Europe is still 33% of the market vs Asia at 41%. However, this is for all racket sports - stats for just badminton aren't available. White Label Badminton - "Bad to the Bone"
Had a short session with TK6ooo today. Background Am high beginner/low intermediate level. Prefer mid-stiff to stiff, head heavy rackets. Alternating between MX-JJS (4u,g5) for all-round play n VT70 (3u,g5) for aggressive play. Both strung with BG66UM, 24 lbs. TK6ooo strung with VS-850, 23/25 lbs. When I first picked up TK6ooo n started swinging, it feels heavier n slightly slower than my MX-JJS. On courts, however, it is a different story. OMG, I nvr expected this racket to b able to move so fast n make contact with the shuttle so easy n effortless...n the birdie...it flew like missiles. Now I can relate to how Paul felt when he tested this racket. It felt incredible...! Overall, it is responsive n fast in rallies n drives, clears n smashes r easy to execute. The only problem I had was that the birdie often landed beyond the back line...nd to control my newfound power ; ) TK6ooo is my dream racket come true...combining some elements frm my previous two rackets: MX-JJS with VT70. Though my review is brief n short, u get the idea...it's that gooood...
I had a few minutes with a club mate's the TK6000 last night. Surely not enough to get a full ideea of its capabilities. Moving from mx70 it felt like a lot of fun and the power is very impressive. I didn't do a full power smash fearing mishitting and causing damage. Despite not using full power, the output was pretty much like a full smash from my mx70 It feels quite light and maneuverable but very solid - on the downside there's a certain element ala VT80 plus the shaft feels quite flexible - which I don't necessarily favor. But these are purely subjective matters. I decided for now to order the MX JJS and hope to get TK6000 later. I am very used with the meteors and a vastly improved mx70 sounds more appealing to me right now although I want to give tk6000 a go soon enough.
I had a go with my tk6000 4u today. As I bought it for a friend, it was strung a bit tighter than i prefer - at around 27-28 lbs with BG85. The racket is really very nice. All shots are effortless. And it packs a pretty mean punch too - never felt that it lacked power, as there was plenty. The racket feels rather light. So if you are a fan of even-balanced or head-light 3u rackets - you should definitely give this one a go, because it feels light, fast, very precise around the net, but at the same time very powerful. I myself is a fan of head-heavy 3u rackets with a balance point around 300, my main ones are n90-ii and n90-iii. I also happen to have a 3u MX-JJS. I personally like the jjs a bit better than tk6000. Jast a bit more solid feel to it, coz it's a 3u. If only the JJS was just a bit less stiff. Thruster's stiffness seems just about right, today it felt a bit stiffer than it should, but i think it's because of the high tension of the string. I'm giving up the tk6000 for now, i don't feel like it could be my go-to racket now, maybe some other time i'll give it another go.
I recently brought and played with a Victor Thruster k6000, my notes are below: Design: Good quality paint, good colour choice, however the style and fonts are a little behind the times in my opinion. Normally I would specify my views separately on overhead shots, defence, manoeuvrability etc. I have not done that because unfortunately this racket performed poorly in almost all areas when compared with rackets like the VT70/80, Z Speed, Adidas Zero and Adipower pro (I appreciate other players have other views). It did not produce any great amounts of power, it could not defend well in doubles, it could not change direction easily and worst of all it made me feel like i was moving much slower when actually the racket was not reaching the shuttle quickly enough. Stunned at my findings, I hesitated before i wrote this review, however, fortunately a fellow member in the club (experienced high standard player) had just brought a tk6000 from Hong Kong and was playing for the first time with it against me. I watched his game carefully to see how the racket performed for him and the expression on his face summarised exactly how i felt when i played with the racket - not impressed! He lost the game badly and after he said he felt he just needed time to get used to the racket, so two weeks later we played against each other again, only this time he was back to normal form, however, I noted he had shelved the tk6000 and reverted back to his normal racket, at which point I knew my views were not unique. Racket choice is very personal so my only advice would be try the tk6000 before buying it. Nothing personal meant by any of what's written and as always these are only my personal views. Jag
Jag, Thanks for your honest feedback and I think most forum readers are aware that different strokes for different people and there may be situations where 90% agrees on something and the other 10% don't and I think that's fine as long as it does not degenerate into uncouth behaviour. My experience with the TK6000 is similar to yours though I feel that it can generate good power. I just feel that it is slow and unwieldy and has similar handling to the Victor Legend II. I was only able to generate the power when I take the shuttle earlier than usual. Initially, I thought that this may be due to my TK6000 being heavy (3U specs and 95gm strung) but your experience with a 4U version seems to be in sync with my experience as well. In the short time that I did warm up with it, there were some smashes and clear that were definitely much stronger that what I can generate with my usual racquets. I have no doubt that in the hands of the right player, the TK6000 is a formidable weapon but unfortunately I don't possess the skills to wield it (yet) and to have it perform to a level exceeding my other racquets.
