StringSpec
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Browse all 791

Head to head

Gosen Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) vs Head Hawk Touch 18 (1.20)

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) is 10 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

Polylon Premium 16L (1.27)

Polyester · 16L ga

Head

Hawk Touch 18 (1.20)

Polyester · 18 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20169th pct
19664th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3353rd pct
3251st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9058th pct
8955th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.467th pct
5.262nd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43547th pct
0.44754th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08126th pct
0.08637th 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 Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) at 52 lb

String Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) at 53.4 lb 24.2 kg

Coming from Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) 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.

Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) mains / Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness67th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss52nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return57th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential65th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite49th pct · 1 measured
String friction30th pct · 1 measured

Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) mains / Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) crosses

Stiffness66th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss52nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return57th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential63rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite52nd pct · 1 measured
String friction33rd 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.

Polylon Premium 16L (1.27)

~24 hours of play

Hawk Touch 18 (1.20)

~25 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) Polyester16Lfind20133905.40.4350.081
Head Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) Polyester18find19632895.20.4470.086

Add a third string Polylon Premium 16L (1.27) in full Hawk Touch 18 (1.20) in full