Hi, I am very curious if anyone has gotten their hands on the Wilson BLX Jet. How is the racquet in general? Is it as brittle as what I have read on the BLX Wave? Any comments will be greatly appreciated!
is this racket ideal for a beginner->intermediate level player? My old racket just broke (Wilson Ti-Smash) and I am hoping to trade up to a more flex racket with slightly higher tension to help with my clears and improve my smashes.
i believe the racket is medium flex . Judging from the specs and pricing, it should be the intermediate range of rackets. or maybe that was the wilson recon. the racket looks really sharp, but i'm not sure how it performs, never actually tried it, just saw it on the shelves.
http://www.wilson.com/wilson/racquet/products.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198674755029&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723697226678
Flex: high = stiff. I have wilson K-smash which is also flex: high. It has almost the same flexibility with my AT700. Switching between these 2 rackets won't give me 'mistiming'.
I have been using the Jet Blx for 3 months now, about 8 hours per week. The racket is light and offers great reactive play for doubles. If you were to use it solely for Singles you would probably find it a little too light. Smash power is great when you find the sweet spot. The chrome tends to flake off in little chunks rather than scrape like a painted racket. The chrome on the plastic cone has cracked recently and I can't be sure it is due to solely just flexing under stress or if the plastic cone itself has actually cracked. I haven't pulled the chrome off to verify yet, as the cone is ugly white plastic underneath.
This Jet BLX failed. I had it restrung @ 22 lbs using BG65TI and 8 hours of play later the side collapsed after a hit. It must have had a knick that fractured through the grommet. Overall the Racket wasn't bad. The finish seemed to scuff easily and as previosuly mentioned the chrome would flake. I used an Armortec 500 for 3 hours after this failure and had no problem adjusting to this racket as the Jet and AT500 are similar in weight and balance and were strung the same. I did like the AT500 for its face stability and it seemed easier to power for clears / smashes with less effort.. The bird also came off the face a little more stable during drives and redirections. I would probably opt for the Yonex over the Wilson, but they no longer make the AT500 and reviews for the AT700 and At900 rate them a little lower as well. Although the JET is supposed to be similar to a AT900. JET round 2 begins.
Bought another Jet BLX. Same outcome in a very short period. This one lasted about 5 hours of play. Restrung @ 22 lbs using BG65 TI. Fractured again at the top of the head through the grommet. This is no where near the maximum tension this racket is claimed to accept, but I believe the frames are too weak to hold the tension uniformly throughout the head. Perhaps the stringing job, but the stringer does the stringing for a major badminton club in the area. Alot of fellow players have theirs done here as well with no frame breakage. I am going to try and have this one refunded under warranty. Not loooking for the same replacement of this model, as it is frustrating.
god that must be hugely frustrating.... i tried out a blx recon racket and actually was very impressed at its playability but if the blx's are that fragile i wouldnt consider one in the future!!
I wanted to buy Jet BLX at first but at last I bought the Recon Blx. It's a pretty good racket but if Wilson could reduce its weight by.. let's say by 4 grams? and make the head slightly heavier a bit then it would be great.
