Quick update. After a weeks rest, i played a full two hours of double with my Falcon. I think I am getting used to the faster head speed. Defense is incredible as I am able to return almost all smashes. My smashes are slowly developing more and more power. My backhand clears are still not as good as my 7000 nor my 9900 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yesterday i had the chance to hold the Thruster F of a mate in my hands. Man this feels so light while swinging, even for a 4U. Swing speed must be incredible. I try to hit some shuttles with it next week.
usually i am playing a 4U Jetspeed s12 with bg66UM. This is also really fast. I just was surprised, because i expected something different from this Racket.
To follow on from my previous post I have a couple more training sessions with this racket now, as I had to stop playing for a couple of weeks due to injury. I really like the racket but I have found that it has taken quite a bit of adjustment from my MX80. So far I would say in terms of power the smash speed when loading up and going up for the winning smash is down by maybe 5 or 10% which although is a little disappointing is not the end of the world. This is probably the only negative compared to my trusty MX80. The feeling on the string bed is also quite different not necessarily a negative but does feel a little strange to begin with. I am still finding timing my backhand clears and smashes a little off too but this is just a timing issue but the power is still there. So onto the positives, Ill start with touch around the net.... I have found it more consistent and accurate and now prefer it to my MX80. In defence it is so quick through the air and has made defending considerably easier than before. As an example if I have over committed to a backhand defence then returning to a forehand defence is so much quicker. Due to the speed of movement in a strange way it has freed up a bit more time to choose my defence return block/lift/drive. I have found I am turning defence into attack a lot quicker through the point, which has been great. The same can be said about my mid court pushes/drops/drive. I have found I have gained in every area. I believe this is mainly due to racket head speed. During flat exchanges the falcon blows the MX80 away. At the back of the court I have found the most problems as mentioned with timing. It has taken me a good 10 hours to start timing my overheads in a consistent manor. I was hitting a fair amount of frames on the top of the racket or hitting above the sweet spot on the string bed. It feels like the power of this racket is developed completely differently to the MX80. The MX80 is just a beast when putting in 100% effort. I have found that for the majority of my smashed, which are about 70%, I am having generally better results now with the falcon. My backhand clears and smashes are pretty much the same as before but started off not generating the same power and consistency. The Falcon 4U a completely different racket to the MX80 apart from both being head heavy although less extreme. All in all I am enjoying this racket and am really please to have got hold of one. Personally after playing with a very stiff head heavy racket for a number of years I wanted to have a change and try something new with different characteristics. Anyway these are my thought on the racket so far and I don't profess to be a professional reviewer or have a large databank of different rackets to compare too. So don't shoot me down if I am talking compete rubbish. Hope this helps people interested in the racket.
thanks for your review. It's a very fair assessment. When I test rackets, i have the luxury of testing over a number of weeks. Some rackets are easy to adjust to and others take time. Whilst my timing wasn't out with TKF, it did take some time to adjust to, but I've had this before. But, when you get this racket, it's worth it. Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
Agree a lot with masteryoda's review. Prior to getting the 4u falcon I was using 3u jetspeed 10, 3u jetspeed 12 and a 3u z strike. On dry swing it felt really similar to the 3u js10, but when it comes to play I'd say it's more user friendly and slightly head heavier, you notice the flex more when you play certain shots. To me it feels in between the js 10 and the 12 for stiffness, sold the 12 off because it was way too flexible for my liking. The falcon has easy to access power and like everyone says it does move and defend surprisingly well for the weight in the head. Also agree that it takes a little bit of adjusting to get the smash down 100% due to the slight whip delay; it really fires bombs when you're used to it, but it's still just as effective even when not timed to perfection. It does get you out of trouble easily with the flex, but my gripe would be that some returns tend to balloon over sometimes, I've noticed this particularly on backhand clears and drops, but it's not a major thing. In a nutshell it's an easy to access power racquet which has enough stiffness to defend well and accurately compared to the other thrusters I've tried, I use it more for doubles than singles because I find it's not as direct as say a z force 2/ z strike or js10.
Hi Paul, a few years ago after your review of the tk 9000 I got one. It’s a beauty. Now after all the hype about the tk falcon I wondered what your thoughts were seeing as you are testing one. Would it be easy to transition from one to the other and is it comparable. Would love your thoughts
Can anyone tell me how is the head weight, stiffness and speed of tkf 4u compared to tk9000 4u , found the tk9000 a bit too head heavy and slow for my liking..
That's interesting. I gave the falcon in 3U and a 4U TK9000. I thought the falcon was faster. That frame shape is just far superior. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Ch1k0 Hw would you rate the speed, head weight and stiffness of tkf vs astrox88s are they comparable..?
Well off the top of my head I can only say the TK F has a slight edge. The rest I need to go back and check the rackets physically. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
I am usually a bs12 user thinking of getting a head heavy racket for the first time so confused between the tkf and astrox88s so would be helpful if you can give a comparison between them, thanks for the reply.
Ch1k0 I am not having very strong hands felt the js 10 too stiff for me, so among the tkf and astrox88s which one is more user friendly I need a little bit of flex..
88S then. The Falcon is faster due to the frame but definitely on the higher side of stiff. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
