One that's medium-stiff, medium weight and mid-level range(not the cheapest you can find hanging on the racks) and mid-everything else. Which racket would come to your mind? (I have gone through a lot of newbie recommendation threads, however the general advice is to get the strokes right first, get good shoes, get to know your style and try different rackets, but, what's a newbie to bring to a coaching session first? I was hoping this might be used by newbies and updated constantly by experienced folks with regards to the latest equipment development for newbies who can't wait to get their first racket and are willing to pay just a little more to get a decent enough racket first)
First of all, if you have a racket this might be enough for getting experiences and some coaching lessons. If not, you can buy one racket which feels good in your hands and fit your budget. That's enough. There are hundreds of mid-range racket from different brands. If you are a newbie it doesn't make sense to buy a racket which we state. You can learn the proper techniques, footwork and the different shots with every random racket. You won't feel much differences at the beginning. Go out buy a random racket which feels good in your hands for your value of money and it will be good enough. If you want something more specific: You can buy a midflex one which is even balance to slightly headheavy, because it supports the swinging motion and gives you a little bit power for your clears. That's it. A german saying: If the farmer can't swim, it must be because of his trunks.
ucantseeme is right in that it is really hard to tell anyone what is best for them now and in the future, when they are starting from nil experience. However you've given pretty reasonable criteria for your racket-wish. We should surely be able to come up with plenty of examples from which you can choose. Don't fall in the trap of believing that rackets released in the last 6 months are quantum leaps ahead of slightly older technology. The best bang for the buck is often the 1-3 year old racket that was praised up and down when released but was displaced by the hysterical marketing of something with a shinier paint job. The oldies-but-goodies are often reasonably priced. Plus you have the advantage of a year or two's reviews being available to peruse. Here is my submission for your consideration: Yonex Armortec Tour (or Armortec 600) -- It's 4U but hits like 3U with a medium flex shaft and slightly head- heavy. There is nothing "beginner" about this racket but it seems to be available for a reasonable price.
Additional, you can buy a used racket. To buy a new Yonex "Made in Japan" make no sense for you, if you start to play. Spend this money in coaching, good shuttles and a good pair of well fitting badminton shoes. Especially in doubles you will make a lot of clashs with your partner, which will be very often at the beginning. It would be very sad, if you buy an expensive racket which will be ruined in a few weeks.
mid level apacs.. all at about 55$ (ebay) Eg - Finapi 88, Lurid power 21 ect... all value for money, very easy to play with with very little buyers remorse.
for newbie? grab anything he can get no need good racket as long as it is graphite go for apacs on ebay which is 2 for US $60 (choose flex and head heaviness you want)
The most important to the least important 1. Buy a proper badminton shoes 2. Spend money in Coaching lesson & joining some badminton recreational clubs to dig experience 3. Reside some cash for stringing & buying a good badminton shuttle 4. Racket For racket : i can think of Armortec Tour or Armortec 600, Arcsaber 9 & Nanospeed 8000.
Can't agree more on the APACS. I remember buying one way back when I started getting serious about my game. I'd recommend the APACS Nano900 Power. It's got good leverage and a decent swing. Cheap too!
Your advice is not dissimilar to the general advice I've mentioned. I couldn't agree with you more but I believe you are recommending me to pick out the rackets I am most willing to afford, swing it around and if it feels good, it's good enough for me? I agree with your point on the latest rackets, and I too, do not believe in paying for marketing and hype. For example, looking at past threads, the Yonex Carbonex20 seems to be the choice of pros back in 2006, has great reviews and it scores right in the middle of that Yonex chart. However, a lot of people here also mentioned it's horrible for a newbie thanks to a small sweet spot. Would that model fall into the category you mentioned? That made me seriously consider getting the cheapest racket off the rack. Comes with bag and grip too. Very valid, and couldn't be repeated again often enough, though also fulfilling what I described as general advice. However I am very appreciative of that nonetheless!
i agree with licin, though 4>3. you can just start practising with decent plastic shuttles first. when i first started, we bought Sealion gold (RM60/USD20 per tube) and now looking back we wasted a whole tube an hour, largely to mishits. nowadays, a whole tube would last us a four hour session. rackets however can last you forever. my 24 year old racket is retired/broken but i still use 16 year old Cab21sp but it was pretty high end when i got better I agree with APACS racket, its value for money and reasonably easy to get in MY/SG (try battledore.sg). cant go wrong with APACS nano 900 or Finapi 77 (88 is stiff) or some of the entry level Yonex like Nanospeed 100/200/300 (990 is awesome mid level) or Nanoray 20.
Oops, i forgot to mention other racket beside Yonex. Apacs is good to go as well. Basically at this point, any rackets that you feel right on your hand is considerable. Just don't buy very head heavy racket, medium Balance or slightly head heavy racket would not get you wrong. I agree with moomoo, in the sense that mishits can break good shuttlecock easily, so if feather shuttlecock might be a little bit expensive, you could consider plastic shuttlecock instead.
I'd probably buy a LiNing TB 100C for a beginner. Affordable, light, fast, huge sweetspot.....and three different stiffnesses to chose from - A B and C (being the stiffest).
li-ning tcb 100a/b/c is pretty expensive over here. you can get a BS09 or SW35/36/37 for the same price or up to 4 APACS rackets