Head to head

Gamma Professional 16 vs Wilson Reaction 16

They split the measurements 2–2. The widest gap is ball bite, where Reaction 16 is 16 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Professional 16

Nylon/Zyex · 16 ga

Wilson

Reaction 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15012th pct
1469th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2535th pct
2639th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9168th pct
9168th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
2.44th pct
2.44th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40225th pct
0.42440th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.16596th pct
0.17797th 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 Professional 16 at 52 lb

String Reaction 16 at 53.2 lb 24.1 kg

Coming from Reaction 16 at 52 lb

String Professional 16 at 50.7 lb 23.0 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.

Professional 16 mains / Reaction 16 crosses

Stiffness11th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss37th pct · 1 measured
Energy return68th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential4th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite27th pct · 1 measured
String friction96th pct · 1 measured

Reaction 16 mains / Professional 16 crosses

Stiffness10th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss38th pct · 1 measured
Energy return68th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential4th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite38th pct · 1 measured
String friction97th 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.

Professional 16

~29 hours of play

Reaction 16

~28 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Professional 16 Nylon/Zyex16find15025912.40.4020.165
Wilson Reaction 16 Nylon16find14626912.40.4240.177

Add a third string Professional 16 in full Reaction 16 in full