10 years has allowed other companies to catch up to Yonex, hence giving us specialized, very similar and sometimes better performance for a lot less money.
Hard to generalize, but put it this way: for the price of mid level YY rackets, you can get an XX brand racket that can compare well with top end YY range.
progress No significant improvement in Technology. 10 years ago would be 2000. Hi modulus carbon graphite is used in racquets of 2000 and 2010. Some improvement would be racquets of 2010 able to take higher tensions than 2000 and is somewhat lighter. 2U is common in 2000 but rarer in 2010. 4U is common nowadays. Comeback in 2020 to check the progress assuming we survive 2012.
Would be fair to compare the most current models to models of 10 years ago? What I mean is that, in 2000 Carbonex, Ti, and Muscle Power were Yonex top sellers. So to see how the rackets have changed, we should look at the evolution of those models. So if you want to see how the 2010 models fair against 2000 models, then we should comapre: 2000 Models 2010 Models Ti-10 Ti-1 MP-100 MP-30 Cab-20 Cab-35
There's a sticky somewhere at the top of this forum explaining about weight (2U, 3U, etc) and grip (G4, G5).
From my experience, the rackets now have changed slightly to better suit the speed of the game today. While there are lots of head light rackets today, they were less common back in the day.
In my opinion, not at all. At least, not from a practical standpoint. Yes, there has been "new" technology. Yes, they are made with slightly different materials. Yes, grommet systems and other minute details have changed. But from the point of view of a player, not at all. The way I see it is this way. If I had a chance to buy a racquet from the year 2000, say a mp100, would my game be different in any way? Absolutely not. The last major change in racquet technology was the switch over to carbon graphite from steel. And the last major tweak to racquet design that was of any real significance was the introduction of the isometric head shape.
^^ One can also say the wheel hasn't changed in the last, what, 5000 yrs since it was invented. But I would argue that minor changes in the last 10 yrs have together worked synergistically to improve racket performance. Like high quality high modulus graphite for the frame, helps to provide a strong stable stringbed. Like different variations of aero vs power cross section frame designs, allows us to choose faster racket speed vs. power. Like built-in T joint, to prevent torsion of the frame in off centre hits. Like better understanding of flex vs. stiff shafts, balance points, and various different string construction and thickness.
There is a big different but not a great improvement. Prices Drop. Various Choice, Widen product line. In the past, you should have more pacticse to customize the racket you have. Nowadays, you can choose what you what. what is a great improvement? A YY rackets like NS9000 with price of HKD$500. This is a great improvement and a shock of industry.
Well, when you have a country with 1.5 billion people with even 1% (ie. 15 million people) playing badminton, you've got quite a demand if you can advertise smart and sponsor the national team and matches. Plus, I'm sure they've done some backward engineering on YY rackets and technology, so they don't have to spend as much time and money in R&D.
of course,materials and technology wise, it's totally different now and 10 yrs back.but not by much. if it's to 20 or 30 yrs back, then yes. but a lot of the neweer brands nowadays already have it easy as yonex already explored and extracted out much of the possibilities.all the current brands now bascially just follow or even mimic the concepts and technologies yonex has already developed. as far as i know,other brands probably manufactured or produced their rakcets in the same factory as yonex's middle to lower tiered products.same tech, materials, production process. just differnet in paint finishes & qc. it's now come down to the marketuing aspect and how those other companies creatively market their products (through sponsorship of diffenrt pro players).
^^ That's true about it coming down to marketing presence... I wonder what percentage of each YY racket sale has been spent on marketing?
very much improve. I confirm that racket now totally improve in overall spec. An old brand rac now disappear only well known come alive. In term of marketing is up to you to decide but I love to play this sport. So I buy only rac that i CHOOSE and TRY not for a brand or price. And truely I found here ther are many good information for you to hear. So now ,what is the meaning to compare an old with the new rac?,when you have to improve your skill and level up that mean all your equipment may be need to upgrade too. AN OLD RAC IS VERY GOOD FOR YOU,AND ALSO THE NEW RAC IS TOTALLY SUITED YOUR PLAYING STYLE TOO.