Head to head

Wilson Hollow Core 16 vs Wilson Hollow Core Pro 17

Hollow Core Pro 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is spin potential, where Hollow Core Pro 17 is 13 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Wilson

Hollow Core 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Wilson

Hollow Core Pro 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15013th pct
15013th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
3455th pct
3455th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9061st pct
9165th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.314th pct
3.927th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.50178th pct
0.51583rd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.15194th pct
0.13389th 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 Hollow Core 16 at 52 lb

String Hollow Core Pro 17 at 53.2 lb 24.1 kg

Coming from Hollow Core Pro 17 at 52 lb

String Hollow Core 16 at 51.0 lb 23.1 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.

Hollow Core 16 mains / Hollow Core Pro 17 crosses

Stiffness13th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss55th pct · 1 measured
Energy return63rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential17th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite79th pct · 1 measured
String friction92nd pct · 1 measured

Hollow Core Pro 17 mains / Hollow Core 16 crosses

Stiffness13th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss55th pct · 1 measured
Energy return64th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential24th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite82nd pct · 1 measured
String friction90th 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.

Hollow Core 16

~23 hours of play

Hollow Core Pro 17

~23 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Wilson Hollow Core 16 Nylon16find15034903.30.5010.151
Wilson Hollow Core Pro 17 Nylon17find15034913.90.5150.133

Add a third string Hollow Core 16 in full Hollow Core Pro 17 in full