Hey guys, I took a long hiatus from badminton and have recently gotten back into it fairly regularly. My main racquet is an AT700 Limited which I purchased probably 6+ years ago with bg65 at 22lbs. I'm wondering if you guys feel it is time to move on to a newer racquet at this point. The racquet is still in good condition and I had it restrung today (again bg65 at 25lbs this time). The storeowners themselves mentioned they don't feel I need a new racquet since my AT700 was in good shape.. they mentioned I've been taking good care of it (new to me O__O ).. if they took a call and gave up a sale i'll trust their word on the condition of the racquet. My question to you all is whether it's time to move to a new racquet given newer racquet technology, etc. etc.?
Oh sorry guys, just realized this should be in a different forum. Mods please move if needed, sorry!!
Not really. One of my favorite rackets is my good old MusclePower 99... Newer rackets doesn't really mean it is better, sure the graphics are cool, but in the end it is still the same old graphite 1 piece racket with slightly better dampening, new string patterns, slightly improved T throat, and all that "fullerene", "CS Carbon", "Trivoltage system", "Sound Filter", "Tungsten" are just marketing jumbo. Those nano particles, and tungsten inserts are so little, it is probably insignificant anyways. Purely basing on new technology to justify a new racket is not a good move at all. (As I said, the technology is so insignificant for a non-international pro player to notice the different) If you want a new racket that has a different flex on the shaft, more sturdy head, longer or shorter shafts, different balance point, then go right ahead, but based on purely new technology gimmick, I would not do it.
The AT700 is one of the most head heavy rackets every produced and there's nothing quite like it (except for the Li-Ning N90 first gen). If you don't want it anymore and want to sell it off for something newer, I'll bet there's plenty of people out there that will be willing to pay some good cash for it considering that you said it was in good condition. If you want to keep it, it's a good racket for singles but tiring to use due to the heavy head.. If you play more doubles, then you might want to trade it for a lighter racket. Just my 2 cents
Cool, thanks. I do play more doubles so was considering it.. just a little lost with all the new models etc.
