Hrmmm not sure if anyone has posted this... But the forum search doesn't really do much for me I find.... But in the Taiwan Yonex 2011 catalog, the list the VT80 as a Medium flexible racquet.... http://www.smashshot.org/2011 Yonex/1106.jpg IIRC all other catalogs says the VT80 is a Stiff racquet... Does Taiwan have different batch or racquets?!?!?
i find that the VT80 isn't as stiff as the Arc8DX. so depending on what Yonex advertises the Arc8DX as, i would say that "medium" would be a reasonably accurate description.
I think so too... But I was just curious when I saw the Taiwan Yonex Catalog stating it's medium flex where other Yonex catalogs list it as stiff.... Is there any head heavy racquets which is stiffer than the VT80... From any manufacturer?
Oh there are plenty stiffer headheavy ones.. N90 is stiffer, TC700 is much stiffer, AT900P is stiffer, sw35 is stiffer, AT800OF, BS10, X2-gold etc.
I'm not sure if all those rackets are "head heavy" by VT80 standards. Remember VT80 has a dry balance point of about 305mm.
Nice, is it first generation? One intermediate/advanced player in my club is getting the first generation N90 soon. Will see how well he does with it against my VT80 hehe. In saying that, I feel he plays best with his Arc 10. What's interesting is that I feel his smashes with the Arc 10 are much faster/more potent than with his Z-Slash or NS 9900. I suspect he'll take a while to adjust to the N90, as none of his current rackets are comparably head heavy.
Yup it is first gen, I was looking for the most extreme head heavy racquet I could get and was decided N90 1st. I usually start off with my N90 for 5 - 6 games and when I feel tired switch to VT80. I usually play 4 hours straight non-stop games cause we're a crazy bunch.
What's the Balance Point on your N90? I suppose you'll have to measure it strung. How does it compare with your VT80?
I really like both racquets but I lean towards a bit towards N90 since I like how a bit more solid it feels. VT80 is much more aerodynamic as many have stated because netplay seems very easy.. when I use N90 I will lift everything to the backcourt (my netgame sucks anyways ) BP must but slightly higher up on the N90, you feel it when you pick it up.
I have the AT900P... It doesn't feel stiffer than the VT80... I'm actually looking at the N90 1st gen as well but I wanna try it out first... But there aren't any Li Ning dealers where I am...
Going by feel is useful, but it can be surprising when you actually measure it. I wouldn't be surprised if the N90's balance point is less than the VT80.
According to one reviewer, the VT80 is slightly stiffer than the N90: http://badmintan.blogspot.com/2011/04/li-ning-n90-1st-gen-vs-yonex-vt80.html However, I'm really skeptical about "stiffness". At least you can objectively measure Balance Point. Measuring stiffness is much harder. In fact, I wouldn't know how to do it accurately and precisely.
I just measured the BP's of my racquets... mind you they are strung and with overgrips on.. My N90 has a Yonex Super Grap wrapped right to to the end of the cone while my VT80 is using a Karakal overgrip wrapped to the beginning of the cone. N90 (W3S2) is ~ 304mm VT80 (3UG5) is ~ 300mm I don't have anything to get exact measurements.
Yes, difficult to know which racket is more head heavy, given the different grips. Presumably strung differently too? Even the string tension can make a difference to the Balance Point.
The BP should be measured with the racquet unstrung and with the original base grip intact with no other grip on top of it. I suggest GaryC to remove the overgrip when measuring the balance points of both racquets for a more fair comparison. You can still just wrap the overgrip on later on with no loss due to damage whatsoever.
