A coach using a fake racket???

Discussion in 'Identify Fake Racket (Price/Source/Serial/Photos a' started by riz125, Apr 9, 2008.

  1. riz125

    riz125 Regular Member

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    me and my mates and some of the family members play badminton 2-3 times a week in our local leasuire centre. there is a coach there who does badminton training for the local kids. so i saw him 1 day while me and the lads were playing so asked him what racket does he uses. he told me he gets the fake yonex from ebay & restrungs them. i was a little bit shocked to hear that:eek:!!!!!!! didnt say much after that.

    i was just thinking what kind of example is he leaving for the kids by usuing fake rackets. did any of u come accross this kind of situation????:confused:
     
  2. jhirata

    jhirata Regular Member

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    I've come accross with coaches using not fake, but cloned racquets..

    Ashaway *something*.. a green racquet, a copy of a Forza racquet.. though it's a clone, it performs EXTREMELY well with PG66N..
     
  3. Dreamzz

    Dreamzz Regular Member

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    i reckon as long as he's not trying to sell them to the kids as the genuine article, what he uses himself is his own preference. you're looking to the coach to teach you technique, not the concepts of right or wrong in the marketplace.
     
  4. riz125

    riz125 Regular Member

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    dreamz no doubt ur right there for sure about coaching and techniques but my only concern is if any of the kids asks abt his racket and he says that he is usin fake or colned yonex what kind massage would he be sending out to the kids???
     
  5. Moggy

    Moggy Regular Member

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    it'll send out the msg that kids should not be playing with $300 racquets :p
     
  6. riz125

    riz125 Regular Member

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    haahhahahaha nice 1 moggy ahahahaahah
     
  7. volcom

    volcom Regular Member

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    That you can be pro without some fancy high end racket.... techniques is very important.
     
  8. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    The coach is paid for teaching the technique, and the students attend the session to improve their games. The racket issue is some "additional" factors, which students should know how to distiguish, and make their own decision about whether to follow or not.

    If you pick a coach purely (or, mostly) from the skill and experience of teaching, you might ignore the racket factor. If you do care about the character, you have your choice pick another individual instead.

    In the most ideal society, we can claim the coach violating the law, and can call a cop on him. However, the society is far from ideal, and it's your call for your own action. You might want to stay away from him, if you don't feel comfortable about his behavior.
     
  9. silentheart

    silentheart Regular Member

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    I just want to add a few points to Master LB post.
    1) Usually a coach has some connection to some manufatures. They can be Yonex, SOTX, Victor, Wilson, MMOA etc. They can order racquets and equipments cheap (free racquet quota) from them. So there is no need for a coach to go cheap and use a fake racquet.
    2) If a coach is using a fake racquet, it is likely he/she is not experience enough to tell real vs fake. If the coach is knowingly using a fake is this case, what is stopping him selling fake one and not telling the student the "whole truth".
    3) If a coach can not get the freebies from manufacture by opening an account, I question if the coach is good enough.
    4) A good coach can charge good price and he/she has no need to use a fake racquet.
     
  10. smash_master

    smash_master Regular Member

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    my coach himself is sponsored by yonex but he knowingly bought himself a fake yonex racquet just cause he wanted to see what it was like. He restrung it and sometimes when we coach some of the city programs he uses it. ive also coached using that racquet before nothing bad about it. When people attend lessons there there for the technique, not really what racquet the coach is using cause honestly racquet doesnt make that much of a difference i have coached with many different racquets from low end to high end.
     
  11. colekwok

    colekwok Regular Member

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    silentheart, I agree with you to a certain extend, but in the UK and escpeially in Hong Kong, a lot of badminton coaches do not have connections directly to the manufacturers, since factories do not sponsor coaches, they mostly sponsor competitive teams and players. Usually these 'coaches' have connections with shops, so they can get discounts for rackets, for obvious reasons, since they can always 'recommend' his/her students to buy their equipment there. Coaches don't usually 'sell' rackets' to their students, technically speaking, at least I have not seen one around me. I think 90% of badminton learners know where to get their rackets and stuffs nowadays.

    But I must say it is a bit doggy for a coach to use a fake racket, of course, it does not matter unless he/she gives the wrong information to the students. So I don not see any problem with that.
     
  12. silentheart

    silentheart Regular Member

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    colekwok,
    thank you for pointing out the different business practice between different region.
     
