StringSpec
String finder

Browse all 788

Head to head

Head Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) vs Prince Lightning Pro 16 (1.30)

Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) is 17 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Head

Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25)

Nylon · 17 ga

Prince

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15114th pct
1437th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
154th pct
166th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9378th pct
9274th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.282nd pct
5.569th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.46061st pct
0.45559th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07411th pct
0.08228th 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 Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) at 54.7 lb 24.8 kg

Coming from Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) at 49.4 lb 22.4 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.

Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) mains / Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness10th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss4th pct · 1 measured
Energy return74th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential80th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite61st pct · 1 measured
String friction15th pct · 1 measured

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) mains / Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness10th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss5th pct · 1 measured
Energy return74th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential73rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite60th pct · 1 measured
String friction23rd 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.

Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25)

~39 hours of play

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30)

~38 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Head Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) Nylon17find15115936.20.4600.074
Prince Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) Nylon16find14316925.50.4550.082

Add a third string Synthetic Gut PPS 17 (1.25) in full Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) in full