String finder

What do you wantyour string to fix?

Pick the problem. We rank all 788 lab-measured strings against it, show you which measurement drove each pick, and tell you what your racquet changed. No signup, no scores we invented.

1 The main thing you want to fix

Weighted at 60% of the main one, so it breaks ties rather than taking over.

2 Your racquet (optional)

Three questions, all skippable. Only these three specs move a string recommendation in a way this data can defend. Weight, balance and grip size do not, so we do not ask.

Count the main (vertical) strings where they enter the throat.

Usually printed on the frame or the throat.

Stiffness rating (RA) if you know it, but the feel is enough.

3 Anything to rule out? (optional)

Not a racquet spec, but the single thing that changes these lists most. Natural gut wins the comfort, power, feel and tension-hold rankings outright and costs several times what anything else does. Worth ruling out if you were never going to string it.

Rules the material out before ranking rather than penalising it, so the fit percentages stay honest about what is left.

Start over

Best for more power and depth

Ranked out of 783 currently-produced strings carrying every measurement this ranking depends on. Limited to two per brand, so gauge variants of one string cannot fill the list.

  1. 1

    Pacific

    Prime Gut Orange Bull 16 (1.30)

    Gut Gauge 16 1.27 mm
    100% fit find
    • Livelier than 99% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database

    Tension 2–4 lb above your usual one of the softest beds in the database

  2. 2

    Pacific

    Prime Gut Orange Bull 16L (1.25)

    Gut Gauge 16L 1.27 mm
    100% fit find
    • Livelier than 99% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database
  3. 3

    Babolat

    VS Touch 15L (1.35)

    Gut Gauge 15L 1.31 mm
    99% fit $65.00
    • Livelier than 99% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database
  4. 4

    Luxilon

    Natural Gut 1.25

    Gut 1.31 mm
    99% fit find
    • Livelier than 98% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database
  5. 5

    Babolat

    VS Natural Team Gut 17 (1.25)

    Gut Gauge 17 1.27 mm
    99% fit find
    • Livelier than 98% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database
  6. 6

    Klip

    Legend 17 (1.25)

    Gut Gauge 17 1.31 mm
    99% fit find
    • Livelier than 98% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database
  7. 7

    Klip

    Legend 16 Uncoated

    Gut Gauge 16 1.32 mm
    98% fit find
    • Livelier than 99% of the database
    • Softer than 98% of the database
  8. 8

    Wilson

    Natural Gut 17

    Gut Gauge 17 1.25 mm
    98% fit $67.50
    • Livelier than 98% of the database
    • Softer than 99% of the database

How this was ranked

Every string is scored on where it sits in the database on each measurement below, never on an absolute figure, so the ranking is always relative to what actually exists.

  • Energy return ↑ higher decisive
  • Stiffness ↓ lower strong

Highest energy return first, softened by a preference for lower stiffness. A soft bed that hands energy back is where free depth comes from.

What your racquet changed

Nothing. You skipped the racquet questions, so this is a pure needs ranking. Answering even one of them meaningfully sharpens the result. Add your racquet.

Tension moves the outcome more than any of this, and no tension figures are published for these strings, which is why the advice above is a nudge relative to whatever you string at now, never a number.