  13. colekwok

    colekwok Regular Member

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    silentheart, you are the 'oldhand' here! But yeah, I also find that there is a huge difference between the badminton culture in Hong Kong and the UK.
     
  14. Smichz

    Smichz Regular Member

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    Or in other word,between the west n the east badminton culture..:)
     
  15. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

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    The technique is more important than the racket, when playing Badminton

    .
    That coach was probably saying..."It is your technique, and not your racket, which is more important when playing Badminton". :D
    .
     
  16. silentheart

    silentheart Regular Member

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    If you are compare me with our wonderful mod "oldhand", I am honored. If you refer to some thing else, I would say I am just a dirty oldman.
    I am very surprised that in UK, the coaches are not as tightly connected with any equip supplier. Sure they moust have some connection to shop or club to get them good deal like you say. But from my understanding is any legit coach (in US, CAN and EU) can apply for an account with a major manufacture (ie. SOTX, Victor, MMOA or the evil empire) and get the equipments at very good discount.
    It is same as for Wilson, Prince or Babolat in tennis. There is additional bonus if you push a lot of racquet.
     
  17. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    The situation in Hong Kong, being at the doorstep of China's massive racquet manufacturing plants, may be different re so called counterfeit (better term than fake) Yonex racquets. Hong Kong is also a redistribution center for top end and counterfeit racquets. Even ex-champions are directly or indirectly involved in this. Many coaches supplement their coaching fees income with racquet, shirts, shorts, socks, grips, stringing machines, and stringing, etc sales/income. Like an entrepreuner they sell in volumes and that means inexpensive racquets that are extremely good value for money. Therefore counterfeit racquets are their stock-in-trade in addition to the top labels/brands. Their supplies are mainly from sports shops/stores. Their costs will depend on their volume. Top coaches who coach for a few schools sell in large volumes and their costs are lower than other coaches. School coaches can sell racquets in batches of hundreds.
    Shops and retailers make very little from selling Yonex racquets, with some shops making just HK$20 from selling say an AT900P. If a shop were to sell nothing but high end Yonex racquets it will go broke in one day of operation.
     
  18. colekwok

    colekwok Regular Member

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    Yes, most coaches in the UK are affliated to local clubs. The fact is, most of these coaches are doing it like a part-time job, like my collegue here, he has a national coaching license, but he only works part time in the local club. He also gets some deals for Yonex rackets but the price they get is no better than those you get from Hong Kong. I still think Hong Kong is a badminton paradise.

    As for Hong Kong, I really have no idea nowdays, I only know that top coaches are usually conected to the HK Sports institute and HK Badminton Association. I just don't know how many 'top coaches' there are in Hong Kong. I met a few ex-china province players who are giving private tutions in HK, they do not even have any affiliations with shops!


    And, yes, taneepak is right, shops make very little money from selling top brands, but most likely not making HKD20 a racket, that is the thing that they always tell you. I rekon that they can make probably 10-20% or profit for Yonex rackets, depends on where they get their supplies. I think the people in the trade knows very well about the market price for rackets, the scene is that, the prices of new top end rackets are always 'floating', and then there is a demand and supply thingie, then there is also the grey import (JP/CN/CP) stuffs in which they can make more money out of us.

    Nowadays I only buy my badminton stuffs from a single shop in Hong Kong, anyway, I have seen them moving from a tiny corner shop to a now much larger and properly layout shop, and I have never had a fault with their stuffs, both badminton and tennis.


    P.S.> Just some updates, found out that there are only 180 registered badminton coaches in Hong Kong with the HK Badminton Association, I am surprised!
     
    #18 colekwok, Apr 11, 2008
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2008
  19. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    Many sports shops in Hong Kong get a better deal buying Yonex racquets, strings, and shoes from the bigger Yonex distributors than directly from Yonex. Very few shops can afford to pay up front HK$500,000 every month to Yonex to get the best deals (discounts), so almost all of them buy from the bigger boys. If they buy directly from Yonex they will be lucky to make HK$20 for a HK$1,000 racquet.
    I myself can get Yonex supplies cheaper than most Hong Kong shops if I want to, but I don't buy Yonex stuff.
     
  20. colekwok

    colekwok Regular Member

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    I see. Anyway, it is nice that we can still get loads of grey market stuffs in HK. In the UK, basically there is none.
     

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