Need help in choosing a badminton racket. (Ended up with Adidas Spieler P09.1)

Discussion in 'Racket Recommendation / Comparison' started by Nguyễn Tín, Jul 28, 2020.

  1. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    I don't understand why do you need to buy to try then sell if it doesn't work. It's not like at your level your performances will be improved by the racket. May be if it's too stiff of a racket yes or if the tension is too high then it's going to be a handicap for you but at your level of play (intermediate/advanced beginner coming back from a year off) any 4u semi flex will do just fine imo. Also the more time you spend thinking about this racket non existent issue the less time you spend training or focusing on the right thing. Again just my 2 cents :).

    EDIT: I don't mean for you to pick any racket either like the cheapest one though. Just find what you like but don't overthink it is what I meant :)
     
    #41 LenaicM, Jul 30, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2020
    Nguyễn Tín likes this.
  2. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    I understand this though, but thanks for pointing it out and reminding me. I’m still taking steps in training and practicing for the time being. ^^
     
    Sushi Bear and LenaicM like this.
  3. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2010
    Messages:
    5,053
    Likes Received:
    2,403
    Occupation:
    Z-Force II
    Location:
    Z-ForceII
    I'm curious what injury which you had. Maybe you wanna like to share. If it is anything in the arm, shoulder, wrist or hand area it is important to have this information, because anything which is unforgiving won't help you to stay uninjured for a long time. Spotters/friends are seldom a good indicator for judging your level. It always depends on the enviroment. I can go to some clubs, thrash everyone there and people will judge me as an advanced player which I'm 100% not according to my understanding.


    It sounds harsh, but 100% not a racket issue. It's a technique, contact point etc. issue. Has nothing to do with the racket.
    I personally can smash with any racket consistent and step if I had some time with it on court to adjust to it and the string tension is not too tight for me.

    Accuracy come with technique. There is no "power racket" or "control racket" out there. Especially delight shots like netplay have nearly nothing to do with stiffness. I personally think you should get a 40$ racket and hire for the rest a coach to get some basics.

    You really give the racket too much influence on your game. It sounds that you are unable to generate enough power yet. And no racket will fix it. It's harsh but the truth. Many equipment sommeliers will disagree with me, but I still made the experience that a decent player can play with a wide range of rackets and just the last 10-20% are personal preference and fitting to playing style.
     
    LenaicM, Nguyễn Tín and Dave1011 like this.
  4. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    If this means anything, I was being completely honest and not overestimating myself, I know I'm at more than beginner level but not all the way to intermediate, and my spotters are usually advanced players around the court helping everybody out. Edit: including my friends as well, they are above intermediate level in my opinion.
    Regarding my injuries, it was my left knee ACL after receiving a direct blow to the knee during a football match, it's not torn but severely stretched. My doctor has approved my coming back to badminton.
    I personally think you missed the part where I said I was playing outdoors on a windy day, just practicing and because my usual club was fully occupied. Contact point is always an issue playing outside when it is windy. I can smash fine on court. I don't consider rackets are important at the first place though, the reason I want to buy a good one now is to supplement my ability. I'm still training and getting back into shape, so I thought having a good racket in the first place and spending as much time as possible to get used to it can be quite benefitial in the future, if not for that reason, I would have stayed with fake rackets haha.
    Thank you for your remarks though. I'm gonna keep practicing. ^^
    Edit #2: I'll cover as much rackets and my preferences as possible as it would help you guys tremendously. I know it's been a long thread but I just can't make up my mind yet. Thank you for sticking up.
     
    #44 Nguyễn Tín, Jul 30, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2020
    ucantseeme and Dave1011 like this.
  5. pughon

    pughon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2018
    Messages:
    287
    Likes Received:
    144
    Location:
    somewhere unknown
    You brought false information since outdoor badminton with windy cement courts is not common everywhere like in VN.
    Many suggestions also point out, you should not worry about racket at this stage. Just go with a mid range racket with recommended specs. I guess those VNB rackets will do. Save your money until you truly improved your playing style.
     
    ucantseeme likes this.
  6. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2010
    Messages:
    5,053
    Likes Received:
    2,403
    Occupation:
    Z-Force II
    Location:
    Z-ForceII
    My post was not offensive. I just want to tell you that any midrange racket will do well for you. My first racket I choosed by the design when I was 12/13 yo (sparkeling and shiny). A good laugh for @s_mair and @speCulatius because I do it still now to some degree. :D

    Thanks for claryfing. If I hear injury, I'm always sensitive in my recommendation of rackets.

