Hey everyone, I used to play quite a bit in early school days but left the game for about 4 years. When I went to play three days ago, I was rather surprised to find out that my rackets weren't upto par for proper clears. Perhaps I missed it because I didn't have that much power back then or something of that sort. Currently I own an arcsaber 002 and a carbonex 21 special (older black and gold variant) both with bg65. Carbonex was done at 28lbs back then and the arcsaber was at 24lbs which I suppose must not be the case after 4 years of being dormant. Still it is definitely not below 24 on carb but I kept failing to send the shuttle at the baseline let alone outside of the court from my baseline. Even requested a rather good player there that played from our state to try and he failed as well. Both rackets were used in small tournaments when I was much younger so they are banged up pretty badly even with micro dents and major paint chips everywhere so I planned to replace them anyway once I got back into it. Now I have a budget of about 5k here and thanks to the official dealer being a friend of my father, I get really massive discounts so the rackets that would otherwise be out of reach aren't. I've always wanted high tension for control ever since I played with the racket of one of the better players in our complex years ago. Read somewhere here (been glued to the forums since I found it yesterday) that a newly strung racket loses 2-3 lbs in the first few minutes so I'm hoping for a racket that can handle 35 as I would like to experience 32 in my first few games. Playstyle: Soft & controlled shots most of the time instead of sheer power but I do like to hit baseline to baseline clears from time to time which is what serves as the most enjoyable part of the game. If required I do hit smashes but I don't prefer to do so and would rather toy with the opponent instead if that makes sense. EDIT : I love baseline to baseline passes. Height 6"3 Weight 86kg for reference if that would help give me advise. Current options: Voltric 7DG Voltric 10DG Nanoray 95DX And what else? I've not given much thought to the alpacs since I can't just afford to go through rackets which break and need something that won't give up easily. To show the top end of my budget max would be the voltric 50 e tune. Now onto the strings.. What would be recommended with the racket you have suggested that could handle about 34lbs? Please do respond anyway even if you think it could be out of my budget as the prices might be different where you live. Cheers and thanks for letting me join this wonderful forum!
Since you prioritise control, and are not particularly worried about power, I'd suggest a stiff or very stiff racket with an even balance ( 3U or 4U). I'm not very familiar with Yonex , so I can't immediately offer suggestions. New strings will also help.
All those rackets can't take much string tension from the spec sheet look tho and I'd hate to just buy another normal tension racket :[! I also apologise for not specifying but what I wanted to say was that I can generate a significant amount of power myself which is why I can put control few points above it. However I do not at any point want to give up baseline to baseline passes. I'm not entirely familiar with these terms either so I'm sorry if I freaked out for no reason.
We only have the information you give us. If you say you have sufficient power, then I assume you do. It sounds like you should be able to make 'baseline' clears whichever racket you use. I personally don't suggest you string at 34lbs. Nobody with the technique for it would be asking which racket to use. However, if you insist on stringing that high, you're going to be outside warranty. If your racket breaks, you get a new one (and maybe a new stringer).
Why 34lbs? This is what the best players can do! Ich play with 22-24lbs. Less lbs = longer clears More lbs = shorter clears but more control How long is your string on the racket? After a few months, the side loses elasticity and the distance becomes smaller. -> You need a new string on your old racket or a new racket with a new string. I think 22 - 26lbs should be good. After a half year you can try 2lbs more...
Which is why I was wondering if there were any that took that much besides the DG series and DX. I just have the power because of playing nationals in tennis but that's about it really. You're absolutely right in saying I don't have the technique (although I won at school, our team always lost just at zonals and never went past that). I'm using the wrong terminology I think. Backhand from baseline to baseline is what I wish to keep doing which my current almost broken rackets do not allow me to do and because I was going to buy a new one anyway thought advise from experienced players would go a long way. Hey thanks for the reply. I understand the logic and when I started playing tennis for example, my coach would say the same thing because the rebound effect from the strings is less and less tighter you go but I have already gone past 26 years ago. My carbonex has been strung at 28 for awhile now so I cannot play at anything lower than this. Moved from 19 on arcsaber to 24 and then bought a carbonex and went to 28. In fact I actually tried to play with a cheap muscle power that was strung at 22 and completely failed at directing the shuttle properly. I want really high tension because I experienced it in the courts few days back. It was the most enjoyable experience I have ever had on a count period. So if there's a chance of experiencing that in my budget, I'm going for it! About restringing my old racket, sadly it's condition isn't that well now and I'm afraid that if I touch it now, I will destroy it at that tension. (damaged)
No worries I really don't mind that. I just want to have the option to go that far normally knowing it can really handle it if you get the gist. I play once every 2 or 3 days so I doubt it would be that big of a deal.
