I'm thinking of a new racket as the two i own, [i feel] don't suit me as well as i would like. (ArcSaber 100 LTD and Li Ning N90II) I enjoy smashing and dropping, overall i'm an aggressive player, but i would like some room for defence. Currently i'm considering Victor MX80, Bravesword series, and possibly the Nanospeed 9900? Possibly wait for MX70, Nanoray? (For some reason, when i tried my friends NS9900 it seemed like my smashes were more powerful. Not sure, maybe a fluke?) I have good technique with my drops and smashes, but i want a bit more 'oomph' if you know what i mean. Also, where is the cheapest place to purchase rackets online? (Canada) I've been looking at squash_mart on eBay and Sohubuy.
I would recommend NS9900, since it has a very stiff shaft which gives the oomph to smashes and that you seem to like being able to swing the racquet head fast in your smash shots as you described. The NS9900 is a very fast and maneuverable racquet indeed so your defence may also get some help from it. Otherwise the MX80 is also a good choice being that it is sold relatively cheaper and is similarly made with a stiff shaft but is head heavy compared to the slightly headlight NS9900.
Yeah, i assumed it was because i was able to swing the racket faster. I used to believe that headlight rackets would have less power, but i guess not? I'm interested in the MX80 because it's very well received on these forums, plus nobody here really uses Victor. (If they do, usually a BS11 or something.)
That is in fact correct. However regarding the NS9900, the reason why it has that "oomph" for smashing and that people review it as being able to "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" is due to the X-Fullerene carbon which is molded into the frame at 2 and 10 o'clock. The material is a very stiff and strong macro-structural carbon (which is a carbon allotrope similar to diamond and graphite) but stronger than ultra high modulus graphite which gives it a lot of impact-repulsive strength. This makes the NS9900's frame similar to a head heavy frame with more layers of high modulus graphite as in most head heavy racquets but thinner/lighter and still as strong (in a fashion like Titanium alloy to steel). Of course, I would think that a racquet frame thicker and thus heavier (with more material mass) than the NS9900's and with X-Fullerene carbon in it on an overall head, stiff shaft heavy racquet will make it the ultimate aggressive attacker's racquet. But that would be quite expensive to produce which would mean a more expensively priced racquet that most people would not buy at will like the Li Ning racquets