You're right. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I would never dispute that. Getting hold of demo racquets in UK is very hard. I used to borrow from players at the club and anyobdy else I could in order to test racquets. OK, now I'm in a fortunate position that I am linked to a retailer that has demo racquets - at their expense I may add. Yonex or any other manufacturer do not provide them FOC. My point is that what suits one may not suit another. So it's fine reading people's opinions, but it's a high risk purchase off the back of a strangers recommendation. To your success Paul www.badminton-coach.co.uk
You're a chronic Seppo, fark. You can stop momentarily, you realise. I mean, it's pretty stupid to think that he means otherwise, because he has a blog and frequents this forum, so in essense you're calling him a hipocrite. Nowhere has he EVER said "Stop reading forums forever, and only listen to me because I am a coach." All that was stated was that at the end of the day, you have to play with the damn racket, and that doing so is the best way to get an idea if it's the racket for you. That's pretty irrefutable from where I'm sitting. And you take it as a personal slight on your god given rights to form an opinion of your own accord. We're all here to deprive you of your rights, mate. Quick, lock the compound and man the watchtowers!
easy there tiger, now go play dead. i think coach himself is doing just fine setting me straight. he doesn't need another wanna be to defend his point. i think it is moronic, beyond stupid, when you ask me to stop for a moment to think about what he wrote when you jump all over me when my point was not direct at coach paul. anyone that has played this game for sometime knows that rackets, strings and tension are all a very personal thing. all i was saying is anyone can give their view here when a fellow member seeks them for references. and yes it is my god giving rights to give those opinions, not about coach paul, but about my experiences. but you, you are the hypocrite. who gives you the rights to call me names and form an opinion about me and who died to make you the badminton god of this forum to deprive my rights. anyway, this is not the place to talk about anything other than rackets. i apologize to those, especially to coach paul but certainly not you, who finds my comment offensive.
cool down guys. ns9900 used to be my racquet (not too long ago) and now it is arcsaber zs. well. usually i would swtich back to ns9900 when i am feeling tired or likes to play lazy baddy. you know, sometimes, guys just don't concentrate (either when they are leading or when behind) so playing lazy baddy would be nice reciprocation, only thing is, ns9900 is no pushover! for me, zs is like hammerin' and ns9900 is like crankin' the whip. peace men.
I played with the same NS-9900 again yesterday and it felt a little different. Firstly it felt more balanced. I had to put in a bit more effort in my clears, smashes were still good (again not killer), net play was so so. Still could not get consistent with half smashes. Could well have been just me on an off day (seems to be quite a few lately ). Or possibly a loosening of the strings. I must note that the strings were BG-65s which I never play with, so it's a feel I'm not used to. I did experience that noticeable bounce off the racket (when compared to the NS 9000X) which helped on occasion. Overall, I'd give it an 8/10 but with proper tension and a string I'm familiar with, it could be better
Is that a death threat. Enjoy your future banning. Yes, I can see how... "paul, you are absolutely correct about the debate on racket choices..." Could be easily misconstrued as not being a comment directed at paul. No you weren't. You were stating that paul was advocating to stop indefinitely reading forums, which he wasn't, and I was pointing out that you were being absolutist, misinterpreting, and mis-representing, just like you are now attempting to say that your comments weren't directed at paul. Yeah mate, we're all here to deprive you of your rights to your stupid opinions. Live in fear. I don't find your comments offensive, just a dribble of conspiracy theorist idiocy where you make **** up. Atypically, you think that the ability to formulate an opinion comes with the right to never have that challenged. Well guess what, you ain't in Texas now, Dorothy. Expect to be challenged. ps - Yes I am God. Believe I am or you will go to badminton hell.
Oh, come on. Give us a break. This flawed speed smashing measurement has been discussed here SO MUCH and has been dismissed as a mere marketing tool. Or do you work for Yonex ?? Anyway, the Japanese player hardly seems to break sweat, does he. Think I could smash harder !
uh-oh, i heard u. bet i can smash harder too after a shot or 2 or 3 of Macallan 18 years old! he he. definitely, i would be woozzilly thinking so! cheers,
No, i actually work for the UK's national measurement institute, NPL. what did i imply? I was just linking to the video.... And if you think one instantly breaks into a sweat for one smash, then you just may be using the wrong technique
No offence meant. However, this so-called world record has been covered a lot on this forum (a lot by me - he-he-he ) and been shown to be a false one. If you read the threads on the Arc Z here, I'm sure as a NPL man you'd agree the 'record' is a load of rubbish. As a fellow Brit, Mannie, I'm sure you know the non-literal meaning of 'breaking into a sweat' - putting a lot of effort into something. The Japanese guy's smash is hardly earth-shattering, is it ?
