and powerful string without much sacrifice in the spin department. This is a great compromise and again makes this string ideal for players that need both spin and power, but also want a well rounded playing experience.

The sting performs well both from the baseline and at the net. You can cut your volleys with plenty of spin but there is enough power to also punch through the ball and take time away from your opponent.

When you are defending and need to bunt the ball, or even thread the needle on an aggressive passing shot, PolyTour Fire feels reassuringly solid. Yonex has found a great balance between power, spin and feel with this string, that’s for sure!

The durability of Yonex PolyTour Fire is another strong suit. The firmness of the string combined with its slippery coating means it is very resistant to notching, which again improves its durability overall.

There is plenty of snapback which helps impart friction onto the ball for more spin, but there is not much wear and tear on the strings themselves whilst doing this.

From a playability point of view, there is minimal tension loss or drop off in performance, which is a surprise for this type of string.

There isn’t really anything to complain about at all as far as durability is concerned with PolyTour Fire. If you are a high level player looking for a string that ticks a lot of boxes and won’t break very easily, this is well worth a try!

Comfort is often somewhat lacking for firm polyester strings. This is unsurprising given their control oriented nature and oftentimes advanced players are happy to give up comfort to a large degree in the pursuit of spin and precision.

Yonex PolyTour Fire is a pretty well damped string all things considered. It is still a firm poly at heart so definitely isn’t the most forgiving string out there today.

Whilst it isn’t butter smooth, it is definitely more forgiving than some of the harsher shaped poly strings.

This enhances the accessibility of the string and opens it up to a wider audience of players at the recreational level.

Overall, Yonex PolyTour Fire will suit intermediate to advanced level players that like to hit heavy from all areas of the court.

The spin friendly and powerful nature of the string lend themselves towards ripping balls from the baseline, whilst the suppleness and comfort of the string make it great for mixing up pace and spin at will.

There isn’t really one category in which PolyTour Fire doesn’t perform well in.

It is a very solid all rounder that is ideal for a high level player that needs plenty of power and spin to enhance their game!