The Blue Typhoon

Not to be confused with the Brooke Shield’s movie from 1980 (The Blue Lagoon), the blue Typhoon is a brand new string from Genesis. I recently posted a positive review of Genesis Typhoon (gray version) in which I raved about this string. Well, the blue version that Genesis sent me to test is just as great. I strung up the blue version this morning and then proceeded to hit an hour and fifteen minutes of singles with it, and wow… phenomenal stuff!

Here’s the pic from my previous post…  Genesis Typhoon (blue version)

Genesis Typhoon

Just like its gray counterpart, the blue version plays very close to my all-time favorite string, Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power Rough. It has excellent crispness and really produces a ton of action on the ball. To borrow a term from baseball, I think Genesis has really hit a homerun with Typhoon. (In fact, I am seriously considering purchasing a reel and using it instead of Alu this Summer. We’ll see if I can actually pull myself away from my beloved Alu.)

Some strings play differently depending on the color (and the manufacturing process necessary to make the different colored versions).  For example, Prince Synthetic Gut with DuraFlex feels and plays differently depending on the color.  The white version, which I string most often. is softer than other colors like gray/silver, black, and gold.  (The gold version has a much stiffer feel to it.)  With Typhoon, I wasn’t able to tell much difference between the gray version and the blue version.

If you are looking for an exceptional polyester string that plays close to Luxilon but costs less, please consider Genesis Typhoon.  Please understand, I still think Alu Power Rough is the best poly out there in terms of pure playability.  However, when you add price into the equation along with playability, Typhoon may be a better overall value.

Thanks for checking in.

DH

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  1. Mig1NC says:

    Have you had enough time to compare tension maintenance?

    Several people are reporting a significant improvement in tension maintenance over ALU.

  2. David Henry says:

    Hey Mig1NC! Thanks for the comment. You know what? I had to string up the blue version and rush out of the house to my tennis club, and I didn’t have time to take a Dynamic Tension (DT) reading with my Beers ERT300 – like I always do for my clients’ racquets. So… I don’t have a starting point for determining tension maintenance.

    From my memory of the gray version from a few weeks ago, I can tell you that tension maintenance is either the same or better than Alu – certainly not worse.

    What string do you currently use? Are you thinking of trying Typhoon?

    Take care.

    David

  3. Hector says:

    David,
    I’m thinking about giving this string a try. Currently I’m using Topspin CF, but I’ve heard very good comments about this one. If you have to compare the solinco tour bite vs Typhoon, what would it be the main differences?

    Cheers
    HC

  4. David Henry says:

    Hey Hector. Thanks for visiting my blog.

    That is a tough question to answer – as they both have great playability and spin. I guess I’d give the spin nod to Typhoon (slightly) and the power nod to Tour Bite (slightly).

    The technical differences are… Typhoon is a twisted poly. Tour Bite is a shaped poly. (Stay tuned to my blog – as I will be play-testing a new string from SOLINCO in the near future – which I think might be a twisted poly.)

    I like both Typhoon and Tour Bite better than CF. About a year and a half ago, I read so many positive comments about CF, so I gave it a try. I really didn’t care for it much. I had frequently read it was a “poor mans” version of Alu, but I didn’t think it came anywhere close to the playability of Alu.

    Take care.

    DH

  5. Patrick says:

    Hey David,

    Thanks for your reviews. These help wade through the many choices out there.

    Many folks have stated there is a difference in the blue vs. the grey but some don’t. Most say the blue is softer than the grey but don’t give much detail as to what effect this has. You state there is not much difference.

    Do you feel the play entirely the same or if not what differences did you experience? I have used the grey and really liked it, but am considering investing in a reel of the blue. If anything, I thought the grey had a touch too much power and I could not hit a drop shot. The ball explodes off the string. I don’t want to lose too much of that explosion but a littel wouldn’t hurt. I wan’t to maintain the spin and overall power with the blue. Please let me know your experience.

    Thanks for your insights

  6. David Henry says:

    Hey Patrick – thanks for the comment and for your kind words – much appreciated.

    You know… It has been quite a while since I played with both colors of Typhoon, so I really don’t recall the specifics in much detail any longer. I’m getting older, and my memory isn’t what it used to be. 🙂

    According to the USRSA, Genesis Typhoon is the softest poly from Genesis (237 lb/in) – and the 16th softest poly out of MANY that they’ve tested. Unfortunately, they don’t break it out by color. (My guess would be that they tested the gray, but I don’t know that for sure.)

    To put this in perspective in terms of lb/in…
    Babolat VS Team 17 (Natural Gut): 102 lb/in
    Babolat Xcel Power 17 (multi): 164 lb/in
    Prince Synthetic Gut with DuraFlex 16 (mono syn gut): 213 lb/in
    Luxilon Alu Power Rough 16L (co-poly): 240 lb/in
    Ashaway Kevlar 18 (kevlar): 671 lb/in

    Obviously, the higher the number, the stiffer the string.

    Take care.

    DH