Hi, I've been lurking these forums for quite a while now but seeing as the majority of people here are probably far better than I am, I don't think their opinions as to what certain rackets are like would help me to much. Price is not an issue at all, as someone gave me a top of the line racket which feels awkward, so I'm planning to sell it. Although price is not an issue, I obviously don't want a racket thats too advanced, that it would actually hamper rather than help my ability. Here is my brutally honest analysis of myself : 1. I would probably say I am beginner/intermediate. I have been playing for 2-3 years, but very casually. Every saturday for ~3 hours, but often with friends and I have never had a coach so my improvement hasn't been great but now that my SAT's and stuff are over and I have nothing to do I really want to focus on improving. 2. I like smashing but in all honesty I really don't do it that often. I feel like I'm a little short, and I'm also kind of weak, so my smashes never feel effective. As a result most of the time I just end up dropping it or clearing, but it wouldn't hurt to improve on smashing, if a racket could somehow help with that. 3.I'm not sure whether I hate heavy, less maneuverable rackets. I seem to despise the heavier, lower end rackets I have bought before but have never really experienced a lighter racket. My technique isn't great and backhands are awkward and I feel like the heaviness of the racket restricts me from really hitting a backhand with more power. Would a lighter racket help alleviate this problem? I have also been looking through some threads and seen that the NS9900 seems to be really light and maneuverable, however can be hard to learn correctly. The lighter, more maneuverable aspect seems to be appealing to me, especially with my weaker arm strength but would it be too hard a relative beginning like myself to use? What kind of racket do you guys think would fit me well with my traits?
It sounds like you are still working out your own strengths and weaknesses (aren't we all). So why buy the very expensive NS9900 if you aren't sure if it fits? Sounds like you want a light, balanced racket. But how flexy do you like it? Here is one series to consider: Woven 5 (stiff, balanced, light), Woven 6 (less stiff) or the ever-popular Woven 8 (a little heavier than 5).
Go play more games and if possible, ask someone if you could try their racket. I learn't it the hard way after buying myself a racket - which ended up being so weird and horrible . If you cant do either of these things to find out more about yourself, my suggestion would be to do more research on the difference between -Stiffness -Weights -Balance of weight -String tensions so find out about what would happen if say.... I had a medium flex racket compared to a very stiff one. etc, and judge to your best ability what racket you think suits you and your skill-set. P.S make sure you don't buy a fake racket!
Yonex Muscle Power 21 Light could be a good start. If you're really, really noob, then why not try the Isometric 75MF? Affordable and playable, good for novice. If you want something very maneuverable, try Nano 6/7 from Victor, cheap and very nice. Some of Carlton and Babolat also provide flex and fast racquets. If you are up for something Yonex and fast, you can try the low-range Nanospeed.
