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

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by DinkAlot, Apr 22, 2009.

  1. Borbor

    Borbor Regular Member

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    ppro is stiffer than rev
     
  2. llpjlau

    llpjlau Regular Member

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    Yes, but the "standard" Precision is not.
     
  3. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    The normal Precision is quite noodle-y. You may want to ask Dinkalot whether Trinity would fit you better.
     
  4. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    I'd recommend the Revelation - the TPro is stiffer, as is the Precision Pro. The Precision, even if it were still available, is too light and soft to compare. The Revelation is probably a bit stiffer but close enough that you'll still get enough power from it...
     
  5. ormy4

    ormy4 Regular Member

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    Like the green, guess I better pop in more often as I see an order going in for a few in November.
    Almost sold out of Revelations so interesting to compare the two. Then again I could do some
    reading back. Think I will have to send a framed picture of my dining room table to Fidget for Christmas
    imagine he misses seeing it.
     
  6. bobbinbette

    bobbinbette Regular Member

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    I've had a total of 6 hours with my new Revelation so far and I must say, it's an amazing racket.

    Specs: 85.2g 297mm labeled, (actual 84.2g 297mm without plastic shrinkwrap)
    Strings: Yellow zymax 67 25 x 27.5lbs

    Initial thoughts:
    This racket has such a stable frame, it boggled me a bit when I first started hitting with it. I couldn't quite get used to the feel, but that sensation lasted all of 5 minutes. It swings through the air very quickly, however I find that it swung a little slower than my 85.1g 293mm PPPP.

    Clears:
    This racket delivers power in a very direct manner. I found that while clearing, there was almost no vibration and all of my shots were awarded with a nice, crisp, and quick feedback. Clearing from one end to the other took nearly no effort. Back hand clears were very solid and easy to execute as well. My feelings from clearing is that this racket instills confidence. Confidence that whatever effort you put into your shots will be fully transferred to the shuttle.

    Drives: I had a moderately head heavy version, however the overall weight was rather light. Drives were quick and responsive. The feedback felt very short and crisp, however sometimes it felt a little too short. This isn't to say anything detrimental to the racket itself as I believe feel is very much a personal preference. It's not the fastest racket that I've ever tried, however it performs very well in this category.

    Drops: Drops were extremely accurate and incredibly easy to perform. The smooth overhead motion felt very natural and I felt like I instinctively knew just how much strength to put behind each drop to make it JUST pass the net. This was quite pleasant for me as the soft game isn't really my strong suite.
    Netdrops were nice and tight that day so no complaints from me.

    Smashes: in my opinion, this is where the racket REALLY shines. I don't know what it is about this thing but smashes just seem endless! What I mean by this is that I can smash normally and there is tremendous feedback to me and the shuttle is just launched like a rocket off my stringbed, however I felt like I wasn't even close to maximizing the power this thing could provide! Throughout the games that I played, I smashed harder and harder and the racket just kept on giving. This is where I feel like stiffness and stability of the frame really come into play. I feel like whatever force I put in is transferred directly to the shuttle with little wasted energy.

    Overall, a great badminton session and a GREAT racket.

    Feel: 9/10
    Speed: 9/10
    Stability: 10/10
    Defense: 8.5-9/10
    Ease of use: 8.5-9/10
    Power: ?????/?????

    Dinkalot's outdone himself again.
     
  7. drmchsraj

    drmchsraj Regular Member

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    Thanks for the review :). Guys, where would you recommend I look around (online?) to browse the PP collection?
     
  8. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    http://dcbadminton.net/
     
  9. yeahehehehe

    yeahehehehe Regular Member

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    Very tempting , hmmm.....
     
  10. erikfast

    erikfast Regular Member

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    I was forced to learn to play with my left hand despite being a natural righty because of a non-badminton accident a few years ago. I don't play badminton as much as I like, so I mishit quite a bit.

    I was pleasantly surprised that my Revelation was very forgiving despite my off-and-on timing problem. It's a very stable racket. I chose an 85g 295mm model which was easy to maneuver in defense, but feels like it has enough mass to propel shuttles well. Net play was easy with it, too.

    I once had a Victor Super Waves 31 and that racket used to feel like a tuning fork when I mishit, and my shoulder suffered for it. Playing with this racket feels like it dissipates vibration rather than transmitting it.

    All in all, I like it very much. :)

    Past rackets: RSL 6800, RSL 6900, Yonex Armortec 800D, Victor Super Waves 31
     
  11. nosebleed

    nosebleed Regular Member

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    I recently dusted off my old badminton racket that I hadn't played in 10 years and boy was it fun. I don't know why I stopped playing in the first place. Is the ppro comparable to the carbonex 20 tour (green)?
     