Funny that I got the tk6000 for my coach (obviously, a very very impressive player). And he had a very positive experience with it, played a large tourney and beat some players he's never beaten before, came home with a cup.
It may be due to the fact that the racket is whippy. As listed by Jag, he compared it with VT80/70, Zspeed (I'm not clear with the specs of adidas racket). Those rackets are way stiffer than TK6000 I would say. I am a vtzf user and I have tried several flexy rackets. When the shuttle was in contact with my racket, I barely feel my touch on the shuttle, and this led to bad control. Unlike my vtzf, it's solid enough that I could feel and control my shuttle. Thats just my 2cent.
I normally use mid stiff to stiff racquets and I usually have the likes of Mizuno TC700, MX80, XP70, MX JJS, BS10 etc in my bag. Other than the TK6000, I also owned the Legend II which possess the stiffest (4/5) AND head heaviest (5/5) combination amongst the Thruster series. However, I just couldn't get used to the racquet and find it tedious to use. I do have the VTZF as well which I feel is similar to my Legend II in terms of weight, swing weight and stiffness and I find it easier to use. Maybe it is the "feel" which I am not used to and this could be due to the graphene. I actually find that the MX JJS also has similar "feel" but to a lesser extent compared to both TK6000 and Legend II. Could it be the catapult design that exarcebate the "detached" feel ?
It is interesting looking at this thread alone many people have had a good experience with the racket. The other guy who brought the tk6000 who I mentioned is now an intermediated player, but in is prime he mixed it up with Malaysian nationals - so i do value his input. I think because in recent months, as you will see from the amount of rackets I have sold I have tried a variety of rackets and although they may not live quite up to expectation they do pretty much behave as advertised or as per their specs. However, I just felt the tk6000 really didn't and also in the same price bracket there are rackets such as the legendary Ashaway Viper XT900 or the adidas rackets which from my usage (in comparison) perform better. However, I should make it clear I really do like Victor products and that my review was solely isolated to the tk6000. It is important that we are all allowed to express our views irrespective of how "against the grain" they may be provided we are constructive and diplomatic in our approach. I agree with Teoky in regards to the stiffness issue, I don't view the tk6000 to be particularly flexible, Karakal rackets are flexible and so are some Wilson ones and if anything they help to increase whip at the loss of control, I think the tk6000 is a stiffish racket. Swunk, I am pleased the racket worked for your coach. You said you brought one from him, what were your views on the racket?
I have said so many times that we are all different and therefore one racket will never appeal to ALL players. Every player I have demoed this racket with has been over the moon with its performance but I know it's only a matter of time before somebody turns around and tells me they don't like it. So, I fully appreciate somebody will review almost opposite to me and I'm fine with that. I've tested other rackets that I felt didn't perform well and others have loved them. That's part of what makes this game so interesting. Otherwise we'd all have the same weapon of choice and that would be boring. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Hey Paul, I agree with you regarding individuality and I certainly respect all the work and reviews you have done, as i said my review is honest from my perspective only. I appreciate many other players have had great success with it which is good, in actual fact I would have much preferred it to be a lethal weapon for me too if i'm honest, but that wasn't to be the case. Jag
I have called both Central Sports and Direct Badminton and they said the tk6000 is "discontinued" and no further stocks are coming to UK. Only the sales person from Central Sports used the word "discontinued" but BD were also very firm the racket will be no longer available. They will get however further stocks of MX JJS. Not sure what to believe...