Head to head

Forten Sweet 16 vs Gamma Synthetic Gut 16

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

Measured, side by side

Forten

Sweet 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Gamma

Synthetic Gut 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18956th pct
18653rd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2327th pct
2329th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9381st pct
9384th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.416th pct
3.621st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41231st pct
0.40225th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.12284th pct
0.11378th 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 Sweet 16 at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 16 at 52.1 lb 23.6 kg

Coming from Synthetic Gut 16 at 52 lb

String Sweet 16 at 51.9 lb 23.5 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.

Sweet 16 mains / Synthetic Gut 16 crosses

Stiffness55th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite30th pct · 1 measured
String friction83rd pct · 1 measured

Synthetic Gut 16 mains / Sweet 16 crosses

Stiffness54th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential19th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite26th 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.

Sweet 16

~32 hours of play

Synthetic Gut 16

~31 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Forten Sweet 16 Nylon16find18923933.40.4120.122
Gamma Synthetic Gut 16 Nylon16$4.9918623933.60.4020.113

Add a third string Sweet 16 in full Synthetic Gut 16 in full