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Head to head

Dunlop Explosive 18 (1.20) vs Head Hawk Rough 17

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Hawk Rough 17 is 33 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Explosive 18 (1.20)

Polyester · 18 ga

Head

Hawk Rough 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
19462nd pct
20169th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2945th pct
2432nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9058th pct
9164th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.056th pct
4.954th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41836th pct
0.47668th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08331st pct
0.09759th 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 Explosive 18 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Hawk Rough 17 at 50.2 lb 22.8 kg

Coming from Hawk Rough 17 at 52 lb

String Explosive 18 (1.20) at 53.8 lb 24.4 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.

Explosive 18 (1.20) mains / Hawk Rough 17 crosses

Stiffness65th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss40th pct · 1 measured
Energy return61st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential55th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction38th pct · 1 measured

Hawk Rough 17 mains / Explosive 18 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness67th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss37th pct · 1 measured
Energy return62nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential55th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite64th pct · 1 measured
String friction53rd 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.

Explosive 18 (1.20)

~27 hours of play

Hawk Rough 17

~31 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Explosive 18 (1.20) Polyester18find19429905.00.4180.083
Head Hawk Rough 17 Polyester17find20124914.90.4760.097

Add a third string Explosive 18 (1.20) in full Hawk Rough 17 in full