Victor MX JJS vs TK8000

Discussion in 'Racket Recommendation / Comparison' started by davlee, Mar 30, 2013.

  1. davlee

    davlee Regular Member

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    Hi guys,

    Anyone has the both and already made comparison between these two?
     
  2. RedLeo

    RedLeo Regular Member

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    Reposting so its easier to search.

    I guess I'll give my comparison between the MX JJS (3U) and the Thruster K8000 (3U). I 'm a newbie at this.


    I mostly play doubles so take it with a grain of salt.


    String tension: JJS @ 24 lb with NBG98
    TK8000 @ 23.5 lb with Li Ning Ap 90. Prior I had also used the NBG 98 @ 24lb.


    I had used both rackets the night before but I had wanted to give it one more try today to just confirm my thoughts on both rackets. I won't spoil my final impressions of the two until the end.


    When I hold both rackets, I wouldn't have noticed the weight between either one. The difference however is really noticeable with the swings. I didn't have much difficulty with a downstroke then immediately performing an upstroke on the JJS. The Thruster, on the other hand, was fast on the downstroke but you could feel immediately the head heaviness when you tried an upstroke right after.


    Warm up:
    The JJS felt very smooth when completing hits or clears. The Thruster's head heaviness was quite noticeable as it wanted to propel to one direction. No pun intended. It is possible the slight flex the TK8000 has makes this feeling really noticeable.


    Clears.
    Both were pretty decent in the this area. I couldn't notice a real difference between the two. The TK8000 was slightly head heavy but it wasn't too obvious.


    Backhand
    the JJS was rather straight forward to backhand clear. The TK8000 with its flex made me more conscious to time my backhand clear. The TK8000 has power but I had to retime my hits to accurately hit where i wanted it to go.


    Drives:
    Both rackets can drive the shuttle fast. The return of the drives: JJS >> TK8000. I had to concentrate a lot harder with the TK8000 when it came to the drives as the slight head-heaviness made it harder to respond to incoming drives. The JJS was felt lighter and more responsive in defensive.


    Drops:
    Both rackets were fairly even in this department. I feel its more about technique than racquet to execute it well.


    Smashes: I think this is the one section that the biggest difference comes into play between the two. When i first picked up the MX JJS and tried to smash... it was a huge thrill. Great angle, huge sweet spot, came with a bang. Fairly quick. This was first try with the JJS. The time to adjust wasn't hard at all for a smash


    With the TK8000, I looked like a tool the first time. Smash attempts became drive attempts. It was a terrible first session. The flex and the head heaviness of the racquet made me rethink how i needed to time my swings. The swing timing was different and I had to use a more whippy swing.


    After playing with it for a few more sessions and it clicked, I can do a more direct comparison.
    Power: TK8000 >>> JJS. The speed of the shuttle and power are a lot more obvious. Its thunderous when you smash with the TK8000 and I've caught a few people offguard with the speed of the shuttle. My friends receiving my smash noted that the smash speed is a lot faster compared to the JJS. I snapped my strings with the Thruster K (23.5lb) today. I haven't ever snapped my strings with my JJS (24lb Nbg98, 25 lb Bg66UM).



    Angle: JJS >> TK8000. The JJS is better at placement and is easy to produce steeper angles smashes at the sacriface of a little speed. The TK8000 is harder to smash accurately with steeper angles.


    Defence: JJS >>> TK8000. The headheavyness of the TK8000 is very obvious after the powerful hit. You feel very slow to respond if your opponent is able to block your smash. In singles, its not as obvious. In doubles, its really obvious. Also in drives in doubles, I wasn't able to respond to some incoming drives with the TK8000. The JJS is very responsive in comparison to the TK8000.


    Overall:
    Power: TK8000 >>> JJS
    Control: JJS >> TK8000
    Def: JJS >>> TK8000.


