Head to head

Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) vs Tourna Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25)

Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) is 33 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Kirschbaum

Max Power Rough 17 (1.25)

Polyester · 17 ga

Tourna

Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25)

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
22490th pct
22390th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2639th pct
2432nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9060th pct
8955th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.671st pct
5.671st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.49676th pct
0.60896th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08842nd pct
0.10975th 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 Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) at 52.1 lb 23.6 kg

Coming from Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) at 52 lb

String Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) at 51.9 lb 23.5 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.

Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) mains / Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness90th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss37th pct · 1 measured
Energy return58th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential71st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite82nd pct · 1 measured
String friction53rd pct · 1 measured

Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) mains / Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) crosses

Stiffness90th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss35th pct · 1 measured
Energy return57th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential71st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite95th pct · 1 measured
String friction68th 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.

Max Power Rough 17 (1.25)

~28 hours of play

Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25)

~30 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) Polyester17find22426905.60.4960.088
Tourna Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) Polyester16$10.5022324895.60.6080.109

Add a third string Max Power Rough 17 (1.25) in full Big HItter Black 7 16 (1.25) in full