1. buy a racket and try it out. if you dont like it, sell it 2. try your friends rackets 3. demo them if possible 4. narrow down the selection of rackets based on preference (head heavy, weight, flex, etc) choosing a racket just because a pro uses it is not the best way... you gotta try it yourself
Just started using my SW35 again after a few months with the MX80 and i've gotta say, why did I ever put this racket down? So much more solid than the MX80, smashes are much more pleasant and crispier, but is still fast/manoeuvrable. Time to sell my MX80? Hmmm
yup, normal discounted price for sw35 is 350, bg66um is around 35. so at least you know you're not cheated
Hey everyone, Merry Christmas and all. Would just like to say that I've now joined the SW35 club. This is the first racket which I have bought which belongs to the upper end (at least price wise) of the scale. Hope to have a good session tomorrow night and provide some feedback on it. Here are some specs. Weight: 4U String: VS-800 Tension: 25lbs For the last few years I've been playing with the Gosen PKS (there's a joke for those of you who understand it ) Slim series. Even balanced (290mm +/- 5) medium flex rated rackets. Loved those rackets but unfortunately Gosen don't manufacture them anymore. My choices of string are BG65Ti and BG65, though I prefer the former more for its extra repulsion and harder feeling. I recently had a go at a softer string, Gosen GS-70 or something but I couldn't get anywhere near the amount of power as I could with the BG65Ti. Seriously, I had one of my PKS Slims strung with BG65 at 28lbs just for kicks and I play more effectively with that than with GS-70 at 25lbs. I have never bought or had prolonged use of a racket which is considered to have a stiff flex. I have another Gosen racket which is strung with BG65 at 25lbs and rated flexible but it offers nowhere near the amount of power I can muster with the PKS Slims. It makes by far the loudest noise but I'm putting that down to the flexible shaft. I'm an all round player. I compete well for the attack and finish off the rallies when I'm at the front of the court. In the mid-court, I have decent shot-making skills where I can play blocks to the net or drive down the line or cross court off both wings through a flick of my wrist. At the back of the court, I smash pretty hard and have had comments that they're like "a cannon fire". I also play slice drops, especially inside out to the opposite corner (I'm right-handed). My backhand clear goes from baseline to baseline with the aforementioned Yonex strings but only about three-quarter court with the Gosen strings. Why did I choose the VS-800 strings? The owner said that Victor rackets only came with a choice of three Victor strings: VS-650 (I think), VS-800 and VS-850 so I just asked him to use the one which resembled the BG65Ti and BG65 strings the most. So yeah, I'd really appreciate it if fellow SW35ers would give some feedback on any similarities or differences with respect to your experiences with the racket.
You made a good decision in choosing the SW35 if you are an all rounder that can hit hard as this racket is quite fast around the net and accurate for mid court pushes, but also rains the pain from the baseline with its raw power (4U should be a bit less than 3U). I think however, it may to take time for you to adjust given the stiffness of the racket and head heaviness compared to your old racket. Nevertheless, you should stick with it, and i'm sure you'll grow to love it like many other SW35 users including myself. One thing I noticed was how solid and easy it was to access the power, given that the connection with the shuttle is nice, the stiffness and weight in the head should send the shuttle rocketing. I used the vs850 27lbs, probably the best victor strings, good power, control and durability, However now changed to Yonex Nanogy 98 as it adds to the immense power that the racket already has. Loving these strings so far. Anyways, hope this helped and good luck on your session tomorrow. Make sure you don't PK ok
Hey, thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I've had a few swings with it and it definitely does feel a little more cumbersome to move around. I'm particularly interested in how it'll affect my reactions at the net and when defending smashes. I took a break from BG65Ti because I wanted to see if there were any other strings which offered more durability with similar performances. Reason being I'm a total cheapskate and my BG65Ti's were breaking once a month from twice-weekly two-hour sessions. My eyes bulged out when I saw the price of Nanogy 98.
WOW You break BG65Ti's within a month? They are supposed to be really durable. You should try Nanogy 95, they're very durable but also very powerful. The Nanogy 98's are much better, but not as durable as the 95's, however could be more durable than bg65Ti if you hit it right. I've never broken a set before and some ive used some for around 3 months before i cut them myself. Just add and overgrip, then the racket will be fast, but also smash hard, and if that's not enough, try adding some athletic tape under the grip. Worked for me, my SW35 is now superfast, and with the increased swing speed due to it being more balanced, the smashes have gotten even more powerful.
where are you getting your racket restrung in tai po and how much are they charging you? The place where I get my racket done in HK. nbg95 - HK$90 nbg98 - HK$110 66 ultimax - HK$110 vs850 - HK$90 but if you are really snapping your bg6ti so fast. Maybe nbg95 is a better bet for you
I don't think BG65Ti's are supposed to be that durable. I think Yonex gave the string a 6 in that area in their chart. BG65's last a week or so longer for me. I'm not keen on adding overgrip to the handle because of these short stubby fingers of mine >_> I'll definitely give the athletic tape a try if I can't adjust to it though. Thanks for the tips.
I go to Winboton to get my rackets restrung. I think they just increased the prices for their Yonex strings. BG65's up to 72 and BG65Ti's up to 88 or something now.
Congrats to the membership of satisfied SW35 owners. In terms of strings give a thinner string on your SW35 a try. BG 80 is very good for slicing. I recommend BG66UM on the SW35. I know it is not a durable string, but performance wise thinner strings give more repulsion and increase control and precision. Don't stick with this strings from the stoneage.
I'm scared of needing to splash out restringing costs every two to three weeks at prices considerably higher than 65 and 65Ti. A lot of the time I feel that 65Ti's meet my needs very well for the price I need to pay.
Well, I've just come back from my first session using SW35 and I'm afraid to say that the results weren't really ideal. Indeed, it proved difficult to make the jump from my usual medium flex even balanced rackets. At the front of the court, I didn't notice much difference with the netplay. Then again, this is one aspect of the game which I never notice. It seems to play the same way no matter which combination of racket and string I use. Killing the rallies was quite difficult because I had trouble generating enough racket-head speed from short swings. The mid-court area went better. Drives seem to fly a little faster. On to the rear court. The owner said that I might have to put more power into my strokes to play clears but I didn't really find that to be the case. It seemed easier to clear to the back of the court. Backhand clears are about the same; they reach the back of the court without having to put any more or less power than I do for my usual rackets. Even though it felt more cumbersome to move the racket around, my defence didn't seem like there were more holes than usual but I feel that I wasn't really tested much in that department today. Unfortunately, my biggest issue is the lack of this fabled power the racket is supposed to produce. First of all, I really do have to put everything into a smash to produce anything threatening. The other thing is that I really don't think that I played a single smash all night which impressed myself. My shoulder, tricep, elbow and forearm are feeling the strain at this time, but this is a good thing in my book. I remember experiencing the same thing when I was making the transition from a flexible racket to the medium flex racket and once I got used to it I felt that I really reaped the results. Here's hoping that my body can get used to the racket and that it does so quickly.
xofrevlis, where about do you play? and what level do you play at? I just play for fun/recreational. maybe one day we can meet up and you can have a few hits with each others rackets. I have a sw37 (4u) - ngb98 24lbs, sotx woven 8a - nbg98 23lbs, rsl m11 600 - ngb 95 24lbs.
