LI-NING WOODS N90-3 (Lin Dan LTD Racket)

One interesting thing about the N90III for me is that I seem to be able to generate much more power with only my wrist and fingers during those quick flat drives, especially with backhand. I am not sure whether it is due to the weight balance, flex of the shaft, or something else, but I didn’t get that feeling even with relatively head-light rackets like the Arc 10 and Arc 8DX.

It is also much easier for me to lift the shuttle all the way back close to the opponent’s base line when defending a hard smash!
 
Thanks for sharing, thekong.
Have you ever used a N90 (first gen)? For me the N90 is a beast which needs a lot of proper technique and strenght and stamina. Can you compare it with the new N90-III?
For me N90 was / is tiring. What about N90-III? Easier to handle? Not that head heavy?

If N90-III isn't that difficult to handle, I maybe want to give a try. I prefer it looks more than the N55-III one's :-P
 
i don't have n90-III, but i do have n90-II and n55-III. falling deeper and deeper in love with n55-III and it's my no1 racket now. It's very good for singles - quite fast, good in defense and at the same time posessing a great attack - i can often put even green plastic birdies to the opponent's side without going for the lines. Good for doubles too - especially if you are mostly a backcourt player. N90-II feels very similar, a little bit more dampered, less vibration, but the balance and overall performance are close.
I am sure that n90-III is a very nice racket, with a fast swing and about the same balance point as n55-III (the brochure says 303mm for n55-III and 302mm for n90-III). But 249$ on MBS ? that's way too much IMO. 221$ for n55-III and i had to give it a lot of thinking. Haven't regretted for a second though.
And n55-III looks much better IMO. Just stunning.
 
Without having played with the first or second generation it's hard to say for sure, but I'm thinking the third generation is much easier to handle than the previous ones. It's a less stiffer racket (medium) combined with SWORD technique and head heavyness (305). I've got a BRS LYD and the feel is almost the same, but I feel that I can get more power out of the N90-3 compared to the BRS LYD. Other than that, they pretty much feel the same (in terms of speed and feel), at least for me. I was thinking of making N90-3 one of my singles racket, but I'm probably going to use it for doubles instead. I'm going to try it out a few more singles games before deciding, but so far, I can't seem to find the more powerful I get with the stiffer and more head heavier VTZF and VT80 from the back court.

I think the copied SWORD technique the N90-3 uses together with the previous mentioned features is a wonderful combination, and I'm liking the racket so far. The feel and sound when your racket goes down from a overhead stroke and at the point of contact of the shuttle is so nice.

Accordaz said:
Thanks for sharing, thekong.
Have you ever used a N90 (first gen)? For me the N90 is a beast which needs a lot of proper technique and strenght and stamina. Can you compare it with the new N90-III?
For me N90 was / is tiring. What about N90-III? Easier to handle? Not that head heavy?

If N90-III isn't that difficult to handle, I maybe want to give a try. I prefer it looks more than the N55-III one's :-P
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I have never used the N90 I, but do have an N90II. To me the VTZF is quicker than the N90II, but the N90III is even quicker! The N90III is slightly less head heavy than both the VTFZ and N90II, and I do feel the N90III is easier to handle.

When I tried bending the shafts by hand, the N90II and III felt similar, but when I swing them, I could feel the N90III bent more. I am not sure whether it is due to the faster swing speed with the sword design (but yes, it does swing faster).

Actually, this is the only point that I don’t like about the N90III, it seems less solid (or more flexi) than the VTFZ and N90II and other hi-end rackets that I have used. But power the N90III has, and I can clear from baseline to baseline with ease.

Now, I am not a heavy hitter, so maybe I just couldn’t swing the other rackets fast enough to bend them appreciably. I am interested to hear from other more experienced members once they have tried the N90III.

 
I've just ordered a pair via mbs, I hope I don't have to pay too much taxes on top of that since the price has already been far more than I'm used to pay for any racket.

How long does it usually take till delivery from mbs?
 
they usually dispatch withing 3-4 business days so with an upcoming weekend you should expect them to send the rackets somewhat tuesday-wednesday. The travel time must vary from the delivery type but shouldnt take longer then a week to germany even for a free one. Don't know the german tax policy but 500$ aint seem to be the kind of money to exceed the tax limit...
Good going with nice rackets. What did you ask them to string em with?
 
swunk said:
they usually dispatch withing 3-4 business days so with an upcoming weekend you should expect them to send the rackets somewhat tuesday-wednesday. The travel time must vary from the delivery type but shouldnt take longer then a week to germany even for a free one. Don't know the german tax policy but 500$ aint seem to be the kind of money to exceed the tax limit...
Good going with nice rackets. What did you ask them to string em with?
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The tax limit is 22 euro/~$29 ;). It, again, just depends on what value is put on how much additional he will have to fork out (20% tax + clearance fee and possibly a little import tax). But yeah, even at this exchange rate that is still a lot of money (~€190!) so hope they are what sFrog is hoping them to be
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SWORD TECH. I want to try this racket out but don't want to shell out for it :(((. Will need to remain happy with my Voltric Z-Forces.
 
I got them with BG80@27 pounds. I did ask for a higher tension but 27 is as high as they wanna go.

I'll c how much I have to pay on top of it but I expect them to cost me double the price of a Victor JJS or TK8000

SWORD TECH. I want to try this racket out but don't want to shell out for it
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((. Will need to remain happy with my Voltric Z-Forces.
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If the Z-Forces really do work for you, you don't think in your game, just react and it's works... then keep them. ZF's are great rackets and I only sold them because they were a fraction too slow for me on flat and fast mens doubles.

