Hybrid builder

Two strings,one string bed.

The mains carry most of the load, take most of the deflection and are the only strings that snap back. A hybrid is not the average of its two strings, and which one you put in the mains changes the answer more than which two you picked. Pick both and see where the bed lands.

Estimated, not measured. No hybrid combination has been tested as a bed. These figures are the two strings' own lab measurements weighted by how much of the bed each one actually is. Treat them as a guide to which way a pairing moves, never as lab data.

1 Your mains (the vertical strings)

These do most of the work. Usually the stiffer, more durable string, a polyester for most people who hybrid.

2 Your crosses (the horizontal strings)

These soften the bed and let the mains move. Usually gut or a multifilament.

Start over

TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 mains / Sonic Pro 16 crosses

Polyfibre TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 (Polyester) in the mains, Head Sonic Pro 16 (Polyester) in the crosses. Every figure below is estimated from the two strings' own lab measurements.

Where the bed lands

Stiffness26th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss98th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite15th pct · 1 measured
String friction45th pct · 1 measured

Percentile against all 791 measured strings, as if this bed were one of them.

The bed against its own two halves

A hybrid is only worth the extra work if it lands somewhere neither string reaches on its own. This is where you find out whether yours does.

Measurement TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 alone This hybrid Sonic Pro 16 alone
Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm 160 160 161
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it 64 62 57
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power 79 80 81
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed 4.3 4.3 4.2
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder 0.385 0.385 0.388
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back 0.089 0.090 0.092

The other way round

Sonic Pro 16 in the mains and TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 in the crosses is a different bed, not the same one described differently. Worth a look before you commit.

Stiffness26th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss97th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite17th pct · 1 measured
String friction48th pct · 1 measured

Swap them round Compare the two strings head to head

How this is worked out

Each measurement is a weighted average of the two strings, with the mains carrying the larger share. The share is not the same for every metric: bed stiffness is close to 60/40 because the crosses genuinely soften the bed, but spin is nearer 80/20 because snapback is a mains phenomenon and the crosses barely participate in it.

These splits are the conventional stringer figures, not measurements. Nobody has put a hybrid bed on the machine and published the result, so this cannot be validated against anything. Treat it as a guide to which direction a pairing moves, and never as lab data. The full methodology →