Head to head

Polyfibre TCS 16L vs Prince Poly Spin 3D

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

Measured, side by side

Polyfibre

TCS 16L

Polyester · 16L ga

Prince

Poly Spin 3D

Polyester

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16735th pct
17945th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
6298th pct
6097th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
792nd pct
803rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.824th pct
3.314th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.37711th pct
0.3739th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09861st pct
0.11378th 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 TCS 16L at 52 lb

String Poly Spin 3D at 48.3 lb 21.9 kg

Coming from Poly Spin 3D at 52 lb

String TCS 16L at 57.4 lb 26.0 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.

TCS 16L mains / Poly Spin 3D crosses

Stiffness40th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss98th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite11th pct · 1 measured
String friction66th pct · 1 measured

Poly Spin 3D mains / TCS 16L crosses

Stiffness42nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss97th pct · 1 measured
Energy return3rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential16th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite9th pct · 1 measured
String friction75th 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.

TCS 16L

~11 hours of play

Poly Spin 3D

~11 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Polyfibre TCS 16L Polyester16Lfind16762793.80.3770.098
Prince Poly Spin 3D Polyesterfind17960803.30.3730.113

Add a third string TCS 16L in full Poly Spin 3D in full