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Head to head

Gamma Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) vs Tourna Big Hitter Blue Rough 16

Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is stiffness, where Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) is 9 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23)

Polyester · 17 ga

Tourna

Big Hitter Blue Rough 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21280th pct
22289th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4169th pct
4168th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8739th pct
8734th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.723rd pct
3.416th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40225th pct
0.39420th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11076th pct
0.11781st 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 Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) at 52 lb

String Big Hitter Blue Rough 16 at 47.9 lb 21.7 kg

Coming from Big Hitter Blue Rough 16 at 52 lb

String Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) at 56.6 lb 25.7 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.

Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) mains / Big Hitter Blue Rough 16 crosses

Stiffness84th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss69th pct · 1 measured
Energy return37th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite24th pct · 1 measured
String friction78th pct · 1 measured

Big Hitter Blue Rough 16 mains / Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) crosses

Stiffness86th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss68th pct · 1 measured
Energy return35th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite21st 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.

Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23)

~19 hours of play

Big Hitter Blue Rough 16

~20 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) Polyester17find21241873.70.4020.110
Tourna Big Hitter Blue Rough 16 Polyester16$9.9522241873.40.3940.117

Add a third string Zo Black Ice 17 (1.23) in full Big Hitter Blue Rough 16 in full