hey all! Ill start off by saying im quite young, nearly 20 ive been playing for a few years now, but i play very often, (train twice a week for 3hours each) and then i play few comps here and there and with friends every weekend Ofcourse my standard of play is probably relative to your area/players.. but I'd probably say an advanced player. Anyways here goes my review Arc 10 - So to start off, the arc 10 for me was what i like to call the "noob friendly" racket, and i dont mean this in a condescending way. I find that the arc 10 is really easy to pick up and start using, so its great for beginners and also has many strengths for the better players. The arc 10 is quite an all round racket your balance point is at about 285-295mm making it about bpt 6-7 (8 being the highest). The racket for me, doesn't really exceed at anything in particular but plays smoothly in all areas of play and is a great choice for an all round player. One little thing i however can say about this racket is that it plays nicely on the backhand defence, wether it be the crosscourt drop, or the high clear its very easy to use and maneuver (although hopefully your not backhanding as much as i am ). If by any chance you're a strong backhand player however and are confident/prefer using a lot of high driving clears or smashes, this racket kind of lacks. Not a big deal really for most players but i thought id note it. Yonex Zforce: The Z force (currently using) is about 290-300mm bpt making it about 8 ( being the highest) in terms of head heaviness. The shaft is really stiff, and requires quite a lot of power to smash with. This racket for me has a lot of ups and downs about it, If im quite honest, you'll need to have a considerably high fitness and smashing level to use this racket to its potential. I for example can only keep up the pace that this racket requires for id say 3 solid games. HOWEVER this is not to say the racket drops off completely, its still a smooth racket to use and is easy to keep up in consistency even as your energy drops off, especially considering it has effortless clears. If you play slow backhand shots, this racket really isn't for you IMO - because of its head heaviness and stifness of the shaft, the zforce is exceptionally good at fast paced drops/smashing/clearing for both backhand and forehand. The defence for the zforce is the only problem i really have with it. Unlike the arc saber 10 its quite a bit harder to defend with due to the actual racket head being slightly smaller and maneuvering the racket being slightly more difficult ( due to the weighting) but overall a solid racket choice for the Aggressive player who opts for the Smashing and clearing type game, with sharp drops rather than pace changing drop shots. N90I - Li ning The legendary Lin Dan racket the "N90" was one of my first purchases, (thinking id be the next lin dan lol ). Im aware this racket is not easy to obtain in many countries as appose to the arc 10 and z force. But theres much to say about this racket. The n90 is in my opinion one of the hardest rackets to use that is NOT because of timing issues with changes in the head weight. The n90 plays with an extra stiff shaft with a bpt of 294-300mm which is a solid 8 (8 being the highest). If your a strong player, muscle and technique wise this racket could be the weapon for you. It is definately NOT begginer friendly and does take some time to get use to. The n90 is pretty much your all out killing machine. Strong Smashes, Strong clears, Strong drops, tight net play and much to my surprise exceptionally good defence. Unfortunately i can't exactly tell you why, it could be because of the head shape or size or the solid feel of the racket but boy oh boy was i surprised. Doubles and Singles this racket is a killing machine, with no real weakness except for maybe quick flat play (if u dont have the wrist strength or hold your racket very low). But all in all the n90 is the choice of racket for extremely fit/strong (muscle wise) players. Please dont be a fool and go spend a fortune on this racket, because of its "Lin dan" reputation or because of how difficult ive made it out to be to use. I honestly do regret buying because keeping up with the pace of this racket for more than 1 game is incredibly difficult for my skill level, but if your ego's up to the challenge why not?
ehm...your review sounds like a copy of a description from an online store. The BP of VTZF and N90 are definitely above 300mm. Doesn't matter if dry or not. Thanks for your work but there are some things which are not true. An 8? I have only seen this rating at websites of shops. IMO the VTZF and N90 are rackets which are not easy to use, but to call a N90 an allrounder is wrong as that the Arc 10 is a racket for noobs.
lol people read my post yay im loved <3 lol thanks for the constructive critisizim peeps! fair points
Regarding the stiffness of the N90I... this is a relative matter. By Lining and Yonex standards may be extra stiff but in my hand it feels way more flexible than Victor MX70 which is labeled as just "stiff".
Until now, the stiffest racket I've ever used is MX80 (except the old Yonex Blacken II and the heavy training racket which I suspect to have stiffer steel shafts) but I haven't done any scientific test to measure the stiffness of any racket so I think the stiffness feeling during a game play is related to some other factors. Comparing MX80 and VTZF for example, they might have the same amount of shaft stiffness. It's just the head weight of VTZF is greater and it makes the shaft to bend more when you swing the racket. Furthermore, the vibration damping applied into Li Ning and Yonex rackets is not applied into Victor's. Hence, it may increase the metallic sensation when you hit the shuttle... Maybe those folks with experience in measuring the shaft stiffness would like to share more on this area
Stiffness doesn't correspond across brands. I know that the Vt-80 is supposed to be stiff, but to me it mid stiff. And the Vt-ZF is only slightly stiffer to me. Wish they would use a proper stiffness scale like PP.
