Yonex ArcSaber Z Slash Review

**allyjack110** · 05-19-2011, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by tckang

Since i am the bad boy here (and i always will be

) To me, finding THE racket is like searching your own life long partner, i.e your spouse (husband or wife). Some prefer tall, some prefer short, some prefer long hair, some prefer muscular, some like a little chubby fat, and the list goes on. Find the wrong one, you end up with separation/divorce. Found the right one, you live happily ever after.
Like wise, every rackets deserves its good side and its flip side. Like human beings, no one is perfect. Even the best rackets like the legendary AT700s, Carbonexes has its own supporters and haters.
What is important is keep your opinion/reviews onto the racket and stop there. And be neutral in the sense that if the racket does not suits you, comment about it technically, leave it and move on. No point spreading and INFLUENCE others not to use it,not to buy it, or worse laugh/mock others that use/own it. If you do so, you may end up "helping" your friends/forum members miss the racket of his/her life, just because you yourself do not like it and influence him/her not to like it.

TCkang,

Whenever you find the 'Charlize Theron racket' please notify me at once.

**Triptens** · 05-20-2011, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by allyjack110

TCkang,

Whenever you find the 'Charlize Theron racket' please notify me at once.

Charlize Theron is for display only, like a trophy wife. You don't play with it (well, you do...but you know what I mean), you keep it

.

**oasis** · 06-03-2011, 11:28 AM

Is there any diff between the normal z slash and the taufik edition?

**CanucksDynasty** · 06-03-2011, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by oasis

Is there any diff between the normal z slash and the taufik edition?

$50 ,different paint job, and his signature.
No difference in specs.

**chilli** · 06-03-2011, 11:58 AM

The LCW A900P, Peter Gade Arc10 and this Taufic Z should be the same price. http://www.bustedracquet.us/badminton.html

**raajks** · 06-05-2011, 01:36 PM

Arcsaber Z slash

Arcsaber Z slash seems to be one of those few racquets where people either LOVE it or HATE it.

I have been playing badminton for a long time where I started with Carbonex SP21
It was a time where I had no idea about racquets, this was a gift and the racquet remained with me for a very long time.

Once my own money started flowing in my life, I asked a guy at my club to give me a PRO racquet. He delivered an Arcblade 7 with BG 65 with 21 lbs(Which is a replica of the Arc 7).
The racquet was ok, I had nothing to complain but I had not exciting at the same time.

Must have been some 6 months back where I was helping my friend to get a racquet,
I dropped by to the nearest sports store and picked an Nanospeed 9900.
I found the Nano9900 to be fast and quick on defence and net shots but it took a lot of effort when I got to play some powershots or when I started to play singles

I realized that I needed more than just words of wisdom from the shopkeeper, which is when I stumbled upon some amazing forums like
1) badmintoncentral
2) Paul's blog

I was introduced to a whole lot of information, I was super excited to browse through the forums and read the reviews of most of the racquets. The quality of reviews and connect that I found from varied badminton folks around the world was amazing to say the least.

Voltric 80
I was completely taken by Paul's Voltric 80 review and I decided to get this racquet for me, Luckily the shopkeeper was willing to take the Nano9900 back and give me the
Voltric 80.

The following day, I was super excited to play with the Voltric 80.
Being one of my expensive buys I had put my earnest effort to love this racquet.
But to my disappointment, I could never really love this racquet inspite of how hard I tried. I have strong wrists and arms, thanks to my martial arts upbringing, but I found the V80 too slow for me. The forehand shots were good and strong but my backhand began to suffer, I missed the snap shots I used to play.

Heartbroken and feeling less inspired, I decided to make a change by looking for another racquet which would suit my game. I am a fan of Taufik Hidayat so I decided to spend some time reviewing the forums on Armortec 900 T.

Armortec 900 Technique

Ant's review on the racquet was a deal clincher for me and I decided to go for the AT900T with BG65 21 LBS. It was instant love for me, I connected so well with this racquet.
My game responded well and I was feeling very good with my overall game.
Forehand / Backhand / Singles / Doubles, They were all working very well for me.

I was sure that with a tension of 24lbs and Nanogy95 would be a perfect upgrade for me.
However, I knew the racquet for a tad slower for very fast games and quick switching shots.

Enter Arcsaber Z slash,
A friend mine introduced me to it.
I had a few taps and some shots for 10 mins, I connected so well to this racquet (It seems that I seem to be following Taufik, unconciously)
While Armortec 900T was like a gentle lover, the Z slash is like a passionate lover who gets your heart pounding and wants to get the best in you.

