Please recommend a superlight, medium/stiff racquet

Hi!

As a spin-off from another thread, I'd like you to recommend a superlight (70-80 grams) badminton racquet with a medium-to-stiff shaft and a head-heavy balance to compensate for the lightness. My only point of reference is my old Wilson Hyper Hammer 80, which weighed about 84 grams in full gear, had a stiff shaft and a bp of approximately 30 centimetres - and I really liked the racquet for its manouverability, lightness and feel. In my previous thread I longed after headlight racquets, but now I'd be willing to try a slightly different approach. So, here goes:

1. How often do you play, how serious are you?

I play around 3 to 5 times a week, depending on my schedule. I'm definitely not a pro, have never seriously competed in badminton, but I love the game and think I'm getting better at it all the time. I have a long history in other racquet sports such as tennis.

2. What style of player are you? (Aggressive smasher, net player ...)

I play singles almost exclusively. I love to play at the net, hit drops, angled shots, lifts, faints, and drives. I also like to smash when the opportunity arises, but over the years I've tried to change my game more towards control and finesse rather than power. I'm quite tall at 6'4" / 200 pounds and I prefer to take the shuttle early, usually applying quite a bit of forearm and wrist in my strokes. I always try to play with control in mind, rather than power.

3. Do you care much about durability or is it all about performance?

I'm definitely willing to sacrifice durability for performance, that is, if one can't have the best of both worlds.

4. How much money do you want to spend?

Anything below USD 200 is fine by me. The cheaper the better, of course

Thanks a lot for any answers!

 

Thanks for the replies, Karakalkat and Cogarhen!

How would you describe the stiffness and balance of the Karakal M-Tec 70 Gel?

 

Thanks a lot for the speedy reply, Karakalkat The delivery here at BC is simply amazing!

The M-Tec 70 Gel should be right up my alley!

I've looked into the retail places around Europe, and I think I've narrowed my search to Karakal and SOTX; the M-Tec 70 Gel and the Superlight series respectively. To tell you the truth, I'm quite astounded by the pricing of the SOTX racquets, not to mention the balance point -option. Wow!

Karakalkat, if there are any more tips you could give me regarding the Karakal and SOTX racquets, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you once again!

 

Thanks for the recommendation, Jinseng!

I actually visited the SOTX website at www.sotxsports.co.uk and tried to contact them via e-mail (info@sotxsports.co.uk) regarding their Superlight series racquets, but the mail could not be delivered according to my ISP. I tried contacting the same address from my other e-mail account; but to no avail. For some reason the e-mail address given on their UK website cannot be contacted.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Are there any other e-mail addresses one could use to contact SOTX in Europe?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I'm sorry, Karakalkat, but your link led to an open domain.

 

For some reason I didn't notice your reply until now!

Thanks a lot, noppy - I'll try that address immediately!