Review: Adidas Power Performance

Discussion in 'Badminton String' started by Mark A, Jun 21, 2013.

  1. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    Adidas Power Performance mini-review. Panda Revelation, 30x31.

    Power - 8/10. Nice surprise, right from the get-go. No trouble getting the shuttle from anywhere to anywhere (even the backhand clear had plenty of depth), and smashes and drives had some real sting. Deserves its "power" monniker.

    Control - 7/10. Very good placement from closed-face shots, and not as wild at the net as the others.

    Feel - 7/10. Lets you know when you've hit one, and has some nice delicacy at the net.

    Sound - 7/10. Nice and crunchy, but lower pitched than some.

    Tension-holding - readings as follows:

    [TABLE="width: 150"]
    [TR]
    [TD]0[/TD]
    [TD]1265[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]1[/TD]
    [TD]1256[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]3[/TD]
    [TD]1244[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]6[/TD]
    [TD]1235[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]12[/TD]
    [TD]1224[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]24[/TD]
    [TD]1210[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]48[/TD]
    [TD]1200[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]72[/TD]
    [TD]1199[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]1st session[/TD]
    [TD]1175[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]2nd session[/TD]
    [TD]1165[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [/TABLE]

    Hmm... not great. Took two big hits after sessions, with a total loss of nearly 8%.

    Conclusion... I'd say this string is certainly power-oriented, and it does the job well - there's no shortage of it. Thankfully, the control and feel don't suffer for it, but the tension loss is a bit poor. This would make a good tournament string, actually.
     
  2. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    [​IMG]

    Blue words at top = durability
    Red words on left = power
    Green words on right = control
    Yellow words on bottom = hitting sound
     
  3. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    ^I'd agree with that chart pretty much down the line:).
     
  4. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    Who started this thread? I put this review in the "Adidas strings" thread!
     
  5. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    I recently tested this string in a carbonex 20 strung at 25lbs electronic machine by MBS.

    The name of the string was not given to me in a 'blind' test scenario. I did pay for the strings. They are natural white in colour.

    I will follow the template by Mark A - his review in this thread is an exact copy of the one that appears in the Adidas strings thread.

    First impressions - I always like the feel of new strings. Who doesn't? These strings came in a white colour. They looked a bit thicker than my usual strings (I usually play with Yonex nanogy 98 or BG66). Looking at the specs, the strings are specified at a thickness of 0.68mm.

    Here's a diagram of the makeup of the strings.

    [​IMG]

    This is pretty much what you will get across the range of Adidas strings. They have the same technology but different gauges (thickness). I am a little confused by the wording under "Hi-Polymer Technology". The wording goes like this - 'combining an advanced hi polymer with nylon resin increases the overall density and tension loss'. Why I am confused? Why would I want 'increased tension loss'? Isn't tension loss something that we want to minimise? Perhaps it's just been worded badly....

    Back to the more important stuff and that means the string. Ever heard that saying 'first impressions count'? It doesn't have much meaning with the Adidas Power Performance strings. Perhaps it's because I am using feather shuttles (those using it plastic shuttles may get a different impression). Perhaps I am too used to my previous strings.



    Power - x/10 - It's unfortunate that the period of testing coincides with Golfer's elbow that I have. I can't really put the power in for fear of aggravating my injury. I can clear with it but not quite a full length clear because of the injury.

    Control - 7/10 - the strings felt a bit slippery by hand. During gameplay, it's not a bad string meaning one can still play the net shots. In fact, I could do some quite good netshots. There's a decent amount of friction of shuttlecock base to the strings to the control the shuttle.

    Feel - 7/10 - Feel is a very subjective quality. Each individual user will have a slightly different impression. I like to describe "feel" as the ability of the string to retain the elasticity component. Another description would be how well does the string impart a bonce into the shuttle. Before I get flamed, I did put the disclaimer that feel is very subjective. For me, the Adidas Power Performance lacks a little here but not that I would put especially bad.

    Sound - 7/10 - "Lower pitched than some." I agree with Mark A. I would almost go so far as to describe it as a 'thud' so it's not going to be a candidate for X-factor.

    Tension loss - 8/10 - After stringing, I wasn't able to get to the courts immediately. It took a few days. There may well have been some tension loss before I started hitting with the strings. During the time of the testing, I haven't felt there has been much tension loss.

    Durability - x/10 - no signs of fraying as yet. Again, a little difficult to assess as I have only been able to produce 75% smash power due to my elbow difficulties. My impression here is the string is a solid performer and won't break quickly.



    Conclusion:

    It's a string with a solid performance, but also, unspectacular. Where do I see it fitting in? For those who play a lot, like 4 days a week, this would be a good string to try out. All the more applicable if you don't live to a stringer close by. Another group would find it useful are those who like to train more than play games. Training might mean high intensity shuttle feeding and shot practice. Some practical trade off between feel and frequency of stringing is something that many of us have to do.
     
  6. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    It's a copy of your original post in Adidas strings thread. Given that more products are expected to come on the market and we get further feedback on individual products, creating a thread for each product becomes easier for information gathering. Obviously, I don't want to take away the credit from you for your earlier review :)
     

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