Weiss Cannon Mosquito Bite 18 playtest
Weiss Cannon released this Mosquito Bite in an 18 gauge (only offered in an 18) recently so I was eager to try it out – it is after all the latest addition to the line of black colored tennis strings. As soon as I received the packaged, I inspected it, on the back Weiss Cannon instructed me to string the Mosquito Bite at 8% less than normal. 8% of 60 is about 5 (4.8 to be exact), so I strung it at 55lbs. Stringing the Mosquito Bite was fairly easy, weaving the crosses on the once-piece I was doing was quick and smooth. Knotting the ends was simple as well, the string cinched into place quickly.
When I first began to hit balls with the Mosquito Bite string, I was impressed with the playbility that the tennis string offered. The spin was impressive and the touch was really nice, however; the string lacked power off normal paced groundstrokes. I felt like I really had to muscle the ball to generate decent pace across the net.
I thought for sure I would be able to generate impressive amounts of spin with the Weiss Cannon Mosquito Bite’s thinner gauged, though my hitting partner’s report was different. After an hour of hitting, he said “the ball was not really kicking like it was with the previous strings you had. The ball would come in and kick a little but nothing difficult to handle.” I felt a little deflated after hearing that, I like to hit with a lot of spin so hearing that the ball was not spinning as much with an 18 gauge like the Mosquito Bite.
I figured the lack of spin was just an off day for me. So I went out the following day to hit more tennis balls. This is where my dislike for the Mosquito Bite began; everything started as it usually does, warming up to full speed groundstrokes. About 25 minutes into my session, my arm began to ache and weaken and again, the spin was elusive. I’ve been using the same tennis racquet for several months now, so it wasn’t that, it was the Weiss Cannon Mosquito Bite. The longer I played, the more sore my arm would get. I had to call it a day early, my shoulder could not take anymore. The next day, my arm was useless, it felt like a we noodle.
Final thoughts on Weiss Cannon Mosquito Bite 18 strings
How can I recommend this string to a novice, intermediate, or advanced tennis player? I just can’t, I would not want you to injure yourself like I did myself. I would recommend this tennis string to the highly advanced tennis player (NTRP 5.0 +) who can handle a really stiff and powerless tennis string. This is a string for the players looking for more a “feel string” for a hybrid setup.
If you really want to try this Weiss Cannon Mosquito Bite 18, go ahead, but seriously I would caution you, if your arm starts to hurt…walk off the court and cut out the strings. As for me, I’m going to take a few days off and use lots and lots of ICE!
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