I finally found a store selling the n9ii. They received it not long ago so I guess the God of badminton wanted me to buy it and so I did! It is gorgeous. Every people who came to the shop stared at it. They had 6 or 7 n9ii and I weighed them with the help of the shop owner. To my surprise, all of them weighed 90g stringless with plastic and stickers on the handle so 89g exactly as they are advertised at. Li-ning's production/quality control is outstanding! Victor should learn from them. From handling it, it is more flexible than I thought but it is my first Li-ning racket so I don't know how it will play. The head is not that heavy too. It kind of remind me of the BS LYD actually which is not bad at all since I liked that racket. It is definitely slower than BS12 but still maintains a high pitch when swinging it. I stringed it with bg80 and I'm going to play it tonight as it is in order to check what kind of grip setup it needs.
Konquerian, Did you try 3U LDF vs N9ii? I just bought my 3U LDF 10 days ago and now i am very interested on N9ii after reading your review. If N9ii is more flexible than LDF isnt it suppose to be less powerful on smashes ?
I only have a 4u ldf 2017, and so I don't have a 3u to test it with. I never did say the n9ii is more flexible than the ldf, only similar. With limited info from li ning's site, I can only use my own feeling on the racquets to compare the two, and I can feel a similarity in stiffness, but there's definitely a difference. With my hours on the n9ii, I personally feel that the n9ii is faster in swing speed than my 4u ldf, a racquet which I spent even more hours on than my n9ii. Although I have also had a member on the forum telling me that the ldf feels faster to him, it only shows that the matter is very subjective, and will be different with each user. I also find the n9ii packs a bigger punch in smash shots than my 4u ldf, speed and accuracy also feel better. A 3u ldf could be different, but I don't have one to try to confirm that. I don't know what magic li ning used in their techs to make the n9ii so great, but it is definitely a racquet I picked to use over my 4u ldf. I read your review on the ldf, and pretty much I feel the same way as you do with the ldf. And if you do get a chance to try the n9ii, I would love to hear your thoughts and comparison of the two racquets. My review on the n9ii is just my 2 cents, so different person will definitely have a different experience.
I saw online store here selling n9ii for about discounted price of 1000 CNY (about 150USD) . Very tempted. I ask my wife about getting another racket and she said " I thought you just bought a new racket 10 days ago " Need to do some "wife convincing job" before i can get my hands on n9ii
Maybe you can buy it, wait for the package on the delivery day or ship to else where, and then hide it, a lot of the people I know do that trick and worked like a charm . However, it must be a clean getaway; otherwise it will be like a few of my friends, they disappeared from the badminton gym for a week or so , until finally showing up again with a new leash and collar . Good luck!
Lining n9ii review Hi guys, this is my first post. The lining n9ii is my first li ning racket and warrants setting aside some time to post about. I have been following this thread with interest and finally got my hands on the new colour n9ii, which is beautiful! The photos don’t quite do it justice, as the paint is shimmery and changes colour slightly, depending on the lighting. Definitely my best looking racket! So, I’ve been playing with the n9ii for 3 x 2hr sessions, and I’m starting to get use to it. I string at 28Ib nbg 99. With a fresh set of strings the n9ii played like a dream. It’s no wonder the pros use fresh strings for every match! But as with a newly strung racket the tension dropped between the first and second session and I think now it is starting to settle into its stable playing tension, which will make it easy to get used to going forwards. The rackets I will compare in this review with the n9ii are the ones I have been using the past few years. Kason F9, BS LYD, Voltric ZFII, and Zspeed, Ti10 Gen 1 2u. 1st impressions: Straight out of the