Which one do you prefer ? I find the TC700 very demanding racquet and if the L9 can give as good a power as the TC700 while being easier to use, that will make it a star !
Sounds promising, although it might be tough to make a comparison of two rackets at two different string tensions with two different strings.
Yes.. I played a few games with it on the Wednesday session, But I would not like to write a review before I have played with it alot more (at least a few full sessions, and with BG80 at same strings tension I usually use for testing new stuff). Anyway for what it is worth I found the L7 extremely easy to clear with (I only used it a bit during warmup), and I got a very good first impression of both the L9 and L7.. L9 felt stiffer and the control seemed excellent. How good they are on power I cannot really tell.. I didn't feel my timing var very good with it and I didn't do much smashing during the session. I will try to write upp a more detalied review of the rackets in one or two weeks, when I played around with them some more.. CHeers, T
Thanks Twobeer ! Your review is very important as it will help me decide if I get the L9 when I go to HK in 1 week's time
Yep, I'm eagerly waiting for your comprehensive review too, Twobeer, even though I'll probably stick to my TC700 until I really get used to it. =)
TC700 requries a lot of power to drive in a double match. For me, I am OK using TC700 in a single game, but for double it may be a problem. If the opponents are fast, good at drive, then TC 700's swing speed is a trouble for me. Sadly my L9 loose tension very quickly before I got a chance to test it @ 28lb in double play. I did used my L9 in double for about 10 minutes but felt it lacking of smash power. Will string it soon and test again. For answer your question, I try to find a better racquet to replace my TC700 in double game, so I decided to test L9 to see if it's the one. But till now, I do not get the answer.
review Luminasonic update: During the weekend (5 sessions) I played alot with the Luminasonics, at least with the 9, as the seven left me with a string-job due to timing adjustments early on.. se picture below... Review Date : Sunday 2009-01-03 Racket Type : Mizuno Luminasonic 9 / 7 Specs : 3U5 (85-90g, about same size as yonex G4 grip), length:675mm, stringbed area:56inch. Strings: Yonex BG80 Tension: 24lbs , 2 Piece Stringing Stringing Machine : Babolat sensor expert Technology : UHMG, Solid Carbon concept(SCC), EDGY aeroframe. Grip: Yonex wet-grip overgrip. Shuttle Used: AS-50, RSL-classic First impressions Starting with the looks: Both looks very...hmm.. grey.. Very few players even seemed to notice them.. the desing is almost stealth-ish .. But Personally I love the looks!! I am so tired of all the red/yellow/bright shiny.. designs and the alternative usually seems to be... black/dark.. So graphite-gray is kind of cool to me.. I especially like the L7 blue/grey combo.. it is almost an understatement-design.. and I think it is very classy.. I started out warmup switching between the Luminasonic 7 and 9. The 9 felt very stiff, and required some effort to clear with.. I think both the 9 and the 7 are really fast trough the air due to the aero design, so I realize that there is quite alot of timing adjustment to do. Neither the 7 nor the 9 felt very head-heavy to me..quite evenly balanced i would say. I was a bit suprised that timing between the 7 and 9 was much closer than I expected (I expected the 9 to be more top heavy, which I do not think it is,to me it felt like maybe the l7 was a tad more headheavy, I will verify this when I get the 7 back from restringing). When clearing and doing some drop/stop/lifts warmups I actually got a better feeling from the L7.. It responded better and did feel overall more effortless for play from the back, So I decided to give o start testing the L7 and then go over to the L9.. I played a little more than a game with the L7 and it felt very nice. Power were really great and it felt very forgiving.. Maybe to forgiving , as I found out a few points into second game when I swung to fast and hit the shuttle close to the top frame.. and ploink... the fun was over until we get a fresh string-job on the L7... Quite a pity as I didn't feel I played enough with the L7 to be able to make a complete review or even to make a very good comparison with the L9.. However my gut feel is that L7 will be the racket preferred for maybe 90% of players buying the new Mizunos, due to its easy acccessible power and userfriendliness. Anyway, back to the L9 faster than expected .. I used the L9 for most sessions and training, so I think I have a good sense of the racket so far (almost 11h oncourt-time with it this weekend!!!)... No question that the L9 can generate hugely powerful smashes..And hitting the sweetspot and get feedback from the frame/shaft at full power is very rewarding. I also loved doing the short action net-flicks and taps with the L9.. I have never used a racket that gives me that sense of control and response when doing these types of shots.. But I can't help to think that they would have been better off just using the TC700 tetra-axial woven shaft and maybe used the scc only for the frame, for most overhead shots. The racket feels a bit "dead" if I dont put in alot off effort in it, and for players who feel TC700 are to stiff, I should not recommend the L9, even if it has a slightly bigger sweetspot. Definitvely not a racket for armplayers with little snap and head-speed!! For the L9 to shine in attack-play a LOT of effort has to be put into it. So much that I tend to think the L7 is probably what I would choose to go with myself, even if it would be a small sacrifice in both control and potential power. Defending with the L9 was a amazingly good.. the response for defening with long blocks to the baseline was effortless and with very good control and fogivness, also short diagonalblock felt very precise and controllable. It is a pity with the L7 string breakage, I would really have liked to compare that in defence drills, and control/power. For reference I would say that the racket I played with that feels closest to the L9 is RSL X3 Gold or N9000X, but I think L9 is a bit better in all departments compared to those. I definitevly do not think L9 is everybodys cup of tea..I think the L9 is easier for many to start to like than the TC700, but actually harder to tap that extra horespower in the smashes.. Thinking about the testing of L7 / L9 I cannot help to think about the first time i tested Nanospeed 9000S and 9000X, where the difference between them felt quite simliar to the type of difference between L7 and L9.. I will try to write some more complete comparisons, when I get back the L7 tomorrow. cheers, Twobeer
Great and comprehensive review as usual from Master Twobeer ! From your review, the L9 seems very similar to the TC700 and if a player can use the L9, he is better off with the TC700 ?
Thanks a lot for your review, twobeer. i am looking forward for complete comparison between L7 and L9. Thanks a lot.. and if it is not too troublesome for you, try to include TC 700 to the comparison as well. Thanks .
Not neccessarily, L9 is quicker and a little better to defend with imop, so I think players who focus on doubles would most likely prefer it over the TC700. For singles though I would say that the defence/speed of TC700 is good-enough /Twobeer
Can't remember ever seeing any in the last ten years and with such a small range it's impossible to gain any significant marketshare so I wouldn't expect anything in the near future. Looking on their website their focus is on volleyball and handball right now, two sports in which europe is somewhat dominant. Not that this has anything to do with the Luminazonics so feel free to move this discussion to the Mizuno thread ...
Tried L9 again last week for about 1 hour, it's a very nice as double play racket combined with fast swing speed and good smash power. The string is BG70PRO @ 30lb, broken in 1 hour. I felt L9's soft (relatively compared with TC700) shaft matches with high tension string very well. Love that solid feeling of hitting a shuttlecock.
I will get my L9 tomorrow and will test it out and feedback. I brought my TC700 to HK so can do a direct comparison.
