Genesis Black Magic String- My Take

Every once in a while I’ll try something and think enough of it to do a little review. Or sometimes, I tell someone that I’ll do a review when I try something, and the latter is the case here.

I’ve tried Genesis Black Magic for a little over two months now, which is plenty of time for me to sing its praises, give it the thumbs down, or simply say “eh, nothing special.” This time around, I can say that I like the string, but it hasn’t caused me to change my mind about the string I have used for the past years whenever I play competitively.

I picked up a complimentary packet of 16-gauge Black Magic at the Turkey Bowl in November, and strung up my Wilson K-Blade Team with it at my standard 58 lbs.

As I could have predicted, a guy like me, with hands like a mason), needed more feel than I could get with 16-gauge strings...a poly at that. Oh yeah, Genesis Black Magic is a monofilament co-polyester string (polyester blend), in line with Kirschbaum’s Pro Line II, which is that string I have used for the past few years.   

After hitting once with the 16-gauge Black Magic, I emailed Mitchell K, one of Genesis’ heavy hitters, and asked if they wouldn’t mind letting me try the 17-gauge. Great customer service response from Mitchell, and I had the strings within a few days. I have been playing with it ever since.

The best way to talk about the string is to compare it with what I have been using most recently. In my 37 years of playing the game, many of them competitive, Pro Line II is the best competitive, playing string I have used to date. The only reason I would even entertain the thought of another string is because when I play a lot, Pro Line II is hard on this aging elbow, and I don’t know that it was doing much to help my wrist issues either.

So at the Turkey Bowl, when I saw/heard claims that Black Magic was like Pro Line II, only softer, I jumped right on it. Well, after two months, I can say that it is comparable to Pro Line II, primarily, in its maintenance of tension.  And, I do believe I can honestly say that Black Magic is softer than Pro Line II.

However, when it comes to playabilty, I find that I have more pop and control with Pro Line II than I do with Black Magic. Now that I am a bona fide senior player with multiple physical issues, I can’t afford to give up too much pop, but I also can’t afford to aggravate my joints.

The bottom line is that Genesis’ Black Magic gives me excellent durability, great tension stability, decent pop (power), not so much feel and spin, and thus, not as much control as I would like. Personally, I wouldn’t use it for tournament play, but the string has enough good points that I would certainly recommend trial for players 4.0 and above.

Oh, and just to be fair, even if it isn’t the best string for me, Genesis’ website has announced that it is the official string of a number of tennis federations, schools, and tennis academies, including our  MAD Academy run by Mark Davis at Fort Myers Racquet Club. Apparently plenty of others have taken to the string, and you might as well. Check out Genesis products on their website, and/or email info@genesis-tennis.com to find out more. Game, set, match…T. A.