Head to head

Prince Lightning XX 17 vs Prince Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L

Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L is 33 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Lightning XX 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Prince

Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L

Nylon · 15L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
17744th pct
18248th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1915th pct
179th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9388th pct
9493rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.518th pct
3.518th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.38716th pct
0.43749th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11076th pct
0.12686th 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 17 at 52 lb

String Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L at 48.9 lb 22.2 kg

Coming from Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L at 52 lb

String Lightning XX 17 at 55.6 lb 25.2 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.

Lightning XX 17 mains / Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L crosses

Stiffness45th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss13th pct · 1 measured
Energy return91st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential18th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite20th pct · 1 measured
String friction79th pct · 1 measured

Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L mains / Lightning XX 17 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss11th pct · 1 measured
Energy return91st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential18th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite43rd pct · 1 measured
String friction84th 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 17

~35 hours of play

Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L

~37 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Lightning XX 17 Nylon17find17719933.50.3870.110
Prince Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L Nylon15Lfind18217943.50.4370.126

Add a third string Lightning XX 17 in full Topspin W/ Duraflex 15L in full