StringSpec
String finder

Browse all 788

Head to head

Gamma Ocho XP 17 (1.27) vs Gamma Professional 18 (1.22)

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Ocho XP 17 (1.27) is 22 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Ocho XP 17 (1.27)

Nylon · 17 ga

Gamma

Professional 18 (1.22)

Nylon · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
14710th pct
1243rd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2121st pct
2226th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9493rd pct
9384th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.621st pct
3.927th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.50077th pct
0.45056th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.13890th pct
0.11479th 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 Ocho XP 17 (1.27) at 52 lb

String Professional 18 (1.22) at 61.8 lb 28.0 kg

Coming from Professional 18 (1.22) at 52 lb

String Ocho XP 17 (1.27) at 43.7 lb 19.8 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.

Ocho XP 17 (1.27) mains / Professional 18 (1.22) crosses

Stiffness5th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss22nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return90th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite75th pct · 1 measured
String friction88th pct · 1 measured

Professional 18 (1.22) mains / Ocho XP 17 (1.27) crosses

Stiffness4th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss24th pct · 1 measured
Energy return89th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential25th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite60th pct · 1 measured
String friction83rd 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.

Ocho XP 17 (1.27)

~34 hours of play

Professional 18 (1.22)

~32 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Ocho XP 17 (1.27) Nylon17find14721943.60.5000.138
Gamma Professional 18 (1.22) Nylon18find12422933.90.4500.114

Add a third string Ocho XP 17 (1.27) in full Professional 18 (1.22) in full