    I think you should give the Nanoray a second chance on court. The enviroment was not good as you describe, so the racket sucked for you because of the whole situation. Try it on court and how it plays.
     
  7. pughon

    pughon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2018
    Messages:
    287
    Likes Received:
    144
    Location:
    somewhere unknown
    I am curious about it. I saw the 'Black Pink' joke :D
     
    ucantseeme likes this.
  8. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    I'm sorry for providing informations that have a chance to be false regarding playing environments. It was just only for that day only as I mentioned above and I always play indoors, hope it gives you guys a peace of mind when suggesting a picky player like me a racket.
    On a note about the VNB rackets, yes, I have tried them, they are usually used for practice in the club where I play today, my country is not stricken heavily by COVID and I have so much free time since I just finished my first year in university, I guess the club manager is going to be bored seeing me standing at the entrance waiting for him to open the court everyday haha. Anyway, I have tried VNB rackets out today, more specifically the V88 (head-heavy, 3UG5, string BG65Ti tension @20lbs, flexible) and the blue V200 (same specs and string but even more flex), I played a game with each racket and here are my thoughts.
    Regarding the V88 variation, I find myselft with more power at the end of my smash but the shuttle landed pretty much not at where I expected it to be, which is obvious since it's a flexible racket (not too flex by the way), it's a pain in the buttock to see my clears ending wayyyy out the of the corners and my smashes were not in mid-court section comparing to my friend's Yonex V0.9DG. Backhand clears and slices were pretty much numb, I couldn't hit the sweetspot and even if I do, the accuracy was so far off. I guess by now you guys can tell that net play wasn't fine as well, couldn't control the shuttle and gave my opponent more chances to net kill me. tl;dr smashes improved but accuracy was pretty much trash, I hate that.
    And the V200, take the V88 and multiply it twice.
    It's a shame that my friend brought the Victor Thruster K9 instead of the mentioned afore Nanoflare Drive, but I got to play with TK9 which was restrung with an BG80 @22lbs. As I got to play with it more, first off, the feel when I held the racket, damn, I know it was 3U but with the balance point and a small grip (please note that I play with G5 rackets, but my friend stripped off the factory grip and only used a towel grip with no wrap underneath), I honestly didn't expect it to be SO heavy. I felt fatigue only after a few strokes and clears. In a short time prior to the point I had to change racket due to the weight problem, I noticed a pretty good boost in accuracy and slicing the shuttles were much more satisfying and gave the shuttles even more rotations (maybe because of the string), clears were easy even though it's quite heavy for me, smashes were out of the question since I was afraid of injuring myself. I hit the sweetspot with it many more shots than with V88 or V200.
    After a few rackets tryouts, I have a good, but still ambiguous, preference point. I prefer slight aggressive playstyle but more about placement and accuracy, to put it in perspective, I enjoy the 6-4 ratio aggresiveness. Head-heavy and slightly stiff might do the trick for me.
    For now, I'm trying to look for a Kalkul A3 or similar Adidas rackets (I'm in Vietnam so it's quite hard to come by), so Yonex, Victor or Lining are not out of the question. I'm glad to hear any recommendations. Currently in my head, besides the A3 or Adidas (I like them, it's obvious haha), Aeronaut 7000B is not a bad choice as well but too high a price where I live (3.800.000VND ~ US$163).
     
    #48 Nguyễn Tín, Jul 31, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
  9. pughon

    pughon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2018
    Messages:
    287
    Likes Received:
    144
    Location:
    somewhere unknown
    I don't know why you look for Kalkul A5. Providing you are in fond of head-heavy and slightly stiff, A3 has closer specs to what you need. A5 is medium stiff and more like balanced.
     
  10. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    I'm sorry, mistyped because I remembered wrong. Thank you for pointing it out.
    As Dave said before, Kalkul A3 and not the A5.
     
