First off, balance and weight can be very different with Yonex rackets. If you have a 2U racket, it could be 90g-95g. This makes a big difference. So without knowing the exact weight and balance point of your Ti8, it's hard to say. SOTX rackets come with the exact weight and BP on the handle so you know. Stiffness: don't recall on the Ti8 as it was a while back but the Woven 7 is stiff. Not extra stiff but I would say a solid "stiff" and should be on par with the Ti8, if not a bit stiffer. Tension: the best tension? There is no best tension. I regularly string my 7s at 27-29lbs. PeteLSD does at 31-32lbs. The best tension is whatever tension you feel most comfortable with. The racket is warrantied up to 30lbs.
today the crack in my at700 finally split open and the frame buckled. my friend gave me his woven 7 to use until my order arrived. the vibration was definitely more pronounced on the W7 , as before, but this time, after about 10 minutes , i forgot about it, and realized it was much more useful at the net to have this sensitivity, as it gave a nicer feel. It took a while to adjust to the feel of power shots, The At700 is just seems to depend totally on its head balance for power, as it was easily flexed i thought, but once i started to swing the W7 fast enough, i felt the shaft flex , and man was it cool!! Loud, stinging whippy smashs that were faster and sharper than the at700. same with clears, just lovely whippy snappy shots. Its just a case of swinging faster to flex it. sooo much better i thought. and its durable as hell. couple of clanks off the frame and its perfect looking. the only thing, is that im not generating enough speed to flex it while holding at the bottom of the handle, so i need to grip up at the top of the grip . but im sure if i inch down more and more each time i play, ill get the hang of it eventually. so, to jerby and dink i say, i apologise for ever doubting you. i still think the at700 is more stable in the swing, but the W7 is muuch better for everything. I wish i ordered one, instead of the d600 and woven 11. but if there the same quality as this...
"quality wise" (as far as it can be measured) the D600 and w11 are definatly the same. Both of them are just longer and stiffer (though some say the lonegr shaft makes it easier to flex, making it only slightly stiffer) if you can flex them, the d600 and w11 hit bombshells
hey herry, i still haven't gotten used to the w11, i don't think i'm able to flex it properly and i find it's too long for my liking. what's a good alternative (in the sotx range) for a 675mm racquet which is slightly less stiff than the w11?
well, it's not 675, but the cp6000 is 89grams, 680mm long, headheavy but medium-stiff (8.5-9.0) Other options might be a D900, or cp7k (which definatly has a lot of flex to it) whom are both 675mm, flexier than the w11 and around 88-90 grams
the CP5k, I really love it... the stiffness is good, great feel an defense, power is good enough (since I've come to terms with myself powerplay will never be my best game )
I hope I will get some CPs for test in a few weeks time.. I was told they where out of stock, bút on their way in /Twobeer
hey jerby, what sotx racquet did you use before the CP5000? i went from a woven7 to woven11 and prefer the woven11. i'm getting some CP5000 and CP3000 in soon to try and see how it goes.
Hey Jerby or Master NGP... When you have time, you think you can rank some of the SOTX rackets in order of stiffness? Main interested in the Woven, DF and CP lines... The relative stiffness of the W8, D500 and CP6k in particular and an approximation with Yonex rackets if possible.
my racketchoice is, weird, actually... I went form a w7 to a w11 (more power) then to a d600 (less power) then to a D500 (amazingly enough ~same power) then a cp5k (more power)... wew, that's a difficult...mostly because I'm not too much a fan of 'ratings'... I'd say sotx is pretty acurate with it's ratings, everything 8,0-8,5 is almost just as stiff...everything higher is flexier (8,5-9,0 is flexier, 8,8-9,2 even more, etc etc) What messes things up is the shaft length, the d500 (8,5-9,0) feels stiffer than other 8,5-9,0 rackets (say, w9) because the shaft is shorter. Likewise, the w7i feels stiffer than the (longer) w11i. Though it's all just opinions, the more I let people test my stuff (mainly my cp5k) the more diverse opinions I get. well, I'd love it if I could say this just one time: absolutely none () To begin, why aks for something "similar to an at900P"? And not "similar to an at500? or at800off?" with something 'similar' you couldn't possibly expect it not to be similar to those two. My answer would be 'hype' . Do you really want a sotx? Or do you want an at900P? Now, if you'd ask for a sotx which is headheavy, stiff/extra stiff, en 3U (or 4U for that matter) you'd come just as close... Now, why did I say "none"? because I could name you some sotx racket which are like it (w7(i), w11(i), d600, cp5k) but not one would be a match. They all come vaguely close, but all are different at some point... My advice would be to ask 'racket recommendation' like I said above (statistics) instead of "which racket is most like *insert lastest newest hyped model*" But that's just me (Note: I hope I don't come of as a ranting lunatic, It's really not my intention)
dear oh dear. see, i wish i had read this a while back. It made far more sense to me, that the higher the number, the stiffer it was( i was a measure of stiffness, not flexyness!!) so i assumed, by buying 2 rackets with a stiffness of 8-8.5 id be getting some flexibility:crying:. So ive only been using the D600 and W11 for a few hours, and they both feel great, the W11 in particular just feels like its about to explode with all the potential in it, but in a fit of madness, i strung them far too tight , so im killing myself trying to flex the racket and stringbed. The d600 is far easier to use, but Doesnt have the same whippy feeling, or maneuverability as the W7. So great clears and lifts, but rubbish smashes. Hopefully ill get the hang of it in a few days. just practice i hope. So far, W7 is still the nicest sotx racket ive tried.
I just got a Woven 7 today. I didn't find it stiff at all. I'm using a Victor Power Waves 11 by the way. But I did notice it was heavier and head heavier. Haven't played with it yet though. I was testing the flexibility by bending shaft with hand
If i remeber correctly the rating is the degree of angle the racket bend when it is put under a fixed load at the head So the bigger the number = the bigger the angle = the more flexiable the shaft is so don't get confuse
I just got a Woven 10i and I'm blown away by it. I've had a woven 8 and a woven 10 before. The 10i is a perfect upgrade to the 10 as it solves all of the small problems it had. While I loved it, it was a little poor in terms of defense and manueverability. The 10i, while still long and powerfull is much more reactive to your commands. I find this especially helps on the backhand side where the 10 felt a little slow and the 10i is crisp as it is lighter. If your looking for a powerfull, all around raquet I think the 10i is the perfect match. No its not as powerfull as an 11, but it is also not as much of a beast to weild.
D600= racket for life. Technique and swing speed just naturally increase and improve to match the racket, and now when it flexs, its fantastic. Much prefer it to the at700 and I find it easier to net play and defend than the W7. Feels a bit different, as if you have more control during your swing. Great racket. The W11 hasnt even been touched i like this racket so much. Jerby is my new Racket man. All Hail.
the D600 is a very good racket along with my favourite woven 7. at that time those were the only two in my racket bag. but i was practicing my backhand at the backyard and i accidently clashed with the gutter and the D600 cracked
