How will you deternine the flex rating of a racket? Aside from the manufacturers rating, I don't know how to tell if a racket is flexible, medium flex, stiff or ultra stiff. It seems that Yonex is the only manufacturer that has a wide range of flex rating for their rackets, from ultraflexible to ultrastiff. But if you look at other brands, some of them don't have flex ratings. Some, like Prince and Babolat, rate their rackets as medium stiff, but is their medium stiff rackets the same as Yonex medium stiff rackets? or does it correspond to the Yonex stiff ones? I can't even feel the difference if I flex it. The reason I ask is because I am looking into buying another racket, not necessarily Yonex.
Unfortunately manufacturers seldom take into account the flexibility of competitor racquets. Each manufacturer has their own system for flexibility, ranging from colourful bars to rigidity numbers. Before you purchase a new racquet, make sure that you try it out along with several other racquets. That is the only way to determine what racquet will work best for you. I'd also recommend checking out www.badmintonalley.com since the product comparisons for shaft flexibility are un-biased between the different manufacturers.