Despite its name, the most salient feature of ECO Power can be summarized in one word: control. With its low-powered response, this co-poly enabled our playtesters to execute their biggest strokes without fear of overhitting, resulting in extra confidence when targeting the lines or closing out points. For Michelle, however, this string's controlled response was only half the story. She explained, "I wasn't sure what to expect from a recycled material string, but it was obvious from my first hit that ECO Power is very control oriented. I absolutely loved the control and found it perfect for my game. I also have to share that I grew up on the beaches of Southern California and recycling has been a huge part of who I am since I was little; so much so that I began a recycling program at the university I went to because I couldn't believe there wasn't recycling in a college of over 30,000 students. This was an easy string for me to love and want to use. I love the concept and hope we have more products like this coming to the tennis world!"

For Chris, ECO Power's high level of control proved perfect. He said, "ECO Power was my kind of string because it provided tons of control. I really enjoyed its firm and controlled response. I found ECO Power to respond more like a traditional monofilament poly string, without any of the flightiness of some modern, soft co-poly strings. ECO Power let me know that if I wanted more power all I had to do was swing faster, and that was just fine by me. I loved the confidence the string gave me to keep attacking the ball when I was being aggressive and getting inside the baseline. When looking to hit a delicate drop shot, I knew exactly what I was going to get out of ECO Power, and that allowed me to go for a little more risk."

Luxilon designed ECO Power with a hexagonal shape, giving it grippy edges to help with the generation of spin. For Chris, however, this string's ability to accommodate high stroke speeds was the key to unlocking its spin potential. He described, "I don't think ECO Power is going to win the snapback war; I never felt any additional kick coming from the stringbed. However, I did find this to be a very spin-friendly string. Thanks to the controlled response of ECO Power, I was able to take big cuts at the ball. I could turn a faster swinging racquet into a faster spinning ball if my swing had a little angle to it."

Michelle was satisfied with the amount of spin she got from ECO Power. She said, "I thought there was plenty of access to spin with this string. It was there when I needed it, and ECO Power had good bite on the ball. My linear swing doesn't require much grab from my strings, so I was happy here."

The biggest downside of firm, high-density control strings is that they sometimes feel unresponsive and uncomfortably stiff on slower strokes and off-center impact. According to Chris, ECO Power avoids these problems. He said, "ECO Power offered me a firm and controlled response. The feel was more muted than something crisp like ALU Power, but the level of control was confidence inspiring. I tried the string in my Speed Pro at both 48 and 50 pounds. At those tensions, the string felt controlled without feeling jarring or brassy."

"This is the first time I've ever said this in a string review, but ECO Power felt like it was made from recycled materials," said Michelle, who ultimately appreciated this string's feel and response. "If you have ever worn clothes that are recycled, that may resonate with you; they feel a bit more rigid and have a bit more shape to them. This string felt firm, but it was still pliable. In my racquet, it felt like many other polys; it was comfortable and not too firm or harsh."

All tennis strings lose tension over time, which often leads to a decline in feel and performance. To ECO Power's credit, our team found that it held its playing characteristics remarkably well over the course of this multi-week playtest. In fact, despite losing its fair share of tension, ECO Power didn't waver in performance for Michelle. She said, "Perhaps the effects of tension loss are not as extreme because it's not the first time the material is being used or pushed out of a machine. It seems like that would make it a bit more resilient and resistant to changing characteristics as fast."

"I like to get two to three weeks from a set of co-poly before cutting it out, and ECO Power met this test with no issues," added Chris. "Like any string, it lost tension, but I was happy with the control and consistency I continued to find from the stringbed. I would say this was one of the string's strong points in that it offered traditional poly control without the quick drop-off in performance some early polys suffered from."