Head to head

Babolat Addiction 17 vs Head PerfectControl 16

PerfectControl 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where PerfectControl 16 is 14 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Babolat

Addiction 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Head

PerfectControl 16

Polyolefin · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15416th pct
15114th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2018th pct
2018th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9388th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
2.65th pct
2.65th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3636th pct
0.39420th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.14191st pct
0.14993rd pct

Bars are percentile against all 791 strings, and the marked side is the one that measures better, which is not always the one you want. A firmer bed is worse for your elbow and better for your control, and no measurement knows which of those you came for.

Which one wins, by problem

Each string's standing on the site's rankings, out of every measured string in the database. This is where a comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being a decision.

Swapping between them: what tension?

Bed stiffness is published at one reference tension, so the only honest conversion is to scale it. These are starting points from 52 lb, not prescriptions. The calculator takes your own tension.

Coming from Addiction 17 at 52 lb

String PerfectControl 16 at 54.7 lb 24.8 kg

Coming from PerfectControl 16 at 52 lb

String Addiction 17 at 50.1 lb 22.7 kg

Hybrid: what if you used both?

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.

Addiction 17 mains / PerfectControl 16 crosses

Stiffness15th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss18th pct · 1 measured
Energy return86th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential5th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite7th pct · 1 measured
String friction92nd pct · 1 measured

PerfectControl 16 mains / Addiction 17 crosses

Stiffness15th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss18th pct · 1 measured
Energy return87th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential5th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite17th pct · 1 measured
String friction92nd pct · 1 measured

Open this in the hybrid builder

Which goes dead first?

Estimated from tension loss, which is the only thing the database measures about ageing. This is when the bed stops playing the way you strung it, not when the string breaks.

Addiction 17

~35 hours of play

PerfectControl 16

~35 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Babolat Addiction 17 Nylon17find15420932.60.3630.141
Head PerfectControl 16 Polyolefin16find15120932.60.3940.149

Add a third string Addiction 17 in full PerfectControl 16 in full