any one noticed the MASSIVE Li Ning billboard outside of MBA Puchong?? Can be clearly seen from AJ shop... does that mean MBA sells LN??
I believe there are many Chinese racquet manufacturers who can make very high quality racquets. If they can do it so can Li Ning. I say this because I have been given a racquet from a small manufacturer who produces two flag ship racquets. I have been testing this one and comparing it against the old AT700, AT800DE, MP99. I thought I was imagining things when I find that this nondescript racquet is not only better but very much better. So I passed the AT700 and this new upstart to a few players to test and compare. Their conclusions were all the same. The racquet has very explosive power and accuracy. Its length is 672mm, its weight is also light at 86.7g with strings and has a high b/p of 32.2cm although it doesn't feel as head-heavy as the AT700. My AT700 and AT800DE are at least 5g heavier and my MP99 a good 10g heavier, but all these are out-gunned by a wide margin by this upstart. However, the racquet is very stiff, much stiffer than the AT700. It is also vibrationless. Players who cannot deal with very stiff racquets and who cannot get effortless power from say an AT700, however, can still get power from this racquet, although its extreme stiffness may be a put-off.
You are right about racquet manufacturing being low tech. In a way racquet manufacturers are professional bakers, not disimilar to bakers who bake your bread. The high tech part is in the prepreg, a composite of graphite and nano epoxy resin, which is actually bought from specialist companies. Oftentimes, the carbon graphite type used in the prepreg, say uhmg, is a poor shadow of its original tensile modulus and tensile strength because of different layer orientations. A 90 degree transverse flexure modulus is reduced to only about 6% to 8% vs its 0 degree transverse flexure modulus. The same with tensile strength. That is why you do find a prepreg with hmg + nano resin that may have a higher tensile modulus than one with uhmg + nano resin. The AT700 has uhmg in its frame whereas the nondescript Chinese racquet I am talking about has only hmg + nano resin, but the latter is significantly more powerful and explosive. The reason may be that the latter's prepreg is manufactured in such a way that it has a better effective flexure and tensile strength modulus than the AT700's prepreg. I will be in KL in November and December and will allow anyone there to test out this Chinese racquet against their AT900, AT700, ARC 10, NS9900, etc. The name of the racquet is Prison, Woven 660, a woven hmg + nano resin composite.
They are going to have to change their name for the English speaking market. Who is going to buy a racquet called, "Prison"?
It seems like you're right -- http://www.bbesports.com/wzgl/ProductShow.asp?ID=1166 -- check the bottom of the page =)
They should have just made the handle shorter in the Woods N90, as Lin Dan would wrap his towel grip halfway anyway. Then it would truly be a "custom" model. Will Li-Ning be selling half-lengths Lin Dan towel grips too? Sorry... can't help myself! Haha!
it's kinda weird for a player like Lin Dan which can have Li-Ning (previously yonex) to produce any specs he prefers but opt to add athletic tape and having that kind of grip.. maybe it gives him a 'unique' feels that can't be explain to the manufacturer...
I believe the half grip only to make some alert if he move his grap too higher. A single player doesnt need to move grap higher like double player, lower is better for power....and some player like to add more feedback feel at the handle so they are open the basic grip and put towel or replacement grip directly to the wood handle. About the athletic tape........it was a mystery hahahahahahaha we should ask LD for that matter If he likes the high extreme BP then he should choose YY AT700 new or limited than his previous AT700 old colour, why he should add some tape in his racket will remain unsolved untill we can get a chance to ask him directly
Consider Team China gave everyone a whipping with a 21-0 record in the Sudirman Cup using Li Ning rackets. What did that tell us? 1. Li Ning rackets are really better than Yonex rackets. 2. Rackets don't matter. Only skills matter. Yonex has fooled us all these years. 3. Team China is so good that they can beat anyone, even with cheap rackets. 4. All rackets are created equal
When 2 players are in same level of skills, like LD and LCW, racket does matter. Should LD was using a low end racket to play with LCW, I dont think he can beat LCW. So, I would say, Li Ning rackets are at same par with Yonex. Otherwise, LD wouldnt beat all the world's best MS players easily!