Kirschbaum Flash 1.25 17 String Review

Control - Score: 93 / Power - Score: 60

With its firm monofilament construction, Flash does not return as much energy to the ball as natural gut or a nylon multifilament. As a result, it was perfect for Michelle, whose powerful strokes require a high level of control. She explained, "This string offered me loads of control, which paired perfectly with my bigger shots and sometimes uncontrollable power. The control allowed me to hit out and generate tons of pace. That said, Flash felt a bit softer than some of the other strings I tend to use, which I think added a little more oomph behind the ball — and who doesn't love a little extra power? I was able to try several colors and found the yellow to provide a comfortably crisp feel, even strung at 56 pounds."

A longtime fan of Kirschbaum polys, Chris felt right at home with Flash. He said, "Like every Kirschbaum co-poly I've tried, Flash is all about control. I really enjoyed the crisp, clean and controlled response of the string. I have to guess that some of that performance comes from the pre-stretching, because those traits run through Kirschbaum's entire line-up. With Flash, I was left to supply the power, and I could take a big rip at the ball without fear of overhitting. I liked the yellow color the most. It felt like it pocketed the ball more, giving me a little more depth and loop with no loss in control."

Spin - Score: 89

Although spin comes mainly from the racquet's speed and angle at contact, the high level of control offered by Flash made it easy for Chris to ratchet up the spin. He described, "I was able to generate some solid spin with Flash in my racquets. The controlled response allowed me to carry a lot of swing speed into my shots, and I was able to convert my fast swings into lots of spin. Flash also seemed to offer good grip on the ball, and I was able to cut under drop volleys to get the ball to die quickly with backspin. I also liked the amount of slice I was getting on serves with this string. My slice serves had some nice movement to them, and I could get the ball to break away from the returner when going wide on the deuce side and down the T on the ad side."

Flash provided more than enough spin for Michelle's game. She said, "My game doesn't require high levels of bite or sharp-edged strings for extra spin, so this round, smooth poly was perfectly adequate for what I need with my flat shots. I never felt like I was missing any access to spin. I still found I could get the ball hopping when I transitioned into a defensive sort of ball or lob."

Comfort - Score: 73 / Feel - Score: 85

As a firm polyester-based monofilament, Flash lacks the plush comfort of a natural gut or nylon multifilament. That said, Kirschbaum designed Flash with softening agents in hopes of mitigating the harsh feedback that is typical with the breed. Judging from Michelle's experience, the design works like a charm. She said, "I was happy with the feel of this string. In the past year or so, I have been looking for softer options that still have the playability I like, and Flash was just what I needed. It's a control-oriented string that I could string in the higher tensions without it feeling too firm. We tested a bunch of the colors, and I definitely found the pink to feel softer than the yellow, but every color felt comfortable at contact."

After sampling the different colors of Flash, Chris also reported subtle differences in the feel of each one. He explained, "I hit several colors of Flash and settled on the yellow. Orange was a close second, but the yellow pigment seemed to give the string a more forgiving feel, with a sense that the ball was pocketed by the stringbed better. I liked the way I could feel the ball sitting on the strings. I didn't feel as connected to the ball with the green color, so if you prefer a more muted response, that might be a good option."

Playability Duration - Score: 78

To preserve the stringbed's optimal feel and playability, Kirschbaum pre-stretches their polyester strings. This helps explain why Chris gave Flash such high marks for playability duration. He said, "Flash lasted well in my racquets. I didn't see much wear to the surface of the strings, so they continued to snap back and offer good performance throughout the test. Tension dropped off after the first hit but then seemed to hold and became another strong point. I've found similar consistent playability from other pre-stretched Kirschbaum co-polys. If I get two to three weeks out of a set of co-poly string I'm happy, and Flash went past that for me. I was able to get to complete three weeks of testing without a huge drop in playability."

Michelle did note a drop-off in control as the playtest stretched on, but it wasn't significant enough to cause her any real issues on the court. She described, "Over time, Flash did start to lose some of its playability and felt a little more powerful and slightly little less controlled compared to some other strings, like Hyper-G, that I use consistently. Even with some tension loss, I didn't find it too springy and could still hit my targets. What I think is so great about this string is the price point, and while the drop in playability wasn't super obvious or even detrimental, Flash is affordable enough that I felt like I was getting all the bang out of the string after two or three weeks and could cut it without any regrets!"

Overall - Score: 86