Hi everybody, firstly I would like to say hi to everyone on the forums, wow! this is such a dedicated and enthusiastic community that I am glad to be part of. I am an intermediate player who puts in just about 3-4 hours a week into badminton. Recently I broke my cab21 racquet, I think its tour of duty (7years) is satisfactory.. Anyway, bottom line, I need a new racquet, and while im on that topic, I probably would like more input into what kind of racquet would suit me most, the cab21 was not selected by me but rather it was a gift. My gamestyle usually involves attacking, I like being aggressive and smashing is really satisfying.. However, I realise that when I use the cab21, most of the time it is hard to get the smash "just right", and my backhand clears are quite lacklustre.. I know this could be because of technique, however the racquet might provide some power I'm lacking in my backhands. As for netting, I do some netting occasionally, though I feel more comfortable clearing a shuttle deep into the opposing court. Control is not that much of importance to me. Now what I would like your $0.02 on is basically what racquet I should choose for my next racquet. Budget would be not more than the price of an Armortec 700 and I am not brand concious. Aesthetics would be cool but not necessary as well. If you could suggest a few racquets and their plus points I'd be grateful. Cheers
yes, I wouldn't mind trying a new kind of racquet, isometric or oval is fine to me, of course a bigger sweet spot always sounds good imho
If you are looking something other than Yonex, I would recommend Kason TSF 100 or 200. A very solid racket for power and control. Another good racket is Victor SuperNano 3. All are new top of the line rackets and at affordable prices. Do a Google search on them.
Not having seen you play nor whether you play mostly singles or doubles, here's my 2 cents worth. The choices in racquets are basically restricted to head shape (Oval vs Iso), balance (head-heavy, balanced, head-light) and flex (stiff vs flex). Iso head gives you a bigger sweetspot than oval so depending on whether you tend to mis-hit more or not, you might want to go with oval. For additional power, you would want a more flexible racquet and head-heavy but realize that with a head-heavy racquet, your reaction time (if you are in doubles) is a bit slower and probably tired a bit quicker. Normally, a doubles player who play mostly at the net would go for a head-light racquet in order to be able to swing the racquet quicker whereas one that tends to play at the back court would like to have a head-heavy racquet for the power. As for brands, I'm biased towards Winex and I would suggest the Winex AT700 or AT701. It is supposely a clone of the Yonex AT700 but it is not as stiff as the AT700 and slightly head-heavy. Other recommendation would be the Mighty Muscle 100 which is similar to the Yonex MP100 but again with a less stiff shaft. The next thing to consider is your string and tension. In general "lower" tension provides better power (18 to 22lbs) whereas "higher" tension tends to provide better control. Best thing to do is try at 20lbs and increase/decrease by increments of a pound each time you restring until you find a suitable tension. Remember that as you improve and gain a better understanding of the game, a re-assessment of the racquet and string tension is recommended as again you go through the cycle of finding a suitable combination. Good luck.
This is a sign that you should perhaps explore the realm of iso-heads. Many (if not all) found that with iso, they can hit "just right" consistently. Backhand is easier too. Stiffness wise, you could go for for an at700 or an mp44 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=116750&postcount=64 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=191803&postcount=136 To match head-heaviess you could go for an mp77 (imho) http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=113359&postcount=24 Choices to try in the shop, from friends and club members: mp44, mp77 (3u), at700 (4u)
maybe a little bit harsh to advice...overrated or not is an oppionin..and if yy works, what would be wrong?
x well..ive tried a few yonexs myself and quite francly, i dont like em...there is something about em that i dont like. And im sure if people would give Another company ..like victor..a chance, im sure they would stick with that.
sounds rather personal to me....Chance are there are just a smany who like a brand a speople who don't like it...brand-superiority is a non-issue or a persoanl taste. so I'm trying SOTX!
getting o/t here..but I sure do hope you're right! SeraphimX, I'm still a sotx layman..but check out www.sotxsports.de and you can see the "exact" statistic of each racket (lenght, rigidity, etc) so there's a good chance you'll find what you need...power-boss-woven or teh titantium series are what you should look for I think...and since you seem power-focused i think sotx has a lot to offer you... head-heavy, long, 'stiff' (for stotx I don't know the stats for stiff...8.0-8.5 seems stiffer than 8,5-9,0 or somethign like that) are the quality's you want... what weight would you like? wich weight was your cab? do you want heavier/lighter, whatever...sotx has it all!
Wow you guys clearly know your stuff, I will probably have a look at the asian brands as I currently reside in Perth and have friends coming in from indo and msia and singapore. For clarification, I am a doubles player, though I'm thinking of breaking into singles more often now once I get my backhand clears sorted. My CAB21 was alright in terms of weight, a bit heavier would not matter for me, what I disliked most about the racquet was the lack of power that i felt between switching between it and my friends ashaway powersmash (mp clone i think). The finesse shots are wonderful though to say the least. Also...will be going to some shops online and in my area to look for the mentioned racquets, winex sotx victor kazon etc etc.. One thing tho, when you suggested the racquets, do you reckon I should get 4u or 3u. My cab21 was 3u and it felt just peachy imho...
btw, one of the reasons why I might most probably go with the yonex is not because of brand, but rather the extensive reviews on it by many ppl, would like to try new brands of racquets, but the shops here have a very limited selection and dont let you try them out so I have to go with the one that I know most of which is the yonex, will try to get other brands still though
that's personal prference... I've never seen a 4U here, afaik. but weight itself is a classic trade-off: lighter rackets are generally more manuvreable, and heavier rackets pack more ounch(assumign you can swing it fast enough..a 1kg racket won't work)