gate the n9ii, felt like it fit me like a glove. The balance, speed and swiftness it like nothing I have ever felt. The closest is the BS10, but this the n9ii is far more stable and solid compares the both the BS10 and BS LYD which is more whippy and cannot handle maximum power smashes. The shaft of the BS makes it easy to generate average power, but the way I load the shaft when I use maximum power arm smashes, makes the BS unstable and it whips too much so I lose power and control and makes it prone to injury. The n9ii has no such issue. It was tailor made for Fu Hai Feng, who is definitely one of the most explosive badminton players out there. He generates power from using his full arm and shoulders muscles and doesn’t use wristy smashes. If you are a wristy player the ZSP is much better. I find the ZSP is a good racket for all-round player. If you want accuracy, decent power, speed, and control, and don’t want to expend much energy using only wrist power, that is the racket to go to. However, if you want to be able to generate maximum power steep jump smashes that causes the shuttle to crush to the ground before the feet of your opponent before skidding off the court, the ZSP can’t do that. My most powerful rackets have been the Kason F9 and ZFII. ZFII maximum power is right up there. It’s definitely the stiffest shaft I have ever used (perhaps comparable to the Ti10 2u) and the head heaviness gives it a solid wham when I get my timing just right for power jump smashes. That solidness must be one of the best feelings in badminton. The ZFII can generate enough power that a smash from the doubles baseline can often go straight pass the opponent or into the body before they have time to react. BUT, and this is a big but with the ZFII, in a doubles game, you don’t have time often to set up for that perfect smash… and the ZFII is too heavy in defense and netplay, and the smaller head makes it more difficult to use for all round play. My previous go to racket was the Kason F9. I have 2 of these as it’s so good. The F9 has crazy power, and makes repeated smashing possible. It has a larger head which makes it suitable for defense, and hitting the sweet spot is made easier due to the more flexible shaft, compared with the ZFII of ZSP. So my first impression of the n9ii is that it is basically a much improved Kason F9, which FHF used the Kason F9 to win the 2011 world championship and 2012 Olympics. BP is 295mm with overgrip and string, which is identical to the F9. I skipped the n9 as I had a few swings and it felt too flexible and headlight. I think it's no surprise that the n9ii has allowed FHF, who did not win a world championship between 2012-2016, to turn back the clock win another Olympic medal. I feel years younger with the n9ii too!! All the issues that I had with the F9 have been fixed! F9 – Bit too flexible, and not very accurate. N9ii - They stiffened the shaft and the accuracy is improved. F9 – Too whippy under the maximum load power smashes. N9ii – Stiffer shaft makes swing smooth even under the most extreme condition. F9 – Bit slow and hard to manoeuver in front court N9ii – Sharp frame makes it faster F9 – Wristy lifts lack power, and power is from arm strengths. N9ii – Stiffness again makes racket suitable to wristy shots. I wouldn’t said as powerful in wristy shots compared to ZSP or ZFII which are more heavy heavy and have stiffer shafts. But definitely less of a weakness than the F9. So how the N9ii work in a variety of situations? 1. Forehand Clears – Effortless due to fast frame and head balanced. 2. Forehand Drops – Steep and deceptive 3. Forehand Smashes – Normal Smashes have decent power, and power smashes have maximum power uncapped without whippiness. (BS LYD, ZSP max power is capped). In some ways it reminds me of the Ti10 1Gen 2u, FHFs racket from his younger days. I have one which I don’t use much as I don’t want to break it, it being over 10 years old and with low max tension guidelines. But the n9ii is very reminiscent of the Ti10 which was extra stiff headlight. The n9ii is improved in every way though, but FHF did really well with that racket and perhaps gave some of that input to Lining to create the n9ii… The Ti10 can generate serious power, with its 2u extra stiff shaft, but it’s slower and the head is a bit too light. 