Head to head

Prince Premier LT 17 vs Wilson Shock Shield 16

Premier LT 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Premier LT 17 is 31 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Premier LT 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Wilson

Shock Shield 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15316th pct
15619th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3048th pct
3252nd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9062nd pct
9063rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.314th pct
2.33rd pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3382nd pct
0.40828th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10266th pct
0.17897th 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 LT 17 at 52 lb

String Shock Shield 16 at 50.5 lb 22.9 kg

Coming from Shock Shield 16 at 52 lb

String Premier LT 17 at 53.6 lb 24.3 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.

Premier LT 17 mains / Shock Shield 16 crosses

Stiffness17th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss49th pct · 1 measured
Energy return62nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential11th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite2nd pct · 1 measured
String friction83rd pct · 1 measured

Shock Shield 16 mains / Premier LT 17 crosses

Stiffness17th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss51st pct · 1 measured
Energy return62nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential4th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite22nd pct · 1 measured
String friction95th 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 LT 17

~25 hours of play

Shock Shield 16

~24 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Premier LT 17 Nylon17find15330903.30.3380.102
Wilson Shock Shield 16 Nylon16find15632902.30.4080.178

Add a third string Premier LT 17 in full Shock Shield 16 in full