[video=youtube;4y-zt3O4kao]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y-zt3O4kao[/video] you can watch him play here
Actually It still depends on the style of the player. For me, I like to play "control" style, where I deeply rely on the landing position of the shuttle to move my opponent out of position and exploit their gaps. (Of course I do smash, but I still focus on the landing position of the smash more than the power of the smash.) So lighter rackets may reduce the smash power, but it still gives other advantages. I wonder how fast would my reflex be at the net if I hold this weapon
i wonder the same thing. i just took out a racket that i retired which is around 75g dry weight and it's sooll light already i think i'd just wack myself in the face with it, lol.
That's what I saw as well, compared to when Mogensen was using the Z-Force his smashes look quite slow
i wish too.... but yonex should indeed send you a sample if they could.. after all BC had been giving them really good "marketing" and "advertising" for free.. especially when people sing praises about their toys.. just bought a second piece of flashboost will be playing again in an hour's time.. this time round i'll rotate the racquets amongst the elder generation and see what they think about it
@vajrasattva : rereading your FBreview, you rated the Gosen Shiden on top in all categories... so that means you have several of them and it's your go to racket? Any drawbacks to it? You got me curious about it now
hello all, just came back from a 3 hour intermediate level session with a second arcsaber FB and thought that this update could be useful. the two FBs were rotated amongst several players as we played doubles and their opinions consulted 1) the arcsaberFB was a delight to most players of a higher age (late 50s,60s) it was totally strain free and easy to wield, they all wanted one, but was shocked at the price.... most thought it was only a hundred dollars or so. 2) for the more "professional"/seasoned players, a higher tension is a must. my second FB was at 23 lbs ultimax 66, when playing on fresh RSL classic shuttles, it was way less responsive as compared to the other FB at 25lbs. 3) fast swingers loved the FB, whilst people playing with pure forearm wrist snaps felt the racquet was unable to deliver. 4) most felt the control to be good, smashes were fast, but not lethal enough, its still an angle issue for me that i have not adjusted to, i was able to receive almost all smashes direct at me from the opponents (arcfb). 4) general consensus was that it punches above its weight class, but is not the racquet for everyone
oh whoops... i was hoping that no one would notice... i would think it is individual specific... some prefer stuffs like ns9900.. some like me prefer the shiden.. the shiden is a combination of all my favourite features and does it so well that i was finally ready to put down yonex racquets. it took only five minutes on the shiden for me to be impressed enough to decide that everything else can go, but not this. i play mostly doubles, side by side vs the ns9900, same string (um66) same tension(26), the shiden had better repulsion, better aerodynamics. down side? smaller frame/sweetspot.. so people who dont like Z-slash/Z-force types of heads wouldnt like shiden. i like the oval frame so it was no issues for me. drawbacks? also very expensive.. especially when its not a full "japanese product"... extremely high repulsion, i had problems with hitting shuttles out.. defensive lifts/lobs, or sometimes a not so acute angle smash/punch would go out of court, thus losing points. i had lost several points in a row this way. made more mistakes with service.. often backflicked the shuttle too high to the advantage of the opponent.. good power, but not necessarily good control on the contrary, service with the arcFB was quite interesting as it was so light, i had the luck of having some excellent serves that just spilled over nicely w/o being short, if i wield it the same way i play the shiden, the shots do not go out, they land very nicely near the backlines.. the contrast between repulsion and control is extremely clear here
its available everywhere in singapore now.. most of the shops at QW has it stocked.. even paragon sports, ss-sports.. etc.. the prices without string range from 220-230.. with string ranges from 235 to 250... i recommend 25lbs stringing for a start
Got to test this racket along with the Arc11 tonight. Here's my short review for the ArcFB strung with ZM70 @ 23x25 lbs. The string is neon yellow, and I must admit that the combination looks AMAZING. I've never been a fan of the ArcSaber series, mainly because I could never get the power I wanted out of them and because I somehow find them hard to get used to and get the advertised precision. This racket, with the much lower weight, corrected all these issues for me, and don't let yourself think that because it's lightweight it's cheaply made and feels soft. This racket feels solid! And it is as stiff as advertised (stiff rated). One would think that with a 73g, it'd be nearly impossible to have an effective hard smash that would leave your opponents destabilized. Well, one would be wrong! This racket, despite its low weight, delivers! I was able to produce impressive smashes consistently and found clears to be effortless. Again, I don't think that this racket is as powerful as the VT-ZF, but it's close for me! The sound it produced was not as good as the Arc11. Does Sonic Metal really make the difference ? I'm not so sure, but the feeling I had goes along those lines. While power was good, repulsion was even better! There is definitely a difference in the speed that the shuttle leaves the racket. Drives were so fun, they were fast, offensive and it seemed like the racket would just position itself in front of the shuttle. It is the first time that I find it so easy and fun to drive. Defense wise, well this racket is so maneuverable that it just seems easy to return anything. I think the light weight makes it one of the most maneuverable racket on the market. It was also very easy to just control the shuttle and put it where I wanted. It just seemed like all my shots were going exactly where I wanted to, and were never too much above the net. However, for some reason, I could not get the good slice shots that I am used to do. Maybe it'll take more time adjusting, but for now, it just doesn't work. The direct competition of this racket is, I think, Black Knight's Photon racket. With a 75g average weight, the Photon was one of the most popular BK rackets ever made because of it's nice compromise of light weight and power. To compare both of these rackets, I would say that the Photon feels more powerful (probably due to the flexier shaft), however the Flash Boost is better at everything else, mainly due to how solid it feels and how maneuverable it is. This racket is surprisingly one of the best Yonex rackets I've tried. I loved it! I will need to spend more time with this racket to put it even near the MP99 in my top racket rankings, but so far I think this racket will be in my main rackets. My ratings: Power: 8.5/10 Repulsion: 9.5/10 Control: 8.5/10 Defense: 9/10 Overall: 9/10
[MENTION=75572]yan.v[/MENTION] that's a nice review! I'm a bit curious however, to know why you went for Zymax 70 instead of a thinner string, which most players seem to prefer nowadays. A .70mm string at 23/25 would give you (I think) a stringbed with a medium-ish stiffness and that would help in clears and maybe even smashes, but I would have thought your control would have suffered a little as a result. Any thoughts? How would you compare the sweet spot on the Arc-FB with that on the Photon?
I went for ZM70 @ 23x25 lbs for two reasons. First, it's winter and strings tend to break very often at this time of the year due to dry and cold climate. So I opted for a thicker string. Secondly (and mainly), these rackets are demo rackets I bought for my store, so they need to be playable with both plastic shuttles and feather shuttles. I tend to find that thinner strings break really easily and don't feel as good with plastic shuttles as they feel with feather shuttles. 23x25 lbs felt like the right tension to use for most people regardless of the type of shuttle used. I also generally like softer feeling strings, so it felt like a good choice for me to be able to compare it with the setup I usually use. As for control, the lower tension does effect it negatively, however thick strings tend to offer better control (in my opinion anyways), so it wasn't too bad. I feel like the stiffness of the racket also helped a little. I would say that the Photon's sweet spot is bigger than the ArcFB and feels more forgiving. I'll try to compare the frame sizes later today when I get home.
hi bro, remember me? the guy who bot ur ns9900 few days ago. so u got a pair of fb? let me know if u wan to let go k, hahaha...