4. Forehand stick smashes/Wrist smashes - sharp and powerful. 5. Backhand Clears – Effortless. Attacking and defensive clears are possible. Baseline to baseline clears easiest out of any racket. 6. Backhand Drops – Stable and smooth 7. Backhand Smashes – This is actually made possible with this racket. Your backhand can become a weapon. I caught several opponents unaware with the power of a backhand smash. Surprised even myself with the power I could get, which I couldn’t before. 8. Forehand and backhand lifts - With a bit or arm power the shuttle can go sky high. This is great for defense or when you need to lift a tight net shot to the baseline. You do need to use arm power though. If you are lazy and use your wrist only your lifts will suffer. Wrist only lifts lack sufficient power compares to a ZFII, and don’t necessarily go the rear court baseline, but it is an improvement over the F9 though. 9. Smash returns – If your timing and positioning is right you can lift your opponents smashes to the baseline again and again until they tire or make a mistake. Fast head of the n9ii means that you actually have a chance to return normally unreturnable smashes into your body. You can get your racket on it, which is not possible with the ZFII. However, wrist only returns lack power. I’m trying to work on how to rectify that. It’s better than the f9 and the full size head is an advantage compared to ZFII or ZSP in terms on getting your racket on the shuttle. 10. Midcourt pushes – I think if anything this is weakness for the racket. In midcourt there isn’t time to use arm power and all power comes from wrist. N9ii an improvement to the F9 and is decent, but won’t be as effective as a BS LYD, ZSP in speed or power. ZFII is very powerful in midcourt, but being so headheavy means that the chances of you hitting the sweetspot with the ZFII in midcourt in a fast doubles game in greatly reduced. 11. Front court play – I’m not a great front court player. 6’1’’ and 200Ibs means I’m a bit too heavy and slow now to keep squatting at the front! haha. FHFs never been a great front court player so the n9ii is designed for rear court attack and tries to reduce front court weakness. To that extent the n9ii succeeds. There is no other racket in my bag that can generate so much power from the rear court and still be as fast in the front court. I can intercept shots with forehand and backhand that I would not be able to the F9 or ZFII. And backhand net kills are an easy put away. 12. Spinning net shots – The even balance and stiff shaft makes these shots much easier. 13. Cross court net shots – Again made simple. All it takes is a wrist flick that can turn what looks like a spinning net shot into a tight cross court one and deceive opponents. Overall, if you want to get the MOST out of the racquet I think you need to be as fit as FHF and be able to use arm power for almost every shot. It was tailor made for him after all! But for the rest of us average folk who would tire using so much arm power, it’s a fantastic racket that excels it pretty much every area and really brings out the joys of playing badminton! Wow, this has turned out to be a lengthy review. Didn’t realize I had so much to say on the N9ii. Guess once you find a treasure you want to share about it! That’s all from me for now! 20170527_112403 by wavius posted Jun 2, 2017 at 7:08 PM 20170527_112413 by wavius posted Jun 2, 2017 at 7:08 PM 20170527_112420 by wavius posted Jun 2, 2017 at 7:08 PM
Wavius, Your n9ii, is that a 3U or 4U ? I had the exact same problems with Voltric ZF2 which i sold a month ago. The smaller sweet spot cause some problems with overall gameplay and i didnt like it. How would you rate n9ii backcourt smash power in comparison to ZF2 ?
Seriously??? I can understand if it is your wife's money that you're using to buy your badminton stuffs If it isn't at the expense of the household budget, we husbands have every right to buy our stuffs as we please
All Li Ning rackets, the N range anyways, are all 3U in weight. They don't have 3U, 4U version of the rackets like Yonex does.
