Playing better with Cab 8

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by budda, Dec 7, 2001.

  1. budda

    budda Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Web Design
    Location:
    London
    After recently using a Ti-3 and then progressing to a TiSP-SR, last night I decided to try out my 13 yr old Cab 8 again just to see what it felt like. I was quite suprised to find I was hit the shuttle better and with less effort than I normally do. The bird just seem to zing off the racket when I do clears. Although smashes don't seem to be that powerful, I'll have to test it some more with smashes.

    Anyway I was wondering how the recent Cab series ie. Cab 20,21,22,23 etc compare in feel to the Cab 8. I have asked a friend to get me a couple of Cab 21's when he goes back to HK this christmas.

    Also I'm thinking to change the string of the Cab 8 I got, like I said it's over 13 yrs old and so are the strings ;). Should I get it strung with the same 2 lb difference in the main and cross. Or because it's an 'oval', keep the tesion the same both ways or even have just 1 lb difference.

    budda
     
  2. wilfredlgf

    wilfredlgf Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    2,583
    Likes Received:
    11
    Occupation:
    Security Engineer
    Location:
    Malaysia
    There, I found it! Now I don't need to post any new threads for this topic, yess! :) This thread is some two years old but it's pretty relevant to what I experienced yesterday.

    As usual, when the clock moves past 5 pm, I may just take a walk up to the hall to have a look if the kids were playing some basketball or badminton. Felt like hitting the shuttle after two weeks off from playing, so I picked up a few in the space of one hour (Cab 8SP, Cab 21 SP, Cab 10 SP).

    One racquet that got my attention the most was the old Cab 8 SP where the t-joint is not built into the shaft.

    And gawd, what a powerful old racquet it was! I was able to clear and smash better with the Cab 8 than the other two. Cross court clears were so much easier to do, drives were much more venomous.

    And nothing needs to be said about the smashes; though not as powerful as a skilful player with an MP100 but it was powerful nontheless, the raw aggression transferred into the shuttle, scorching into the ground. I was smashing like a madmen yesterday, hitting anything that goes even to the baseline down to the ground. The poor guy on the other end of the court seemed became the sacrificial lamb of the evening... :D

    I'd attribute this to the heaviness of the head which is a little more than my usual Cab 20.

    Surprisingly, although the Cab 8 was pretty heavy in the head, the responsiveness when it comes to defense and net play was not too bad, although nothing compared to the lighter Cab 20.

    Well people, how about your own experience with the older Cab 8 ? For me, I think my brother's old 1984 model is likely to come out of retirement this Friday... :D

    Apart from budda here, I've definitely gained more respect for this old racquet.
     
  3. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,793
    Likes Received:
    4,775
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    1984 cab8 sp. This is either red or blue in colour for the cone, right?

    your usual cab20, is it recently bought? ie manufactured within the last 1.5 years? I find that one feels lighter compared to older cab20's.

    Are you comparing your smashes using cab8 with a different player (difficult to make a racquet comparison as the players are different) or are you describing yourself as the skilful player:)

    I used to use cab8. I think the performance is quite similar to cab20. Maybe it's the balance that is similar. Hard to describe but after hitting the shuttle, I feel the head doesn't flex as much with the cab20. Last time I used cab8 was 1990! I was not a good player then (heck, I'm still pretty bad now), so the view may not be very accurate.
     
  4. YY Fan

    YY Fan Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2002
    Messages:
    168
    Likes Received:
    2
    Occupation:
    Sales
    Location:
    HK
    Cab 8 is really remarkable in the badminton rackets history. Before shifting to Cab 20, Liem Swie King is using green Cab 8.

    In 1984, there are still yellow, orange and green version, in additional to the two newly released red and blue version.

    Older version of Cab 8 (yellow, orange and green) are having harder aluminia head frame and more carbon layers on their shaft ( one sports shop has ever made a comparison by cross-cutting the shafts of one broken old Cab 8 and one broken new Cab 8. The cross section shows that there are more carbon layers on the old Cab 8 shaft ).

    I have ever played with my friend's old yellow Cab 8 and new blue Cab 8 (new YY logo). The new blue Cab 8 vibrates a lot and the shaft is not as stiff as the old one. I sometimes hit the aluminia frame while pushing the shuttle. This doesn't happen on the old yellow Cab 8.

    In my opinion, old Cab 8 is of higher quality, which is as powerful as nowadays YY high-end rackets. If you have one old Cab 8 (yellow, orange or green), you should treat it well.
     
  5. Kaffie

    Kaffie Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2003
    Messages:
    124
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    self-employed
    Location:
    Singapore | Netherlands
    I'm still using my Cab 8 till now. Like most said, it's a ve good racket and been thru lots of tourament with me when I was young. Yes, am old now. :D
    Smashing power is not that great but the rest, like control and clearing is good.
    I have it strung with bg 66 24lbs.

    I feel the racket suit my play alot since I'm not so much of a hardhitter.
    I have the yellow, blue and red. But the paintwork on the T-joint is very bad now.

    Nowadays I use Cab 21Sp more.
     
  6. wilfredlgf

    wilfredlgf Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    2,583
    Likes Received:
    11
    Occupation:
    Security Engineer
    Location:
    Malaysia
    Yeah, the 1984 Cab 8 SP is of the blue cone.

    As for the Cab 20, I bought it about three months ago, so it fits into the 1.5 years category. Yes, it does feel pretty light. A little too light in fact, but really brilliant for defensive play (which I do too often.... :( ) but a little lacking when it comes to smashing. But overall, it's a pretty well balanced racquet.

    Akhem, skillful as in the a guy who could maximize the potential... :D
     

Share This Page