I step away from the world of BCentral for a while and so much has happened. The codename Titan that was thrown around since at least 2010 is now a reality, and the Revelation is getting a sequel. I've tried backreading through so many posts, has anyone done a more thorough comparison of the Titan and a JS10? Playing sporadically in the Philippines, I started using a VT80 4U and moved to the JS10 4U. The JS10 was almost too fast, and now that I'm back in the US, I was thinking the Titan sounds like a better alternative to the JS10 thanks to s_mair on post 8073.
@singnflip4life As a med student, aren't you supposed to be too tired and too poor to buy more rackets?
@Fidget Yes. But as a med student, playing sports keeps me sane. Healthy body = healthy mind. As for the rackets part... That's called selling old rackets and things and saving my "allowance" hehe.
For me, the Titan is very much like JS10, slightly stiffer and more solid though. They both need a healthy chunk of lead tape for me. How did Dink get on with the rev2.0? And you went for LN3 over AS, do you have a preference there?
I feel kind of honored that my little post out of that other two gazillions got stuck in your head. So let me see if I can provide you some further information regarding JS10 vs. Titan. Funny enough, I also came from a VT80 4U (with a short and medium successful intermezzo with a TK9000) when the JS10 ran me over. I have tested a quite a lot of different rackets since then (including Arc11, JS12 and Li-Ning N99) but non of them managed to kick the JS10 from the top spot in my bag. It's actually the first racket of which I have bought a second one as backup. Still, I kept looking for a racket that was almost as fast but which is more forgiving (larger sweet spot and maybe a tad more flex) and provides a more solid feel, especially on drop shots and mostly for singles matches. Specs of the Titan were promising, so I ordered one just for fun. And after around 4 months with JS10 and Titan, I would say that the Titan comes closest to what I was looking for. Comparing both rackets just by look and feel off court, you would never ever think that those two can be even remotely compatible. High-tech aero-frame with thin shaft and a small head on one side, a massive boxy frame with pillar like tapered shaft and a huge head on the other. And yet, on court the two are in fact a very good combination. I can switch between them back and forth without any timing issues whatsoever. Here's my personal (subjective) comparison: Speed: Titan < JS10 Solidity/feel on impact: JS10 < Titan Forgiveness / ease of use: JS10 < Titan (Sweet spot is larger) Flex: JS10 = Titan Power in full-on smashes: JS10 < Titan (also not by much) Half-smashes, drives, fast midcourt game: Titan < JS10 The Titan is simply a dead solid performer with no distinct weaknesses but also with no area where it shines particularly. The head speed of the JS10 makes it kind of addictive, but it outshines a lot of areas in which it's not perfect. Still, the JS10 remains my go-to - but especially in singles, I tend more and more towards the Titan.
A more foregiving, albeit slower JS10? That's what I wanted to hear. The first time I used the JS10, I was actually suffering from overpronation soreness after the first session (~4 hours of play). A whole different set of muscles I didn't know could hurt.
Be aware that there were a couple of Titan users who felt that it was not very forgiving, so I think that is a very personal impression and highly depends on which racket you are coming from. I haven't felt any pain or soreness after using the Titan yet, so nothing to complain here.
Well, we seem to share a racket history, so we'll just see once I manage to relieve Sir Dink of some inventory.
Prototype testing (PT) initial feedback both with LN1 @ 32lbs.: PT # 1: (target racket: matte black Precision Pro): excellent all-around, could be/should be the successor but with a great sweet spot and probably more durable as well. Easy to access power, super solid feeling impact; maybe a tad less power at the limit when compared to the black Precision Pro. PT # 2: (target racket: Revelation) excellent for smashing; very strong frame, stringing it at 32lbs. was like stringing a normal racket at 28lbs. Feels a bit hollow on the impact but hits hard. Weird feeling, excellent results. More testing on Friday and Saturday...
LN3 and Aerosonic are very, very close overall. Need more testing to come to a conclusion... If you like a super crisp, taut feeling string bed, these two strings are for you. Currently both at 31lbs., they both drive, net, drop and control the shuttle like no other. For example, BG66-UM at 31lbs. feels like Aerosonic and LN1 at 29lbs...and BG66-UM is an excellent performing string! Smashing is excellent as well but not as good as LN1 or a slightly thicker string that stretches as at 31lbs., both are near their relative limits (at least for me). Going back to the drives, the shuttle explodes off the racket; only these two strings do that, other string feel flat or like the cork of the shuttle is soft/broken.
Thanks for input on string. Also I'll be very interested to see what you make of these racquets compared to titan. I think I have very similar taste to you, albeit at mortal tensions! Titan is back in favour now btw, I just needed a headweight I am more used to. It just not for me when tired.
My impression of the titan is that it's actually quite unforgiving. I found that if I don't hit it directly on that sweet spot, it will not fly very far and it usually ends up bad. However, if you are able to get a good clean shot on the sweetspot, it's pretty good. I guess it teaches you to hit as properly as possible.
Hmm I think we better get a design contest going. My buddy was going to give it a go but his firm won the bid to design a new football stadium so will be tied up for a while. Hopefully we have some creative lads in the crowd.
May I ask Master Dink what his wet specs are of his titans? I've added more lead tape (must be near your 4g setup) and with 1 rkep overgrip over a stock grip I've got 91/325 with 43.6g headweight. Yet it doesn't feel slugginsh for air swings. We shall see how it plays in MD next week. Young team who lift a lot, will be fun.
@DuckFeet: My Titans are about 84-86g, BP315-320 including string, 1 overgrip (removed the original grip) and lead tape. They are lighter because I remove the original grip and add 1 RKEP Elite and cut off the excess.
@DinkAlot, even if I'm not a fan of modding and tunig rackets, I liked your approach to get rid of every possible extra weight. So I removed the original grip, added some cushion wrap and put a RKEP G10 directly over it. Grip is now slightly thinner than I'm used to, but the result on the scale was worth it. The racket lost around 5 g total weight with the head weight remaining almost exactly the same. BP moved up by around 12 mm. New wet specs are now 89/300 with 39.7 g head weight. Swinging it, it still feels exactly the same as before but it couldn't hurt to carry around 5 g less. I still wonder how you have reached the 84 g including lead tape. I guess I could lose another 1-2 g with the cushion wrap, but I didn't want to slim down the grip too much.
The only reason I mod rackets is if there are not enough of the specs I want. As for the Titans, there are a bunch around 82-84g, BP288-292 with the most demand being BP294-298. So, I save those for the customers. As for my racket weight break down, it's easy... 1) Get a stock 82g, BP292 2) Remove the original grip, -9g 3) Add RKEP overgrip, +5g (actually 6-7g but I cut the excess off) 4) Add string, +4-5g (assuming thing string at 31-33lbs.) 5) Add +2 to 4g of lead tape Dry weight: 84-86g, BP313-320ish
