StringSpec
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Browse all 791

Head to head

Polyfibre Poly Hightec 17 vs Polyfibre TCS Rapid 16L/1.25

Poly Hightec 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 is 18 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Polyfibre

Poly Hightec 17

Polyester · 17 ga

Polyfibre

TCS Rapid 16L/1.25

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15822nd pct
16026th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
6398th pct
6499th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
814th pct
791st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.030th pct
4.337th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.39520th pct
0.38515th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09962nd pct
0.08944th 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 Poly Hightec 17 at 52 lb

String TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 at 51.4 lb 23.3 kg

Coming from TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 at 52 lb

String Poly Hightec 17 at 52.6 lb 23.9 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.

Poly Hightec 17 mains / TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 crosses

Stiffness23rd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss99th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential31st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite19th pct · 1 measured
String friction57th pct · 1 measured

TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 mains / Poly Hightec 17 crosses

Stiffness24th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss99th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite16th pct · 1 measured
String friction48th 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.

Poly Hightec 17

~10 hours of play

TCS Rapid 16L/1.25

~10 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Polyfibre Poly Hightec 17 Polyester17find15863814.00.3950.099
Polyfibre TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 Polyester16Lfind16064794.30.3850.089

Add a third string Poly Hightec 17 in full TCS Rapid 16L/1.25 in full