This is my first post, I have been playing for while now and was wondering is there a way of deciding your stiffness rating a person would need. I am asking because i am in the market for something new and up to date so to speak. I have a very old Carlton classic(boron shaft) and it seems latelty the harder I smash the less downward angle I get but with my very old BK-80 wood head (carbon steel shaft)(circa 1982) I can put it down with much less effort. Now Iknow I get more whip from the wood head. One of the better players says I need a stiff to very stiff. I tried his Nano9000 and couldn't believe the speed I hit the bird with and the angles I could pick with it. Now before I drop a few bucks on something is there a way to know your stiffness without buying differnt stiffness
test out some rackets,try out rackets, its the only way to see for yourself what stiffness your a ease with/optimal power. but the general rule is stiffer shaft is more accurate and powerfull, but if u can get a good flex in it. if u arnt strong enough/technique and cant flex the shaft it will reduce ur power greatly, so dont buy the stiffest racket u might hate it, so borow other peoples rackets or try to demo them somehow.
Thanks for the response,I was hoping that there was another way but I guess I will have to borrow for a while. Alot has changed since my hey days of burning up the singles court,some things stayed the same just been renamed. I guess I will keep plugging away. I know what worked for me before its just trying to match it to todays technology is the problem
I was exactly in the same situation as you are. I played mostly w/ those wooden headed or early steel rackets and started playing about a year ago after a long break. I tried MP-88 (flexible shaft) to start w/ as its supposed to be an easy racket to play w/, but had difficulty keeping the smashes down. Then I bought an MP-99 (stiff shaft) and from the first shot itself, it was like I was playing w/ it all my life... Try it if you haven't already, you may like it.... I am currently playing w/ a 3U MP99.
I am alittle lacking in the terms being used what are you calling a MP99. I see the weight codes haven't changed so I got those. I see that there is so many rackets available today that it makes things alittle tough. They seem to phidgon hole you into one style of play but my games have everthing in them. I played mainly singles so heavy hits were the course play mostly, but playing doubles I still want that power to put it down without tearing my forearm up. I find the problem with just trying a racket is that it may feel good or different but Ihave found that the "new racket syndrome" weres out just about a week after you buy it. I was at the club tonight and played the area top guy,you very good player knows all the top guys weres all the garb. A court was open and asked if he wanted a game, he seemed alittle put out by me asking as I am 42 and "heavy" and he was maybe 22. He asked if I wanted to play rally points and got even more put out when I didn't know this was the norm. We played a few points and I fell behind until I got my singles legs back, well I fought back to beat him 21-16 I thought this guy was goona cry, left the court mumbling about losing to a fat guy with a peice of crap racket (my wood head BK). After something like this I was left wondering if I was even good enough to tell the difference
Yonex ns9k is a very good racquet. I myself have a type x but I recommend you to demo the racquetes before you buy.
Haha.., wow. That was a great story. You're my hero. I would say that you shouldn't go all out. A decently stiff racket would probably do fine.
Hahaha! Generally a good player can tell how well another can play after seeing him hit a coupla shots, but it happens many times that these young kids underestimate some of the older players... I was talking about the Yonex MusclePower 99. Here's a link for the racket. Its a very widely used racket, so should be easy to demo it. What string tensions are you used to? The older rackets were not strung real high. Now I generally use around 22lbs w/ Yonex BG85 or BG80 or BG68Ti strings.. http://www.badmintonalley.com/Yonex_Muscle_Power_99_p/racket-yonex-mp99.htm
I am assuming that the woods and the "head heavy" rackets are a good match but do they give the whip the woods use to? it would seem that the frames are ridged, this is one of the reasons I didn't care for the metal but I could be wrong. The strings I am totaly lost on jut so many now to chose from. The lady said if I got a nonaspeed 9000 that she would put on the new BG95 strings, having no idea what it was I asked if it was the same strings they used on the space shuttle I don't think she got the joke . My wood BK I strung at 24lbs inside and 20lbs outside and used sims supressors.
this went totally over my head, hehe, i have no idea what you're on about! sims supressors sounds like some kinda drug used to ween pc gamers off 'the sims'.
Sorry I am not in tune with the newer terms, back in the day we were messing around with what was called spanning by some were you would string the centre strings higher and gradualy lessen the tension towards the edges most found it gave them a larger sweet spot and more control for off centre hits,not sure if it ever took off but it made for a nice performing racket before they eventiually equalized out. I was always involved with shooting sports and sims is the main player for vibration damining for them and I just used some strips woven in the racket strings by the top and bottom of the head. As I said before I have been out of the game for a while now and what is out there now is kinda overwhelming but I am definatly not "new" just behind the times alittle.
Here's what I know: Rackets: Flexible rackets: bends more easily during a smash, therefore, if you have a weak arm, the racket will generate the power for you. if u have a strong arm, it'll generate even more power but if timing is off...ur shot is going to be way off. As for control, if you are used to it, you will learn how to control it... it is all in the badminton skills u acquire over the years. Stiff rackets: the stiffer the racket, the more strength you u need to output to get a good smash, if u can't bend the stiff racket, u can't get a good whip out of the racket and therefore you will not get a good smash. oh and if u manage to generate a super whip, u might break the racket cuz itz not meant to flex that much... hahhaa. once again, control is based on ur skills =P String tension: pretty much constant pull, not mixing of tension only difference is the different in tension between crosses and mains. if u want to string at 24 lbs it will be 23 main and 25 cross (the 2 mixture of tension gives more feel) and also retains the original shape a little more. if u string the 2 at same tension, oval shape rackets will not look as oval anymore and u'd have more of a square racket in isometric (at least that was witnessed at around 28-30 lbs) at lower tension i do not think the frame changes that much.
I think the order are as follows: Ex-stiff, stiff, medium stiff, medium, medium flex, flexible as for exactly how each manufacturer rates it, i dunno O_O
Very stiff racquets can play excellent for almost any player if it is well designed. Stiffness provides exceptional anti-twist property but if not designed well on sound principles, will make it feel dead. Stiffness is a double-edge sword, that if designed properly will have a one-two punch, a dead one if not.
I hope you don't mind if I do not go into this. What I will make as a concession is think dynamic stiffness because stiffness is meaningless.
head light for faster maneuverability, however if ita girls doubles high school player... any racket will do. most high school girls drop and clear too much. they seldom drive or smash that often, therefore, defense dun need to be so speed affected.
one of my friends [girl]tried this one and really liked the feel. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-Zen-Atta...ryZ62169QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem