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 16L mains / Sonic Pro 17 crosses

Polyfibre TCS 16L (Polyester) in the mains, Head Sonic Pro 17 (Polyester) in the crosses. Every figure below is estimated from the two strings' own lab measurements.

Where the bed lands

Stiffness34th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss97th pct · 1 measured
Energy return5th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential25th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite8th pct · 1 measured
String friction57th 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 16L alone This hybrid Sonic Pro 17 alone
Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm 167 166 165
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it 62 60 55
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power 79 81 84
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed 3.8 3.8 3.9
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder 0.377 0.372 0.342
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back 0.098 0.095 0.087

What the crosses change

Against a full bed of TCS 16L. Moves are in percentile points, and "better" always means more of the good thing whichever way the raw number points.

  • String friction +4 pts 0.098 → 0.095 COF mains weighted 75%

The other way round

Sonic Pro 17 in the mains and TCS 16L in the crosses is a different bed, not the same one described differently. Worth a look before you commit.

Stiffness33rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss96th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential25th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite2nd pct · 1 measured
String friction45th 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 →