Hi, I have just joined a club in my city and was wondering what Black Knight Racket / Equipment in general is good. All I have right now is a HL racket that I bought at my local sports dealer for about $30-35 and a fake Yonex racket that I bought from eBay [I didn't know it was fake prior to buying it ] Here is the list of what they have - I want to get a light, very durable / strong racket since I am pretty short and small compared to others. But I have no equipment buying experience. The badminton club leader told me to buy the HL racket to start off. And now since there is a discount with the Black Knight equipment above, I think it would be a good deal for me. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Black Knight Photon or recommend any other set ups posted above? Also, I have no experience with grips and stringing . So which ones should I get if I bought one of the rackets above? Since it only says only the only racket that comes strung is the Photon XL [which I am not interested in at all since it is longer and heavier]. Who would I ask to string / grip my racket? Do you think Sports Authority or **** Sports people would do it or what? Thank you!
It sounds like you're probably a relative beginner (no offense intended). That being the case, you'd probably do well to steer clear of the superlight series (feather-krypton), as you'll probably struggle to generate power with them. Plus, I don't think you should be spending that kind of money yet. I also wouldn't recommend any of the first 5 rackets on your list, to anyone - you shouldn't even be considering anything with a steel shaft, unless you play your badminton on the beach. Personally, I use a C2C NanoFire. It's an excellent racket, but not suitable for a beginner because of the cost and light weight (the info you provide is wrong - it's only 80g). The Magnum is possibly your best bet - it's got a very large head area, so it should be very forgiving. Still seems kind of expensive for an almost entry level racket though.
From my experience with BK racquets the SL series [feather, ghost, Photon, Photon XL] are the lightest you can get from BK. Durable wise my friend said there really nice and hold up. I like the Photon XL because of that extra reach and power I get. Personally the weight difference isn't between the XL and regular isn't alot. The Feather is smaller head size but really light. Maybe not as stiff tho. Ghost is in the middle. I think the tension is 24lbs max. I would say get the Photon then if you don't want the extra length and just want a sorta stiff but really light racquet.
No offense taken. I am a beginner and that's why I don't really have any experience with buying rackets or any of that stuff. I just copied and pasted what was in the word document the club leader said so I'm not sure really sure what weighs whats. Do you think any of these two rackets would be good too then? The Impulse was in the first 5 like you said above. Also, when do you think I should go and look at more expensive and lighter rackets ie the Photon or any other rackets?
Would you still recommend me getting the Photon even though I'm starting out trying to play around with more of the experience players? Also, what grip and string would you suggest too? I mean I've played in my high school class which is totally different and doesn't really count since it has the plastic rackets and plastic shuttlecocks. But then I've been playing my city's badminton club for about 2 months now and they meet once every week. My friends and I want to start checking out other clubs in our state since another one usually gets 20-30 players and we want to broaden our experiences.
Well if your a beginner I don't think those racquets would be any better. Since they are so light it's really hard to generate power. If you can't swing accurately or strong enough it feels like your holding a ruler trying to hit a tiny ball. Sure the high end racquets are impressive only if you could use them. Maybe the Power Channel V65 which is decent. C2C Ice a really nice racquet but you may not need tat yet. String tension it says 18 to 24 on both so I say just string at 20lbs. Grip I dunno I'll let someone else handle tat.
Thanks for both of your guys' input. Do you think the price for the club is good? They seem to be cheaper than prices I found on eBay and Google in general for the rackets you both recommend and even the Photon. Do you think I should buy one of the more beginner rackets you guys have recommended and maybe even the Photon to just keep in storage until I become more experienced? eBay and other online sites have the Photon for about $200 whereas the dealer price listed above is $138, and then even the discount for the group is $18, etc. So do you think I should go ahead and buy stuff right now since they are cheaper or is it not worth it?
If you are truly a beginner, then I think you could do well with the Impulse and save some moola. It's not a high end racket, but it's not terrible. If money is no object, then you shouldn't think that you are "unfit" for a Photon or Nanofire. I don't think they are difficult racquets-- unless you string at too high a tension. If possible, you should try before you buy. Good luck.
They're definitely good deals. Maybe you could buy one, sell it to some sucker on ebay, and buy a decent, but affordable racket with the profits I probably wouldn't buy a high-end model to "grow into", as you might well find you prefer a completely different kind of racket once you've developed more of a playing style. If it turns out that you love to blast your opponents off the court with powerful smashes, then the Photon is not going to be the racket to help you do that. To be honest, I'd just never heard of the "Impulse 729i". Having looked on the BK website, it seems to be a very entry-level model, which may even have been discontinued. The other thing, is that although those are great prices on Black Knight rackets, Black Knight are not a cheap brand over there. I don't know what's available where you live, but here at least, a budget of $90 (£63) gives you a *lot* of choice. I don't really have an opinion on grips, as I never seem to need to change them anyway. Maybe if you have really sweaty palms it makes a difference, I don't know.
