Head to head

Prince Topspin Plus 16 vs Volkl Synthetic Gut 16

Topspin Plus 16 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Topspin Plus 16 is 29 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Topspin Plus 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Volkl

Synthetic Gut 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16634th pct
17442nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2119th pct
2019th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9272nd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.364th pct
5.159th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.51282nd pct
0.44653rd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.09759th pct
0.08739th 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 Topspin Plus 16 at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 16 at 49.7 lb 22.5 kg

Coming from Synthetic Gut 16 at 52 lb

String Topspin Plus 16 at 54.9 lb 24.9 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.

Topspin Plus 16 mains / Synthetic Gut 16 crosses

Stiffness37th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss19th pct · 1 measured
Energy return80th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential63rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite79th pct · 1 measured
String friction56th pct · 1 measured

Synthetic Gut 16 mains / Topspin Plus 16 crosses

Stiffness39th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss19th pct · 1 measured
Energy return75th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential61st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite59th pct · 1 measured
String friction45th 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.

Topspin Plus 16

~34 hours of play

Synthetic Gut 16

~34 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Topspin Plus 16 Nylon16find16621935.30.5120.097
Volkl Synthetic Gut 16 Nylon16find17420925.10.4460.087

Add a third string Topspin Plus 16 in full Synthetic Gut 16 in full