Yonex Voltric 80 ( VT80 )

You might not be convinced because your own play style compliments slightly heavier rackets. But as someone who has personally tried both 3U and 4U variants of numerous rackets, I personally generally prefer 4U (especially in doubles), unless the racket is already quite head light or medium balanced, then I opt for 3U. For example, I currently switch between a 3U MX80 and a 4U VT80 and the VT80 is still a lot heavier and takes more effort to swing. I've adjusted to the VT80 so I am competent in defence and drives, but to say the MX80 or the BS10 before it were not better in defence would be in-accurate. They most definitely were.

Totally depends on the player. Some might be able to swing slightly faster with the 4U and make up the power difference in weight with additional speed. Others might swing just as fast with a 3U and make use of that extra weight for additional power. Either way, the differences are marginal. All I know is that I don't need any more power than my 4U VT80 gives me and I like the lightness of it (allows more options with over gripping and I feel more confident with it in defence).

Again, completely down to the user. I do however think that the less head heavy or heavy a racket is, the less likely you would be from getting an injury from it.

 

You should play with us, then you'll feel like you need much more power hehe. I think at the "advanced" level, especially in doubles, the defensive skill of players increases the most, relatively. Placement of shot becomes just as important (perhaps more) as power, but it doesn't hurt to have massive power to increase the chances of the opponent lifting too short.

You mention over-gripping making a difference to the weight, and that's actually a really good point. I personally like to have a slim grip (I often remove the original grip and place just one grip over the wooden handle). Perhaps the overall weight of my 3U racket is similar to the overall weight of someone else's 4U racket who uses thicker grips? After all, we're probably only talking about 2-4g difference in "dry weight" - how much does a thick over-grip weigh?

 

If you remove the original grip and use replacement overgrip on straight wood (similar to LCW), then yes, your racket could be lighter than my 4U VT80 (in overall weight) and head heavier. I've found that a thick overgrip can make the difference of 2-4 grams. Not only that, they can drastically change BP's as well. Switching from RKEP G11 Yellow to Super Grap upped my BP by a whole 8mm despite both being 0.6mm thick!

I now use overgrip without tape but wrap to near the end of the cone (quite high up). My current 4U VT80 weighs 92.1g. My 3U MX80 weighs 92.7g. Same string (BG66UM), same overgrip (Super Grap). BP of my VT80 is currently around 308-309mm. I believe it's 314mm-315mm without the overgrip.

Anyway, here's a good post from a guy who used both 4U and 3U versions of the same racket for more than a year.

http://badmintan.blogspot.com/2011/03/weight-performace-3u-vs-4u-at900p-g5.html

 

Yes, an over-grip can change the (apparent) BP by large amounts, because 2-4 grams is very significant when a racket weighs less than 90 grams to start with.

I think for those people who prefer a 4U, it's probably worth trying a 5U too. Regardless, I think the exact weight of the racket becomes really important when we're talking about such matters. For example, someone who is using an 80g 4U may find it very different to a 89.9g 3U. However, an 84g 4U and a 86g 3U may not be significantly different, especially after the racket is gripped and strung. I think what's always going to be important is the head heaviness and stiffness of the racket.

 

From what I've read, the AT900P is generally not a very good defensive/fast racket to start with. I've never tried the AT900P myself, but I've read numerous reviews saying that the VT80 is a better defensive and faster racket than the AT900P anyway.

 

Not too bad at all hehe. In fact, I've watched many rallies where he was able to produce very fast drives, pretty much at a Mens doubles level. The AT900P clearly suited him well. Yonex probably paid him a lot to move to the VT80 hehe.

 

if anyone ever noticed, 3U rackets are usually a bit more durable than 4U rackets. All Yonex rackets, 3U version always is recommended to strung at 1Lbs higher than 4U version. Therefore i do prefer 3U version (the very reason that double-play with some amateur partners might give you bigger opportunity to racket-clash!) than 4U. I don't know how to measure BP but my 3U VT80, was rolled with replacement grip Victor GR-115 (1.7mm) on top of the original grip plus 0.6mm LiNing overgrip on top of it. Anyone care to guess what's my racket's BP & weight is? (strung with NBG98 @26Lbs).. I'd guess that my 3U VT80 is weighing equally with 2U VT80 (if ever exists)

 

IMO we don't need a sledgehammer (a very head heavy racket) to hit a shuttlecock because it only weight about 5 grams
for example Victor no. 2 only 4.9 grams
except you are trying to hit a tennis ball which is heavier than you'll need a much more heavier rackets

 

Although keep in mind that the overall weight of badminton rackets these days are only around 90-100 grams, no matter how head heavy they are.

 

BP will be 240?? LOL

I always ignored that tension recommndation. I got 4U AT900T strung at 30 lbs most of the time (as it was once owned by a world top 50 doubles player) and minimum 28 lbs for years since i owned it and countless classes (it looks like just came back from war), and it as strong as any racket. Your luck wont change whether holding 3U or 4U rackets, anything can happen to 3U rackets too

 

I just watched a doco the other day about building a Formula 1 car, its incredible to see how much efford they put in just to reduce the car weight (although now they have set limit) and hence to gain that extra mil second advantage. And after that I watched a badminton doubles on the internent and I cant help to think the important these guys focus on speed, by that I mean things like; interception, net kill, whole body rotation to excecute over head drive from middle of the court, as well as getting into position so that they can excecute the best posible shots.

But that said Im not sure if they use 4U rackets simply because they have the muscle already and as we know there is a limit how much a muscle can work, so in other words maybe by swicthing to a 4U racket does not mean it will translate a faster speed for these guys. Thats just my guess.

OTOH I know a bounch of pros that prefer head light racket for that matter, perhaps i should ask them about weight issue next time we meet

 

and also keep in mind that a head heavy 84 grams 4U feels heavier than a head light 89 gram 3U
for example 4U VT80 BP 305 mm vs 3U BS12 BP 285 mm

 

I think DinkALot recently posted about how it can sometimes be quite a psychological thing. He gave a racket to a girl to play and told her it was a 2U (it's really a 2U). She moaned and said that 2U is too heavy for her. She went to play a few games and played badly. Then I think he gave her another racket and told her it was a 4U (when in fact it was exactly the same racket as before), and she played much better with it and said it was much lighter to play with.

I found that quite interesting.

 

Also keep in mind that a "sledgehammer" for you may be a "pencil" for me hehe.

 

unless you are a pro ... you can't really say that to me
considering you don't know my level of play ...

 

I wasn't saying that to you specifically. I was saying that as a general statement, implying that personal preference trumps everything else.

 

That's one interesting fact on how psychology can really be helpful or viceversa! When i first bought my BS11, i had fun with it & pretty much okay (although not perfect) for few hours. Then my friend pin-pointed the small-ugly 2 letters that i never realized was there, written as 4U. (I thought it was 3U until then and i prefer heavier rackets since beginning). Now, this BS11 is belonged to my gf whom just started playing badminton. such very nice racket for starter-player.

 

I think I have more or less answered your questions in this thread.
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/23629-Yonex-Rackets-in-Bangkok/page26

If I could recall correctly, I paid about BHT 4,500 for the ARC-ZS TH. That was in Sep '10.
I did not check the price when I was there last week because I wasn't planning to buy this racket.
I guess the price hasn't gone up at all.
Where else to buy these competitively-priced racket besides those good old shops next to the National Stadium.

 

tha's why i should call u the monster of mumbai, mr.muscle .....just play with vt80 as much as u can, and u will forget the apacs soon or later.