Hi All, Have been away from the game for 4 years due to work and just general lack of interest, but am back now and wanted to upgrade my equipment. Previous rackets owned are z slashes from Yonex. Would continue to get these if stock was still available, but they are harder to come by now. Can anybody recommend me a similar racket from the Yonex range? Slight head heavy, stiff shaft are the specs I normally go with. Thank you in advance
Thank you for the quick response. The z strike is the racket most similar to the Z slash? As it seems to have similar specs (minus the extra stiff shaft). I have tried the 88s, which is a fantastic racket, and the zf2 (4U) which I think is mostly an overhead racket. I'm not fussed about the two different frames, more the feel of the racket I'm looking for.
ARC ZS is still available on long teng badminton (Ship from HK) if you are okay with that. I have obtained a SP version from them about 8 months ago via friend visiting. Consider shipping cost to UK is feasible for you. ARC ZS is an unique racquet even it is rated a stiff, but it has tremendous head speed that the shaft doesn't feel like it is stiff at all due to the compact frame and narrow shaft (compare to Voltric 80 or LD force, which is also rated stiff and head heavy). The Zslash has a lot of hate because of its compact frame requires timing adjustment of your shot so that you don't hit the frame all the time. Although DUO ZS seems like Yonex replacement of ARC ZS on paper, I have serious doubt the ZStrike perform similar to the Zslash because 1) I didn't find Duora frame faster than Arcsaber frame; 2) the review around the forum the ZStrike is really stiff, and demands good technique to unleash its potential. The above rounds down to only 2 racquets that may perform similar to the Arc ZS, 1) Victor Jetspeed 10; 2) Li-ning N9ii. Although both of these racquets do not come in the compact head, they should easy to generate fast head speed. The Jetspeed 10 comes in stiff shaft, whereas the N9ii comes in medium shaft. To answer OP question about Yonex replacement, the fastest racquet to maneuver like the Arc ZS may be nanoray 900 or nanoray ZSpeed. However, there isn't quite a replacement along the Yonex line that can replicate that unique fast head, small sweet spot, punchy smash feeling (similar sensation like smashing with the Yonex Carbonex oval head) of Arc ZS.
