Head to head

Prince Premier Control 16 vs Prince Topspin Plus 16

Premier Control 16 leads on 5 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Premier Control 16 is 19 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Premier Control 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Prince

Topspin Plus 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15822nd pct
16634th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1811th pct
2119th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9388th pct
9384th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.467th pct
5.364th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.47166th pct
0.51282nd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08739th pct
0.09759th 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 Premier Control 16 at 52 lb

String Topspin Plus 16 at 47.5 lb 21.5 kg

Coming from Topspin Plus 16 at 52 lb

String Premier Control 16 at 56.1 lb 25.4 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.

Premier Control 16 mains / Topspin Plus 16 crosses

Stiffness27th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss13th pct · 1 measured
Energy return87th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential65th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite69th pct · 1 measured
String friction45th pct · 1 measured

Topspin Plus 16 mains / Premier Control 16 crosses

Stiffness29th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss16th pct · 1 measured
Energy return86th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential65th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite80th pct · 1 measured
String friction56th 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.

Premier Control 16

~37 hours of play

Topspin Plus 16

~34 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Premier Control 16 Nylon16find15818935.40.4710.087
Prince Topspin Plus 16 Nylon16find16621935.30.5120.097

Add a third string Premier Control 16 in full Topspin Plus 16 in full