I had completely fallen for the Z slash, my whole body was charged towards this racquet and I knew that this racquet was perfect for me.

I got the Z slash with Nanogy95 with an LBS of 24.

It's been 2 weeks with this racquet and I must say I feel amazing everytime I play with it.
Before the game, I make sure I do my warm-up religiously to make sure my body is ready for my best game. I do my floor excercises, I eat right to ensure I have right energy levels. This might sound crazy to some, but the Z slash needs a good state to extract the best.

I have decided to play lot more tournaments than I used to as I know that my game has also move up a few notches. The Z slash has been the best buy for me. Thanks to Paul & Ants for their amazing reviews!!

As I have painfully realized, forums / research sets the tone but ultimately a racquet is always a personal choice. Z slash is now my personal choice because it has exceptional speed while delivering the accuracy I need every time.

**floyd.mathias** · 06-06-2011, 09:15 AM

I have been playing with Raaj for about a year now and I have seen his game with all the Raq mentioned above. I have to agree that the Z slash has brough out the best in him.

All the best Raaj with your new found passionate love. Go for the kill.

**yurimaster2010** · 06-06-2011, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by raajks

Arcsaber Z slash

Arcsaber Z slash seems to be one of those few racquets where people either LOVE it or HATE it.

I have been playing badminton for a long time where I started with Carbonex SP21
It was a time where I had no idea about racquets, this was a gift and the racquet remained with me for a very long time.

Once my own money started flowing in my life, I asked a guy at my club to give me a PRO racquet. He delivered an Arcblade 7 with BG 65 with 21 lbs(Which is a replica of the Arc 7).
The racquet was ok, I had nothing to complain but I had not exciting at the same time.

Must have been some 6 months back where I was helping my friend to get a racquet,
I dropped by to the nearest sports store and picked an Nanospeed 9900.
I found the Nano9900 to be fast and quick on defence and net shots but it took a lot of effort when I got to play some powershots or when I started to play singles

I realized that I needed more than just words of wisdom from the shopkeeper, which is when I stumbled upon some amazing forums like
1) badmintoncentral
2) Paul's blog

I was introduced to a whole lot of information, I was super excited to browse through the forums and read the reviews of most of the racquets. The quality of reviews and connect that I found from varied badminton folks around the world was amazing to say the least.

Voltric 80
I was completely taken by Paul's Voltric 80 review and I decided to get this racquet for me, Luckily the shopkeeper was willing to take the Nano9900 back and give me the
Voltric 80.

The following day, I was super excited to play with the Voltric 80.
Being one of my expensive buys I had put my earnest effort to love this racquet.
But to my disappointment, I could never really love this racquet inspite of how hard I tried. I have strong wrists and arms, thanks to my martial arts upbringing, but I found the V80 too slow for me. The forehand shots were good and strong but my backhand began to suffer, I missed the snap shots I used to play.

Heartbroken and feeling less inspired, I decided to make a change by looking for another racquet which would suit my game. I am a fan of Taufik Hidayat so I decided to spend some time reviewing the forums on Armortec 900 T.

Armortec 900 Technique

Ant's review on the racquet was a deal clincher for me and I decided to go for the AT900T with BG65 21 LBS. It was instant love for me, I connected so well with this racquet.
My game responded well and I was feeling very good with my overall game.
Forehand / Backhand / Singles / Doubles, They were all working very well for me.

I was sure that with a tension of 24lbs and Nanogy95 would be a perfect upgrade for me.
However, I knew the racquet for a tad slower for very fast games and quick switching shots.

Enter Arcsaber Z slash,
A friend mine introduced me to it.
I had a few taps and some shots for 10 mins, I connected so well to this racquet (It seems that I seem to be following Taufik, unconciously)
While Armortec 900T was like a gentle lover, the Z slash is like a passionate lover who gets your heart pounding and wants to get the best in you.

I had completely fallen for the Z slash, my whole body was charged towards this racquet and I knew that this racquet was perfect for me.

I got the Z slash with Nanogy95 with an LBS of 24.

It's been 2 weeks with this racquet and I must say I feel amazing everytime I play with it.
Before the game, I make sure I do my warm-up religiously to make sure my body is ready for my best game. I do my floor excercises, I eat right to ensure I have right energy levels. This might sound crazy to some, but the Z slash needs a good state to extract the best.

I have decided to play lot more tournaments than I used to as I know that my game has also move up a few notches. The Z slash has been the best buy for me. Thanks to Paul & Ants for their amazing reviews!!

