Head to head

Dunlop S-Gut 17 vs Gamma Prodigy 16

Prodigy 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Prodigy 16 is 10 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

S-Gut 17

Nylon/Polyurethane · 17 ga

Gamma

Prodigy 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16330th pct
16532nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2123rd pct
2123rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9490th pct
9492nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.111th pct
3.518th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40627th pct
0.39017th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.12987th pct
0.11177th 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 S-Gut 17 at 52 lb

String Prodigy 16 at 51.3 lb 23.3 kg

Coming from Prodigy 16 at 52 lb

String S-Gut 17 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.

S-Gut 17 mains / Prodigy 16 crosses

Stiffness31st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss23rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return91st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential12th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite26th pct · 1 measured
String friction86th pct · 1 measured

Prodigy 16 mains / S-Gut 17 crosses

Stiffness31st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss23rd pct · 1 measured
Energy return91st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite19th pct · 1 measured
String friction80th 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.

S-Gut 17

~33 hours of play

Prodigy 16

~33 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop S-Gut 17 Nylon/Polyurethane17$5.4916321943.10.4060.129
Gamma Prodigy 16 Nylon16find16521943.50.3900.111

Add a third string S-Gut 17 in full Prodigy 16 in full