I've been playing pretty often for the last few months using this racquet recommended by my local badminton store called the Li Ning Turbo X50 and it's stringed with BG65's at 24lbs. It's pretty cheap, gets the job done for doubles and I'm not scared to get it damaged aka hold myself back when I play alongside my mate. However I play singles a lot too and want to splurge for something that will keep me going for a while. Just some points to help inform my decision: I only use feather shuttles I like playing a pretty controlled style with placement of shots and smashes. I guess I'd say I'm an aggressive player rather than defensive I can't say whether I prefer head-heavy or head-light racquets since I've solely played with my own racquet the whole time but I gather it's the former just from my play-style I play around 5-6 hours a week My current Li-Ning racquet weighs around 98 grams (with the strings on and a strap of grip wrapped on the wooden handle) What I currently like about my racquet is the ability to make strong smashes at the edges of the court. It's probably the high point of playing badminton for me. The racquets I listed above aren't the be-all and end-all. They were just some I thought were relevant to chuck up in a poll.
LD force, its the best racket in the choices. Has stiffness and not too much of it. Is head heavy but not too much head heavy. swings slightly slower than a zf2. has a normal sized head and is most forgiving in the series along with ax77. Ax77 is just springy and kinda meh. All the rackets in the list are very solid feeling and feels nice when hitting.
U didn't tell us what do u want/expect from yr new racket. Also, there isn't any details on yr current racket. Balance points (or BP as we call it) n weight doesn't tell much how a racket play. My guess is u want to get a better racket to improve yr play. BUT there r just too mny choices, considering that yr current racket is not even a mid-end Lining. Rackets r just like mobile phones. $2-300 phones can do 90% of hi-end phones. Yr racket is abt $1-200 phone n those u listed on the poll r $8-900 phones.
Read up what @shreyas666 said abt an hour ago on racket recommendation (look up his posts). He said mny valid + good points on choosing a racket
Hey. Just checked up the BP and it's 285 so I guess you'd consider it a balanced racquet. I totally get what you're saying in that my racquet is so low end you can't even put a category for it to be in but here's what I'm thinking. If I am already spending >100 AUD for a mid-end racquet to only end up thinking of replacing it later on, it's kinda a waste yea? I'm thinking I might as well just get one that'll do me good for a year and not have me change racquets any more for a while. Shreyas recommended the LD Force and discarded the AX77 to some degree so I'm thinking of just demoing a ZF2 and LD and choose one of the lot. Does that seem like a sound idea?
well, if you're willing to try other rackets, i will say dont go for flagships directly from an entry level racket. the racket you're using at present costs 1/10 of the racket you aspire to buy and may not give you the exact wow-ness you are expecting. i will say go for a mid ranger and demo mid-rangers first. it is possible that you'll find a mid ranger that will suit you perfectly and also is possible that you'll end up buying a high-end regret(most of zf2 buyers). penny saved is penny earned. Also, mid rangers perform very decently as compared to flagships, its the user and not the racket at the end of the day.
ashaway phantom x fire or speed, it will give you all a flagship has to offer without breaking the bank. other members will vouvh for that racket. the both are ample stiff, have ample ease of power and are excellent in wieldability. very friendly and will add a load to your skills and improvement factor
Darn I just checked and my local stores only provide Yonex, Victor and Li Ning. Any from those? (Soz should have specified that earlier) ((Also thanks for dealing with my questions. It helps a lot!))
second advice would be to look at pre-owned flagships in your area. buy them second hand. you're sure to find a zf2 there, better than buying a new one
Hey, badmintonshop.com.au sells genuine products (I know because I know the guy who sells it and he's the most genuine guy you could possibly find). Ashaway Phantom X speed and fire ii are both $130 strung and comes with free grip. Shipping shouldn't be too expensive. Btw, the main idea from shreyas666 is that high end does not mean it's better. It's only better in the right hands. I would say 90% of your game comes from your skill. This is why a mid range racquet is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, just because a racquet is mid range, doesn't mean you shouldn't expect it to last. A well built mid range racquet can easily last years
Hey, I ended up going with the fire ii from badmintonshop.com.au . I'm not sure how terrible of an idea this is but I'm thinking of getting it strung at something extreme like straight up 30 pounds and just experiencing all the tensions as it slowly loosens down over a period of time. Does that sound just completely ridiculous and am I overestimating how quickly a string loses tension or is that cool idea?
Some miss shots (normally on a new racket) and you will breaking your string in the first session... try 26lbs. Its a big jump from 24lbs and you will lose power, but you have more control. My racket (24lbs) lose 2lbs in a short time (2 weeks), but then i could play 6 month with 22lbs.
Strings don't just keep losing tension forever. They stay stable after a few lbs losses and you break them before they lose any further. You won't experience the entire tension range getting it strung at 30lbs.
If you're playing with a budget racket now, then I presume you are not that experienced. I definitely would avoid top-tier stiff rackets, e.g. zf2, duora z-strike.
Good to see that you've already found yourself a racket. I would have recommended you the Apacs Ziggler LHI, slightly above your price point but works for both doubles and singles Going high tensions may not be good for you (this result varies person to person) but it could cause you injuries playing at extremely high tensions. Such as rotator cuff pain (using much more power needed to do normal shots you'd do on say.... 26lbs) as well as tennis elbow and such from the vibrations of higher tension. Also as the tension drops, I doubt you would know which tension it is at. Tension does not drop from 30lb-22lb, unless the stringer is utter trash at his/her job.