    My thoughts on the two racquets
    The JJS was very easy to like even in the first session. Its a good all-rounder. You can do steep smashes, and good defence responsiveness. You can probably pick it up and go to town with it.


    The TK8000 was a mixed bag for me. I had a hard time adjusting to smashing with it. The head moved very fast and I mis-timed a lot. I played with the racquet for 3 weeks to try to like the thing. (3x a week at least 1hr each session).I changed the grip, strings, my strokes to try and adjust to the racquet in that time. Then it clicked... I could hit really hard with the TK8000. The problem was when my opponents were able to stop my smashes and the defensive drop was noticeable. The Thruster likes to go one direction and dislikes making any sudden changes :D. I spent more time at the gym to adjust my reflexes and endurance. I felt like I had to work to get to that level to adjust to the racquet. My concentration had to go up as I realized that my defense would take a hit.


    Going back to the JJS after playing with the TK8000, felt very balanced...


    If you want to more power and smashy hits with a drop in defence, the TK8000 is worth looking at. However, I may recommend you try to stick with the racquet for a while as it takes times to adjust and play to its strengths. I was compelled to get more fit to make use of the racquet better.

    Update: After playing it a bit more, using the TK8000 is a huge offense boost compared to the JJS if you're into drives and smashes. It's very addictive to hammer out shots and have the shuttle fly >_>;

    If that isn't your playstyle, the JJS is more suited.
     
  3. R20190

    R20190 Regular Member

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    Did you have a 3U or 4U JJS? I'm thinking of buying a JJS but worried it would be too head heavy for me in 3U and end up slowing my defense down too much. I'm currently using a BS-LYD in 3U.
     
  4. RedLeo

    RedLeo Regular Member

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    I m using a 3u jjs. It would be slightly slower than the bravesword types. Surprisingly I didn't find it too head heavy. there is a nice solid feel when reaching the sweet spot
     
  5. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    Picked up a TK8000 today and was able to get about 2 hours of play with it.
    I've also had almost 10 hours of play with my JJS as well and I have to say they are very different.

    The JJS is very powerful no doubt but I felt its defense was slower than my Vt-80 and my smashes were't consistently steep anymore. And the funny thing is other than the fact that the JJS is stiffer than the VT-80, it felt head heavier as well.

    Now the TK8000 on the other hand has similar flexibility to the Vt-80 and I suffered no timing issues like I did with the JJS. I also had fewer frame hits as well and defense was faster than the JJS. Smashes always went steep even more so than my Vt-80 which surprised me quite a bit.

    Hits had a very metallic sound on the Thruster but that could be the strings. It is strung with BG66UM @ 23lbs.

    These are all personal opinions but based on my limited time with the Thruster, I absolutely love it. It feels more suited to me than my Voltric and way more compatible with my playing style than the JJS.

    All 3 of them are 3U in case anyone is wondering.
     
  6. decoy

    decoy Regular Member

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    [MENTION=108229]Elisha[/MENTION] would you say that the thruster is less demanding then the voltric 80?
     
  7. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    Give me till Wednesday night and I'll have more time with it to give you a better idea.
    They are very similar in terms of flex. The Thruster has a very unnatural ability to make the smash go steeper than any racquet I have tried with minimal effort!
     
  8. ariffd93

    ariffd93 Regular Member

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    I got both racket but i will try the tk8000 after i come back from my university, both mine was 4u and i think jjs is powerful compare to bs12, when it comes to smash, we can feel the difference between bs12 and jjs, but bs12 has higher control, i will update my tk8000 soon
     
  9. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    Now that I have more than 5 hours of play on the Thruster, I have to say that for me, it's the easiest racquet I have used compared to the Vt-80 and the JJS.
    It's fast, easy to control, not tiring and feels like an extension of my arm.
    To me it feels like a perfected version of the Vt-80!
    Love how the smashes are always steep!
     
