Head to head

Pacific Power Line 17 vs Prince Recoil 16

Power Line 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Recoil 16 is 10 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Pacific

Power Line 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Prince

Recoil 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
17442nd pct
17442nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2227th pct
2431st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9269th pct
9168th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.518th pct
3.416th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.37410th pct
0.3311st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10671st pct
0.09861st 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 Power Line 17 at 52 lb

String Recoil 16 at 52.8 lb 23.9 kg

Coming from Recoil 16 at 52 lb

String Power Line 17 at 51.2 lb 23.2 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.

Power Line 17 mains / Recoil 16 crosses

Stiffness42nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return68th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite7th pct · 1 measured
String friction69th pct · 1 measured

Recoil 16 mains / Power Line 17 crosses

Stiffness42nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return68th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite2nd pct · 1 measured
String friction63rd 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.

Power Line 17

~32 hours of play

Recoil 16

~31 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Pacific Power Line 17 Nylon17find17422923.50.3740.106
Prince Recoil 16 Nylon16find17424913.40.3310.098

Add a third string Power Line 17 in full Recoil 16 in full