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

Long Life 15 mains / Pro Line I 1.30 crosses

Kirschbaum Long Life 15 (Polyester) in the mains, Kirschbaum Pro Line I 1.30 (Polyester) in the crosses. Every figure below is estimated from the two strings' own lab measurements.

Where the bed lands

Stiffness93rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss93rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential44th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite37th pct · 1 measured
Snapback47th pct · 1 measured

Percentile against all 788 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 Long Life 15 alone This hybrid Pro Line I 1.30 alone
Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm 232 229 225
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it 55 53 48
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power 80 82 84
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed 4.6 4.6 4.4
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder 0.430 0.419 0.358
Snapback lower = strings slide and snap back 0.094 0.091 0.081

What the crosses change

Against a full bed of Long Life 15. Moves are in percentile points, and "better" always means more of the good thing whichever way the raw number points.

  • Ball bite −7 pts 0.430 → 0.419 COF mains weighted 85%
  • Snapback +7 pts 0.094 → 0.091 COF mains weighted 75%

The other way round

Pro Line I 1.30 in the mains and Long Life 15 in the crosses is a different bed, not the same one described differently. Worth a look before you commit.

Stiffness93rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss89th pct · 1 measured
Energy return7th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential42nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite8th pct · 1 measured
Snapback32nd 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 →