Breakdown

Spin: 8.8

As our playtesters expected, this category is where ECO Spin really came into its own. The spin access was abundant, and both testers enjoyed shaping their shots even more than usual. For Oak, spin potential is a performance characteristic that can make or break his groundstrokes. He noted, “Spin is really the main story here. The spin capability for ECO Spin is at a delightfully high threshold. It never topped out for my personal taste, and I live and die by topspin, especially on my forehand. It was immensely satisfying to create high-arcing line drives from the baseline, and if I was pulled out wide, a defensive slice felt more than doable on either side. Drop shots were silky smooth, and I loved how much precision accompanied the string's spin. In particular, I thought the spin capability was quite practical on serves, allowing for easy kick serves or slices." 

With ECO Spin in his racquet, Munish tried to "spin to win" as much as possible. He said, "ECO Spin definitely lives up to its name. I was getting tons of spin right off the bat. Sometimes too much, because I found some of my shots landing in the service box that otherwise would be in no-man's land. That left me in a difficult spot since my opponents now had a shoulder-level ball sitting right in front of them. This wasn't too hard to adjust to; I found a good blend of spin and plow through from my racquet and everything worked out."

Control: 8.7

Most strings are defined by either their power or their control. ECO Spin proved to be much more of a control-oriented string for both of our testers. That focus on control allowed Munish to swing bigger when generating pace. He explained, "ECO Spin felt more control oriented than anything. However, it doesn't feel too dead either. I was able to take full swings at the ball and pick my targets quite easily. The spin potential helped as well because I could add a lot of spin to the ball and get it to dip at the last second." 

Likewise for Oak, the baseline experience proved to have a strong emphasis on control and accuracy. He said, "ECO Spin from Luxilon was extremely reliable, precise and easy to work with. We thought it would be a good idea to pair this string with a more power-based racquet setup to see if the string could meaningfully offset the frame's inherent characteristics. Like many five-sided strings, the pentagonal profile grabbed the ball quite nicely, allowing for easy spot-targeting. It was easy to trust full swings, and I felt like the string encouraged me to go for bigger cuts at the ball."

Feel: 8.6

ECO Spin is stiffer than its siblings in the ECO family, but neither of our testers found it to be unpleasantly stiff. Munish found more comfort from this string than he had expected. He said, "I have found in recent playtests that a lot of the Luxilon ECO strings tend to be quite soft and comfortable. That trend continues with ECO Spin as well. This string also has great feel, and I was connected to the ball on most of my shots. However, I did get a tiny bit of vibration on off-center shots." 

Oak, on the other hand, found the string's stiffness to be pronounced but not uncomfortable. He described, "The feel of this string is on the somewhat stiffer side, highly comparable to its sibling ECO Power. I didn't feel like it was uncomfortably stiff, though, and I enjoyed how the string felt at impact. I felt connected to the ball on the majority of my shots, and I felt like the string was always working with me instead of against me. Off-center hits didn't feel unusually harsh or super disagreeable." 

Playability Duration: 8.1

In terms of tension maintenance, ECO Spin thoroughly impressed our playtesters. Boasting great levels of tension maintenance, ECO Spin managed to push the envelope in terms of how a polyester string performs over time. Oak found the string to break in rather than break down. He said, "I actually really enjoyed how this string broke in, compared to how it felt off the stringer. It felt like the stringbed needed to be broken in since the initial sensations felt a little boardy and stiff. Once the string loosened up a little bit the ball began to pocket nicely and impact felt great. I didn't notice any unusual notching or surface imperfections."

Likewise, Munish found ECO Spin to have a great lifespan. He noted, "I have used this string for a decent amount of time, and the tension drop was minimal. I do notice the ball getting a bit launchy at times, but the control holds up for the most part. I don't get much notching or frictional wear on my stringbed due to my flatter game style, so the slight tension drop was the only change I noticed over time."

Breakdown Summary