StringSpec
String finder

Browse all 788

Head to head

Prince Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) vs Tourna Irradiated 17

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) is 13 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Tourna

Irradiated 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
1437th pct
15416th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
166th pct
179th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9274th pct
9276th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.569th pct
5.467th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.45559th pct
0.47267th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08228th pct
0.08842nd pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 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 Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Irradiated 17 at 48.5 lb 22.0 kg

Coming from Irradiated 17 at 52 lb

String Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) at 55.7 lb 25.3 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.

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) mains / Irradiated 17 crosses

Stiffness10th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss7th pct · 1 measured
Energy return74th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential68th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite60th pct · 1 measured
String friction31st pct · 1 measured

Irradiated 17 mains / Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness12th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss8th pct · 1 measured
Energy return74th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential68th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite66th pct · 1 measured
String friction37th 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.

Lightning Pro 16 (1.30)

~38 hours of play

Irradiated 17

~37 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) Nylon16find14316925.50.4550.082
Tourna Irradiated 17 Nylon17find15417925.40.4720.088

Add a third string Lightning Pro 16 (1.30) in full Irradiated 17 in full