Review: Dunlop Aerogel 8000xl LTD

Hello~

This is my first badminton racket review! I write these reviews just so I can recall my own experiences with a racket. As I have gathered quite a large number of rackets, sometimes I forget how one racket feels after not using it for a while. Also, once I finish a review, I feel that I have completed the racket, so I can sell it off with no regrets! My bag is getting too full T_T. Anyways, let’s get started with a classic racket, the Dunlop Aerogel 8000xl Limited Edition.

Highlights:

Super flexible shaft. One of the most flexible rackets out there
Egg-like frame shape, in between oval and isometric. Kinda like the Carlton Vapour Trails’ optometric head shape.
Aerogel used in the frame, very light material making the racket very head-light
Very popular racket in Thailand back in the day.

Background

The 8000xl is a hugely popular racket in Thailand when it was released. The story is that Dunlop made a large number of these rackets, but for some reason, failed to export the rackets to other countries in Asia. Somehow, it all ended up in Thailand, and Thai people loved it for the cheap prices they got (because the supply was so huge). Mr. X from Exchange Badminton claims the 8000xl was one of the best-selling rackets in Thailand. Due to its popularity, Dunlop made a limited edition remake of the model, which is essentially the same as the original 8000xl. I will be playing with the 8000xl Limited Edition.

Buying Experience

I bought this racket for 2 main reasons.

I was curious why this random racket from an unpopular brand was so popular.
The racket has a “super” flexible shaft.

Almost all high-end rackets market themselves as stiff. You can easily find stiff, extra-stiff, medium-stiff, or medium rackets. However, it is extremely rare for a racket to market itself as extra flexible or super flexible like the 8000xl. I walked into a Mr. C shop in Bangkok and asked for the most flexible racket they had. They immediately guided me to the 8000xl.

Maybe because I’ve used stiff rackets my whole life, I was curious how a flexible racket really feels. What’s better than to just try the MOST flexible racket out there? It went for only around 1800 THB, so it’s worth a try.

Setup and Specs

The racket is strung with an RSL 0.66 string at 24x26 lbs. The string was a free add-on and performed surprisingly well, but I’ll focus more on the racket. I left the plastic film on, and I added 1 layer of cushion foam and 1 overgrip on top.

The strung racket itself + plastic film and nothing else:

Weight: 87 g
Balan.: 283 mm

Strung + plastic film + foam + overgrip:

Weight: 98.5 g
Balan.: 276 mm

From the specs, you can tell the racket is extremely headlight. Even with the string on and no changes to the handle, the balance point is 283mm. Most of my past rackets would exceed 295mm after stringing. Yet, you can really feel the headweight of the racket when swinging it; the racket does not feel head-light when swinging! This is likely due to the super flexible shaft, making the racket-head lag very noticeable. Maybe extra-headlight + extra-flexible goes together the same way extra-headheavy + extra-stiff goes together.

First Impressions

My first hitting experience was a disaster. I couldn’t use the racket at all! The shift to an extra-flexible racket was so extreme I could barely hit the shuttle anywhere near where I wanted. I have recently let 4 other people borrow this racket, and half of them found it completely unusable. If I had the same time to test it out as them, I would probably agree!

However, given some more time with the racket, I eventually got the timing right. I had to work on a slower, more controlled swing, and allow the flex of the racket to do its job. You could say this racket helped me improve some of my techniques, especially my clears and drops. Somehow despite the talk of “flexible means more power and less control,” I found myself making fewer mistakes with this racket than usual.

Experiences

Clears 10/10

Clears were completely effortless. The racket head is light, so you need very little force to swing fast. But the super flexible shaft also generates good power at very low swing speeds. So, I have to swing a very light racket head very slowly, and that’s enough for a full-length clear. This has to be the definition of effortless.

Drops 8/10

Drops were also awesome. The shaft helps guide the shuttle across the net with very little effort, and the racket head lag means you can still feel the racket head while placing a drop. But the flexible shaft does make it difficult to do super accurate drops though.

Smash 6/10

Smashes were passable, but you cannot swing too fast or the shaft would not keep up. You have to use the same swing as a clear, and simply hit with a steeper angle. I find myself having to hold back my swing speed and focus more on technique, which has its pros and cons.

Lift Defense 9/10

If you are only lifting with this racket, it does extremely well. The light head means you can respond quite quickly, and the flexible shaft means you don’t need much force to lift the shuttle back. Only downside is that these lifts may not be very accurate.

Netplay 1/10

Now comes the main weaknesses of the super flexible shaft, soft delicate touches and quick, explosive finger shots. The shaft simply cannot keep up with more fast & explosive techniques. For example, the push shots that you can perform at the net by using quick finger power to push the shuttle flat over the net, landing somewhere past the service line. These shots are essentially impossible with the 8000xl. The shuttle would either be too loose or it will overshoot all the way to the back.

Soft net shots are also difficult with the light head and flexible shaft. Light head means you need to “push” the shuttle more for a net shot rather than just touch it, and the flexible shaft also gives you an overly bouncy feeling. Then, you end up “pushing” the shuttle too hard, so the shaft flexes and releases too much energy making the netshot loose. I managed to adapt to this awkward feeling eventually, but I am not confident at the net with this racket, especially when trying more tricky netshots after taking the shuttle late & low. Same can be said about block shots while defending. I end up lifting a lot with the 8000xl.

Drives 5/10

Passable. Short explosive wrist & finger power doesn’t work with the 8000xl, so you end up having to drive with big swings with the 8000xl. The drives are powerful and the racket head is quite fast, but the head lag from the flexible shaft does also make flat exchanges more uncomfortable.

Serve 5/10

Like net shots, serves with the 8000xl are prone to become bouncy and loose. Again, I adapted to the feeling but it’s not ideal.

Summary

I think of the 8000xl as a teaching tool. At the backcourt, the super-flexible shaft allows you to swing rather slowly and generate good power, so you can really focus on your technique while swinging. You can get full-length clears easily and lift defense is effortless. However, netplay is a huge weakness of the 8000xl, so you will have to give up control of the net and lift often. I noticed that I made fewer mistakes with the 8000xl, but maybe it’s because the 8000xl encourages a passive style of play. All in all, very interesting racket to try if you have never played with a super head-light & super flexible racket. I probably won’t use this for competitive games, but this racket is perfect for more relaxed sessions with lots of lifting and clears.