it has been quite a few years ago when Yonex started making "long" rackets. claiming that the extra length gives faster racket head speed, thus more power, etc. so many years has passed. what is your experience? does it really help? my heaviest smashing recently have all been done on a cab racket, straight old cab20, no fancy features, nothing. and i think it plays as well if not better than most of my Iso+long racket. so has things evolved, or not?
like yogi said before, every new racket can add a new dimension to your game but having real improvement over your old ones, i still have my doubts. Look at all the rage in head heavy racket, we have to decade ago with the old cab8 and cab9. Look at this trend head heavy: blacken, cab8, cab9 balance: cab 20 head light: aerotus balance: iso 300/800 head heavy: Ti-10 what next? MP100 is definitely moving away from head heaviness.
One area that should have definately shown improvement over the years is the quality control of racquets.
I dunno abt that mate! I still think for some reason that the old symbol rackets are more sturdier and have better control! I hate The Long thing when it comes to Doubles! It is so irritating! I am yet to play well in service returns with a Long racket! But a Normal length rackets suits me fine! I guess that is the only downside of Long rackets! I dunno whether it actually helps in the swing or not! Prob there is a drag if the racket is Longer! What surprised me most is the fact that Longer rackets shoudl have been less stiffer than the Older Noraml Length versions! But yonex somehow made sure that Long rackets very very stiff! I guess if yonex makes a racket as stiff as Ti 10 in the normal version then it would be Gr8! I always wanted to do this! I wanted to play with Ti 10 Regular version! Some pl say that it is stiffer than the Ti 10 L. Thepainting is more dullish yello instead of that silvery white! Hope to read some reviews from u guys abt the Ti 10 R. In asia u will most prob get only the L version as most asians are not too tall! Remember the small argument that we had with kelvin abt the length of ti sp rackets! He claimed that They were slightly shorter and they dont mention they were long at all! so i am waiting for those who are in Canada and US to give us a review abt Ti 10R!
In my opinion, there are advantages and disadvantages to both long and regular rackets. I think long rackets mainly give u more reach and therefore steepness to your smashes and as a result, can give more dimensions to a smash. I use a Ti-10 and Slim-10 and the Slim-10 does not give me much variety in my smashes in terms to steepness level. Also, power seems to be better with the Ti-10 However, i think that regular rackets have more maneuverability than long rackets. This is especially advantageous whilst playing front court doubles and also in defense. My game is based on a variety to attacks, so thus i like long version rackets
I have a slim 10 too! I dont see why we have to smash That steep as u claim in a Singles game! I would prefer to make my opponent to Play parallel in a singles game! I think Slim 10 is more than enough to smash! I would say if u have a good half smash and arm smash and a wrist smash that is more than enough for singles play! am i missing something in my game? Let me know!
Does an extra centimetre really make so much difference to the steepness of the smash. I have my doubts.
errrrr, i never actually said that u need steepness in ure smashes for singles... i was talking bout the need for steepness in generally.....i think that if u can vary ure smashes both horizontally and vertically, it can make ure opponents life very difficult in returning ure smash as u would have a very large variety of smashes to execute... maybe its the difference in our levels with all do respect... i never said slim-10 was inadequate either in smashing... i just said that it was not as good as the Ti-10 from what i read from ure message, u say that u like to play ure opponents parallel... this imo would seem that u do not have much dimensions in ure game. this would make u a very predictable opponent.... this is my opinion neway
well in my opinion it does.... i mean, i wont make metres of difference, but in my experience, it can help u hit shuttles at a point just a bit higher and as a result a bit steeper which has in my experience kept the shuttle out of my opponents reach a few more times than my regular rackets
This is my opinion, since a heavier head gives you more power, then by increasing the length the feel of a heavier head increases according to how torque works. On top of this is a longer reach, by having a longer reach, you can reach the shuttle earlier without worrying you wont hit with the sweet spot and hence your game is made faster. Also this allows you to have a steeper smashes, as Zhi has mentioned earlier. Ofcourse if you need that extra speed in your reflex and control, you could always shift your palm slightly closer to the cone. My coach always emphasize on playing with my fingers too, that is move my palm up and down the grip depending on the shot I want to play. All together, I think that that extra 10mm is only a very minor improvement, but isn't that the same with strings? Yet we all are willing to pay that extra dollar to get better string? Right?
