Hi, i'm a high school player, i'd say between intermediate and advance. I mostly play doubles but occasionally i do play some singles. I'm more of an offensive player. I'm looking to get a racket up $200 canadian. I"m thinking of a SOTX one. any suggestions?
David07 = high school player. I'm recommending the 8 and 9 for him not me. For me, I prefer my 92.5 grams of Woven 11 goodness.
but then, he also said he's intermediate-advanced. If he is he can swing a woven 7..I'm mean: even I can! *though I must admit my first hard-practise gave me sore muscles... * and I think if teh oppurtunity arises I'll get a woven 10a. and not an 11. though playtesting would be great
Being an Intermediate to Advanced Player doesn't mean the person is physically strong or powerful. The person can be skilled, have good footwork and is fast. It also does not mean he can swing a Woven 7. I'm not saying he can or cannot. But when giving advice, a person needs to be more conservative. Like you said, the Woven 7 gave you sore muscles at first. I'm not going to recommend anything that's on the extreme unless people ask. If David asked, "What's a heavy, powerful racket..." then I would have recommended the 7 and 11.
you're right.... when I hear peopel say advanced and attacking I mostly imagine a strong guy who can smash hard..my bad. Though you still sneeked in an advice for a 7 or 11
yeah, i'm pretty strong, i lift weights everyday and i also play baseball at the high school level so even a badminton racket at 100 grams is ver light for me. i think i'd prefer a head heavy racket cause i hear they are better for offence. are there any other brands other than SOTX that have good rackets for my price range? maybe even a Yonex? i don't care about the brand, i just want a good racket for my budget and heard that the SOTX ones are really nice and the heads are really strong, which i need, cause i occasionally clash heads with my partner
dink, just a question since u've thoroughly used woven 7 and 11. if i could swing 7 very comfortably and produce a satisfying smash, would it be likely that i could do the same with 11?
This will depend from person to person because the 11 is a little longer and stiffer. I'd say so (you can wield the 11) but from the feedback from other players that use the 7 and then try to move up to the 11, they say they can wield the 7 but eventually theyl get tired. The 11 even more so. One of the top power players here, uses a 7 but only for money games and/or games that are important. Otherwise he uses an 8 because he said he gets tired using the 7, fast. I let him try my 11, he loved it but he said he would get tired even faster. Jumpalot hits pretty darn hard and well with the 11 but he says he needs to pump more iron to make it his daily weapon. Hopefully he'll comment some more. I really enjoy my 11s. It's my racket of choice. For me, it has no weaknesses other than the look. It's great if you get used to the 11 because one of the main benefits: no one ever asks you to borrow a racket. Oh yeah, the 7 is quite pretty, I feel the best looking SOTX Woven racket; but that's not saying much.
i'm currently using cab 9 on regular basis. last week the string broke and i borrowed someone's 7. i didn't get tired at all using that thing. o yea also, my first impression when i hold the racket is it has similar stiffness to my cab 9 and a heck lot lighter. does that say anything? or am i just being too big headed?
All it says too me is that a cab9 is a damn heavy lump of iron seriously: I ahve no diea how a cab9 looks/feels/plays. sorry..but chances are you're used to U or 2U arckets and therefore it is no problem to you...your gain you don't get tired your loss you don't feel the heavy+head-heady magic anymore
heavy indeed, that's why i was thinking maybe i'll just use it as my training racket or something anyway, i dont get what u mean by i dont get to feel the magic of head heavy? cuz cab 9 is darn head heavy. the first time i used the 7 it felt amazing, not as head heavy as cab 9 and much lighter. it feels like holding a 3U racket. also, i hold it at the same place as i hold my cab 9: bottom end of the handle. there was this one particular shot that amazed me and the guy that lent the racket to me: it was a cross court drive from the baseline, right corner. i made a really loud gunshot sound and it went out to the other right corner end. the guy that lent me the racket went and i was looking at the racket with wtf kind of face.
sound slike a great shot! what I mean is you are used to heavy/head-heavy rackets. to me it still feels special, powerfull, like a magnum nah, I'm just joking. I envy you for being able to handle a 2U so well..I'ms till adjusting...
If that's the case the 11 should fit you just fine. It's a tad bit heavier, near the Cab 9 weight and a bit stiffer. You should have fun.
You also could try RSL Diamond X1, that's a very strong racquet may fit you. You probably could find it in Yo's shop if it isnot sold out.
