Hi all, I am an intermediate with a Pro-ace racket, and really regretting it. It's not exactly lightweight, and the racket face is way too small, resulting in a miniature sweet spot. Every time the ball is slightly off-centre, the ball bounces off pretty uncontrollably. So now I'm looking for a YONEX (although open to other brands as well) racket which is: -light (very) -durable (doesn't crack under clashes) -maximised sweet spot (I was thinking Wilson or the Yonex Isometrics series) Please volunteer your info and advice, all!
Armotec's series depending on ur budget or the mp88 get a buddy wif those racquets and have a hit wif them and compare let ur senses guide u
very light but doesn't crack under clashes and Isometric frame? Sorry man, that thing does not exist, yet. Everything has trade-offs.
Light?? Any 8+++ Cab with Light on the end eg, 8200 LIGHT, 8600 LIGHT Durable?? Any BASIC Yonex made of steel, aluminum. <-- will hardly get a dent under clashes. Maximised Sweet Spot or rather ISO = You'd be looking at Muscle Power or Armortech. So depending on what you want there are plenty of choices. These choices I have listed are there to pick if you want 100% of the characteristic of the racquet to be focussed on that one area. ~Cheers
wow i believe this kind of racquet is in my wish-list. and its very much all that it is. a wish. bluejeff said it best. there are always trade-offs. since you mentioned that you are at an intermediate level, i will suggest yonex mp28 or mp30. its new, light, attractive (hmmmm drooling sounds), maximized sweet spot, and does not hurt the wallet too much (so the durability becomes less of an issue ) hope i was helpful
Depends on your priorities. Light+Maximized Sweetspot = MP88 (not durable) Durable+Maximised Sweetspot = Armourtec or Muscle Power (they're not exactly light...most of them are pretty head heavy and stiff) Durable+Light=Carbonex You might also want to take into account flexibility and whether you want it head heavy or an evenbalance racquet. That's probably how most players end up looking at their racquets. If you play often enough, and with different people, you're racquet is bound to get damaged soon (it can even be cracked while strining...so if you've got a bad stringer a durable racquet might not help)
1. If this racket is manufactured with IBF standard, I don' think the face could be "way too small". 2. Hitting shuttle off-center, it's the player's problem, not racket. Any racket with off center hit will result into low quality strokes.
I thought the Yonex Isometric series isn't too bad? they've got the iso frame and the cheaper models are aluminium, so they'll be REALLY durable! as for the lightness... play with an all-steel racket for a while (they cost around US$10 I think) or just swing one around for a few minutes every day, and eventually anything will feel light!
Hmm... yes, I agree the 3 qualities I mentioned earlier are pretty idealistic, maybe too much so. I guess durability will have to take a back seat then, since I play singles, the chances of my racket clashing are quite minimal. Muscle power is the hands down winner here. So it's light and sweet spot maximised, eh? Great! My next dilemma is, (sigh...who thought choosing a racket could be so difficult): head heavy or even balanced? What would you guys reccommend? Speaking with no experience in head heavies, using a hh sounds rather tiring after a few smashes. But my guess is that it adds speed and power, right?
Once you have adapted to a racquet, it should work just as well as any other different racquets. Head Heavy racquets does make things easier on the offensive, and the trade-off for less defensive manuverability is much better in singles than doubles. However, be prepare for a long transitional period if you have never played with Head Heavy racquets.
1. MP rackets have 2u, 3u, and 4u (i.e. MP88), which means the weight are various in fairly big range. Never have to metion if we consider stiffness, weight distribution, etc... 2. ISO head does have larger sweet spot, but Cab lovers believe with more "condenced" sweet spot, cab has more explosive power if u can hit the sweet spot. 3. There's always trade off if features, and head heaviness is 1 of them. You will have more power in head heavy racket, but only if u have enough strength to handle it, and the proper strokes to go with it. Overall, demo the racket(s) you would like to buy, your own feeling is the best "standard" for decision making.
This is just copy and paste from my previous post in another thread. Personally I suggest the Muscle Power 28, it's a racquet that's right in the middle in Yonex's chart, so I'm guessing you can use it for Double/Single, Smash based/ Defence-play decently, until you figure out your style and "upgrade to a more suitable racquet". The flex is medium and shouldn't be too hard to handle even for a beginner. 3U is also a good weight for beginners, not too light or heavy. Also it has Titanium Mesh so control should be there. Lastly, it looks pretty attractive =) I personally think this is one of the better racquets to start with. Hope I helped! P.S. I do not work for Yonex and I'm not part of it's advertising crew!
Uh, did I miss it or did you mention the most important component, mainly how much you want to spend? All the other features are variables, i.e. weight, balance, head shape, etc. and you can often find several racquets that might fit into your criteria. But you need to have some budget in mind in order to narrow down your search. The newer armortec series is expensive, with the lowest (AT500) to highest (AT800) from USD$100 to USD$200. The muscle power series has expensive higher end racquets (I would say MP77 and up) and lower to mid-level racquets (MP28-MP55). The CAB series has some great racquets (ask Lazybuddy for help) with prices ranging from affordable (USD$40-50) to expensive (over USD$100). The ISO series also has racquets from beginner to expert. So what's your budget?
I mean don't ask LazyBuddy for help, I've heard he's too biased towards his Cab 30MS Beryl, set up your budget, demo some racquets from friends, clubs or stores, and come back to BF- there's a lot of friends here who will give you good opinions once you narrow your choices (including Lazybuddy, kwun, bluejeff, cheung, etc. )
before you spend another US$100 on a racket, if i were you, i'd read LB's comment above 10 times and think about it everytime. we have had many ppl who use pro-ace racket and use them well, i agree with LB that the player is at fault here and not the racket.
I don't think the budget matters that much. We all just need 1 racket, the closest-to-perfect one, to last us our whole badminton lifespan. Of corse we have to change the string regularly, but the racket itself is a lifetime companion.Unfortunatley, i picked the wrong "marriage partner". As for the off-centre shots, well, it's pretty impossible to return every attacking shot at the sweetest spot. Sure, off-centred shots do not have half the quality of perfectly-centred shots, but there is still a vast variation in the quality of it from racket to racket. The pro-ace I have gives a terribly unsatisfying feel everytime a sshot is imperfect, something like a dull flop, veeery off-turning. When I first started I had a basic basic basic Yonex- really heavy, horrid vibrations ( a real joke)- but it had an oversized racket face and no matter where it connected with the shuttle, it gave a satisfying twang
I think if you are looking for a badminton racquet for a lifetime, you are probably looking for a steel racquet. This is exactly the type basic basic basic Yonex you started with, which satisfied your hits. Expecting a high end Yonex racquet to last a lifetime, although not impossible, is just highly unrealistic. Just a search through this forum will yield numerous results of broken racquets.