No offence taken Rob The last time I posted anything on here about a racquet (except for my NS9000S which i sold in Feb 2009) was June 2007. So i'm a bit out of touch regarding new racquets, and debates on marketing.... After purchasing the NS9000 and finding it played "like a plank" I simply bought another Ti-10. This made me ignore all marketing material more than ever, I even tried a friends arcsabre 10 and found it to be really nice initially, but strangely untrustworthy. So i was interested in the new "thing "yonex have made up or "invented". I'm also a coach and the players technique is pretty good, so i didn't get the point regarding smashing effort, perhaps i'm getting too old
Having played with Z Slash quite a bit now and I'm due for a final showdown with it on Wednesday, I can speak from experience as a player and advanced coach. Without trying to "hide" anything, I am also contracted to Yonex. However, I do believe in saying it as it is and not hyping anything for the sake of it. It is true that you don't have to put the same effort into the Z Slash...if you want your smash to the just a little better. What I have noticed and commented on several times in my blog (www.badminton-coach.co.uk) (a nothing to do with Yonex blog), is that the Z Slash cuts through the air with astonishing speed. I've played with many racquets over the years, including Carlton, and this racquet really caught me out. I've had more frame shots with this racquet in one night than I've had over the last 10 years. That's no hyped up message here, just the truth. That's where the racquet scores - it's the ability to generate more speed and therefore potentially (notice the word guys), it does mean that you don't need to put as much effort into the shot to get a good result...if you get your timing right (notice the big if too). So there is an element of truth in the message. It seems to me, as with most marketing from any company, it's down to what you interpret the message to mean. Look, we're all after the Holy Grail of racquets. But, let's be realistic, nothing is going to come along and make us play like the pros. We can get more power and that's it. Not unless Happy Potter brings out his own brand of magic racquet. So let's stay in the real world, not a dream and recognise that sometimes a small improvement is good, but it doesn't mean it will suit everyone. And that, to get better at this game takes a combination of hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, a coach and a degree of talent. Let's also remember one very big lesson...we all play this game for FUN.
Hi Paul! Some words of wisdom there Having used the 9900 (one of my definitive favourite rackets for doubles!!), I can see why you like it.. I do not feel Arc-Z and 9900 are direct competitors though, as they are quite different in their balance/properties. Are you are comparing 9900/2U to arc-Z 3U? I feel the 9900 to more of a Mens double-player racket and onestly the arc-Z to be more of a "woman singles" racket.. My view is that it is really the longer shaft and bigger flex that makes the arc-z perform faster clears/smasher at less efffort (lower swingspeed) and I doubt the aerodynamics making the swings faster to a degree that would effect most players smashes/clears to any significant degree.. This is my impression..I honestly do not think the aerodynamics of the frame make that much difference on most ordinary swingspeeds, just compare AT900P box-shaped (less aerodynamic) and AT900T (more aero frame).. i don't think many people would argue AT900T smashes much harder than AT900P just because it has lower air-resistanse on the frame.. The argument from YY when AT900 technique and Power (based on the broshyres) was that the box shape was ideal to enlarge the sweetspot to help produce bigger smashes for the power players.. Just some additional views, from another fellow racket-freak, at least for some food for thought.. I am looking forward to read you blog on wednesday so see how your relationship with the arc-Z progresses Cheers, Twobeer
twobeer, at900 p & t's so called box shape are no way near the arc zs' true square shape racket head. it's the main reason the why the smashes are so powerful. if the arc zs was a gun, i'd say the narrower frame is the 'trigger' and the meaty square shape racket head is the 'hammer'. are you suggesting the arc zs is a GIRLY single's frame? ah-ha! you might be in for the dog and cat fight from forumers! noted though are the expertise you bring in to this forum but the 'GIRLY' subliminal language is sure gonna loose all the arrows your way. arrgh! cheers, MetalOrange
I think you missunderstood my point.. AT900T has NOT box shaped frame. One of the design differences on the AT900 was box-shape framed for the "Power" "attack"-model and aero-frame for the "Technique" "Control"-model of the racket ... My point merely being that even Yonex previous marketing (before Arc-Z considered stability and large sweetspot desirable factors for the attack player when designing the 900P.. And that IF the aerodynims was THAT important 900T would have been much more succesful than 900P. But I beleive 900P is much more succesful amongst pro players than AT900T... I am very sorry if I offend anyone.. But I think that the longer flexy shaft and mid-balance feel helps to generate power, and this is most useful for a player that doesnt have very big muscular strength but do posess a good technique and clean hits. I think most power-players seek more solidness and stiffer shaft for better aim/placement / control. I generally recommend more flex and not so heavy and head heavy for talented female players, I think Arc-Z fits that bill perfectly.. I think the same holds truewith for example ARC-7 , but I do not regard Marc Zwiebler as "Girly" just because he prefers the ARC-7 as his weapon of choice... Just as Paul so correctly has pointed out... The indiviudal expereinces with rackets will be vastly different (therefore, it is not "One" truth when it comes to "best" rackets ... There is really no way around trying the rackets ourselves . We also have to remember that when we compare rackets we, and even more so the racket makers marketing dept, tend to exhaggerate the differences that do exist quite a bit, to better describe the differences between, models, generations, graphite-materials and technology "leaps" introduced :-D /Twobeer
Hey, when I substituted for a comp team last week, one of the girls was wielding a AT700 Ltd so......cop that.