Someone said before the 90 III is a slightly less head heavy and faster version of the ZF, so I'm (barely) willing to spend this amount of money ;)
 
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They only offer tensions up to 27lbs in order to ensure the frame stability even during shipment stress.
 
Jasonvan said:
You should like the N90-3, I find it better than the 2 if I had to choose between them, personally still like the N55-3 more though... So haven't been using my N90-3...
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If you're thinking of selling your N90-3...please keep me in mind. Loving the MX-JJS I bought from you.

CD.
 
My rackets arrived last week and had a little play time on one international tournament with them. Till now I still don't get everything out of the racket but I expect last adjustments should be done within weeks.

Little impressions:

It has a decent weight on it's head and you can feel it when maneuvering and while doing so you can feel the momentum of it. Speed is given there as expected, thus said it's a lot faster and reasonably lighter than the Yonex VT80 3U racket. Drives, net shots and backhand do feel very solid, predictable and can be executed with pinpoint accuracy. Shots do feel very solid with a little bit more feedback than the VT80. This has to be tested more carefully though.

Thinking of the smash and attacking department, something very important to me, it performs extraordinary well but needs adjustment like every racket. It's stated it's got an aero frame but since the frame and shaft is rather bulky it's not as fast as you might expect.
It cuts better through the air than the VT80 for sure but it has to be said that everyone expecting to get everything out of it with a compact and fast rotation technique has to be physically decent if not very good.
Despite that I'd say it's more user friendly and more crisp than a VT80 3U and the shaft does bend more predictable than the VT80 does.

For the ones who play a lot of doubles the shorter handle of the N90 III can be a tad off-putting and might shall take a look at the N80 but this is personal preference.

Think I can write more and more precisely after a few weeks. Anyway at least I can say that from my personal opinion the N90III definitely is better for me than the VT80 regardless of 4 or 3U since the N90 gives a crisper touch/feedback and is quicker.
 
nice, thanks for the review. can't wait till mine makes it postal way to my hands - ordered an n90-iii instead of my broken n55-iii.
It will be interesting to see how it will live with my n90-ii - on one hand I want n90-iii to be better and faster, but on the other i want it to feel similar so that i can swap between the rackets with minimum adjustments...
 
Thanks sFrog for the review, it matched my impression with the N90III exactly!

I just got myself a N90I, and would be able to try it out in the next 2 weeks!
 
No need to thank me and I wouldn't say it's a review... merely first impressions (20 hours training/tournament duration).

I'm trying the BG80Power with higher tension around 29-30lbs now and will see how it compares to the BG80 27lbs. However, I've always felt 27lbs wasn't enough tension for me.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to your N90 I comparison kong, even though I would always go for the 4U ZF alternatively.

If I could produce my own racket... I would go for the head frame of the 90III, make it a little bit slimmer and combine it with the shaft of the 4U ZF. Wonder how that would be... ;)
 
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Got this racquet a few days ago and boy all I can say is WOW. This racquet at first glance is quite a looker. Coming from a 4u Z-Force, 3u MX-80, LN N-80 I can proudly say this racquet comes out on top so far. It is quick from the get-go and packs a lot of punch. Strung at 28lbs with BG80 it feels amazing. I felt power was on par with my Z-Force maybe even slightly better. Speed wise it is also quite quick with the bravesword design......to be continued after more testing
 
After having played extensively with the N90-III for about 2 months now, I've come to realize that for me, this racket doesn't produce the same stability and power as my VTZF. For some reason, even though the technology used in the N90-III seems similar to Victor's SWORD, I still seem to have problem getting some misshits. I've been using BRS LYD for doubles for quite some time now and have no problem there. I'm no expert in rackets so I can't tell for sure what it is, but after 2 months I still haven't gotten 100% used to it. When I actually do hit the shuttle, it does fly, however it doesn't really give the 'umph' which VTZF gives which I really do tend to miss when I play with the N90.
However, I'm not giving up on this racket yet, but so far it's not much more than a "spare racket".
 
My N90-III arrived today. The word "gorgeous" isn't enough to describe the beauty of this racket. MBS made a little leap on me and decided to surprise me with RED zm65 (i asked for white :) ). Looks a bit cheeky, but very nice indeed ). Haven't played yet (tomorrow) but some initial impressions:
wet bp (RKEP soft overgrip and zm65) is 300mm. wet bp of my n90-II with the same setup is 302mm. Despite looking so differently, both feel very similar. N90-III feels more aerodynamic with a little bit faster swing i guess.
My N55-III is definitely more head heavy than n90-III (with wet bp of 303mm) and sortta has a feel of more weight at the top of the frame when the headweight of n90-III seems more evenly distributed through the head.
Also, N90-III is the first (?) li-ning racket with a stringing pattern of 76 holes (like vt80 etc).

Wingu, z-force is much more head-heavy than n90-iii and less aerodynamic so it will definitely have more "ooomph" in the smash. But it's more difficult to handle, much stiffer and n90-iii is by miles more all-around racket, inviting the quick wrist play, very much suitable for doubles games apart from singles. But every player is different, maybe z-force works better for you than it did for me, but i've gone down from the beasts like vt80 and vtzf to these around-300mm-bp-like rackets and they suit me much better.
 
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