  10. Nicky_Boy02

    Nicky_Boy02 Regular Member

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    From a VTZF 4u user who plays double most of the time, so should I go for MXJJS or TK8000? 4u or 3u? I have always wanted to give victor racket a try after receiving numerous positive reviews on victor racket (I am a yonex wielder ever since I started playing).
     
  11. ariffd93

    ariffd93 Regular Member

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    Mxjjs4u, if u ean more flexible version, tk8000 4u, b4 this im using zforce 4u also, but i prefer tk8000 more, but both of ur choice are excellent, these rackets are excellent, and the best among victor racket, u have choose the right racket
     
  12. Nicky_Boy02

    Nicky_Boy02 Regular Member

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    But TK8000 is a mid-stiff racket, would it be hard to switch from VTZF to TK8000? MXJJS, on the other hand, is a stiffer racket but less head heavy as compare to TK800 right? I'm looking forward to improving my smash than other aspects.
     
  13. ariffd93

    ariffd93 Regular Member

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    The graph was wrong, jjs is stiffer than tk8000 and head heavier than tk8000 also, both was 4u. Dont try 3u
     
  14. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    JJS is definitely stiffer but no way head heavier. The TK8000 is the first Victor that has a BP of 305mm.
    My JJS was about 298mm.
    The JJS in general feels heavy. It felt heavier than my VT-80.
    The weight could all be in the T-Joint area like the BS12.
     
  15. Knicknack

    Knicknack Regular Member

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    I had a go with my friend's TK8000 last night. Same thing here with the SW35: The racket is stiff and quite head heavy. It's a lie that Victor rates it 3/5 in term of stiffness! However maybe due to the different kick point leaning toward the head, it is quite whippy thus easier to generate power compare to SW35. In case you wonder, SW35 can give you more power if you have the arm strenght for it, TK8000 is less demanding.

    The Thruster has a unique way to give you power with less effort. While comparing to the MX JJS, the defense is quite slower and with the MX JJS you get much better angles to your shots. In term of raw power, I would rate it on par with VT80. I think the TK8000 4U is good in double where as 3U is better in single.

    Victor has come a long way in producing head heavy racket since the SW35, mostly due to the sponsorship with the Korean National Team as they tend to prefer less head heavy for fast plays. If JJS is still playing, I think he would pick up a stiffer version of the TK8000 and give everyone a hard time on dodging his attacks :p
     
  16. paulstewart64

    paulstewart64 Regular Member

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    It may be worth asking ben Wills from this forum for more information on both rackets as I know he has them and plays with them.

    Paul
    www.badmiton-coach.co.uk
     
  17. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    I missed my JJS after I sold it that I picked up a 4U today. So if anyone is still interested, I will post impressions of the 4U vs the TK8000 3U.
    I'm going to get them both restrung this weekend with ZM62.
     
  18. Stephanus

    Stephanus Regular Member

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    Elisha, Should you get a 4u tk8000 since it is one of your fav?
    After using jjs 4u for 3 months, I still prefer to play double with mx 60 4u. IMO, mx 60 is more comfortable yet equally powerful, faster than jjs. Comparing jjs vs tk8000, which racket do you reckon faster for double?
     
  19. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    I have no issues with the 3U TK8k. But when I owned the 3U JJS, I had some angle issues. Just couldn't get steep smashes and it felt very stiff to me. And I gave up on it without restringing it to a preferred string.
    Anyway I'll play with the new one today with this we're VS-32 string that came on it and restringing on Friday to ZM62.
    All the local guys can't get it back to me fast enough unfortunately.
     
  20. Elisha

    Elisha Regular Member

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    Restrung all 3 of my Victor rackets to ZM62 at 24lbs with Yonex ECP machine and they feel great.
    I lined up TK8k, Legend II and JJS side by side and noticed that the TK8k's shaft is the longest and JJS is the shortest. The Legend II has a bigger or at least lower starting point for the head. The JJS is definitely stiffer than the TK8k and a little bit more demanding.
    But a great racket nonetheless.
     

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