for those who want to try the Ryoga series... you can invest on Tenbu. Heard from many forum that this is a more user friendly rackets..
Lastly... according to the specification. based on 3 categories of player skill (Beginner/intermediate/advance) Ryoga Series: 1) Ouji - recommended for advance player 2) Tenbu/Issen/Shiden - recommended for intermediate to advance player for females: not advisable to buy Ryoga series (atmost can try the recommended for intermediate player only) why the manufacturer say so? example: selling car and claiming only good driver then can drive...sound contradicting.. maybe these rackets does require skills/strength to unleash their potential. Yonex or Li-Ning can also claim that VTZF/N90 is for advance player right? i think no one will argue on that...
issit? Manufacturer claim the shaft stiffness is as follow: shiden: +3 Ouji : +2 but it seem like shiden has longer shaft and shorter handle, and ouji has shorter shaft and longer handle, therefore stiffness should feel the same. atmost, Ouji should feel stiffer. i think you have to play to their unique design: 1) shiden - longer shaft provide a better whipping/repulsion smash or drive. 2) Ouji - shorter shaft provide a more accurate/faster response. lastly, maybe shiden suit your style of playing...hahaha..
Finally got my Tenbu yesteray! Ordered by MBS.com... the box was a bit crushed and had me all nervous but it turned out fine when I unboxed it. The racquet is beautiful! I love those gold tattoo like design on the shaft.. the grip was a G5 which I could play even without an overgrip (not to mention the original grip feels great too) but I decided to still put one on anyways. The racquet came in time for my weekly badminton session. The strings were NBG99 and i definitely don't recommend to get it strung from MBS... it was definitely a bad job.. first few smash and the strings are already showing lost tension and just totally out of whacked... Nonetheless, the shots felt more accurate compared to VT80. Smash is less powerfull that VT80 but it is still solid. and it has a totally different sound... felt like I am going to snap the strings with that sound. The racquet is fast... allowed me to returns shots that i could have never done with VT80.. or even NS9900 when I Was playing with it briefly before.. HAving said that, it feels less light headed than NS9900 for some reason. Smashing power is definitely much better than NS9900. drop shows were accurate and that might have to do with the strings as well too. I felt like it is comparable to AT900T but I only used that briefly before... Some of my friend said it feels like Bravesword too... Dont know what to make it of it yet.. It needs more playing time before a final verdict!
I agree with this, i asked for 24lbs on my Ougi, and when it came it felt more like 22... My NS 9900 which i had strung at 24lbs, four months ago still feels tighter than the ougi. However the packaging was very well done. All in all, happy with my purchase at MBS (great communication) - minus the stringing
Picked up a Gosen Ryoga Shiden yesterday as a spare to, or to compliment, my Yonex FB SP (who knows, might replace the FB as my main). Wanted to get something close to the weight distribution and feel of the FB but with more punch, felt a some other Yonex racquets I thought may suit (NR700FX, NS9900) and some that wouldn't (VT80), due to this thread and another on here, I decided to seek out a Ougi and Shiden for a feel, couldn't find the Ougi but had luck with the Shiden. The shiden is surprisingly well matched to the FB for feel and weight, at least to me it is and that's what counts I'm going to head out tomorrow for a session, hopefully will have the opportunity to give the shiden a good run - if I do I'll post some results on here.
varsis : the shiden feels just as agile as the FB! but the shaft is more resilient, extremely stiff and whippy, the repulsion's fantastic. i still have my shiden with the FBs.. but i use them slightly lesser now as i'm toying with an arc11 at the moment..
I am still thinking whether I should get a shiden again or buy a z force for more power? I am going to play doubles most of the time. Shiden may be better for doubles but z force is not too bad as well, I love the feel from z force when I smash lol. And both of them are quite expensive too ><
I had a decent 2 hour session with the Shiden (V1/Blue), though not at full force due to a flu/cold, and I'm impressed. It's a quick racquet, with good back court power, I also felt good control of the shuttlecock. It's going to take a little more time to get used to the racquet, however I'm very happy with the choice and think I'm going to get a lot more out of this racquet. To compare the play of the FB, I feel as though the FB is a bit better front-mid court than the Shiden for control and speed, however the extra snap/power I got from the Shiden is going to make me favour the Shiden for now. I should also clarify that the Shiden doesn't lack much speed in comparison to the FB, however the head feels a little heavier and that's the reason why the FB is better up close. Both racquets have their Pros and Cons, I think they will compliment each other and be good backups to each other when/if strings break. vajrasattva: the repulsion is great, you were 100% correct!
Oh, I should also mention I strung the Shiden with BG80 Power (meant to go BG80, didn't notice the P, heh) @ 24lbs. The FB was also strung with BG80P @ 24lbs.
Got myself a Tenbu (Zymax62 @2 6 pound) and very pleased with it. It excels in speed and control, great for drives, net plays, drops are pretty easy too. I am happy to confirm what people above me say about the shaft, it really is awesome. I can get some amazing power out of smash but not yet consistently after two sessions, this is probably down to my personal skill level. My personal opinion is that it is quicker, has more control and possibly has more smash power than NS9900 (UK)
A local shop is now stocking Gosen and frankly they look pretty classy. Excuse my laziness, but which model is closest to my current go-to? 88g wet 41g SW 304 BP Medium+ stiffness
I would say the most similar would be a MX60 or a Voltric 80 (but more stiff and less head heavy) It is a great offensive racket for doubles or singles as it is not too slow for defensive when compared tot my Voltric Z Force.
The MX60 and VT80 are very different rackets. Not so much in stiffness but in balance. Has anyone actually weighed and measured any of the Ryoga series???
I meant the Issen BP is in between a VT80 and MX60 Shaft is stiffer than VT80 If you are really curious about it, why don't you head down the the shop and try it? (* because of unstrung rackets, I typically bring some lead tape and stick a piece on T joint and another piece at top of the frame to simulate the string weight. It would be much more accurate than description with words.lol