    #50 Nguyễn Tín, Jul 31, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
  11. Budi

    Budi Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2019
    Messages:
    1,845
    Likes Received:
    878
    Location:
    Indonesia
    do you mean TK9 = Victor Thruster K9000?
    Well, if you like it but to heavy for you, TK9000 also available in 4U. But many said that Victor have quite huge tolerance value. My TK770 is the heaviest of all my other 3U racket (99gr with the same setup, while other only fall on 94-96gr). Kinda like borderline 3U to 2U or lower 2U area.
    Also you might want to look at Yonex VT LDF. Many say both are pretty much close each other, just minor differrence here & there.
     
    Nguyễn Tín likes this.
  12. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    There is a Victor Thruster K9 which is the racket I was borrowing from a friend to test. Here's a picture of it.
    Thank you for your recommendation, I will be looking into the Voltric LDF, was a bit afraid it's gonna too unforgiving due to the stiffness.
    tk-9_1.jpg
     
    #52 Nguyễn Tín, Jul 31, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
  13. Budi

    Budi Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2019
    Messages:
    1,845
    Likes Received:
    878
    Location:
    Indonesia
    so thats a different racket. My bad, never hear TK9:p.
     
  14. pughon

    pughon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2018
    Messages:
    287
    Likes Received:
    144
    Location:
    somewhere unknown
    There is wide range of low price with similar names in VN: TK9, TK090, TK999...
    Perhaps you might want to have a look at Astrox 88D. Lin Dan Force, as its name indicates, is prone towards single.
     
  15. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2010
    Messages:
    5,053
    Likes Received:
    2,403
    Occupation:
    Z-Force II
    Location:
    Z-ForceII
    Since you play every racket with a different setup (string type, tension, maybe grip) you will never find something which will satisfy you.

    When I test a racket, I don't play a game with it. I use the same test procedure. I start with pushing and driving, drop shot, smashing and blocking and then clears and netplay. Everything on a half court with a decent partner on the other side. I can figure out in 5-10 minutes if I like the racket or not.

    And somebody who is not at the level of beeing consistent like a swiss clockwork, it's very hard to impossible to blame the racket for accuracy and control. I can't understand any pickyness at this level. Get a Astrox 38D or Voltric 7 and go on court.
     
    LenaicM likes this.
  16. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam

    I understand that I’m not to the level to even be picky about rackets. I just want to buy the perfect one for me with it lasting for a long time to come since I play a lot but have a really insignificant budget. Sorry for making it such a trouble.
    However, I did end up not thinking about it anymore and picked up a real beaut for myself.
    The Adidas Spieler P09.1 (black and orange variant) 3UG5 strung with Aerobite @24lbs.
    Although I’m gonna need to adjust to the head shape after getting so used to playing isometric head from Yonex. Any pros and cons in terms of the head shape of this P09.1 other than smaller sweetspot, may I ask?
    On another note, I wrapped the handle with the Spieler grip and found it very soft and provides a great feel for the handle, having little idea about sweat absorbance though. Didn’t even think they have those in stock, even the Kalkul grip but neither Kalkul A3 nor A5 were found.
    Is it okay if I post a Google Photos link to an album with the racket pics or is there any way to fix problems with unable to post over 1MB photos?
    Gonna test it soon, probably in week. I hope I can do a review on this one.
    Thank you all for being so kind and helpful.
     
    LenaicM and Dave1011 like this.
  17. speCulatius

    speCulatius Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2017
    Messages:
    1,129
    Likes Received:
    1,210
    Location:
    'round here....
    I haven't seen the P09.1 in person, but have you compared the head shape to a Yonex isometric head shape? Is there a significant difference? I would be very surprised!
     
  18. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    It's a conventional head shape. Here are some pictures of the P09.1. Comes with a rather great quality duffle bag (which I opted for instead of the original racket bag since I carry it in my backpack).
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/a4JPwdxRPnjiwCmk7
    P/S: Those were shot in my room, ignore the horrendous plywood wall. Sorry.
     
    ucantseeme likes this.
  19. ucantseeme

    ucantseeme Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2010
    Messages:
    5,053
    Likes Received:
    2,403
    Occupation:
    Z-Force II
    Location:
    Z-ForceII
    Looks great. Congrats! :)
     
    Nguyễn Tín and LenaicM like this.
  20. Nguyễn Tín

    Nguyễn Tín Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2020
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Việt Nam
    Thank you so much. :D
    It’s the most expensive racket I have ever owned haha. Looking forward to playing with it this weekend.
     
    badmintonpog1 likes this.

Share This Page