In most cases you shouldn't be playing this shot at all. It sounds like you need to let go of your preconceived notions, and settle with 26lbs tension on a medium flex racket with slight head weight (in 3U). This is not tennis where you can string upwards of 50lbs.
VTDG has the highest frame durability. 34 lbs is retarded (unless you are at the very top), even if you have the technique and strength for it. The strings will break on average more than once every game unless you have a very very good stringer.
Yep way above 50. But just for the sake of it what would you say is good as a racket even if it wasn't a yonex for example? I've always had yonex and so did my father when he used to live in Japan so I never got to try anything else. Sounds like it I know but really I just want to experience it again. The guy I borrowed the racket from had his at 32lbs and I'd be happy with anything at 30 or so. I do have a very trustworthy stringer thankfully. I always get these weird urges to do something and I just have to. Certainly nowhere top of anything as far badminton is concerned. So..... To the point really, what would you guys recommend out of nanoray 95dx / Voltric 10DG / Voltric 7DG? For a soft playstyle. Really just don't want to end up with a racket that feels good but doesn't perform good.
Not so sure the money is making sense, because at the rate you'll end up breaking strings it will easily cover the cost of a top end racket. Also, soft play doesn't usually go with high tension. Anyway, that's not the topic. Go with VT7 DG if you are a 'soft' player, VT10 DG if you hammer smashes.
VT 10 DG can go up to 35lbs so u go figure As far as string goes, BG 65, 65Ti, 70Pro are probably ur only options as far as not breaking the string from the slightest mishit. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any injuries u incurred using my recommendations.
I think it could be the fact I absolutely suck at getting my point across. I don't understand what 3U is to be frank neither do I understand medium flex. It's always been like here you go give me the best in this range to the shop owner and represented the school, win. I have tried lower tensions but they didn't suit me which could be because the rackets weren't good and bought for casual play. Thing is, from my point of view I thought if I get the best now in the price range, it doesn't matter what tension it's at. I can keep changing it and progress further with it as time goes on. If I buy a racket that I don't know can handle the tension I'm wishing to experiment with, I wouldn't want it strung at a higher tension because there's a chance it could break which would be throwing money basically. And really I would perhaps suck it up & get the racket you suggested but you haven't suggested anything which is understandable given you haven't dived into yonex much as you mentioned. Sadly I don't understand the terms so I can't look for them myself. Does playing a lot of drops and generally just guiding the shuttle instead of forcing it mean soft play? I'm sorry for using terms I'm not familiar with. That's what I generally do. Perhaps I should have recorded a session but I had no idea I'd be asking questions on a badminton forums. I thought the higher the tension, the better the control just like in tennis. That's what I was going by
for yonex U is total weight of racket, 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 in terms of heaviness for yonex G is grip size, 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 in terms of handle size
Flex tells you how much the shaft of the racket will bend as you hit the shuttle. "U" tells you how heavy a racket is. Balance tells you about the distribution of weight along the racket. Googling 'How to choose a badminton racket' can provide you with a lot of information about how these 3 aspects of your racket will affect your game.
Thanks for that. Really helped me out today, Was actually able to try everything and ended up going with the VTF Voltric Force which felt closest to the racket I tried that day with 31lbs in the complex (z force ii or something like that). It felt soooo much better than the dg series which really kind of gave the feeling it was more a "we can do it so we will do it" instead of it actually providing any benefit. He had just finished stringing the force in front of me so I was thankfully able to try it (owners son's racket who is a good friend and allowed me). I have till tomorrow to get it strung as the shop was closing soon. All I'm after is good repulsion and control (not durability). What would be a good string to use? BG80 was available but bg80 power wasn't at the time and they had run out of aerosonic as well. Any and all help regarding strings will be greatly appreciated.
Personally I find the best control strings to be Carlton's Xelerate 67 and Yonex' BG70Pro. BG80P isn't bad in that respect, but definitely behind the others.
