GenJi

[Rich]

Has anyone ever heard or tried one of the GenJi raquets?

[Brett]

I copied the folllowing from the Miscellaneous Racquets subsection of the BC review section, that I posted in November:

Genji "Graphite Light"

90g
Thin grip - probably G5
Iso head
Regular length
Medium flex shaft
All graphite
21 gauge synthetic string @ about 17lbs
$40 U.S.

A new guy in our league brought one of these tonight and I played with it for about five minutes. The racquet is very pretty, with one of the best color schemes I have seen, dark semi-metallic red and black (kind of similar to the new Iso 60 Lite). It is head heavy, but that could be in large part a function of how small the grip is - if I were to add overgrip to build it up to a reasonable size for me, G2, it would probably be evenly balanced. It has a pretty flexible shaft and works decently on clears, but was too flexible for hard smashes; if it was strung with a better string at a higher tension, it might have been ok. Touch wasn't anything to write home about, but five minutes isn't really enough time to become sufficiently familiar with a racquet to judge its effectiveness on drop shots. On one hard smash, it seemed maybe too fragile, and I looked at the racquet to make sure I hadn't cracked the frame, but didn't seem any cracks.

The owner got it online from the following internet store:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/ebadminton/spe.html

He got a special introductory package - two of these racquets, a three-racquet bag and a tube of feather shuttles for $69.00. I'd say that was a good deal.

This racquet is for beginners and is an ok value. I would say it plays almost as well as my Yonex Cab 8300 and is better on clears than that racquet. I have concerns about its durability for hard hitters or for doubles players who are apt for racquet clashes, though, and I would recommend the Cab 8300 over this one, as it is a tougher racquet.

Overall, I give this racquet 5/10.