One of the most, if not the most expensive racket in the market at the moment by Lining. The racket is beautiful and expected of Lining design and paint work. Top tier. Specs Halbertec 8000 4U AYPT015-1s Balance : 298 mm. Shaft : Medim stiff 6.8 mm. Weight : 4U Grip size : G5 Tension : 30 Lbs. String with VBS 66 Nano 27lbs Halbertec 8000 is advertised as "balanced" racket. Control type racket that excels in trajectory control and shuttle control. Not a powerful racket. Holding the racket felt good, the weight distribution is good and very very slightly head heavy. Frame weight distribution are around 3 and 9 o'clock region. Shaft felt medium-stiff, more toward the stiffer side. Stiffness is similar to Hypersonic imo. Drive Very good, I do get good repulsion from the frame and shaft. The head is not as fast as BS12 or HS but it's fast enough to react to any fast drive. Since it's not that head-heavy, I can get behind the shuttle easily. Drives are not as good as 100X or HS but doesn't lose by much. Clear Effortless, I don't really need to put a lot of power into my swing to take the shuttle from rear-court to another. The shaft really does help generate power. I find myself adjusting power output easily and the shuttle doesn't go over the line much and the shuttle goes where I wanted it to go. Off-centered or overhead clears are easy, not thing much to say. Same as drives, not as easy as "speed" type racket but I barely feel any difference. Drop shots/slice/reverse slice Yup, Best racket for this shot. Halbertec 8000, by far is the best racket for these kinds of shots (Never tried Arc 11 Pro). The shuttle listens to you and the trajectory is super easy to control. Drop shots is superb. The shuttle goes down fast. Training session and match I found myself doing drop shot and reverse slice more than my usual racket. I felt very comfortable executing the shot with Halbertec 8000 compared to all racket I've tried so far. Net shots The racket is super solid and stable. Easy net shots and cross net. I rarely over shot the shuttle. Easy control. I can't say much since net shots are more on practice than racket it self. As long as the racket is stable. Smash Not this racket strong suits. Front-Mid court smash is good. But rear-court smash is not good. Well, this racket is made for control player who doesn't full smash much. Stick smash and half smash is ok. Against decent defense you definitely won't be able to 2-3 smash kill. 2 week of use, I never get 1 smash kill. The initial shuttle speed is good and the speed drop off significantly upon reaching opponent. I would say smashing power is similar to Arcsaber 7 pro but Arcsaber 7 pro felt much better and more solid. The racket is suited for all-rounder that doesn't care about smashing power. With this racket, you lose some smashing power but gaining very good control over other shot. For the price, the racket is too expensive for the performance you get. I never had more than 3 days with Arc 11 pro but I would recommend Arc 11 pro, Arc 7 pro or Hypersonic rather than this racket.
Any reason you choose Axforce 80 instead of one of the 90 (ie Dragon or Tiger)? If I remember correctly, you said Drive 9X does not impress you but somehow it survives the competition and remain in your bag No Yonex racket? (Arcsaber 11 Pro for example to compete with the Drive 9X or one of Astrox series?)
Zoap San, keen to hear about your thoughts about Axforce 80 4U? How is it compared to for example Victor TKF Enhanced or BS12?
I basically rotate racket around and doesnt go with particular racket atm, which is not good for those of you who wanted to get better at badminton. For Axforce 80, I wanted to try Yuta's racket and it is easy to hit and I kinda like the whippy feeling so I stick with it for now. I might try Dragon in the future but it def not my kind of racket. For Yonex, I've tried 88Dpro,88S, Arc 7 pro etc. Their newer racket are good but I will rotate to Yonex eventually, Just I'm in Lining mode right now. For Drive X9x, Actually, I just got it from a warranty claim. I broke my Ars-Hang and changed it to Drive X 9x instead just to refresh my thoughts on it. I only play it when I'm bored.
Axforce80 is closer to TK-F than BS12 since its head heavy. Axforce 80 is very whippy compared to. Axforce 80 have very average smashing power tho. Because of it's whippy nature, if you cant get your timing right you will get flyers and pretty bad smashing angle. But you get very good defensive capability tho since the whippy shaft will fling and generate good power on defense and short swings. Basically, if you want offensive racket go TK-F if you want head heavy defensive racket then Axforce 80. TK-F have good defensive capability too but I can return better with Axforce 80.
Many thanks, Zoap San. I don't mind whippy shaft, but I was hoping that Axforce 80 would be more even balanced or just slightly head heavy which should suit me. If it's head heavy like the Astroxes, I'm afraid I won't like it. Thanks again
How's the Drive 9x? I'm curious about it, but it doesn't seem popular and I keep hearing conflicting information from various sources. Victor's marketing says it's one of the stiffest rackets they've made and one of the staff at a local shop also felt it was stiff. While Badminton Racket Review and some other sources report that it's more like medium stiff. How stiff does it feel compared to rackets you've tried like 100x, Ax80, Ax 90 Tiger, 88d pro, etc? Also, does the racket feel slow at all due to the rounder headshape?
And since Zoap San had reviewed Ryuga 2 in the past, can you also compare Drive9X with Ryuga 2 in terms of hitting feeling, easy of usage, and power? Thanks
Ryuga 2 all the way. If you disregard how fragile ryuga 2 is, overall ryuga 2 is a better racket than Drive 9X. Better smash, similar control, and similar repulsion. Drive 9X is better at front court since it's the frame is more aerodynamic but just slightly faster. If you're more front-mid court player that prefer fast exchange then Drive 9X is better compared to ryuga 2. But I have no problem playing front court with ryuga 2 tho. My female partner preferred Drive 9X more since it felt lighter but that's about it.
I don't understand what makes Li Ning think they can get away with charging such high prices, particularly in the Anglosphere, where their marketing is non-existant.
If the 8000, Arc11p, Arc7p, and Hypersonic were all the same price, would you still recommend the others over the 8000? How would you rank them if we don't consider price?
If they're all at the same price then 8000 probably will be best all-round/control racket out of the bunch. If you want decent/good smash then Arc 11 pro is the best out of all you've listed but I just don't like the "hold". HS prob got the fastest racket speed for those who like to go fast. Hal8000 is somewhere in the middle. So if you don't like the "hold" Arcsaber 11 pro are known for then Hal8000 is the next best option for all-round playability. So my answer on your question if all of the racket you've listed have the same price. Rear Court Attacking Player: Arcsaber 11 Pro Mid-Rear Court Player: Halbertec 8000 Front - Mid Court Player: Hypersonic Arcsaber 7 Pro is just very similar to Hal8000 is terms of playstyle so yea, Hal8000 wins if they both have the same price.
how about 3k woven, is it all rounder type racket? what is your feeling using 3k woven compared to other all rounder racket?
3K Woven is an all round racket as well but leaning towards attacking more than controlling with moderately heavy head. Compared to the 8000, 3K got more offensive capability but I get better control over shuttle with 8000. 3K is very good for its price but not a lot of people are using it because Felet is not a super popular brand outside badminton fanatics.
my line up at the moment is As88DP 4UG6 Arc7P 4UG5 Victor TKFE 3UG5 Aura90Kii 4UG5 Will Hal8000 be a good addition?
