Hi everybody, I hope someone can help me. For many years I played with a Yonex Nanospeed 8000 (review) (head light, extra stiff). After having broken one of them, I've decided to look for a new racket. My trainer is also a dealer for Flypower and I decided to switch to Flypower's racket Kahyangan. It's a completely different racket; it feels more light (infact; it's only 73gr) and agile and my play definitely improved (faster swings, great for doubles). It's also a more flexible racket. After a week (!) during a competition match, I heard some squeaking from my racket and during a rally, my racket snapped at the grip (crack in the wood)! It completely broke in half. My trainer believed it could be a factory error. Alright... Yesterday I could borrow that same racket from my trainer, and lo and behold; during an excercise, I heard the same unsettling noise coming from the racket... Indeed; it broke again at the same point. This couldn't be a coincidence right? My trainer played for a longer time with that racket and my team mate plays with the same racket. He has a far harder hitting style than me and he doesn't have any problems with his racket. According to my trainer, there is a possibility that I have a swift backswing/short stroke (using more wrist power) and that I'm adjusted to a slightly more stiffer racket. So what can I do? I absolutely love the Kahyangan from Flypower; it's fast, it's incredible with extremely high tension stringing and it definitely improved my game. Should I go for a slightly more stiffer, light and head light racket; something between the Yonex Nanospeed 8000 and Kahyangan (clinging more towards the Kahyangan specs)? Any recommendations? Preferable a racket from Flypower (as it's easier for me to order from my trainer) or Yonex (as there are far more Yonex rackets available here in The Netherlands). Summary: Previous racket - Yonex Nanospeed 8000: head light, stiff. Great for smashing, but not as fast as the Kahyangan. Second racket - Flypower Kahyangan: extremely light (73gr), medium flex. Very fast, improved my game, but unable to cope with my hitting technique (2 broken rackets at the wood from the grip). Hope to hear your advices
Those are two very interesting rackets chienming, thanks for your reply. The Brave Sword 12L is a bit easier to get my hands on here in The Netherlands and the specs look promising: balanced between stiff and flexible and (according to the many stories) quite a 'fast' racket. I'm a bit afraid that it's not that head light as I want it to be. Do you know if its weight or design (thin/more aerodynamic frame) makes up for it? I couldn't find the Jetspeed 10 at one of our national online retailers unfortunately (it's quite a new racket). I just finished playing a competition match this evening and I played with my 'backup' racket: a completely unknown Wish Xtremelight 005. My mom got it for me while she was on holiday in Indonesia a few years ago and I never heard of that brand before. I completely failed to mention by the way in my first post that I rather prefer playing with this racket, than my Yonex Nanospeed 8000. My bad! Being a rather obscure brand (Wish... never heard of it), I was highly sceptical, but now I finally see the light and have to conclude that it's solid as a rock and definitely suits my needs: very light (80gr) with a medium flex. Extra summary: the Wish Xtremelight 005 is my racket of choice so far, but it's impossible to order it here in The Netherlands. The Xtremelight 005 weighs less compared to the Nanospeed 8000 and is slightly more flexible. This makes it preferable. During doubles for example I had trouble smashing the shuttle down with my Nanospeed 8000 in high paced rallies (timing was off). Bottom line: in search for a racket that is head light, weighs less, slightly stiffer frame (medium flex - stiff).
Where i live (Indonesia), many sport dealers & clubs suggest to use Astec instead of Flypower. Indeed Flypower rackets have much more variety than Astec. However, durability speaking...Astec finsihed-built is way better than Flypower. The same problems have been going on for those who use Flypower in the club (rackets under $80 will inevitably broke easily). If you like flypower, try to get their top-end rackets and not mid-low end rackets. Top-end quality is within okay for advanced players. Here are the common problem for flypower mid-low end rackets: broken on the wooden grip (it'd look like hulk gripped the wood very tightly), shaft flew away off the cone during fast swing and could cause serious injury if hit anybody, upon snapping your string the head of racket will soon being distorted (if you string above 24lbs), mishit and clashes will get you bigger chance of broken racket head. The problem may not ALWAYS arise but there's good chance you'll encounter them every now and then for non top-end rackets.
Terima kasih Arfandy! The Kahyangan was indeed around $80,-. For that price to have a racket with such qualities was too good to be true I guess. I'll look up for their top-end rackets. Astec is unfortunately impossible to get here. The quality control of Flypower leaves a lot to be desired... I'm a bit put off as a matter of fact. 2 Broken rackets and the shoes are nowhere in the same league as e.g. Yonex/Victor/Li-Ning. For such a 'new' brand, you'd expect to have a far stellar quality to achieve a better brand recognition. I'm more impressed with my far cheaper and unknown Wish racket.
No problem. It is very unfortunete that flypower consistently releases new rackets every month or two (the fastest among all other badminton brands i've known), BUT QC is very poor (they are made in china afterall). However, i'm a big fans for their t-shirts, short pants, bags, & shoes. I can assure that their t-shirt quality is very satisfying and the design is so far better than any expensive-famous brands. I have their cheapest shoes i bought back in 2010 and still good until today (bought it around $30). You should look for Tornado & Warrior series (once used by Hendra Setiawan/Markis Kido). Last i checked it was priced around $95-100.
FLEET TRIOTEC-LT8 SUPER LIGHT or Li-Ning EXTRA SKILL WINDSTORM 700 are good for you too if you can buy them in Netherlands .
Hey guys, thanks for your replies. After having tested a lot of rackets (including the Windstorm 700 from Li Ning, the Warrior 17 from Flypower and a variety of others), I've bought the Flypower Hexa O Speed (link). Definitely suits my needs. It's perhaps a bit too light for playing singles (I'll stick with my Wish Xtremelight 005 for that), but for playing doubles it's impressive. According to my trainer I'm the only one in The Netherlands with this racket so far
Li Ning Windstorm http://www.directbadminton.co.uk/sp...indstorm-690-badminton-racket-?ProductID=8030 Or Ashaway http://www.directbadminton.co.uk/sp...ets/ashaway-superlight-99-sq--?ProductID=4740 I Have the Ashaway which I would reccomend 100%
