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

Tour XP 16 mains / Tour XS 1.35 crosses

Prince Tour XP 16 (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

Stiffness65th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss62nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return58th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential67th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite41st pct · 1 measured
String friction18th 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 Tour XP 16 alone This hybrid Tour XS 1.35 alone
Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm 198 197 196
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it 37 37 37
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power 89 89 90
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed 5.5 5.4 5.0
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder 0.436 0.424 0.359
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back 0.079 0.077 0.072

What the crosses change

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

  • Ball bite −8 pts 0.436 → 0.424 COF mains weighted 85%

The other way round

Tour XS 1.35 in the mains and Tour XP 16 in the crosses is a different bed, not the same one described differently. Worth a look before you commit.

Stiffness65th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss62nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return59th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential59th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite8th pct · 1 measured
String friction10th 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 →