Played this racket (again) last evening. What should I say: It ain't that special. It's pretty heavy, I don't like the maneuverability in drive play/net play. It feels too heavy in these situations. From the back court it's rocksolid, but yet again: Not very special. Nothing you couldn't do with a VT80 or VTZF. For me def not my next racket...
Thanks. The fact that you said it's heavy twice has put me off this now. My wife is currently in HK, I was going to ask her to get me one. Think I'll leave it now. Thanks for the feedback though!
Well, different people have different feelings on a racket you know? For example, I think the 4U zf is too light for me, so I'm getting a 3U one already. So I think if you really want to try out a racket, just get it.
True, but someone posted earlier that the dry BP is around 300mm. And Footwork's post sort of comfirms this. I usually prefer racquets around the 285-290mm range - I don't think anyone would describe a 285-290 as "too heavy", so joining up the dots, it seems this may be too HH for me too (as I only play doubles). I suspect people who play singles might like this though.
If the dry BP is ~300mm then I think a 4U might be a good option if you play doubles, provided that it is available in 4U. Alternatively, you can find one which weighs close to the bottom range of 3U but it would be quite tricky.
Its not. I think people looking for a light, stiff and fast doubles racket are probably looking in the wrong place here. i think the real issue is Yonex' three sector product matrix, as well as companies like Victor really going hard in the 300mm range, with about.....six rackets in that range? Combined with 3U and 4U options, that's going to suit a lot of people. Of course the other paradox is....doesn't everyone want a fast AND powerful racket? That's clearly what Yonex is going for, but what about the Arc11? Why would someone get that over this? They're cannibalising their own market, because people aren't thinking "Gee, I want a Z series racket, which one of the three will I get?", people are thinking "I'm looking for a headlight racket in the same vein as the 9900" to which Yonex gives them a better (in theory) Arc11? its a bit weird. Anyone with better marketing nouse than me care to chime in?
Arc 11 does have a more conventional head size and shape which, I suppose, would make it slightly more user friendly. Can't really compare the two personally because I'm yet to have the pleasure of trying an Arc 11. I suppose the Arc 11 also has a slightly less loud colour scheme which could be the deciding factor for some.
I think the Arc11 isn't as stiff as this one, and if they're exactly the same overall weight, a tad more head heavy from BP alone. Given that it has a bigger head, it's gonna play even more head heavy and -more importantly- more stable. The Arc11 is really a great allround racket, and would be my choice if I had to pick a Yonex racket to play with. It's head heavy enough to play good, controlled singles, and still light enough to be a good choice for a net-oriented doubles player. I probably won't hold a Z-Speed in my hand for about a year I guess so I can't aptly compare the two, but going by the other NR rackets I've tried I dare say it's gonna be quite an even-balanced racket. The tall BP is probably not quite the same as with a Voltric or Arcsaber if the other NRs were even remotely similar - the 700 felt very hollow and the 800 wasn't as solid on contact as the balance had indicated either. Personally I'd go with the Arc11 over this any day, and anyone looking for control will do the same.
It ain't THAT heavy, don't get me wrong. It just feels more or less like one of the "normal" newer Yonex models. That means comparable to maybe VT80 or VTZF. I play VT80 4U and it feels a bit quicker imho. But as they name it "Nanoray", I would have expected something else. I have never actually played Nanorays, but tested several Nanospeeds over the years, therefore I would have expected a headlight, very quick racket also suitable for doubles net players. If you look for such a racket, the Z speed is the wrong one, if you're looking for a not too light racket with solid BOOM from the backcourt, it's worth a try! It's a very good, solid racket, certainly worth a try if you plan to buy a new racket anyway. But it doesn't make me feel like: "Oh my god, I have to get one TODAY!! I can't live without it anymore." It's a very good Yonex racket, not more, not less. (and imho grouped in the wrong series of rackets according to the 3 series Yonex offers...).
