I don't have alot of experience with Apacs but generally they have two broad categories, the clones and their own line of racquets. For the clones, they are typically generic specs and don't play like the actual racquets that they are based on. Most of them are quite flexy and are head light to neutral balance. For their own line of racquets (e.g Tantrum), it has gotten good reviews and I believe they do incorporate their own technologies. If we open our mind to possibilities and don't just limit ourselves to the most popular brands, there's alot of good racquets out there. I have owned brands like Kumpoo, Mizuno, Babolat, Forza, Gosen, Karakal, Panda Power, RKEP, SOTX, Prince, Wilson, Fischer, Adidas etc and depending on what you are looking for, there's some good models amongst them. Most people never even heard of or at the least use Victor before until recent years when they gained prominence. It is all down to marketing (endorsement plays a big part) which make people willing to give them a try. I subscribe to the 80/20 so 80% of the population will only look at the popular brands whereas 20% will look at what's available out there. Being part of the 20% is fun !
Yeah man! And in my opinion, the material they use is really top notch, one of the best! Do a search on "TC700" and you will be surprised at what you find. Unfortunately, Mizuno don't market their badminton racquet as much compared to their shoes. Currently, the only visibility they get is Kenichi Hayakawa using the Caliber 800. There may be other professionals using Mizuno but Kenichi is highest ranked and feature often in Super Series.
Mizuno does make badminton rackets. I knew about it last year. I do prefer to try it but was to use to Yonex brand. Furthermore, I think its rackets are slightly more expensive than Yonex. The one that I'm really surprise is Adidas. Cool move and more choices for consumers. Apacs, never heard of it before. Not sure whether can get it in NZ.
APacs is available online. It's been the only way I could get it also lol. www.badmintonbay.com is very reliable and does a good string job. Also their shipping is pretty cheap too. Considering I live in Canada and they are in malaysia is pretty rediculous to get 12$ 1 week shipping. www.sportshorizon.com is cheaper in general. Shipping was 15$ for me for a racket. No idea on string jobs.
Thanks for the info, Magic. Just curious and could be a dumb question, If I were to purchase online and also get the string done and ship it out to NZ, doesn't the string tension will be affected during mid air. I'm talking about the air pressure. So, do you suggest getting it string when it arrived in the country?
My strings the 2 times I have ordered from badmintonbay have come to me perfectly fine so It's up to you. But I don't think the flight will effect anything except stupid workers who read "fragile" and think "Time to chuck this thing around" lol.
I'll be traveling back to Japan next year, will get all my wanted equipment there. It is cheaper to buy from there than here. More choices too. Will also check out Mizuno as well.
It's always better to buy something first hand rather then over the internet lol. Anyways GL finding a new racket =D. Hopefully my random comments helped lol.
Just wondering, I've checked Yonex's website and the racket that I'm going to buy recommend to use only two types of strings. Will it hurt if I choose a high-end string rather than the recommended ones?
Personally and this is my take. The type/brand of racket string won't matter. String tension however yonex in my opinion downgrades the actual potential of what it's rackets can handle to minimize warranty claims. I follow them anyways just to be sure though. But ya go nuts on the string type though! Mixing and matching string types with rackets to find a combo that just feels right is half the fun
I have got it. Bought Arcsaber 11. It is different from what I intended to purchase at the first place but can't resist it after trying the racket. Now, my next question is, I'm planning to get another racket in the future, should I continue to purchase another Arcsaber 11 or a different model? I still prefer Yonex.
string type and racket type is strictly personal preference and you definitely do not need to follow their suggestion. generally there is no best string for a particular racket, but the best string for YOU with the particular racket. look into the string threads on this forum and you will see that everyone prefers a totally different string at a totally different tension. however, there is a general guideline on how a string will perform but please do take it with a grain of salt.
If i would have to choose the middle of all this i think try the Arc. Z-Slash. The I-Slash might be a little bit less agressive.
Generaly you can do every String you want. All will work.. but not all support the handling of the racket. If you want a control heavy racket you may try a control string and not a power string like the BG80power. But sure you can mix it to get a mixed handling rather than a pure control handling. Depense what you want.
DStyle: "I have got it. Bought Arcsaber 11. It is different from what I intended to purchase at the first place but can't resist it after trying the racket. Now, my next question is, I'm planning to get another racket in the future, should I continue to purchase another Arcsaber 11 or a different model? I still prefer Yonex." Be adventorous! A different model would b gd to explore. Half of the fun of badmtn is choosing ur gears. It'll b even more fun to check out other brands too...
i do agree completely that trying new different gear is a lot of fun, if and only if the person actually has a lot of money to burn. badminton is a very expensive sports these days and the prices will only go up. when i bought my very first yonex racket it was the isometric 800 tour sp, at the time it was top of the line yonex racket, priced at a whooping $980HKD! now, a top of the line yonex racket is around $1400HKD. very costly. i am very grateful that i had the opportunity to own a few rackets and the luxury to play my heart out with minimal injuries anyway, in choosing a racket, best way is to borrow a friends if the local badminton store don't offer a demo program.