I don't think I can find someone around where I live that would let me try it or know of any stores that have some of these high end rackets. I can afford the Photon and Nanofire, but I'm just wondering if it is worth me buying now and actually using it since the other members said I should stick with the Impulse or any of the first 5 on the list above. I'm considering buying the Impulse and also the Photon but just keep the Photon in my closet or something until I get better since the other people said I probably wouldn't be able to use all of the features of the Photon at this stage. I think the discounted prices are very good and do not want to pass them up since buying just the Photon alone and Impulse would save me $80+ through this club. But I still have no idea what grip and string to get for the Photon. I tried searching some of the grips. The competition grip looks sort of good but I'm not sure. And then does anyone have any experience with the Super Grip or Rad grips? I saw the TUF Grip online and I don't think I like the huge thick bumps on it. I couldn't find any pictures of the Super Grip on a racket, but I am hoping that it is just a smooth grip like the one that is on my HL racket just because of the name. What grip / string would you recommend from the list? Sorry for all the questions. I really appreciate everyone's help and input.
Please accept the advice of a rank amateur... ....at this level just start with the grip that comes with the racket. Only if you hate the factory grip (or if you have a great scheme to sell the rackets later) should you bother changing or covering it with an extra grip. The string may be another matter. It is such a personal thing. If you have no strong opinion, then buy the first one. Or get Yonex BG-65 at your local sports store. If you have the urge to use the other more expensive strings, then check out the plentiful reviews and opinions in other threads....it'll make your head spin!
BG-65 is just fine for you. Other strings would just complicate the process of playing badminton for you rite now. First thing first get your hands on a decent racquet for your playing level.
@ Fidget and what07 Would local sports stores such as Dicks Sporting Goods or Sports Authority have the Yonex BG-65? And also, would they string it for me or do I have to go somewhere else for professional stringing? As for the grip, I will stick with the one it comes with like you said unless it really bothers me. When people want to change grips, do they cover the old one or do they try to unpeel the previous one? Is it easy also, because what if some of it doesn't come off and then doesn't that mess up your next grip since it'll be bumpy in random places?
If you are in a city that has at least two sports stores, then one of them should carry BG-65 and be able to string for you. You either use replacement or overgrip. And learning how to do it is not hard....in fact it is one of the simplest most rewarding skills in badminton
It depends on how thick a grip you want. It's pretty common for people to leave the original grip, and put a thin "overgrip" on top of it. If you're lucky, the stringer will replace the overgrip free of charge, when you get your racket restrung. If not, never mind - it's very easy. The glue stays tacky for a little while, so even if you mess it up first time you can always take it off and start over. And yeah, I'd be amazed if you can't get hold of BG65 / BG65Ti.
A related question then: At the moment, the Ghost PC costs $58 (£39.99 - damn, the £'s gone downhill) here in the UK - obviously a considerable saving on the $209 rrp. The NanoFire is actually £10 more. They are genuine rackets, bought from Black Knight's UK website. Does this mean I (and everyone else in the UK) should be stocking up now?
Thanks again for everyone's help! I'm still trying to think what would be best to do / buy right now. Sorry I'm no help since I don't know any of the prices and stuff, Sketchy.
I called 3 sport stores [****'s Sporting Goods, Big 5 Sporting Goods, and Sports Authority] and none of them have any badminton string in general. I think it's partly because badminton definitely isn't really big in Colorado as it is in other places like California and Asian countries, etc. 1 place even said that all they have is tennis rackets strings and that he could try that but it would be too high of quality and it'd be more expensive. Does that mean in the future when I want to buy a high-end quality I would have to stick with ordering the string online at the same place if they sell it and asking them to string it for me? And if my string breaks I would have to ship it somewhere out of this state to string it for me? Can people get their rackets professionally painted? Or is that something that isn't really heard of? I was first interested in the Photon because of the color scheme and how light it is, and then after searching for reviews of it online I thought it was pretty good. For example, someone's review of the Photon in 2006 here http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29454 In the first post he says, But then after I asked if anyone recommends the Photon and still plays with it, these 2 replies are posted - So now I'm thinking that the Photon isn't really that good and maybe I should just get the Impulse 729i as a beginner racket and then once I get better and play with it for a couple months, hopefully save up for a good Yonex racket, since a lot of really experienced people seem to have a lot of these? How does that sound? Do you guys think that's reasonable?
Ah I probably won't do that then since I'd rather have it look professional looking. What's your input on the Photon since I saw your post in the other thread about racket recommendation since you talked about the Black Knight lightweight series.