As I have painfully realized, forums / research sets the tone but ultimately a racquet is always a personal choice. Z slash is now my personal choice because it has exceptional speed while delivering the accuracy I need every time.

bro,
to push ur level to pro level u need 2U z-slash ....
this will make u retire with z-slash

**Distanc3** · 06-09-2011, 11:20 AM

I find the ArcZ is definitely a hard racket to master. I've always played with ISO rackets and only recently changed into to Carbonex/oval head.

My encounter with the ArcZ developed over a series of racket swaps. I've always disliked ovals because I've always believe they are dated technology, until I got a Carbonex 23(ms) which I purchased in a racket bundle on Ebay. After some research on Carbonex and actually using the 23 I realized the beauty on the 'Cab explosion' (thread on BC). Needless to say I found an 3U JP coded ArcZ locally for 85$ with one major chip. I made the purchase, trained with it and tamed it. Here is my review:

First impression:
The racket is even balance, long thin shaft, iso/oval head and a funky color scheme. When I purchased the racket it was strung at a rather low tension, ~22lbs, which took a long time to get use to. I'm not sure if it was the strings or the racket that created an extra "hold" upon contact but I cant seem to get my shots. I restrung it with 28/30lbs with bg80 hoping there will be difference.

Play
Since this is a modern racket, it is slightly longer than my go-to Cab23 so it took many sessions to get use to. I find no matter how I time my shots I cannot find the sweet spot on this racket. To compensate the longer shaft and smaller head I decided to hit the shuttle lower on the stringbed than where I would usually hit. To my surprise, all personal POV, the sweet spot on the ArcZ is lower than the normal ISO/Oval head racket.

Clears - base line to base line effortless and often out.
Drops - need some more practice but its nothing phenomenal.
Net shots - similar to any other rackets
Drives - very fast and powerful drives can be produced because of the faster swing speed and stiff yet whippy shaft
Smash - probably the most outstanding attribute of the racket. the power generated, after many hours of training with this racket, is HUGE! I'm not a hardest smasher in the crowd but I do enjoy smashing. This racket is rather high in my personal ranks because it reminds me of the carbonex explosion feeling.

To sum everything up, this thread is right when it states, either you love it or you hate it kinda racket. This racket definitely got me hooked because of its attributes with all round performance plus a major smashing power.

'If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.'
From personal experience with this racket, I found that there is a bigger learning curve than most racket. I definitely don't have the best technique to begin with and sometimes you must adjust to your circumstances if you want to prosper. For those who have given up on this racket and left it in your bag, please take some time to train and learn it because it is a rewarding racket.

Pros:
SOLID composite - mishitter's dream

Frame Stability - stringing is a breeze
ISO/Oval head for optimal power
Thin Shaft - its stiff for control yet whippy enough to have hard smashes

Cons:
Color - eye sore
Personally, my racket have bulky grommets in the 10/11 and 1/2 o'clock exposing my strings just a tiny bit. Nothing swapping out some grommets wont fix.

**drew tze en** · 06-09-2011, 12:54 PM

Have you tried holding the grip higher onto the handle near the cone.

**Distanc3** · 06-09-2011, 02:44 PM

I like to hold rackets a certain length from the base. Whereas many of my friends as well as an old coach told me to hold it base on than/cone so all rackets will be similar in length. I find holding from the base will allow me to utilize the full length of the racket. I guess its just personal preference

**drew tze en** · 06-09-2011, 03:52 PM

thats right.
I prefer not to incase the racket slips out my hand, I hold it round the middle.

**Distanc3** · 06-09-2011, 04:13 PM

^ I agree.

I don't hold it by 3 fingers by any means. I am just use to having the base rest on a certain part of my palm. Each their own of course

**Dokkie** · 06-09-2011, 04:14 PM

IMO when doing overhead shots where you have plenty of time you should always hold the racket as much down (towards the buttcap) as possible. This is just because the lower you hold your racket, the more power you're gonna get. For short swings it would be easier to generate speed quickly when holding the racket a little bit more towards the cone.

**drew tze en** · 06-09-2011, 04:18 PM

well If you smashing using your whole arm you should hold the racket at the end of the handle
but if you use your wrist you could hold slightly closer to the cone to create more of an angle.

@Distanc3 If you have a towel grip the towel molds into your hand shape. which helps you hold your grip.

**Dokkie** · 06-09-2011, 04:20 PM

With a longer grip, there should be a potential better angle, because your contact point could be higher, however I do agree that with a shorter grip it is easier to make a more acute angle.