I'm a female player, mostly playing doubles game. Would like to get some opinions for the above two rackets to decide which would be more suitable. I would prefer a racket for defensive play but can still smash without too much effort. Also, would these rackets be available in Singapore? Thanks!
No replies at all? Just discovered that the Fireblade isn't sold in Singapore. Could anybody advise the differences in terms of control and power between the following rackets? 1) Head Airflow 5 2) Head Metallix 8000 3) Carlton Powerblade 9902 4) Carlton Powerflo 805 Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
1) Head Airflow 5----never try 2) Head Metallix 8000----never try 3) Carlton Powerblade 9902-----control is very good but power acceptable 4) Carlton Powerflo 805----control and power acceptable if you can find carlton 9900 tour or 9909 maybe you should try them...but if 9902 and 805 only then go to 9902, better in every aspect.
Thanks issarakaya! The 9900tour and 9909 would have better control and power than the other two Carltons? Anybody has experience with the Heads?
9909 not available in Indonesia so cannot judge (only see other member review in this forum) but 9900 Tour yes for me it have better control and power than 9902 or 805. You must try by yourself racket type is personal preference, everybody have different opinion....actually i'm not using 9900 tour now ( just borrow for 4 games only), i use airblade33 it suit my style better than other Carlton type
A fellow Singaporean !!! I have a friend who has head and wilson racquet and he favours the wilson, din ask him why. One brand you should put on your list is Victor, it is a very good brand and I am sure there will be one that is suitable for you. Actually it depends on your style of playing and skill level, and also your budget, realize from your list that you never include Yonex ? Any reason ? I don't have the 9902 but the 9909 that I have is just super ! Really good. The other carlton i have is nanolite 9500 and that's suitable for gals as it is light and flexible and yet with head heavy balance which is good for offensive.
Thanks for all the replies! Just back from racket shopping Got myself an Airblade 33. Of all the rackets I held in my hand, the ones which I felt most comfortable with were the Airblade 33, Carlton 9900 tour and Head Metallix 8000. The Airblade had the best deal so went for that. Tried the Nanolite 9500 and Airflow 5 as well but the feeling in hand were a little too light for my liking (weird right? since Nanolite is actually heavier than the Airblade). Preferred the Nanolite to the Airflow (think cos of grip size difference). teoky, reason for no Yonex is feel that Yonex kinda overpriced, for the same amount of $, usually can get a better value racket in other brands.
Congrats on getting your Airblade 33 ! May I know where you get it from ? There are only a few places that sell it and couple of months ago, there was a offer for it which includes shoes, bags, sock and string, did you also manage to get that offer ? I didn't know you wanted to get a racquet so soon, from my understanding, Carlton will have a offer next month for the new range of racquet they are launching.
Got it from Queensway 2nd floor, think shop name is Hello Sports. They offered the 10-racket bag but I dun need it so they gave me $10 off for that. This is on top of the $10 discount they had agreed to give me off the offer price. Price includes stringing (Carlton) and grip. Even if I had known the news, think I wouldn't have waited also...I subscribe to the "find something that suits me buy first" club
hey it is your review i read 'bout 9909....sigh i really jealous. Can you inform me where you get 9909? and how much the price? thanks... in Indonesia airblade33 more expensive than 9900 tour btw congrats to you, now you using same racket like me
The airblade33 was on offer price and after the additional discounts was slightly cheaper than the 9900 tour. These were from different shops btw. Didn't see the 9909 at all in Queensway.
Oh, Hello Sports, I think I know which one, they sell Mesuca previously. Well, you won't see 9909 there as I think mine is the only one left, so far I have been to many shops and don't see Carlton racquet and even if they do sell Carlton, it is the usual suspect and definitely no 9909. Anyway, Airblade 33 is good, would have gotten that over the Nanolite 9500 but it cost more and it is very light which I was afraid might not be as powerful.
Yeah, only two shops in the whole of Queensway with Carltons. Can't wait for my next session to try the racket!
Just had my session today, unfortunately conditions at the court weren't very good so we played 3 really slow games before we gave up. The CC was undergoing some renovation and there was powder all over the court, it was as slippery as a carom board. Impressions from those 3 games - Definitely enough power for smashes. I was using a stiffer racket with even balance before this and definitely could feel the difference with the airblade33. So much easier to smash the shuttle Very manouverable as it's very light. To me this is the best of both worlds as it is head heavy enough for smashing but still light enough to move fast. Yet to totally get used to it, hopefully next week's court is properly cleaned up so that we can have proper games.
What racquet were you using before ? From my experience and I actually did a back to back comparison between a flexy racquet (Nanolite 9500) and a stiff racquet (Victor SW33P), a stiff racquet gives you a faster smash, though for the lighter racquet, it is easier to execute a smash.
I was using a Yonex Titanium Pro 50. Except for obvious kills, my smashes only successfully executed maybe 20% of the time.
Great... you just convinced me to go take a look at the airblade as a replacement racket for my wife. I always liked Carltons (never owned one) but they seem to have totally disappeared from around here for a while -- just like ProKennex.
Just got a Carlton Powerblade 9500 Pro yesterday at Queensway from Chau Beng. Not tried it out yet but Carlton seems to be making a comeback. They are having many series of Carlton racquets in Queensway. For Carlton fans (me inclusive), do check it out.