Yonex ArcSaber Flash Boost ( ARC FB )

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by yan.v, Jan 13, 2013.

  1. Sgt_Strider

    Sgt_Strider Regular Member

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    Can you clarify that further?
     
  2. surajaya

    surajaya Regular Member

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    I hope your hypothesis is true. Assume that FB has very-very light shaft (and frame weight almost equal to 3U racket), this will make the weight distribution concentrated on the handle & frame. Momentum loss will not be too significant but maneuverability will be significantly faster.
     
  3. visor

    visor Regular Member

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  4. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    Speculations!! Time to figure out if its true. Have in my hands a arcFB with ultimax at 25lbs. Going to play in an hr's time
     
  5. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    Well, no one ever said anything about kinetic energy being destroyed ;) And that equation just proves my point - the momentum is the squareroot of Ek*2m. With Ek=1/2mv² thats sqrt(m²v²) and p=mv....which is just what I said.
     
  6. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    In the middle of a session now, just spent an hr with the fb... Yumz!!! The frame has good stiffness, shots were rather crunchy like the nanospeed frame. It doesnt have the arcsaber cushy feel. Swings r really fast!
     
  7. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    oh well.. time for a bit of pictures no?.... did not really want to comment too much until i got down to playing with the FB today..

    the racquet is an extreme beauty.. its matt finish feels really nice, the colors are very pleasing and mellow, you dont get the sense of aggression.. very fresh looking

    had it strung with BG66 ultimax at 25lbs, the stringer told me that he had just done one at 27 and was quite confident that the racquet has no issues with such tensions. not too sure if his info was accurate but he said the frame was strong, whilst most of the weight and changes occured at the shaft level.. i took it with a pinch of salt
    [​IMG]

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    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  8. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    exact isometric shape, identical to the ns9900

    [​IMG]

    the z-slash/i-slash frames are smaller as usual
    [​IMG]

    frame seems "thinner" than the Z-slash one by a little
    [​IMG]

    but of course.. the gosen ryoga shiden's even thinner by a bit.. (rated at 27 lbs!..)
    [​IMG]

    frame "width" is regular.. not slimmer/narrower than other racquets..
    [​IMG]
     
  9. gundam40

    gundam40 Regular Member

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    I'm really tempted to get one to try, do you know what the BP of the racquet is? Thanks :)
     
  10. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    preferably unstrung ungripped bp
     
  11. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    ok enough of racquet "p*rn"....oh wait.. how can i forget to share the weight of the racquet with string on... 76.37 grams..

    [​IMG]

    bonus pic.. whilst my stringer was doing up my arcFB i was toying around with other racquets available, including the arc11... hmm.. doesnt feel "exciting" enough for me to take it home..

    [​IMG]

    i cannot speak with full conviction on how the arcFB really feels till i play with it for a few more sessions. i'll give a superficial comparison with some of the racquets that i've been toying with for the past few months and have played them to familarity : ns9900, z-slash, i-slash, gosen shiden (played for only a week, 2 sessions) and arcFB for only 2 hours today.

    the Arcsaber FB is quite unlike the arcsaber series, it does not have the "cushy feel" of particularly the I-slash at all, where the sweetspot gives no impact feel sometimes. on the FB, you feel the shuttle as it comes and as it bounces off, it does not hide the impact. similarly, this aspect probably magnified by the frame stiffness, and the shaft stiffness, power transfer felt good, and not lacking unlike in the case of the i-slash. i did not need extra effort to lob shuttles to the back-line or even over the out line on the opponent's court, which was a surprise to me, since the light 73 grams initially gave me the impression if it being weak.

