Dear all, I have just about save enough to buy a new racket (any) available in the market (less the collector edition N90 II Classic). Which racket would you recommend me to buy as my backup racket out of the followings- YY Arcsaber Z, YY NS9900, LN N50 II, LN N90 II or LN70? Currently, I'm very happy with my N50, strung with NBG98 @ 28lbs, and I play mainly double games. The N50 has improved my defensive game by a long mile and it is also very fast for driving flat shots at the front court, plus it has quite some power for backcourt smashes. However, at times, I need a more powerful racket that give me more raw power at the expense of defence when at the backcourt as I do most of my team's smashings. Thanks.
If you really like the N50, IIRC the N50 is based on the Yonex Ti-10 2nd gen which was Fu Haifeng's main racquet before Li Ning designed the N50 with him as his signature racquet. If you're lucky you can definitely still find the 2nd gen (yellow and black coloured) Ti-10 in Singapore at prices lower than the newer Yonex lines.
Thanks Blitzzards, as a matter of fact, I do have a Ti-10 (3rd gen, sadly not the lengendary 2nd gen). Somehow, I find the N50 much faster and more powerful than my Ti-10 (3rd gen). I need something that give me more power when I do backcourt smashings, even to an extend that I'm willing to give up some control / defence for more power as I tends to defend less than my partner do.
Quite a lot of people find that the 3rd gen Ti-10 is not as powerful as the 2nd or 1st gen Ti-10, which could be the reason why you find it not packing as much power. Personally having played with the 1st and 2nd gen Ti-10 I believe the reason is perhaps because the Titanium mesh on the frame of the 3rd gen is not as big and thus making its swing speed a little lower. Li Ning has to my surprise and respect managed to have come around from using different materials and still be able to replicate the design and power capability of the 2nd gen Ti-10 as requested by Fu Haifeng, from what I have heard, including you. But seriously, if you look a little more deeply, you can still find the 2nd gen Ti-10 in Singapore. I heard from stores in Brunei that they sometimes import unsold 2nd gen Ti-10s from Singapore and sold them at lower prices than the newer Yonex top range racquets.
if you're very happy with the n50 i see no reason for you not to get another as a backup, if your budget can cover it.
Hi bro laivc : I would recommend u Victor Brave sword 10, cost around 185-190.. Its a high range victor racket, good for baseline smashing .. cheaper than Nanospeed 9900 and Li Ning N-series. And its used by Jung Jae Sung, (Lee Yong Dae partner)
Thanks The Godfather for your recommendation, however the Arcsaber Z is cheaper than the N50 here in Singapore.
generally your backup racket should be the same as the racket you are backing up. you don't want to be switching rackets in the middle of the tournament because it can throw you off by a lot. you see how players have many rackets of the same type, weight, balance, grip size, string, string tension (basically the rackets are as identical as they can be)
I finally bought the N50-II on Tuesday and I just had a great night smashing my new N50-II, the feel is slightly heavier than the N50 but they shared the same balancing point at about 28.5cm. I strung the new N50-II with LN new Accupower62 string @ 26lbs, which is a new product at 0.62mm thin and the feeling for smashing is really great. Maybe I haven't get used to the new racket+string, my drop and net control is still left to be desired. I hope with more practice time, I can overcome these issue. Overall, the N50-II feels solid when hitting the shuttle (same for N50) but it pack more punch for smashing due to its slightly heavier mass.
