String Review: Diadem Flash - Hot or Not?

| by Michael Flanigan

An offering from Diadem, Flash string is an interesting white polyester, intended for comfort and durability. But how accurate are the new tennis company’s claims?

Polyesters are notoriously bad at hanging onto string tension. The nature of the polyester material brings the now well-known benefits of higher stiffness and durability to a string, but this also makes them very inelastic – i.e. they will stretch continuously rather than returning to it’s original shape, resulting in a very dead feel long before it breaks.

I wanted to find a polyester string with better tension maintenance that I could offer to my stringing customers, and I was aware this is a problem that has been addressed before – most notably by leading polyester string brand, Luxilon, with their 4G string.

It’s well known for holding onto tension, and is currently one of the most popular strings on the pro tour, appearing in the rackets of Stefanos Tsitsipas, and even Serena Williams.

However, while my previous experience with 4G meant I knew it was a high-quality product, it also meant I was aware of the very stiff feel it brought to a racket’s stringbed – to such an extent some stringers theorise this is a factor that contributes to the large number of framed shots hit by Stefanos Tsitispas.

For numerous reasons relating to both performance and injury prevention, I would rather install a more forgiving string into a customer’s racket. Enter Diadem Flash. Diadem is a new company, founded in 2015 and is already gaining a good reputation from playtesters.

Upon reviewing the comfort and tension maintenance characteristics their “Flash” polyester reportedly offered, it was at least worth trying. Firstly, it needs to be said that “comfort” is a relative term when it comes to racket strings.

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If this is the singular requirement for a tennis string, it’s best to skip polyesters entirely and install a gut or multifilament, as the elasticity and comfort of this type will be far superior to any polyester (with maybe the exception of MSV Focus-Hex Plus 38).

Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised to find Diadem Flash was a little softer than I expected, with a good “pocketing” feel when hitting the ball – particularly when strung in a hybrid with gut.

The usual characteristics of control and spin potential expected of a polyester were also of a good standard in Diadem Flash. There are certainly more control-orientated strings, there are absolutely more powerful strings, and there are definitely more spin-orientated strings; but the overall performance was incredibly solid. The factor that impressed me the most was, in fact, the tension maintenance.

Certainly, there is a notable drop after a while, but it is nothing like the nosedive in tension many other polyesters will experience. It means the racket can stay playable for a little longer, in between restrings, greatly reducing the risk of injury from playing with a dead polyester.

If I had to compare it with Luxilon 4G, I would say the Belgian string holds tension a little better, but as it comes at the expense of being much stiffer, Diadem Flash is perhaps the better choice. I recommend Diadem Flash as a solid, all-round polyester, for those looking for overall performance.

It offers something for all levels of tennis, from the relative comfort to prevent injuries, to the impressive durability and minimal notching that hard-hitters watch out for. The tension maintenance is an excellent bonus also, as it adds just a little bit of extra life to the restring.

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