AK77, The N9ii comes in only one variant. 3u. I really like the ZFII. I bought one, strung it 30-31Ib played with it for a year and unfortunately broke it in a clash. But I liked it so much I bought another one which I have been using before the N9ii. It is currently strung at 28Ib with NGY 99. It terms of smash satisfaction nothing beats the feeling of a jump smash with the ZFII hitting it dead center, and having all the weight transmitted firmly into the shuttle. The extra stiff shaft and head heavy mass whipping through the shuttle is something most opponents cannot take. I was able to shoot thunderbolts at the opponent that were unreturnable. The small head gives superior accuracy and angle too. However, in a real life fast doubles game those moments are few and far between. The timing of footwork and everything must line up to hit it dead center with 100% strength. And because of the high tension the sweet spot is even smaller. Also, unless you are changing to new shuttles regularly during a game the flight isn’t that stable which makes it even harder to hit the shuttle at maximum strength. It might be a different story if I played regularly with new AS30-50. Playing even with AS5, the shuttle degrades quick enough for the extra power not to make much of a difference after a few rallies. Also repeated smashing is much harder and very demanding. The head weight of the ZFII is also so heavy that after a 100% smash the momentum keeps you going and it’s hard to get back in position should the opponent return your smash. So in terms of pure power at 100% strength, the ZFII wins. I would say the N9ii is about 90-95% of the ZFII power using a 100% strength jump smash at the sweet spot. It’s pretty good already given the shaft is not as stiff and the head is larger which means the power is not as focused. Another racket in my bag that is possible more powerful the N9ii is the Z SP 2U. The extra weight in the 2u makes it pack a decent punch. However, using a 70% strength smash from baseline the N9ii wins. A smash of this power is rarely going to trouble an opponent with decent defense. You can only hope for a weaker return but you do get the shuttle going in a downwards direction. Repeated smashing is also possible. The ZFII is a more demanding racket which means you need a decent swing speed to unlock its potential. With a 70% swing the ZFII shaft is not going to bend as much which means you lose power and it ends up not as powerful as the N9ii at a lower swing speed. Where the ZFII beats out the N9ii is in midcourt backhand and forehand drive returns. With the right timing you can easily turn defense into offense which is just not possible with the n9ii. The head is too light for that kind of play. With the ZFII I can easily flick a forehand and backhand smash return into the opposite corner if the timing is right. With the N9ii the same shot only goes to ¾ court, which makes it dangerous to an opponent’s follow up smash. ZFII is also better for sharp push shots to the midcourt corners. I wished the N9ii packed more punch in these areas, but you can’t have it all! But ZFII is harder to manoeuver in defense and in crosscourt drive exchanges, and in the front court. It is also physically more demanding so after a few games it may be too tiring to use well. But I find it’s very good for singles where you have more time between shots but in doubles play maneuverability is important too. Overall: Max power ZFII > N9ii 70% power N9ii > ZFII Speed/Maneuverability N9ii > ZFII Drives/Pushes ZFII > N9ii Accuracy ZFII > N9ii
I have 2x2hr with it and my timing still needs some work. But what I feel right now is : Yes! This is the one! I was looking for a racket to play both doubles and singles, not too tiring with a good feeling and n9ii is spot on. I couldn't agree more with all reviews about it so far. It is very user-friendly IMO. A good feel on hit, solid and no vibrations. It also feels very durable, I had a clash on defense with my partner and there isn't a chip on it. In the other hand, the flex surprised me at first. It's definitely one of the most flexible racket I played with but it's challenging notions I had about that. Power on smash, accuracy are great and it still handle fast paced exchanges quite well. It's like you have the benefits of the flex without drawbacks except maybe power on drives as mentioned above and feedback a bit muted. Apart from these, I have nothing more to say that hasn't been wrote before. It's stringed with bg80 but it makes me want to try bg66um or ng98 next time.
hahaha, i am joking. i am the banker in the family. however, if i start splashing too much on these, she ll say 'i need a better diamond ring'
I will likely get a N9ii to try anyway May I ask , other than FHF , is there a relatively large number of Li Ning players using this N9ii? I just want to gauge popularity of this racket (vs other rackets) for the club , international players as well as social players
Setiawan is using it and I also saw Liu Yuchen with the new version but it seems that he's back to his previous one. I don't watch other chinese players except LD and CL so...
I just posted this on the other Li Ning thread, thought I'd post it here as well To all N9II owners, could you please help me do a quick check to see if your N9II is the same like mine? So I was comparing my N9II to my N99 and N90 by putting them side by side, on top of each other and overlapping them, and I noticed that N9II has a tiny bit longer shaft compared to my N99 and N90. I've attached a picture comparing N99 to my N9II, look at the T-joint area and notice how they don't end at the same lenght? Overall length is still them same. Can you guys please do the same and let me know if yours is like that as well?
Hi guys hope all bc n9ii could help me out. I strung my n9ii with li ning no 1 30lb 30lb. Found the racquet to b amazing. I also have n9 which i strung with li ning no 5 which i found to b fantastic. Then i switch to li ning no 1, found d n9 to b horrible. Should i change my string on n9ii from no1 to no 5?. The prob is find that n9 with li ning no 5 feels a bit head lighter than my n9ii with li ning no1
