Head to head

Tecnifibre Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) vs Tourna Big HItter Silver 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where Big HItter Silver 16 is 26 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Tecnifibre

Black Code 4S 18 (1.20)

Polyester · 18 ga

Tourna

Big HItter Silver 16

Polyester · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
21080th pct
20978th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2537th pct
2639th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8850th pct
8846th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.181st pct
6.889th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.53287th pct
0.50781st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08739th pct
0.07513th pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 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 Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) at 52 lb

String Big HItter Silver 16 at 52.3 lb 23.7 kg

Coming from Big HItter Silver 16 at 52 lb

String Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) at 51.7 lb 23.5 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.

Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) mains / Big HItter Silver 16 crosses

Stiffness79th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss38th pct · 1 measured
Energy return49th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential83rd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite86th pct · 1 measured
String friction32nd pct · 1 measured

Big HItter Silver 16 mains / Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) crosses

Stiffness79th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss38th pct · 1 measured
Energy return48th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential88th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite81st pct · 1 measured
String friction18th 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.

Black Code 4S 18 (1.20)

~29 hours of play

Big HItter Silver 16

~28 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Tecnifibre Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) Polyester18$12.9521025886.10.5320.087
Tourna Big HItter Silver 16 Polyester16find20926886.80.5070.075

Add a third string Black Code 4S 18 (1.20) in full Big HItter Silver 16 in full