Hi All, I'm a massive rackets sports fan, played badminton to an international level (ranked top 40 men's singles) and in my latter years had to give up the great game and play an easier game - tennis. I'm interested to hear views on the Babolat range of badminton rackets. I played the majority of my professional badminton career with Carlton rackets and, now I'm playing more tennis, have found out that Babolat tennis is like the Yonex of badminton. I've heard of Babolat badminton rackets and never considered playing with them. Any views on their playability? Cheers
i Germany Babolat is very popular espacially for girls. but ive also see some babolat sponsored men on tournaments. I personally never tried out these rackets but i think its one of the top 5 brands in Badminton http://www.babolat.com/#/badminton/de/homepage
Looking at their rackets, in my opinion the frames look really bulky and the design is really like tennis - there's no real detail.
Badminton players are extremely snobbish. I can't think of many other sport where players are nearly as brand-conscious. They tend to be very dismissive of the tennis brands (Babolat, Wilson, Head, Prince, Dunlop, etc) - often without ever having tried them. They are accused of trying to re-use the same technology from their tennis rackets, instead of developing new badminton-specific technology - which I think is nonsense. The actual design of a racket has barely changed in years - it's only the materials which are being developed, and the requirements are the same whatever the sport (you just need a material which is light, stiff, strong and cheap). The problem is, they cost almost as much as Yonex etc, and you'll struggle to find any reviews of them, let alone someone who could actually lend you one to try for yourself - so why would you take the chance? And yes, the graphics are hideous, but that's French design for you.
I'd agree. With limited funds...I looked at reviews for various rackets. No reviews...no consideration. And it helps if Babolat had a following (fan club). Apacs and Li-Ning have a following with some reviews mixed in as well. Probably more important is for Babolat to sponser a team. And that someone from that team wins a title. Then they can brand it for marketing. Much like how Yonex marketed the VT80 when LCW won. Or Nike did with Jordan (ie. Jordan Air basketball shoes). Some people want what the winners have/use.
Well, here's a video of France's Brice Leverdez with his Babolat X-Feel Blast. He makes out okay with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8_a9BG26YI We all know it's the player not the racket. But the fact that some current pro's use Babolat at least proves that someone of your abundant skill won't be "held back" by this brand if you wanted to give it a try.
tine baun and juliane schenk are playing with babolat and they are the top european women single player
Excellent post. I've never played with a Babolat racket before but I have heard very positve things about them. I can't imagine that their badminton range would be of inferior quality simply because they are considered more of a 'tennis' brand. As Sketchy rightly points out, Wilson and Head - both major players in tennis - make some excellent rackets. Their graphics are little bit hit or miss, although I really like the idea that a company is trying to do something different in terms of design. In terms of innovation, one thing I really like about Babolat is their 'pilot system', which is essentially two rubber strips glued around the base of the cone providing a reference point and additional grip for the thumb when executing a backhand serve. Since you are based in England I would give 'Tennis Nuts' a go. They stock a huge range of Babolat rackets at pretty decent prices too.
if you want to buy Babolat X-Feel series, you can get it from www.sohubuy.com they are $89 + postage. Even if you were taxed, it would still be cheaper than the £110 they sell for here. Problem is, they haven't really introduced any new improvements to the Babolat line, there hasn't been a new racket since 08/09...
Problem? Or just refreshing that they are happy to let their premier line stand on its own for a few years. Perhaps they are satisfied with their product and too sensible to release "new-but-not-improved" racquets annually just to feed our generation's ADHD. But instead of that noble sentiment, surely it's more a corporate case of Babolat's Badminton Division having limited funds for production and marketing.
Dude, Here's the link to Tennis Nuts. Right now they have a very good sale on. It's worth a look. http://www.tennisnuts.com/shop/badminton/badminton-rackets/babolat-badminton-rackets.html
@Fidget To me, the lack of additions to the range suggests, that Babolat themselves have very little interest in being a serious competitor in this market. Instead, they almost seem to be relying on people who are familiar with their tennis rackets, to try their badminton range. I am suprised they havent even bothered to do even a repaint of their rackets, you would think thats the least a company would do. And what i meant by problem, was that in order to increase sales, one of the things to do, is to increase your range of rackets to suite more players. At the moment, they have 4 really different rackets, they should introduce other rackets in the X Feel range.
They have. Check out their new 'Satelite' range. Babolat seem to have slimmed down the thickness of their shafts. The new Synchro looks pretty cool. Here's the link: http://www.babolat.com/#/badminton/en_GB/products/836
for the heck of it, and since it is pretty cheap, i just got a Babolat Satelite 6.5 Blast from HK via e78.com.hk. should have it in a couple of weeks. the total was only HK$610 w/o string which is less than US$80. always been curious about Babolat rackets. i went back and forth and back and forth between the XFeel Blast and the Satelite 6.5 Blast for a while. finally decided on the Satelite because of the thinner shaft and it is supposed to be latest model. i didn't have a very good feeling about the few grommetless holes in the XFeel. the 20x21 pattern is also interesting. prince has done such sparse pattern before but the Satelite pattern also means that there are no shared holes. the XFeel pattern has shared hole. i will be very busy with reviews these few weeks. still have a couple of Victor ones and then i have some Flypower reviews coming. when i managed to get those out of the pipeline, i will write a review for the Babolat Satelite 6.5 Blast.
From the link... Bobolat Satelite 6.5 Blast Composition = HM Graphite+Tungsten Weight (g) = 88 Length (mm) = 675 Balance (mm) = 285 Flexibility = medium
It'll be interesting to see what you think. I'm actually far more curious about the entry-level Babolats than the high-end ones. For example, the F2G Blast has what I would consider perfect specs for a beginner - light (83g), head-heavy (295mm), very flexible, and under £25 (Yonex rackets that cheap would have an aluminium frame).
I will probably get a X-feel Blast or any of the Satelite-series. I will be back with a review, but don´t judge me to quickly, it will be my first ^^