Head to head

IsoSpeed Energetic 17 vs Wilson Shock Shield 16

Shock Shield 16 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is tension loss, where Shock Shield 16 is 4 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

IsoSpeed

Energetic 17

Nylon/Polyolefin · 17 ga

Wilson

Shock Shield 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15720th pct
15619th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3457th pct
3252nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9061st pct
9063rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
1.91st pct
2.33rd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41332nd pct
0.40828th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.22099th pct
0.17897th 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 Energetic 17 at 52 lb

String Shock Shield 16 at 52.7 lb 23.9 kg

Coming from Shock Shield 16 at 52 lb

String Energetic 17 at 50.4 lb 22.9 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.

Energetic 17 mains / Shock Shield 16 crosses

Stiffness19th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss55th pct · 1 measured
Energy return61st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential2nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite31st pct · 1 measured
String friction98th pct · 1 measured

Shock Shield 16 mains / Energetic 17 crosses

Stiffness19th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss54th pct · 1 measured
Energy return61st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential3rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite28th 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.

Energetic 17

~23 hours of play

Shock Shield 16

~24 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
IsoSpeed Energetic 17 Nylon/Polyolefin17find15734901.90.4130.220
Wilson Shock Shield 16 Nylon16find15632902.30.4080.178

Add a third string Energetic 17 in full Shock Shield 16 in full