Li-Ning AxForce 80 JR review: an affordable 5U entry into the AxForce family

Overview

A few years ago, I thought the AxForce 50 was the Little AxForce 80; later, I thought the Little Steel Cannon was the Little AxForce 80. But to be honest, the playing feel of the two is still very different from the 80, although there is a little bit in common in the weight distribution. But it’s different now. I got an AxForce 80JR. Whether it’s the name, the paint, or even the feel, it really has the charm of the AxForce 80. JR usually ends with the abbreviation of junior, but this racket is not a children's racket and has a standard length. The key is that from purchase cost to usage load, AxForce 80JR is the latest leader. Parameters: 5UG6, base grip removed, playing weight: 81.65g, balance point 309mm, shaft length 218mm, medium hardness, box frame, 76-hole string bed, 9-3 point string groove, 27-Lb warranty, 26-28lbs GP-3 stringing. The reason why its painting also has the charm of AxForce 80, I think you can understand it by looking at the picture. The same black primer, the same layout of text information, and the same very restrained decoration style, but all the words and the decal pattern designed by Xin were changed to fluorescent green, otherwise it would be difficult to distinguish them from a distance. As for whether it looks good or not, I can only say that if there were no AxForce 80, it would be just a roadside product, too immature. Because it is a 5U specification, the difficulty of getting started with the racket is very controllable. The racket frame is purely box-type, but relatively narrow, ensuring swing speed and flexibility. The ball-holding feel of the racket surface is low, which is very similar to the crisp ball release of the AxForce 80. The sweet spot is regular and large, and the error tolerance rate for judging the hitting point is high. Meanwhile, the shaft is easy for beginners to master in terms of driving difficulty and the elasticity of the base. Although the official hardness information of the mid-pole is "soft", from the perspective of hitting feedback, it is at a moderate level. There will not be strong unloading and weakness. After adding force, the flat and high ball still has good speed performance. JR's flat stroke feels crisp, the racket surface responds quickly, and the ball release delay is very low. With its own flexibility, you can find the feel of short bursts of power at any time, and use harder techniques to increase the quality of each midfield flat shot, while maintaining high consistency. After the midfielder and frontcourt have captured it, they can consider seizing the opportunity to break free from the backcourt to gain pressure. But even though JR has a high balance point, it still lacks the sense of pressure, the head frame is not heavy, and the racket surface does not hold the ball. For novices, it is easy to achieve the effect of jumping up and flat drives. However, its crisp feedback is still retained during the ball smashing process, making it a racket that is easy to produce pleasure. Meanwhile, the directivity of JR's racket is also very 80 style. The standard box frame provides a stable structure for the string bed. The racket has excellent torsion resistance. The orientation of the racket face can closely match your own pre-acquisition when shooting. It can restore the effect changes brought about by subtle adjustments in long-distance flat-height and push picks. It can be adjusted immediately after a mistake in controlling the landing point of the shot. For passive escape, it is quite easy. You can feel that Li-Ning is more inclined to strengthen the performance release of the racket rather than the performance limit when adjusting this racket, ensuring the efficiency of force production in various forced states, and the feeling of continuous backhand force is quite pleasant. It's very comfortable to use and not burdensome. Recently I received a batch of low-end and mid-range products from two factories, red and green, to play with. Some of them already provided me with some talking points before I tried them. In the end, even Akaashi already had its own happiness in them. JR's positioning is a bit higher than entry-level rackets, but there are quite a few of them available in the second-hand market. Judging from its stable performance and pleasant experience, it's worth it.