Panda Power: A Racket That Can Take 40lbs. String Tension!

[visor]

Mark: How's the accuracy compared to PPro now that the shaft is slightly flexier?

[Mark A]

Mark: How's the accuracy compared to PPro now that the shaft is slightly flexier?

Not "flexier", per se - the static and dynamic stiffness are the same as far as I can see - but the racket as a whole is much more "integrated". Result: very accurate. I play a lot of tape stuff at the net and in the midcourt (a "patient" game, IOW), and it's extremely amenable.

[visor]

Not "flexier", per se - the static and dynamic stiffness are the same as far as I can see - but the racket as a whole is much more "integrated". Result: very accurate. I play a lot of tape stuff at the net and in the midcourt (a "patient" game, IOW), and it's extremely amenable.

Good to hear. How's about accuracy of shots with more power eg. line drives, smashes?

[Mark A]

Good to hear. How's about accuracy of shots with more power eg. line drives, smashes?

As I said in the review, my "go to" shot for testing this kind of thing is the up-the-line round-the-head clear from the deep backhand corner. With some rackets I have to aim almost toward the middle of the court to get them up the line. With the Rev... well, put it this way: in one game, I hit two shots so close to that rear corner that we had to replay the point both times because no decision could be made as to whether it was in or out.

I don't think I hit more than half a dozen shots wide all evening, come to think of it.

[Borbor]

I am with mark on this one. The PPro's shaft makes me question whether yonex rates the stiffness with the same scale, because the xstiff they rate the ZF as, the PPro is stiffer than that IMO.Cant wait to get my hands on the shiny panda

[what07]

Mark, how would you compare the Rev to the UltraPro?

[Mark A]

I am with mark on this one. The PPro's shaft makes me question whether yonex rates the stiffness with the same scale, because the xstiff they rate the ZF as, the PPro is stiffer than that IMO.Cant wait to get my hands on the shiny panda

IMO, there is absolutely no way that the ZF is Extra Stiff - it'd be the same as the NS9000X if it were, and it isn't. The last true Extra Stiff Yonex did was, for me... the 9000X. The PPro and Rev aren't that stiff, but they're certainly stiffer than, say, an NS7000 or Arc 10.

Mark, how would you compare the Rev to the UltraPro?

I thought the UP was brute force incarnate - all power and foritude, but no subtlety or poise. I think it was at least 25% more powerful than I could get out of it. The Rev has comparable strength, but more accessible power and far superior feel and control.

[visor]

As I said in the review, my "go to" shot for testing this kind of thing is the up-the-line round-the-head clear from the deep backhand corner. With some rackets I have to aim almost toward the middle of the court to get them up the line. With the Rev... well, put it this way: in one game, I hit two shots so close to that rear corner that we had to replay the point both times because no decision could be made as to whether it was in or out.I don't think I hit more than half a dozen shots wide all evening, come to think of it.

Thanx! The immediacy and accuracy of the P Pro is what I love most (in addition to its crispy powerful shots), as I can whip a line drive in both forehand and backhand sidelines and have it land on the line in the back corners. Also because it's so accurate, I can hit just barely over the tape (sometimes touching) on my drives, pushes and drops. Looking for more of same with Revelation.

[demolidor]

I am with mark on this one. The PPro's shaft makes me question whether yonex rates the stiffness with the same scale, because the xstiff they rate the ZF as, the PPro is stiffer than that IMO.Cant wait to get my hands on the shiny panda

Yonex stiffness rating is not just for the shaft ... I believe the Japanese catalogue calls it "hit feeling". NS9900 rated a fair bit stiffer there by them and ZF on par with VT80 ...

[Mark A]

Yonex stiffness rating is not just for the shaft ... I believe the Japanese catalogue calls it "hit feeling". NS9900 rated a fair bit stiffer there by them and ZF on par with VT80 ...

I don't know whether Yonex takes bakance into account either - a 280 mm racket will feel stiffer than a 320 mm one even if both have exactly the same shaft construction...

[demolidor]

I don't know whether Yonex takes bakance into account either - a 280 mm racket will feel stiffer than a 320 mm one even if both have exactly the same shaft construction...

Oh definitely (that balance makes a difference at same shaft). Some ratings in the JP are different from the international ratings I noticed in the past, particularly for the Z-Slash which is rated one of the stiffest in the JP on par with 8DX for example *frown, maybe JP really is different *. But of course they use a stiffness bar not categories of stiffness like so: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/foru...28#post1369728
Even then these indications do not match all the time with ratings like such as at the bottom left here where ZF is rated stiffer than VT80: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/foru...76#post1848776]
I guess "flex" on the other hand leaves less room for interpretation than "hit feeling" ... but am heading for a deja vu again on yonex stiffness rating (does it include the frame or not?? ).