Does yonex ever actually claim that their rackets are grouped based on head weight? It's just power (voltric) , control (arcsaber) and speed (nanoray) right? So couldn't they claim that the z slash was a nanoray based just on the fact that it swings fast? Or even the flag boost?
I'm a stringer, player and an authorized Yonex dealer, and have tried all the top end Yonex racquets, and somehow the Z-Force(3UG4) has been and still my favorite. Can't wait to try the Z-Speed, which is being released here in Canada, in 2 days. One has to try it out for oneself to be sure.
Well speed and head weight are proportional, so it would actually be very reasonable to put their head-lights (not only by BP, but based on how they actually swing) into the NR series and the heavies into the Voltric series. Arcsabers are a bit in-between. What Yonex does is classify them by head build - the Voltrics have massive heads, some with the Voltric bulges, Arcsabers have that allegedly flexible head and Nanorays have a thinner, lighter head. The Z-Slash is a peculiar case as I found it to be head light and it had a pretty thin head as well, nothing like the Arc 7 through 11. Didn't understand them back then, and I sure don't understand why a big company would produce the FlashBoost (imop it's a niche product, suitable for about 3-5% of players tops). Anyhow, to each their own.
I find the notion of 'control' weird. Would a Nanoray buyer want less control than an ArcSaber buyer? I seriously doubt it. It's more of a marketing dilemma as to what to do with 'average' rackets. The great irony of course, is 80% of players are best suited to 'average' rackets, but calling them 'average' isn't exciting, so you just call it 'control' instead. Me personally, I would've gone for the term....'Dynamic' The thing tying the Z-Series together is the smaller head, which is why I think the Yonex has also discovered that frame shape is not the driving factor of racket aerodynamics. But having a 3U Nanoray pushing 300mm, and no 4U option?? Strange choices IMHO.
Are you really going to put much weight in someone's opinion of the racket who only used it for 2 sessions? Not every racket clicks instantly. I never put much weight in other people's first impressions or limited time opinions. I personally think that you can only make a fair assessment after 6-8 hours of use. That way you can get used to the swing speed, head weight and so on.
Double negative aside, the BP isn't the be all and end all as far as handling goes. In any case, the goal of the Nanoray series isn't to be headlight, it's speed and repulsion (at least according to the official description from the Yonex website). It just happens to be the case that one of the easiest ways to increase speed is to lighten the head. As I see it, as long as they've managed to maintain the speed of the racquet, it pretty much belongs in the range.
Something to add-on. [h=2]Swing Speed increased by 10%[/h]Every element of this racquet has been designed to increase swing speed. A new frame cross section and ULTRA SLIM LONG SHAFT, together with cutting edge materials NANOMETRIC* and X-FULLERENE, make the NANORAY Z-SPEED the most aerodynamic racquet that YONEX has ever produced. *NANOMETRIC is the new material which applies the NANOALLOY[SUP]TM[/SUP] Technology of Toray Industries, Inc. [h=3]Frame construction provides fast swing and head-heavy balance[/h]To balance the heavy racquet head, the frame has been made smaller to maintain the fast swing demanded by advanced players. By reducing the drag caused by air resistance, the head-heavy feeling is reduced and racquet handling speed is increased. This is taken from Yonex website. Main objective, AERODYNAMIC=SPEED. So not necessary headlight.
Wow. For a second I felt Yonex had decided to enter the thread. Don't buy everything their marketing tells you, seriously. Regarding the control/average issue with the Arcsabers - personally I did find Arcsaber rackets to be more controlled than the Nanospeed/Nanoray rackets I tried, but it's entirely possible that was because the BPs/head weights of that range are very comfortable to me. The obvious exception is of course the Z-Slash which had less control and less easily accessible power than a Arc11 or even Arc7 for me. What I mean to say with that is that while all-out 100% well-hit smashes weren't noticeably different, late clears and varied smashes were easier/more powerful with the 'normal' Arcsabers.
