Jayce
Although rationally I knew that the first generation 8888AX Ⅰ was a good racket, unlike most of the players I actually didn’t like it too much, it was a bit out of character with myself at that time. 8888AX Ⅱ unfortunately in the direction of tuning deviation, coupled with structural flaws, did not become a good sequel. Instead, the Cut series with its gaiden nature has endeared itself to this author with its harder and bouncier performance.
But for this fresh and hot 8888AX Ⅲ, after using it, I was dumbfounded: how can this racket be tough and elastic, but also has a very high explosive power?
Since today’s unboxing, I’m going to share a hot trial with you.
Parameters: 4UG5, de-bottomed, total weight in used condition 88.9g, balance point 298mm, 6.8mm centre pole, length 210mm, moderate stiffness, boxed frame, 76-hole cable bed, 8-4 point cable slot, 30lb warranty, 26lb stringing victory vbs66n.
In my opinion, it really deserves the name ‘Purple Flame’, and at a glance it reminds me of the colour scheme of the Dragon Tooth 2. The bright silver sticker has an embossed feel on the frame. The rose-red colour of the decal has a darker, more seductive look in the darker varnish. The whole racket looks tough and very lean. The point is that the silver sticker on the font produces a laser effect at certain angles, which is a bit crazy. Maybe the lack of smoothness on the frame due to the sticker will have an adverse effect on the swing speed, but what the heck, how long has it been since Bonny actually made a good looking racket with a clearcoat base?
A friend said in advance that it found the Chopper 3 a bit heavy, and when it came to the author’s hand it weighed no particular weight, a little head heavy, not excessive, and not very head heavy in a 4U racket. But this 8888AX Ⅲ finally with the G5 version of the handle, I like this slim grip.
Took the court to try a few shots, but it is really really 8888AX Ⅲ series of the kind of not hard but very elastic feeling, for the power level of the better players its ‘soft’ feeling will be more obvious, is the result of the middle of the rod deformation variable variable, the ball head to stay in the line of bed a little bit longer.
However, just after the deformation had reached its maximum, the centre stick looked like it had just woken up, instantly recovering and whipping the head out at a speed that surprised me. This phenomenon was new to me and instantly made the Chop 3 playable.
It’s a very good 8888ax! A simple lift on the ball can send it a long way, and the frame is narrow and rounded, the swing speed is high enough, and the weight of the head creates a lending force, without any hard to get to points.
It seems to be very interesting to make the soft and thin middle shaft a little shorter, and it has a good and explosive feel.
I’m talking about the short centre stick, this is the reason why the 8888AX Ⅲ becomes even more amazing in flat draws and especially in fast paced doubles where the front court is fast against the ball. On the one hand, the longer handle facilitates grip adjustments, and on the other hand, the increased resistance of the centre stick allows for quicker ball response and more punch, both of which were lacking in the previous 215mm long centre stick 8888AX Ⅲ.
Moreover, the Chopper 3 has a flexible body, in addition to switching back and forth between forehand and backhand to deal with a variety of flat draws, the forehand area of the backswing such as the tricks I used the Chopper 3 also made a lot of times. The swing speed is not too fast, which is quite enough for doubles.
The sweet spot is large, the racket frame is stable, the feel at the net is flexible and stable, and the performance in the small ball is similar to the previous work, so I won’t go into details.
I know that everyone is concerned about how the new version of the Heavy Kills performs, and the answer I give is that it is the strongest in the series. The whipping sensation is exceptionally clear, and at full power there is a feeling of the racket frame being thrown out, and the deformation of the centre stick is quite pronounced. Although the deformation is large, the elastic potential energy that can be exploded when thrown out is also very huge, so that the borrowed power is very obvious, with the finger force can easily hit a sound effect similar to a sonic boom. The quality of the ball is also quite explosive, very fast, and it is also very easy to use it for spot kills.
However, the 4U version is too light and fast, so I strongly recommend that players try the 3U version as it can be a bit ‘overwhelming’ when you are not as fit as you should be. In addition, the head flopping a little bit affects the control of the landing point of heavy kills, and it takes time to get used to it.
The 8888AX Ⅲ’s defence is surprisingly solid, with a large frame and a large sweet spot, making it extremely forgiving. The racket is even more ‘flexible’ when dealing with backhands, and even in a passive situation, it was able to push the ball to the back of the court, which made me free from a lot of worries when I was playing on the court. You can’t try to score a point with a drop shot, only to be thrown out of position when the ball comes back in, can you? This Purple Flame has got you covered.
If I had to sum up this upcoming release, I wouldn’t know whether ‘wonderful’ or ‘fantastic’ would be a more apt description. If you can get used to the weight of the head, 8888AX Ⅲ is certainly a product that can bring both fun and competition to a high level.
This is this year’s grand finale Bonny, and it’s not in vain that I spent some effort to use the Green Dragon to get it from a friend when it was still just a trial batch.
I’ll say it again, this is the strongest of the current 8888ax series in my personal opinion.
