VIDEO: Adidas Power Hybrid (+ Victor SW35) stringing

Discussion in 'Badminton Stringing Techniques & Tools' started by kwun, Feb 24, 2013.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    Having completed the play testing of all the rackets i received from Adidas, i have started testing the strings. upon requests i started with the Power Hybrid. below is the video of the stringing process.

    the string came with the main and cross separately tied. the main is white, and cross is yellow.

    the thing that really struct me is that the string is super slippery. so slippery that my gripper had problem gripping it. it is spec'ed to be a 0.72mm mains, 0.69mm cross string. at the previous gripper setting, it was able to grip the 0.62mm Zymax with no problem at all. but at the same setting, it slipped on the 0.69mm cross string. i had to go get my tools to readjust the gripper plates to accomodate for that.

    the good thing with that is it is very easy to pull the string as there is much less friction. initial feel of the string is that it is stiff. and that is confirmed by the play testing that i did in the evening.

    besides that, there isn't much else different with stringing the Adidas Power Hybrid.

    [video=youtube;UquJFhPskvU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UquJFhPskvU[/video]
     
  2. phili

    phili Regular Member

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    How did it play?
     
  3. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    only had a couple hours with it. so far, to keep it short:

    power on heavy shots: 8/10
    repulsion on medium shots: 9/10
    stiffness: +4 (out of -5 to +5 scale)
    feel: 6/10 (kinda dull/dampened feel)
     
  4. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    Apologies if O/T, but I really cannot see the point of a badminton hybrid - the racket/shuttle interaction is almost totally isotropic, and there is no way to play power with spin like in tennis.

    kwun, feel free to move this post into the appropriate "Badminton Strings" thread when one appears for this string:).
     
  5. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    noted on hybrid stringing.

    Adidas claims that it enhances power and control. i think i need to spend more time with it to really understand it the benefit.
     
  6. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    If someone as experienced as the moderator of Badminton Central needs to "spend more time with it to really understand the benefit" then I really doubt that there is much spectacular benefit to be had.
     
  7. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    ok. so power is pretty good, really good, actually. but the string is too slippery. for shots like drives, while it give the shuttle good velocity, i have trouble inducing enough spin on the shuttle. sometimes that means it goes higher than i expected it to.

    today i managed to spend more time doing different warm up drills with different people to get the actual feel of the string. i think i have enough data to write up a report.

    and along with finishing the precision 88 review and the switch pro review.

    who says these Adidas samples are "free"? ;)
     
  8. maxout

    maxout Regular Member

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    Well, as long as you don't have to return them after reviewing - I think you got A GREAT "FREE" DEAL !!! :D I don't mind doing it too !! :p
     
  9. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    yeah. well my first try with it i was mostly playing games. didn't get the structured testing time for different shots to sense the right feel. today i managed to do some simple drills which was much more helpful.

    but the point remains the same. i can only evaluate the hybrid string as it is and unless i am able to some A/B compare with and without hybrid, it would be hard to make much out of the "hybrids". and as it is today, it didn't make a 'wow, this hybrid really stand out' type of impression.
     
  10. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    the stringing machine sitting on carpet is not sitting very stable. i can see from the video that it is rocking around when i string. i'd prefer it more stable and it will look better for video taping purposes too.

    anyone has suggestion how to stabilize it? maybe spikes?
     
  11. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    ^^ Definitely spikes if the feet comes predrilled for them.

    Otherwise do it like they do at restaurants, fold up a piece of paper under the short leg. :p
     
  12. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Back to topic, yep from my experience over the past week with nbg98 and trying to make it grippier, I'm finding that slippery strings are more powerful because there's less energy lost in the intersections of the mains and crosses during the stretch/rebound cycle. The only downside of slipperiness is loss of directional control as the bird slides on the stringbed. I suppose this can be minimized by stringing slippery strings a tad tighter.
     
  13. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i am not totally convinced how much that contributes to energy loss. i guess it depends on how much string--to-string movement there is on shuttle impact. at first thought i would imagine the whole string bed stretches together at the same time, while there might be some local movement isn't that limited? the sweetspot strings also move more than the side strings but the largest friction point would be the grommet in this case.

    sounds like there will need to be some experimentation done on this.
     
  14. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    ^ I know you were looking for it a few days ago... have you found your wd40 yet? :)
     
  15. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    hehe. i need to get all the stuff together first.

    we need:


    • 2 identical rackets (maybe my SW35?)
    • 2 identical strings (ZM62? i got tons of those and they are grippy to start with.)

    and then we can do experiments on them. both must be strung at the same tension.

    then we can have A/B testing done by other people.
     
  16. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Been researching on tennis string slipperiness and lubrication. Seems like some research shows that extra spin is achieved with lubrication on both old notched stringbeds and new unnotched stringbeds. The theory is that less interstring friction allows the strings to snap back faster and more completely. This is also observed with naturally slippery polyester strings with low coefficients of friction.

    Wonder how this would translate to badminton, obviously not in terms of spin, but in terms of power. :)

    Another thing, better use silicone spray instead of wd40, as the latter leaves a sticky residue and has organic solvents that may deteriorate the string.
     
  17. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    I have a pair of identical spec xp70 strung with zm62, so I'll get some silicone spray tomorrow to try. Meanwhile I still need to roughen up the nbg98. :p
     
  18. Maklike Tier

    Maklike Tier Regular Member

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    Hey, I just tried this string at the Melbourne Demo Day and really liked it. The transitional and deceptive shots were really fantastic with it.

    Anyway, I managed to score a free pack so I'm going to string a racket up with it today.
     

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