  12. nosebleed

    nosebleed Regular Member

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    I recently dusted off my old badminton racket that I hadn't played in 10 years and boy was it fun. I don't know why I stopped playing in the first place. Is the ppro comparable to the carbonex 20 tour (green)?
     
  13. DinkAlot

    DinkAlot dcbadminton
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    Here's a recent e-mail received by Panda from a Cab 20 Tour user who purchased a Revelation:

    From: W.C.
    Date: 11/20/2013 @6:11 PM

    Received my Revelation yesterday morning and played a couple of hours with it last night.

    Still getting used to the feel of the string / tension but Amazing racket so far!
    Had some timing issues early on (was swinging too early/fast lol) but kept playing better and better as the night went on.
    Accuracy and defense are both outstanding. I had no trouble placing birdies in the back two corners or dropping.
    Service accuracy from the very first serve was the best I've every felt! I scored many points off my serve. Maybe partly due to the zm62 but it was so accurate I could actually hit the service line on purpose (even on some deep flicks)
    I couldn't quite get my full swing smash power, but what surprised me the most about this racket is that when I did a little short swing and just flicked my wrist instead of doing a full swing, the smash was really hard!
    It's almost as fast as my normal full swing but with better angles. It was so good that I just kept doing this all night and won all of my games quite easily.
    It still doesn't quite have that oval cab feel (maybe because mine is too light), but this is by far the best iso racket I've tried.
    Honestly the sweet spot is so big it's probably much better results wise than oval, but I still miss that addictive pop feel. (No chance Panda would ever make an oval 665mm racket? lol)
    I can only see myself getting better the more I get used to this racket. Very fun to use :)
    Great racket Dan! Going to play with this as my go to racket for awhile to decide if I should get another one at a beefier spec.

    Only downside so far is the racket is so gorgeous I'm almost scared to use it. I definitely let a few birdies fall just because I didn't want to clash my new baby.
     
  14. disci

    disci Regular Member

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    ^ This is actually from my email to Dan on Nov 7

    So slight update to that review.

    I have been using a mix of this Revelation along with a Cab20f for the last 2 weeks so I'm still not fully adjusted to it but I can say this:

    The combination of the Revelation + zm 62 (2nd gen red) at 27lb is very very good accuracy and surprising amount of power from a 86g 292mm bp racket.
    I say surprising because in your hand it feels even lighter than that. The swing speed is incredibly fast.
    So fast that I would recommend people might want a heavier revelation as I actually had to start swinging a little later to avoid mis-hits. It sort of reminds me of a Bravesword 10 with more power.

    Also a note about durability: I actually did clash it once on a medium swing with a solid metal object in my house (don't ask) and all it left was a tiny scuff mark. So small that I can now no longer find it when I look for it.

    Conclusion is that I am either getting second Rev at a higher weight spec or waiting for the new Ultra Pro.

    *PS. Customer service is top notch!
     
  15. erikfast

    erikfast Regular Member

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    I feel the same. :)
     
  16. nosebleed

    nosebleed Regular Member

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    Do you know his racket specs?
     
  17. disci

    disci Regular Member

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    86g 292bp
    strung with red zymax 62 at 27lb
     
  18. madcarrot2007

    madcarrot2007 Regular Member

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    My Revelation is 298mm/88.7g dry. This is the racket i use when i play with plastic shuttles. NO MORE shoulder pains hitting plastic shuttles. My smashes become very powerful, need more time to adjust how i do dropshots though. Strange that whenever i use this racket, i just feel like smashing. Thnking to get an even balance to play feather shuttles. I like that there are many specs to choose from to suit ones need. Love it at first smash.
     
    #6618 madcarrot2007, Nov 22, 2013
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2013
  19. nosebleed

    nosebleed Regular Member

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    Most apperciated
     
  20. DinkAlot

    DinkAlot dcbadminton
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    Just an update on the Ultra Kevlar (UK):

    1) Estimated arrival date: December 27th - January 7th.

    2) One change to the specs, stiffness target is now 8.2 instead of 7.8.
    Panda tested the UK at both 7.8 and 8.2 in stiffness and the 8.2 was better.
    Panda asked a top pro to test both rackets and he agreed the 8.2 was better.
    Power was more easily accessible.

    3) Color change: going to be all black with gold accents.

    [​IMG]
     

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