Head to head

Dunlop Explosive Synthetic 16 vs Prince Lightning XX 16

Explosive Synthetic 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Explosive Synthetic 16 is 30 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Explosive Synthetic 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Prince

Lightning XX 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18046th pct
18147th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2120th pct
1915th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9386th pct
9381st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.621st pct
3.416th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.44452nd pct
0.39822nd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.12284th pct
0.11781st 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 Synthetic 16 at 52 lb

String Lightning XX 16 at 51.4 lb 23.3 kg

Coming from Lightning XX 16 at 52 lb

String Explosive Synthetic 16 at 52.7 lb 23.9 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 Synthetic 16 mains / Lightning XX 16 crosses

Stiffness46th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss19th pct · 1 measured
Energy return86th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential19th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite49th pct · 1 measured
String friction83rd pct · 1 measured

Lightning XX 16 mains / Explosive Synthetic 16 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss17th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite26th pct · 1 measured
String friction82nd 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 Synthetic 16

~34 hours of play

Lightning XX 16

~35 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Explosive Synthetic 16 Nylon16find18021933.60.4440.122
Prince Lightning XX 16 Nylon16find18119933.40.3980.117

Add a third string Explosive Synthetic 16 in full Lightning XX 16 in full