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

Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) mains / Tour XS 1.35 crosses

Head Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) (Polyester) in the mains, Prince Tour XS 1.35 (Polyester) in the crosses. Every figure below is estimated from the two strings' own lab measurements.

Where the bed lands

Stiffness64th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss55th pct · 1 measured
Energy return58th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential61st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite47th pct · 1 measured
Snapback29th 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 Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) alone This hybrid Tour XS 1.35 alone
Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm 196 196 196
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it 32 34 37
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power 89 89 90
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed 5.2 5.2 5.0
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder 0.447 0.434 0.359
Snapback lower = strings slide and snap back 0.086 0.083 0.072

What the crosses change

Against a full bed of Hawk Touch 18 (1.20). Moves are in percentile points, and "better" always means more of the good thing whichever way the raw number points.

  • Ball bite −7 pts 0.447 → 0.434 COF mains weighted 85%
  • Snapback +7 pts 0.086 → 0.083 COF mains weighted 75%

The other way round

Tour XS 1.35 in the mains and Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) in the crosses is a different bed, not the same one described differently. Worth a look before you commit.

Stiffness64th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss58th pct · 1 measured
Energy return59th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential58th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite9th pct · 1 measured
Snapback14th 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 →