Almost broken racket, advice?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Hi,

I've played a few years with my NanoSpeed 8000 and it's a nice racket. A few months ago I purchased a NanoSpeed 9000-S as my backup racket which is nice too.

Unfortunately, I noticed yesterday that my NS8000 has a medium crack at the top end of the racket frame. I was obviously very upset with this and since I didn't want to risk breaking it completely I only played dropshots from then on. I assume that the racket will not last very long and I will need to get a new replacement for it soon.

Photo of the crack :crying: (bad quality cam, sorry):
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tleilaxu/NS8000.jpg

A few questions:
1) Could this damage have happened when I cut the old strings? I've cut all the horizontal ones first and afterwards all the vertical ones. I saw the racket deform somewhat.
2) Is it wise to continue playing with the cracked racket until it completely breaks?
3) Which racket should I get as a replacement? NanoSpeed 9000-X maybe?
4) Or should I wait for the new 2007 rackets? Can anyone tell me when these will be available?

Thanx in advance!

[westwood_13]

2) If the tension is still okay, yes. But you will never be able to use it again once the tension goes, since you can't exactly restring.

As to what racquet you'd like to get, I suggest getting another NanoSpeed 9000-S because it is always a very good idea for your backup racquet to be identical to your playing racquet.

[Matt]

See if you can contact Yonex to see if you can perform a warrenty claim of it while it is in it's current condition. It is worth a shot.

[morewood]

1) yep it could have caused it.
2) no
3) whats your budget/requirements
4) if you want they should be out in the spring

You could of course get the 8k repaired, carbon repairs are quite sucessfull these days.

[LazyBuddy]

1) When your string snaps, cut it asap. The way to cut it, is to start from the middle, and alternate between main and cross. Leave the string un-cut, or cut from only 1 direction is risky for the racket, especially if strung under high tension. :cool:

[Nebuchadnezzar]

1) yep it could have caused it.
2) no
3) whats your budget/requirements
4) if you want they should be out in the spring

You could of course get the 8k repaired, carbon repairs are quite sucessfull these days.

I don't mind spending $150 on a replacement racket, so you can assume that's my budget. I don't like head heavy rackets, the NanoSpeed series have been good to me, so I'll probably stick with them.

I don't know anyone who can repair rackets here in Holland. If it's costly it might not even be worth the extra money.

[morewood]

I don't know anyone who can repair rackets here in Holland. If it's costly it might not even be worth the extra money.

Centralsports.co.uk offer a repair service, post between Holand and the UK is quite reasonable, find the number give them a ring and see if they can help and how much it would cost.