Head to head

Gamma Professional 18 (1.22) vs Prince Premier Power 17

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where Professional 18 (1.22) is 26 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Professional 18 (1.22)

Nylon · 18 ga

Prince

Premier Power 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
1243rd pct
1458th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2226th pct
2017th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9381st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.927th pct
4.337th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.45056th pct
0.41029th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11479th pct
0.09657th 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 Professional 18 (1.22) at 52 lb

String Premier Power 17 at 44.4 lb 20.1 kg

Coming from Premier Power 17 at 52 lb

String Professional 18 (1.22) at 60.9 lb 27.6 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 18 (1.22) mains / Premier Power 17 crosses

Stiffness4th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss22nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite52nd pct · 1 measured
String friction75th pct · 1 measured

Premier Power 17 mains / Professional 18 (1.22) crosses

Stiffness5th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss20th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite34th pct · 1 measured
String friction64th 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 18 (1.22)

~32 hours of play

Premier Power 17

~35 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Professional 18 (1.22) Nylon18find12422933.90.4500.114
Prince Premier Power 17 Nylon17find14520934.30.4100.096

Add a third string Professional 18 (1.22) in full Premier Power 17 in full