Dont worry! I dont take things as personal as u do! As to commenting upon my level of play is ur own choice! I never claimed that i am The best! I think a forum is for someone to express their opinions abt topics. Whether i am Competent or not is not fro u to decide either! What i meant by making my opponent play parallel is to mean that Instead of smashing harder and steeper it is easier in singles to smash right on to the body to make ur opponent play a parallel game! Dimensions are what u perceive of them! If u cant perceive my dimension Then i cant help it mate! I hope u dont take anything personal as i did not mean anything! Willing to discuss anything over a BEER! So if i have Hurt ur feelings then I OWE u a Beer! If at all we meet up sometime in life i shall buy u one!
My opinion is that there is no real difference, other than a slight loss of maneuverability. And Iwan, if we assume that the shuttle is travelling at 30 km/h when you hit it, the difference in time that you are speaking of is about 1/1000th of a second... Do you think that will make a difference?
Hey, beer sounds good to me, so long as it's legal, o) As a side distraction, my friend told me he once saw Chen Gang play in a tournament....when Chen Gang took a drink, it was that well known band of dark carbonated drink...Coca Cola!!
It is an interesting but incorrect argument . If you want to find the extra time you get you should relate the racket length to players speed not a shuttle speed. I believe that the longer shaft may have for example good psychological impact to small player who believes that the shaft will compensate it.
True! But that just makes the time difference smaller, so point proven. And indeed, for some people psychological effects are worth a fortune...
well, i assumed that u meant parallel as in the steepness of smashes because i was talking bout dimensions in that way. Well then..... in terms of playing ure opponents parallel in ure way, i myself would find that advantageous, but only if ure opponents weakness is that area. In my opinion though, it seems that it would be a bit of a waste of space on that court. According to Han Jian's book, he says that one of the most basic tactics is to make ure opponent run all four corners of the court. The explanation is simple...han jian says that it is to make ure opponent's life difficult in returning ure shots. So, by sticking to the 'parallel' game plan in many matches mite prove effective against some players, but not all... I think that flexibility in game plan is the key.
I suppose the Point of dicussion was abt smashing and not abt general play! I guess the whole world will knwo that making ur opponent run to the four corners is the basic in shuttle! I said in one of previuos posts that half smashes and a variety with wrist and arm smash might be halful too! I said i prefer to smash More directly into the body than a steep smash from a towering height which could be returned! I guess my ablity to expalin things have a lot to be desired for! and i suppose u dont drink beer!
yes, wrist and arm smashes r helpful too, but with most of them directed at the body, i dont believe that it this provides enough variety to be able to keep ure opponent guessing In my opinion, smashes into the body are easier to return in singles, not doubles. This is because u dont have to stretch ure body to the side of the court (which takes time). This time could lead to u not being able to intercept the shuttle. Plus, in singles, much more court has to be covered. Thus, reaching for a fast shuttle being sent to the ground at the side would involve this stretching. Whereas taking it at the body does not require this movement, it more involves a flick of the wrist whilst smashes at the side with steepness involves sideways movements, frontways movements and flick to the wrist at the same time.
>> I believe that the longer shaft may have for example good psychological impact to small player who believes that the shaft will compensate it. In the early stages of their badminton, maybe. The pyshchological effects at the early stages of their play isn't that important to their game as fundamentals such as good footwork and strokework. Once they get to a stage where psychological impact is important to a game I don't think an extra 10mm is going to make a difference to a smaller player as they would realise how minimal that actually is. However what would be interesting to try on a smaller player is a slightly smaller racket length, since the balance between a shorter racket and a shorter arm may improve their strokework. Perhaps a shorter arm wasn't intended to wield a standard size badminton racket. UKP
