http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/yonex-astrox-88s-88d-2018.175104/page-76 Please check on post #1516 by Konquerian. There are a few others, you can just go through the more recent posts in this thread
Nice! So you finally decided to give 88d a try, I hope it meets your expectations. IMO, I think that the 88d is a good replacement for the LDF, if one is looking for more control and maneuverability but wouldn’t mind the minor trade-offs. Happy Smashing @RajUS !!!
Somehow, I much prefer the more solid feel and well tempered vibration of Victor’s 6.8mm pyrofil shaft or even the 6.4mm pyrofil shaft, not that I don’t like the NAMD shaft, but just a thought .
@swsh your love is always so short lived. You might say you love cats now; but one or two sessions later, you might turn to love dogs and lose the cats .
If I’m honest it’s more to do with my tensions. Should I choose to not change these after say 3-4 months I’ll get a net value of 0 out of them after they crack.
Unfortunately, if you are in Mauritius, I think Shop & Ship doesn't deliver there or is there one in your country? This is an Aramex service and is quite convenient to use, and usually faster. Where did you order your racket by the way? If it's from shuttle-house japan, it usually takes only about a week to be delivered.
Shuttle House. I've been informed its already in Mauritius but it is with customs. And they are taking years to send it to meeeee! Its so painful.
Hello guys, I'm rather new to this as I've never written a racquet review before, so please forgive me if my review is not complete. A friend of mine wanted to sell his newly bought 88D, as he felt that it was too stiff and head heavy to his liking. I had the chance to try it out before purchasing his racquet just yesterday, so here's the review for Astrox 88D 3UG5 JP, 26lbs BG80 (Usually play with 29lbs with original grip off and apply cushion grip, so review might not be perfect) Initial feeling- When I held the racquet on hand, the very first thing came the mind was how 'Solid' it felt. from the shaft to the T-position then onto the head, you could feel every vibration on it and the swing. The racquet was so well built and the weight is also distributed differently in parts of the racquet (T-position and head), it was a 'nice' type of head heavy that reminds me of A900T where the weight isn't all concentrated on the head like a z force 1 but rather spread out to give that solid feel. This racquet most closely resembles my 2U Nanoray 900, as you could feel the motion of the racquet head as it guides your arm downwards after every swing, the way it cuts across the air is so similar and the frame shape too. Drives- My main racquets are 2U Nanoray z speeds (96,99grams), switching to the 88D was full of fun. Like the previous reviews of 88D, the statement regarding power that is outputted versus how hard you hit stands true, as a tiny flick of the wrist can return the shuttle like a bullet, and the effort is actually so minimal! Every snap from a drive, the racquet head returns back so quickly you waste so little energy playing from the wrist and the same thing applies to a bigger swing. Now it doesn't hit as fast as my N9II, but it's for sure a joy to play drives with and hits rather fast for a large frame size and somewhat weighty racquet. It hits drives with an accuracy of a nanoray (not the best but speed is nice), and the power is in between a voltric and arcsaber, where the shot isn't all power but more so on speed. Smash- I wasn't exactly content with how the racquet had performed on this part, I'm a frontcourt player (But I love using 2U racquets). And usually, when forced to play at the back I like to do more wrist smashes to go for placement rather than power play. This racquet hits well with steeper angles from wrist smashes compared to other racquets, control is also there but no matter how hard I hit with a full swing, it just doesn't hit as hard as I want it to, maybe it's a timing thing, or the strings because I normally use vs890/bg80 at 29lbs and the testing strings were bg80 at 26lbs. But I never once did a miss hit with the racquet and wouldn't a lower tension give me an easier smash? When I was attempting to hit a smash with 100%, what really came out was about 80% of the power output, but I do have to say that the angle is more than I can ask for, as any shot that went through was below my opponents stomach to waist height which I normally don't hit because I wrist smash a lot with not a lot of angle but for crosses so my partner can kill it in the front. It still bugs me that 88D isn't as stiff compared to any of my other racquets (zf1, zf2, zsp), and yet still isn't able to generate a faster smash really came as a surprise to me and was honestly odd. Maybe because I play with a smaller grip with one layer grip instead of two which is what I was playing with that day, the second layer could've affected the overall weight so shots weren't executed as well. Drop shots- This was fun to execute. 