I am an intermediate badminton player who has played with the same racket for about 8 years now (Pro Kennex Carbon 749 I think it is). Upon realising how long I'd been playing with my old racket I decided it was time to invest in something with a little more modern technology. Having scoured through the informative reviews on this site, I opted for a NanoSpeed 8000. I used it the other night and found that while it was superb in its touch, its manouverability, and its accuracy of placement, I was unable to generate any power in my smashes. I felt impotent at the back of the court and was unable to finish off the most half-court of lifts! As a result, I think I over compensated for my lack of power and have a very sore shoulder now. My question is this - Would you advise me to stick with it and allow for my game to adapt to the rackets strengths, or would you suggest that I should try out a more head heavy racket? If so...which one? I play mainly doubles, but a little singles from time to time. I have a good all round game...Thanks for reading, and for any advice you might have.
here's a perspective look at it this way...... change to a racquet that assist 'you' in the power department and continue to stagnate.... or let this 'handicap' spur you to further improve your strength and smash and improve your general badminton level. cheers from sunny side Malaysia 8man
You may be right Thanks for the advice jug8man. I certainly feel that my all round game benifited from the NS8k on its first outing. I was thinking more about placement and variety - and the shuttle was landing where I wanted it to! Perhaps the new racket will force me to use a bit more wrist action in my smash and therefore generate more power. Aaron--
have u check the product review forum? I gave a minimum B- level to make use of the ns8000 racket. If u had a sore shoulder from using ns8000, then it isnt really because of the racket
Possibly, he might of gotten a sore shoulder because the racket is very stiff that you feel the shock feedback when you hit the bird
u gotta to kick (ie. swing) harder i think u missed my earlier point. If u hit in the sweet spot, vibration is minimal, regardless of racket stiffness. The more dead center of the sweet spot the lesser amount of shock. (slightly different for tennis)
I'd say give it another 2-3 sessions - once you are used to it .... its an awesome racket...because its a little headlight reaction is faster - swings are faster .. I found that my punches are now more accurate and powerful... Had problems with my lobs initially using the NS8k but I found that if you vary the technique a little it helps.. personally I added more wrist action and that solved my problem....However when I use other rackets MP99 etc I have to use less wristy movements...
Swinging harder won't make a difference because the racket head still moves ahead of your swing which kicks the bird. NS8K is just one of which does it and 900 SX. I didn't miss your point because a few other people including myself have tried the racket and don't like the tingly shock. Even if I hit the sweet spot, you still feel a feed back(non-shock) which is bit uncomfortable for some of us.
Second session Thanks for all of the advice. Its great to hear from people who have some informed opinions on this. Last night I started my second session with the NS8K determined to try to adapt my technique to this new racket. I must say initially that once again I could not believe the control that it gave me in my drops, nets and push shots. Now with the more powerful shots – particularly the smashes – I again found that I couldn’t get the shuttle to fly with any pace…until I adapted my technique. I found that when I consciously tried to whip the racket using a lot of wrist, the shuttle flew at a surprising speed. It really did. I also found that for a change I was really able to direct my smashes too. To be honest, its not quite the same power that I had with my old racket, but then using my wrist to this extent is new to me so. I think I’ll be looking at the techniques forum to see how to build up my wrist power! I now feel that I have a racket that I will help me develop as a player…can’t wait for its next outing!! Aaron--
how the racket head move is totally dependent on how *you* swing the racket and not dependent on the racket itself...
Cooler: Yes, I use plastics mainly (Mavis 300), when I'm in Richcmond. I use feather birds when I'm at Washington because the people there get cases and provide them for all of us. The NS8K and 900 SX were tested on plastics, never had a chance to test on feathers(since the people I play with in US don't have the rackets). Not sure if this is why the rackets actually felt that way. When I used the N8K, the feeling was the racket repelling a bit hard into my hand(from the handle). Kwun, you maybe right but it's being caused by the stiffness of the racket. It was more like the bird was already going before the bird had full impact of the racket, which is what I mean by before the end of the swing.
Anybody having any qualms with the speed and power generating ability should take it up to Lee Chong Wei. He's doing very well with one and smashing among the best. cheers from sunny side Malaysia 8man
I really don't think you can use LCW as an example for comparison. The guy is so good, he could smash with a Tennis Racket. Remember, all this is relatively speaking. And relatively speaking, depending on your swing, etc...., the NS8000 is not as powerful as some other rackets. The NS series excels in being an ultra fast transition racket. Yonex is recognizing the game of Badminton is changing and mostly about speed not all out power. I agree with this based on my experience. Your mileage may vary (YMMV).
mmmmmmm u dont get my point...... he 'was' the 2nd fastest MS smasher (think it was sudirman cup). that says alot already about not only LCW but the NS8k cheers 8man
No, you don't get my point. My point is LCW is not smashing faster because of the racket, he is smashing faster because of him. I guarantee LCW could smash faster with other rackets, but that doesn't mean his game will be better overall. LCW plays with the NS8000 because it's the best racket for him overall. It's not all about the fastest smash, especially in singles when you don't get that many chances.
