Have been playing just for fun for about a year mainly doubles, and in between singles the guys i play with prefer playing with plastic shuttles (iv tried to get them to move over to feathers but since they go within a day, a dozen, it will stay plastics ) In terms of style playing i'm a very pacey player who runs around a lot all over lol and usually play a lot of slam shots. Currently am using Ashaway ND 80, but the string has snapped but gives me an excuse to buy a new racket . Iv read through this forum a lot and many people have suggested Yonex to others however borrowing another's Yonex i just didn't feel right with it so id prefer none Yonex or Charlton hence why i made a new topic sorry My budget is upto £120ish in UK, i have had a good look at Black Knight rackets would they be okay? Many thanks in advance for replies.
Spending anything like £120 would be a huge waste of money IMO. I'd probably aim to spend more like £40-50. For that, you should be able to get a good racket that you won't "outgrow" any time soon (as long as you don't want one of the big brand names like Yonex, Victor, Carlton etc). You should probably be thinking in terms of specific models, rather than brands, and looking at the specs more than the price tags. Yonex make some very bad rackets, and some very good rackets, but even the good ones will seem bad if they are not suitable for your level and style of play. I would suggest getting a racket rated "medium" stiffness for the moment. Your Ashaway is kind of an entry-level, all-round racket. If you would rather sacrifice some quickness for more power, then go for something heavier (3U, >85g) and/or more head-heavy (balance point >300mm). If you would prefer a quicker, more defensive racket, then go for something lighter (4U, <85g) and/or more head-light (balance point <285mm). Since you asked, Black Knight do make some very nice rackets. I use the NanoFire myself, and for me, it's just about perfect - light and maneuverable, but not so light that you can't hit a powerful smash. Prices for BK stuff are very reasonable here - much cheaper than in USA/Canada. Oh yeah, and it's *really* shiny too The Karakal MTec80 is kind of similar, and also very highly rated. It's good value to begin with, but since their new range is coming out soon, you can expect some nice discounts in the near future (if you can wait). No doubt people will also recommend APACS. I've never tried their stuff, but they are consistently quoted as offering the "best value".
Many thanks for the detailed advice, the weight will be a big help , May i ask just how good are Victor rackets? would it be a better option than the Black knight? ironically the racket you mentioned was the one i actually was considering, however it seems its only available to purchase through their own website which is fine however you have an option strung or unstrung, would it be better to get the racket strung else where? & last longer. Would you have any recommendation where? if possible Lol @ APAC's i noticed that for some reason i'm not to keen on them Many thanks for the response
I've never used Victor rackets because they don't really make anything light enough for me, and because they are very expensive. I think they have a good reputation though. You'd have to search the forum for the opinions of people who know what they're talking about. If you decided the NanoFire was the kind of thing you were looking for, then you can forget about Victor, as they don't make anything similar. If it's value for money you're after, then you can probably forget about Victor. If however, you want a more powerful (but less quick) racket, and you have money to burn, then Victor might be a better bet. It just depends what you're looking for. I don't know whether BlackKnight custom string the NanoFire - you'd have to ask them. If they do, that's great - ask for Ashaway MicroPower @ c.23lbs (they have a partnership with Ashaway, so you'd only get the choice of their strings). If not, it would probably come strung at very low tension with cheap strings, in which case you'd be better to buy it unstrung, and take it to your local sports shop for stringing. The £10 BK charge isn't that much cheaper, anyway - just more convenient. If you buy a racket prestrung, the string will normally last longer, because it will typically be much thicker than you'd choose to buy - it's the performance (power & control) that will suffer. You will find it's worth using a decent string at a decent tension, even though you will need to restring more frequently.
Wow .. this is the first time I hear that a broken string gives excuse to buy new racket . Really envy you mate! Anyway, I would suggest you give APACS a go. I've tried Edge Saber 10 and Nano 900 Power - both of them are pretty good. IMHO, they are well-balance head-light rackets and should be suitable for beginners or advance beginners
Sketchy gives sound advice. Spend a little less and purchase a mid-range racket which will be better suited for your game. Medium flex will also help you generate more power until your technique improves. IMO, given a choice I think you should also go with a heavier racket (>90g) than a lighter one. A lighter racket might feel more comfortable but makes you more prone to pick up bad habits. Once your technique is sound, it's easier to switch from heavy to a light racket than the other way around. I think that Black Knight makes nice rackets. I owned a Black Knight Rapier when I first started playing Badminton and I loved it. I made the same mistake as most beginners when I first started and just thought the most expensive racket would be the best racket for me. Problems was/is that most Yonex high-end rackets are too stiff for beginners to use properly. I owned a Boron 200 at the time which is probably one of the stiffest and most expensive Yonex racket ever but I always preferred my Black Knight more. By the time I could use the Yonex racket properly, I broke it hitting a smash. BTW, this is not a knock on Yonex. They make great rackets and I currently use NS9900.
Sketchy, think id give Victor a miss then. I'm kinda 99% nearly on the Black Knight and going with your advice on the unstrung version have found a website where a list of suppliers who would restring the racket at the cost of £20. however would it be better if i get my own string and ask them to fit it or allow them to use their own kind (string)? Do you have any opinions on the brand Babolat? before i make a purchase, i'm browsing their website however they don't give much information on the weight and so on fourth which is a pity they look simple . Genghis, do you have any racket in mind that is >90? most of the ones iv come across are no more than 87 non Yonex ones i might be slow lol Again i thank you for your replies
Playful-Wind, my bad. Meant to say >=85g. 87g would be fine. Don't have a non-Yonex model in mind though as the most recent models I've looked at were all YY. Regardless of brand and all other factors being equal, I would choose the heavier racket among your final selection. I really find that, as a beginner, you get lazy learning proper technique if the racket is uber-light.
Lol i was actually trying to find the >90 :crying: Yep, after Sketchy's reply a heavier racket is my priority. just gotta decide between the Black Knight or the Babolat
90g is pretty heavy. I'd go for something a bit lighter than that, especially if it's head-heavy. I know absolutely nothing about Babolat, apart from that they're French - which I generally consider to be a bad thing (blame Peugeot & Rossignol for that). There are a couple of long threads discussing Babolat rackets, so I'd read them if you're interested. I looked at the Babolat website. If you want to see the weights, balance etc in proper units, you have to change the languiage to French (click the little union jack flag in the bottom-left corner). Apparently they don't seem to realise that us Brits have gone metric... Anyway, it looks like the most suitable (assuming you want >85g, medium-flex) would be the Satelite Nitro. The bad news is that it costs £90, which is really more than you need to be spending. I'd expect most manufacturers to have something with roughly those specs (Head Metallix 6000?), so it's really a case of shopping around and reading reviews. If you can actually get hold of one to try first (borrow from a friend maybe?), then that would be ideal, but even just borrowing a different racket with similar specs should help you a bit. As far as BlackKnight go, the PCS-30 sounds like it may suit you best. It's a little heavier and more flexible than the NanoFire, so you should find it more powerful. You can ignore the fact that BK say it's more for control than power - that's just because they also make the PCS-50XL, which is exactly the same apart from being 1cm longer, and marketed as being more for power than control.