88D is like I said a nicely weighted racquet, an easy downwards guidance with your arm brings the shuttle such steep angles combined with a fast landing while watching both your opponents struggle to get to the shot in the front mid court can bring such joy. Out of ten drops, eight of them will land in between the area from the short service line to the net, holy, it was amazing to watch the shuttle land before I could get even get back to back mid court to prepare for the next shot. This I gotta say the 88D strikes with controlled shots like a voltric series racquet because of the weight in the head, but also the frame that helps provide the shot to crash on the floor faster than usual. Clears- Now I normally play with stiffer racquets, the 88D like I mentioned isn't as stiff as something like a z force 1 and z force 2, but control is sometimes even better, combined with a nicely weighted head, all my clears were 'all' landing baseline or beyond it sometimes and that's hitting at 60%. Normally I have to hit with 80% with my nanoray z speed to land the shuttle within the long service line and boundary line in the back, it was an ease to perform clears with 88D due to it's larger frame and weight distribution plus if you're a person who plays with stiff racquets and small frames like js10, zf2 or zsp, the shots really are a breeze to hit and control is even as good as these racquets mentioned due to 88D's stringbed actually holds onto the shuttle slightly longer before blasting off like team rocket. Conclusion- The 88D is such a fun racquet to play with, the only draw back I felt really was it doesn't fully use up the maximum output when I decide to hit as hard, or maybe I just suck XD. But the racquet's slight flex in the shaft brings out more power and speed in shots that are explosive in the front and mid court I personally feel at least, and with the shots that are require fast reflexes like defensive blocks and drives, this racquet performs so well in those areas it really is made to be a doubles racquet. Oh and i think it would've been great if the racquet was slightly heavier in the head or if they had a 2u alternative. 88D I use now is 91grams, with original grip off and one layer grip with cushion under.
Originals grips off, applied cushion grip and only one layer. Both G5 Nanoray z speed (99grams) astrox 88d (91-92grams)
[QUOTE="When I was attempting to hit a smash with 100%, what really came out was about 80% of the power output, but I do have to say that the angle is more than I can ask for, as any shot that went through was below my opponents stomach to waist height which I normally don't hit because I wrist smash a lot with not a lot of angle but for crosses so my partner can kill it in the front. It still bugs me that 88D isn't as stiff compared to any of my other racquets (zf1, zf2, zsp), and yet still isn't able to generate a faster smash really came as a surprise to me and was honestly odd. Maybe because I play with a smaller grip with one layer grip instead of two which is what I was playing with that day, the second layer could've affected the overall weight so shots weren't executed as well. [/QUOTE] In my first session with this racket recently i was also not hitting smashes at the powerlevel i would desire, but i didnt focus on it so much yet. Could be that i need to adapt to the racket, so hopefully more power will come in eventually. will try it in the next session.. Angles were superb from the beginning for me as well
There can only be two possibilities if you are someone who plays with a ZSP. Either the NAMD is a failure; or The counter balance is messing with your timing or your wrist. Can you try to shorten your wrist smash with it and see if you get more power. Like instead of hitting the shuttle just think of stinging/clipping it, making your wrist movement as short and as sharp and snappy as possible. Let me know after that please. Thank you
Thank you, I'm having another play session with it later in the day, I'll keep that in mind and just try focus less on how I'm hitting but feeling the shot.
In my first session with this racket recently i was also not hitting smashes at the powerlevel i would desire, but i didnt focus on it so much yet. Could be that i need to adapt to the racket, so hopefully more power will come in eventually. will try it in the next session.. Angles were superb from the beginning for me as well[/QUOTE] I'll be playing with it in a bit, maybe like you I didn't yet adapt to how the racquet plays. I'll see how it goes
Thanks. Please let us know how it went! Have you ever played with a Duora 10? If yes, after you've played with the A88D again, please let me know how they compare. Thanks
The smashes were much more pleasant now that I swing for placement rather than full power and focus only on that aspect. I can't compare it with duora 10, as I don't have that racquet.
So the power did not come after all? My smashes are usually already very steep with my D10 because I tend to take my smash overhead for steepness. I'm worried that i'll hit the tape with the A88D
