I know the type of response you mean. It's particularly hard to convince anyone to look when one is not the best player in the room. On the other hand, recently a seasoned veteran stringer/coach expressed genuine interest in the Panda Power story. He asked to see and try one and wasn't at all snobby about it, despite the fact that he was holding two $260 late-model rackets from his sponsor.
yup I met people like that sometimes and not only in badminton people that pretty loyal to the company and did not consider another brand
Panda has been brainstorming: Raise your hand if you would be interested in fully custom gripped, weighted and balanced Panda Power rackets? Meaning: each racket would be have the exact* dry weight, balance point, grip size you desire. *Dry Weight: +/- 0.15g, BP: +/- 1mm) Panda would accomplish this by: 1) Receiving all rackets with racket itself, end cap and grip separate. 2) Panda would find the closest raw weight racket add lead tape (if necessary) on the handle to balance it to desired specs 3) Install end cap and add to the grip to make it whatever size you desire. 4) Can install a custom replacement grip or set-up the handle to make it overgrip friendly and/or any other grip option you desire. Clarification: these are the SEVEN basic types of grip set-ups, assuming stock grip is G5: *Based on normal thickness replacement grip 1.8mm and normal thickness overgrip 0.6mm **All weights and BP are estimates 1) Add over grip over stock grip. Grip size is now about G4.5 to G4 depending how the grip is wrapped. BP is reduced by 3-7mm, depending how the grip is wrapped. Weight of the overall racket is increased 5-10g, depending how the grip is wrapped. 2) Replace stock grip with a better replacement grip. Grip size is now G5 to G4 depending how the grip is wrapped. BP is reduced 1-5mm, depending how the grip is wrapped. Weight of the overall racket is increased 2-7g, depending how the grip is wrapped. 3) Remove stock grip, add two overgrips. a) Inner layer is half-overlapped and outer is gripped to the edge. Grip size is now G4.75 to G4.5 BP is reduced 1-3mm Weight overall is increased 2-5g b) Both overgrips are half-overlapped Grip size is now G4 to G3.75 BP is reduced 4-8mm Weight overall is increased 8-14g c) both overgrips are gripped to the edge Grip size is now G5.5 to 5.25 BP is increased 2-5mm Weight overall is reduced 2-8mm 4) Add replacement grip over stock grip Grip size is now G3 to G2, depending how the grip is wrapped. BP is reduced 6-10mm Weight overall is increased 8-14g 5) Towel Grip on wood handle Grip size is now G3.75 to G3, depending how the grip is wrapped BP is reduced 4-8mm Weight overall is increased 6-12g 6) Towel Grip over stock grip Grip size is now G2.5 to G1, depending how the grip is wrapped BP is reduced 10-20mm Weight overall is increased 15-25g 7) Use stock grip Grip is G5, no change
Oh yes, Panda has encountered "Option 8" before: two towel grips over the wood handle was like G1 or G0.75. And while we're at it, "Option 9". A Player sanded down the handle and adds an over grip, for about G7. He plays wearing a construction glove. Panda is amazed because this player is one of the top Seniors in the nation and has a strong wrist. Panda cannot believe the handle doesn't snap. Panda cringes each time he hits.
Dan, don't you have enough on your plate as it is? IMO, unless you've playtested the racket in multiple specs multiple times, it's hard to get an exact dry weight and BP for customization. And specs change generally on a racket to racket basis. For example: Precision series: 84.5/290 is perfect. Maybe 292. And I stumbled on this spec mainly due to Dink's great advice. Trinity series: 86.5/289 is perfect. I know that now after buying several of the many iterations (like about 5 or 6) Ultra series: 86.1/287 is beautiful on this racket. I know this is exactly what I'll be using once I get strong enough too Your proposed service is great for those local who can playtest rackets, but it would also delay EU/UK group buy thru Mark A by a bit. I have a feeling my preference for the Revelation would probably be either my 1st gen Ti10 specs (still need to measure that darn thing) or about 85.5/295. Plus you might get a lot of people asking for out of range specs. Or be totally radical using the extra stability of the woven head and not-Ultra-stiff shaft to get a very very stable head heavy racket.
And I still need to fine-tune the specs above. Because I enjoy those dry weight specs and their accompanying playing characteristics with the plastic wrap still on the handle, with one overgrip with a full overlap that ends at the bottom of the cone. However, I prefer the feeling of a handle with no base grip, wrapped in thin electrical tape no overlap, topped with RKEP Ultimate gripped with slight tension up to the base of the cone.
In conclusion (finally) my opinion is that while I'd love it, it really isn't worth it. Your current allowance that people specify the specs already is good enough. However, if this makes rackets cheaper for those of us who throw away the base grips and regrip it ourselves anyway, then I'm all for it. Plus it reduces waste. And it reduces waste from plastic shrink wrap as well.
While the service would be nice, it's really not anything I can't do myself and would be a huge workload for you I imagine.....plus I like adjusting the grip for a new racket, gives me something to do with it before I can finally test it in training
I agree with Singnflip4life - seems like a lot of work for you to do that on every racket, and it might cause delays for the customers. However, I think it would be great if you could do some measurements to see how different grips affect weight/BP, and then make some kind of online calculator. Then people could just enter their preferred grip set up and their ideal target match-ready weight/BP, and then it would tell them the raw specs they should order. They can do the modifications themselves. If someone else does the calculations, then I'm pretty sure I could put them into a little java app, to go on the DC Badminton website.
Not every racket. Panda asked who would be interested in this service. It only applies to those who are interested in this service.
I'd definitely partake then. I find I am sensitive to differences in badminton racket balance down to the ~.75g, and 1-2mm bp. Though I definitely don't play like I do, it just annoys me when it is slightly off.
