Head to head

Prince Lightning XX 16 vs Prince Syn Gut Original 17

Syn Gut Original 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Syn Gut Original 17 is 16 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Lightning XX 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Prince

Syn Gut Original 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18147th pct
18147th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1915th pct
178th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9381st pct
9381st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.416th pct
3.824th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.39822nd pct
0.42138th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11781st pct
0.11278th 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 Lightning XX 16 at 52 lb

String Syn Gut Original 17 at 51.7 lb 23.5 kg

Coming from Syn Gut Original 17 at 52 lb

String Lightning XX 16 at 52.3 lb 23.7 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 XX 16 mains / Syn Gut Original 17 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss12th pct · 1 measured
Energy return81st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite24th pct · 1 measured
String friction80th pct · 1 measured

Syn Gut Original 17 mains / Lightning XX 16 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss9th pct · 1 measured
Energy return81st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential24th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite35th pct · 1 measured
String friction79th 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 XX 16

~35 hours of play

Syn Gut Original 17

~38 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Lightning XX 16 Nylon16find18119933.40.3980.117
Prince Syn Gut Original 17 Nylon17find18117933.80.4210.112

Add a third string Lightning XX 16 in full Syn Gut Original 17 in full