I am looking for recommendations on a new racket to upgrade from my Apacs Z Fusion. What I like about Z Fusion: - Weight and Grip feels just about right, but I wouldn't mind going slightly heavier - The Head balance also feels very comfortable - Feels very aerodynamic when hammering down smash. - Placing shots feel great with it, but I don't mind losing this quality in the new racket. What I don't like or want improvement from Z Fusion: - Netting feels very weird. Without power it always goes too low, but adding slight power/lift makes it too high - Smashes doesn't feel like having power at all despite the aerodynamics. Hope that these plus minuses can help in determining the right recommendations. Thank you in advance!
JNICE Black Panther for sure. I prefer the 3U for its power, but the 4U should still give you more power than the Apacs. Ashaway Phantom X-Speed is also good. Those are both pretty niche though, so availability may be wonky. Of all the racquets I've tried from the Big 3, I guess I could recommend the Victor Bravesword 12 and Yonex Astrox 77 and 55, but I'm not 100% sure they'll satisfy your needs like with the others I've mentioned. They're still great racquets though. And I totally get what you mean about the weird feeling of the racquet. I've always found Apacs racquets to have a sort of disconnected feeling.
The Jnice Blackpanther actually got me really interested, but it seems really difficult to look for one...
The big three are very accessible for starters (Victor, Yonex, Lining). I don't mind with the more niche brand recommendations though, you never know if someone just happen to sell it. As for the specs, I guess the Black Panther or Ashaway Phantom X-Speed is exactly what I am looking for.
The Z Fusion is a 5U racket with a compact head and super slim shaft. Afaik there are just no alternatives from either YY, Victor or LN that match this, although some rackets come close in pure specs (LN Turbo Charging 70i or Windstorm 500 for example). I would recommend looking at the Victor Jetspeed 10 (available in 3u and 4u). This is the fastest racket I have ever used that also allowed for plenty of power. It also has a slim shaft and slightly compact head. It is quite stiff, so you will need to have good hitting technique and some power to make use of it. The Li Ning 3D Calibar 900i/600i and Aeronaut 9000i and 7000i could be good alternatives as well. All of them are 5U and more headheavy than your Z Fusion. This will allow for harder smashes, but you will have to sacrifice some speed in exchange (but these rackets are already extremely fast, so I think it could be worth to go for more head weight and power).
The Gosen Gravitas 9.0sx and Victor Auraspeed 90k are also good options. If you want something super light but can still pack a punch, try the Abroz Venom (or anything from the Abroz Shark series) or Yonex Astrox 22.
Adidas Uberschall F5 seems to pique my interest, and it is very much available locally. Though I'll try my best to import Jnice Black Panther, and if everything fail I would straight go Adidas. Thank you very much for all the recommendations. I am still open if anyone got more though.
You can also try look at Apacs Force II Max racket, it's very similar to Yonex Z-Force II performance.
