Well……Reviewing this racket now would be somewhat pointless since it’s discontinued. However, this racket is seriously super good and can be able to contend with big brands out there and it really baffled me that not a lot of people are using this racket while it’s in stock. After I saw the 1st hand price then it made sense, the P8 racket is basically priced the same as yonex and lining top rackets. While all the components and 46T carbon is among super good, not a lot of people will pay for it since Adidas is not known for badminton.
**I just started playing badminton for 1 and half year so I’m a bit late for Adidas rackets.
SPECIFICATION:
frame weight: 84g±2
balance: 300-305mm
shaft stiffness: Stiff
handle size: G5
tension: ≤32lbs/14.5kg
S.M.A.R.T: UDi/46T/XT/HMA/CF
String: VBS 63 at 28 lbs (because the weather is colder in Thailand, the shuttle is super duper slow so I need a thinner string to help me with some repulsion)
Initial impression
The weight is “just right” in my hand, not too heavy and not too light. Felt a bit on a slight heavy side of 4U but not much. Just holding the balance point felt 298-300 which is perfect for all-rounder and power player. Paint job is beautiful (I got the black-gold version), even though I got it second hand. The racket still looks super cool. orange grommets at 10 and 13 o’clock looks sick. The cap got unique design as well, there is a rubber ring at parts where the shaft goes through the cap probably to reduce vibration. Bending the shaft felt stiff, Would say the stiffness is similar to TK-Fs so too stiff. Very good start
Drives
Very decent drive capability, the shaft does help with repulsion and coupled with thin string gave off a very easy power generation on short swings. This racket struggles in fast pace drives because of the head heavy aspect of the racket but you are not expecting head heavy racket to excel at front court drives or blocks anyway so ye, not bad for a head heavy racket if you ask me. Mid court drives are easy, any shot that you got a bit of time to wind up, it’s as good as anything on the market. The repulsion still not as good as free-core racket but it’s close.
Netting
the racket face is super solid, with little to no head vibration on contact and good shuttle feedback. Nothing to complain. Very good
Clear/Overhead/Backhand
Clear and overhead is easy, the shuttle goes to where you wanted it to go. I have an easy time hitting with this racket and don’t have to worry about losing control of my power since it’s easy to adjust. Backhand is easy as well for me. But my friend who uses lighter racket are having tough time with this racket. Good control over shuttle on shots
Smash
Very nice smash, Probably one of the biggest smashing racket I’ve tried so far. TK-F and Ryuga 2 gave big smash too but that “powerful” feeling is not there. Never say this to a lot of rackets but this racket offers 1 shot kill smashing power. The swing is smooth and satisfying smashing feeling *chef kiss*. Stick smash is good and I can get good shuttle speed out of it. But I do struggle with half smash. My half smash trajectory are higher than expected, probably because of stiff shaft, but this is not a deal breaker so I will still give this racket top 3 smashing racket I’ve tried. I have used ZF2 and Ryuga 1 before, but I cannot get the power smash consistently with those racket since it requires too much power.
Overall
Super solid racket, too bad 1st hand is nearly impossible to find now and 2nd hand is super hard to find.
If you can get your hands on it please do. You won’t regret it.