StringSpec
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Browse all 788

Head to head

Gamma ESP 16 vs Head ETS 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where ESP 16 is 35 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

ESP 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Head

ETS 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15822nd pct
15619th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2741st pct
2534th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9490th pct
9598th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
2.65th pct
1.91st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41937th pct
0.3311st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.15995th pct
0.17396th pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 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 ESP 16 at 52 lb

String ETS 16 at 55.6 lb 25.2 kg

Coming from ETS 16 at 52 lb

String ESP 16 at 50.3 lb 22.8 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.

ESP 16 mains / ETS 16 crosses

Stiffness20th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss38th pct · 1 measured
Energy return95th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential4th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite27th pct · 1 measured
String friction95th pct · 1 measured

ETS 16 mains / ESP 16 crosses

Stiffness20th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss37th pct · 1 measured
Energy return96th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential2nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite2nd pct · 1 measured
String friction96th 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.

ESP 16

~28 hours of play

ETS 16

~30 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma ESP 16 Nylon16find15827942.60.4190.159
Head ETS 16 Nylon16find15625951.90.3310.173

Add a third string ESP 16 in full ETS 16 in full