    Shuttle impact and Power transfer impression (psychological due to the way the impact feels, nothing to do with true power transfer) :
    Gosen shiden = ArcFB > NS9900 > MP99 > ArcZS > I-slash

    Actual power transfer for me (non professional) : Shiden > NS9900 > MP99 = ArcFB = ArcZS > I-Slash. (for some reason i've yet to truly smash with the ZS with max power w/o mis-cueing, and since i've added some weight tape to the bottom cap of the ZS, the racquet becomes less powerful in this case.)

    smashing was very comfortable, it was crunchy, impact was good, speed achieved was good. the increase in swing speed was obvious, although i think i need to re-calibrate a little, i.e. to have sharper smash motion because the head was not heavy enough.. unlike the z-slash/mp99 where the head heaviness helps to make the smash a bit more acute. in terms of smash hardness for myself i put it at Gosen Shiden > NS9900 > ArcZS > ArcFB >Mp99 > I-slash

    speed wise, it was one of the most maneuverable racquets i've ever used, and i put it along side the manuverability of the gosen shiden. today, i was able to catch a few trick shots from a skillful opponent that i wouldnt have been able to if the racquet did not allow me that quick change in direction. had zero-mishits today, every shot was spot on. so its not hard to handle unlike the ZS as well. arcFB excels above the NS9900 in this aspect.
    Speed & maneuverability: Gosen Shiden = ArcFB > NS9900 > I-slash > MP99 > ArcZS

    the arcFB is no toy, its serious, responsive, and playable. of course this isnt a racquet for everyone, one wouldnt be able to get the immense heavy smashes of the z-force nor the similar lethality, but its no slouch. and for a player who doesnt focus his game on smashes to score points etc, the arcFB provides excellent defense, agility. worthy of trying!
     
  12. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    i dont have the bp unstrung, perhaps you can get it from the yonex website...

    but here's the surprising thing.. the balance point of my arcFB at the moment, with a 5 gram babolat protacky overgrip.. is at 297mm.............!!....without the overgrip.. its probably going to be higher than that..
     
  13. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    too late! but for the sake of this question i removed the babolat overgrip just to check, OMG!.... my 30cm ruler isnt enough!... the balance point seem to be at the area of 309-310mm or so... measuring from base of racquet on a flat table.....
     
  14. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Tks just as I thought. The wt savings come from the shaft and handle. So ill guess that the head wt will not be that much less than usual. Have you measured the head wt?
     
  15. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    arghhh i re-gripped the babolat overgrip already.. if i take it off again it will be ruined.. :X will measure with the over grip intact

    35.70 grams if measured it your style, i.e. pivot at the end/buttcap area

    and 27 grams if measured my way, i.e. pivot at the centre of handle
     
  16. NOLE.LUCKY

    NOLE.LUCKY Regular Member

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    The "collision" between the shuttle and the racquet/stringbed is not perfectly elastic imo, so kinetic energies before and after the contact are not conserved, only the momentum of the racquet-shuttle "system" is conserved. On another note, the kinetic energy of the racquet is converted to potential energy as the racquet flexes, which further delivers kinetic energy to the shuttle.
     
  17. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Yikes... That's 6g less than my ideal! More than the wt of a shuttle. :eek: Not sure if I can even clear baselines with that.
     
  18. gundam40

    gundam40 Regular Member

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    thanks so much for checking, vajvajrasattva! Your review definitely swayed me into getting one. I got a ZS from a fellow BCer recently and just can't get the timing right either, keeps hitting the edge...
     
  19. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    Thanks for your impressions, and the pics and comparisons, vajrasattva! Very illuminating posts. Even when strung with BG66um at 25 lbs this featherweight appears to be no slouch! Worth a try for weaklings like me! :cool: That dry BP-to-weight ratio has got me salivating... :D
     
  20. vajrasattva

    vajrasattva Regular Member

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    bahh! yonex should give me "commission" for helping then advertise :p the arcFB is a keeper, i'm considering a second copy soon. if you still play with the ZS would you mind trying a small experiment for me? i.e. to put a piece of weight tape or a 2 gram coin onto the butt cap of the ZS to see if it becomes more playable? it helped for me, i'm sure it wasnt psychological, but i still need more experimenters to confirm.. :p

    you're welcome!
     

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