just read the sticky thread, so I answer those questions first.. 1. How often do you play, how serious are you? Although I have only been playing badminton for one year, I like badminton very much. I play as much as I can.. (more than 7 hours per week) I even dont want to miss a single practice even if I have a test tomorrow...(I wouldnt study anyways 2. What style of player are you? I am not sure.. in singles, I only smash when the time is right but Im not weak at smashes.. a little bit agressive I guess. 3. Do you care much about durability or is it all about performance? I care more about durability.. 4. How much money do you want to spend? I can spend up to RMB 2000 (almost any good racquet on the market) including shipping within china and stringing because Im gonna buy from bbeshop.com.. my uncle will bring it to me when he comes to canada. the most important reason I want to get a new racquet is that I can get it cheap in china and this is handy if I want to upgrade later. right now, I am using a black knight rapier pro with BG 70 strung at 21 lbs. (I just got the racquet restrung lately. although its not as powerful as the stock string when doing clears, I like this tight string.) I like light and powerful racquets. right now, I am looking at yonex at 800 offense 4U, at700 4U and mp88 4U (mainly because bbeshop only has the 4U version of these racquet). my uncle lives in guangzhou and good recommedations about good places to buy racquets other than bbeshop.com are welcome to..the cheaper the better. I prefer to buy in china since the currency exchange rate is very aggressive right now.
if u want cheap and light, go with clones and fakes. Should be lots of fake AT800 around in china. If u want to pay more for a real yonex, get the 4U 800 DE.
if not mistaken the ISO TiSP SR & SA are 4U as well? my SR definitely feels lighter than my 3U Ti-10.
SOTX Woven 6 is pretty light and there should be some sotx dealers in guangzhou. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=369&sort=7&cat=27&page=1
what i mean by the cheaper the better is for real racquets.. racquets in canada are so expensive.. the 4U 800DE seems to be a good choice.. I am also considering which string will better suit those racquet..
Try either the Yonex Carbonex 8100, 8200, or 8600 Light racquet. Although they are all 3U racquet, they feel extremely light even more than the Armortec 4U racquets. This is because they are of head-light balance so more of the racquet's weight is towards the bottom (handle) of the racquet where you hold the racquet.
1. Also check www.bbesports.com, they have branch in gongdong providence. 2. If you want to go cheap, try some local brands like Kason, SOTX, Victor, etc. Yonex in China might not be that cheap, and sometimes, even more expensive than in US/Canada.
Today, I had a chance to try my teammate's at 700. he is a very offensive player and this well works for him. It was head heavy compared to my rapier pro and generated more power when doing drives and smashes. (perhaps, its because his racket was strung at 20 lbs.) I felt as if the energy was saved when doing smashes and drives. I have never beated him before, but today with the lately replaced new string at a higher tension, I won and the score was 21:19. and I also beated another player that I have never beated before. the score was very close. during the two games, I have done a lot of clears, drops and nets to make the opponents run back and forth and I only smashed less than 10 times total. that makes me realize shots other than smashes are also very important and smashing every shot only works against beginners. I was targeting at at800 OF because of its power and the recommendation made by the teammate who owns at700. However, I would also like to try out at800 DE since its got the control and its better at returning shots.. now im totally lost.. recommendations on these two similar rackets are welcome.
21-19??? That seems an impossible score to me 17 points is the most you can get.. At 14-14 the guy who had 14 points first can decide to 'set' which means he wants to play till 17.. Or he can decide to not set and then you'll play till 15..
In some parts of the modern world they still play two games with a total score of 21 points instead of 30 points. I suppose it saves time and will make matches continuing past mid-night less likely.