[visor]

So, any news from the Panda boss on how the testing went? I

[Jasonvan]

Mark, which of the proto were you testing? The fully woven one or the one with the woven frame and graphite shaft? Notice any difference between the two shafts?

[BOUBOS1957]

After Mark's comment on his full woven Rev PT testing, I am going to make more jealous.... I received my Rev Pt last Friday, had it string and made a special 2 hours testing session on Sunday.

First the Rev PT specs are at 85.9 gr and BP = 294, very close to my ideal set-up and comparable to my PPro's or TPros. I had it string with the exact same string (red Zymax 62) and at the same tension (25 lbs) then all my other racquets, to be able to make a good comparison.

About the looks, I consider that portion so personal; some like it very colourful and flashy others very simple. On this one; the look of the woven material is really nice, thru the glass like clear. One thing for sure, as Dan as agreed, the clear coat is a necessity on all racquet models.

A comment from the stringer tells me that it will be a very strong and stable racquet, that should be able to be string at more then 30 lbs. At 25 lbs the head never had any deformation during the stringing session so stability should be very good.

Even if the strings were freshly installed and not yet settled, the first hits on warm-up drives, was giving me a feeling of a much greater sweet spot then the PPro's or TPro's. The shuttle was coming out of the racquet with a nice bright sound and very fast, also felt very stable.

On rear court drop shots; slow or fast drops were very easy to control and put close to the tape from forehand or backhand, it was very easy to adapt to the racquet. It seems like the unity of the shaft and racquet head are working well together.

On clears, the shaft has a tad more flex then the PPro's, just enough to make it easier to do your clears or smashes; a lot less efforts was required. Even backand clears at whatever height you want to make them, were effortless. The shuttle is coming off the bed string very easily.

On defense, since I only trained, no match situation, I can say that the racquet is quick, maybe not as much as the PPro's, probably because of the shaft flex, but nothing to worry about. Remember that the PPro's are in a league of their own in quickness. One thing for sure; it was very easy to push back to the rear court any smashes, and also very good control to drop the smashes back to the net.

On the net play, for me it was a bit harder, the shuttle was coming off the racquet quicker and with more bounce, so I will need more time to adjust, but the shaft/head combination is so stable that when I started applying more spins on the shuttle, I was able to control it much better.

Now the best part; getting older, no, lets say more experienced , power thru long sessions are becoming more tedious, so I have been looking for many years for a racquet that would give me good control and speed in defense, very quick net play for double attacks; and EASY power from the rear court for offensive clears and smashes. Yes EASY power, where you don't need to hit at 110% to get a powerful smash. This full woven racquet, is finally the weapon I was looking for. Smashes came out very fast, with a crisp loud sound, without having to swing like crazy. This will be very good for my old shoulder, and very bad for my oponents...

I did not feel any vibration, not even from bad hits, but it seems like very hard to not hit the sweet spot. Myself, I felt like the sweetspot is much larger than the PPro's. The racquet response and feeling on bad or good shot gives you very good feedback and sensations.

The full woven shaft / head combination, is a very easy racquet to adapt to, I felt at ease with it from the begining, almost like it was custom made for me.

One more thing, in the past, I have often tried to play at higher tension for many reasons, but could never generate enough power at more then 25 lbs. With this raquet, the brand new strings made me feel like I could easily add, at least 2 - 3 more lbs. The racquet feel very lively, the shuttle comes off very quickly with a lots of stability and control.

I will definitely put all my other raquets to RIP, with this new weapon available.

We have been waiting a very long time for the REVELATION, but from my initial testing; I can say it was well worth it, Dink made an awesome job on this one.

Thank you Dan.

[DinkAlot]

Only the full woven version will be made. It's that good.

Mark, which of the proto were you testing? The fully woven one or the one with the woven frame and graphite shaft? Notice any difference between the two shafts?

[DinkAlot]

The Revelation frame is quite strong. Panda has strung it up to 34lbs. for testing purposes and no problems. It will have a warranty up to 34lbs. Stringing a few Revs at 30-31 was like stringing normal rackets at 24.

[j4ckie]

Agree on that - mine held up very well indeed at 33. Very very slight deformation around the 10/2 o'clock positions, but that's rather normal at that tension. Returned to normal shape when the stringjob was done (I do the crosses top-down, so when you get somewhat close to the racket's limit, you often get that kinda deformation while doing them.)