Sorry, I should have been more clear on my racket modding: I would not have to mod the racket at all if it were, 82g, BP300-305. But since those specs were few and far apart and in demand, Panda just picked TITANs that were most readily available. Hence the modding. I would still remove the original grip and do the foam gauze then overgrip mod because that's what I prefer, a G5.5 grip and remove any excess grip.
So hes a head heavy kinda guy, and because he likes a thicker grip he lost some of that by adding grip, so to compensate he added Lead tape, which then adds to the weight of the whole racket ......... Its a fine balance ....
Panda Power Titan, factory second. 82gr. 288mm. ZM65 Red @ 30lbs. After reading about this racket I had been interested in trying it, and when I saw the discounted factory seconds I made an impulse buy, can't resist a deal First, the superficial: I like the gold butt cap, looks very classy. Since it's a factory second the logo at the T joint is slightly off center, and if you look very close it appears that a little more time could have been spent with a finer grade of sand paper before the first layer of finish was applied in a few spots. Now for the substance: I love the way the racket feels, the balance, weight, stiffness, all feel "right". For reference I have been playing with a Victor Inside Wave Magan 1500 for the last year or so, with 3 grams of weight added to the head, so of course this feels much faster. I find myself picking up shots with much more ease, and succeeding with some crazy net play with good shuttle spin and tumble. I just recently started using 25lbs on the Victor, highest tension I've ever played, so the 30lbs on the Titan was a major jump. It's probably too much for me, but you don't know until you try, right? It does make me concentrate on my technique to get good power out of it so I'm hoping to raise the level of my play to match the equipment. I know that's probably the opposite of what is recommended, but I like to challenge myself in different ways. I only get to play once a week and I'm the best player in the group so I try to be creative with my training. I don't feel excessively tired nor do I feel any arm or shoulder pain so I don't think I'm working far outside my comfort zone. The sound and feel of my smashes are great, accuracy is pretty good, but they don't seem to be as hard as they should be most of the time, but when I get it right they really fly. Clears are good, over the shoulder back court backhand drops are usually accurate. Overall I'm enjoying the racket, my plan is to take the extra head weight off the Victor to get a more accurate comparison of the effects of the 5lb difference in string tension between the two rackets.
I thought the same. @Slade fessed up to weird angle, I think he's covering for sloppy stringing really! (Yes I know full well who strung it )
Edit: sorry, Panda slow today, too much badminton yesterday... it's definitely not the stringing as Panda's minion strung it and it was fine when it left Panda's paw.
Looks to me like a simple perspective issue. I'd say that the racket is slightly twisted and hence the camera angle is not a perfect 90° with the racket face. And that's why the head appears a bit narrow.
I was sent a special "narrow" version for increased racket speed I'll have to improve my camera work in the future, tough crowd.
So. Attempt 3 tonight... DO like! 1: stock (wideboy edition ) . amazing repulsion and accuracy but hurt shoulder (didn't use shoulder in warmup or something), 25lb PS LN1. 2: removed buttweight, restrung 24lb 69 fire. Didn't enjoy. still swinging too fast and poor synergy at that tension. 3: 2g lead tape at 12 o'clock. 26lb LN1 (thanks Charlie). 90 / 310 wet with 3 layers G08 on wood. All of the nice repulsion and control came back, with fewer timing issues. I only hit a few 'big' smahes. Most of then hit the net REALLY hard, but a lot of medium smashes didn't come back. So I'm happy. Defense was still top notch, surprisingly fast moving racquet even taped up. It somehow reminds me of the JS10, very very fast, takes some getting used to, but very rewarding (and needs thruster spec). Thanks also to Georgsi for the sale of the TK9000. It reminded that I do like a lot of headweight and it set the target balance for me tough decision which to use now...
Oh yes, the audience here is most discerning. They have a great deal of knowledge and know what they like and like what they know. Errr, that last part didn't make too much sense but it just sounded good so I typed it.
90 grams, 310 balance point with grips and string, 3 layers of a specific RKEP grip Also glad to see Duckfeet likes my stringing too.
Call me boring, but I've never really clicked with tinkering around with lead tape and all that stuff to "improve" a racket. I have tried it of course it in my younger years but all I have achieved was a high chance of losing myself in the variables and ending up with a worse racket than before. At least I have never ever managed to turn a racket that I didn't like in its original state into a racket that I liked and seriously played with tuning applied. Since then I leave it to manufacturer to come up with a racket that fits my needs and performs at an optimum and limit the tinkering to strings and tensions. So I am still using my Titan exactly as it came out of the box. Well... I put a set of LN1 in it and added one overgrip - but that was it. And I'm still liking it a lot. It's just such a solid, well balanced allround performer. And I'm still searching for that little bit of magic how that massive boxy frame and the large head can move through the air so fast. As DuckFeet said, it is suprisingly close to a JS10 and feels faster than a JS12 for example. What I loooved to see would be a Titan Speed(?) with a JS10 or ZF2 like head shape but keeping normal Titan's characteristics.
This Panda is working on that right now. Have a new batch of prototype rackets coming soon. Trying to get a Victor K9000 type frame or similar with a 78-hole string pattern, 32lbs. max tension...we'll see how it goes.
Hmmm... the TK9000 has a pretty standard big head if I remember correctly. And I assume you meant 76 holes. Or do you try to fill the small niche between 76 and 80 with it?! Anyway, it sounds like an intersting approach to target a smaller head. IMO it's the way to go to optimize the head speed without sacrificing power. See JS10 and NRZS. Add the typical Panda feel and playability and I won't be able to resist.
Will you please stop it?! I was all set to use TPK only and then I decided i wanted a little stiffer. Now I'm torn between titan and Thruster K9000 and you're going to make the panda version of the 9000? I'm going to have to unsubscribe! Great work on the titan though. I kinda like how my 2 favourites so far have been really nice racquets hidden under an extreme weight/spec, which I have then modded!
Can you do a small-headed racket, Dink? That seems to be the way the wind's blowing, and ours would have even better... better feel.
I'm not into small head rackets, the sweet spot is too small. If like that, I might as well make an aerodynamic Cab20...hmmmm...!
