Yonex ArcSaber Flash Boost ( ARC FB )

Earlier today I was able to test the Arc FB and the VT-ZF. Please don't consider this to be a review, but more of it as my first impression of this racket. It's not my racket and I believe it was strung at about 26lbs with some Chinese or Taiwanese string.

I think someone mentioned that the FB was a strain free experience and I totally agree with him. I spent close to 2 hours using this racket non-stop and I felt fine after it. It wasn't like that before with my AT800 DE.

There's no doubt that the lightness of this racket makes it very maneuverable. I honestly think my defensive game noticeably improved. It take so little effort to move this racket. It's a bit unreal. I was very impressed by it.

I will disagree with some people here who claimed that they smashed harder with this racket. I think I lost a bit of power with this racket. I'm not prepared to say that the difference is dramatic, but it is noticeable. Without a doubt, I can smash harder with the VT-ZF and the AT800 DE.

Someone in this thread mentioned how a mishit could cause the birdie to end up midcourt and I have to agree with this. One mistake and the birdie will end up in an area where the opponent will punish me severely for it.

My swing speed is definitely faster. Yan.v said drives were fun and I agree.

I'm thinking of buying this racket and string it at a lower tension. I think the tension is a bit too high for me. I think 22-23lbs will be appropriate for this racket. I'm also thinking of using it with a string like the BG80, ZM65, or the NBG98. Since my swing speed have increased, I also need to improve my timing with this racket.

I think Yonex is on to something here. I don't think the FB is a toy. I definitely see the potential. I have a feeling the 5U version of this racket is ultimately what will make me happy. The 5U version may be able to address some of the loss of power that I experienced. I hope Matt will be able to post some impressions soon since I think he have used the 6U version of the FB.

I know I haven't talked much about the VT-ZF, but the short story is that I don't really like that racket. I think the VT80 is a more suitable racket for me. My defensive game suffered with the VT-ZF.
 
Be forewarned that a low swing wt racket like FB will not feel that great and will lack power especially when playing with plastic birds. It's fine if you're just hitting around socially, but if you want to win some serious games, you'll find your attack lacking bite.
 
Ya. Despite what quite a few ppl have said - the racket is just too light. Granted, it was the 6U, but seeing as we have certain limits to our swing speed and the shuttle is not getting faster, this racket really lacks punch. The devastating thing about such a low swing wt is that if your grip isn't 100% tight when you hit the shuttle you'll lose a dramatic portion of your power.

Concerning the 'strain free experience' - if you can't play for 2 hours, train more. Not on court - on your apartment floor and in the forest. Doing just a couple exercises at home and running are certainly sufficient to get to the point where you can play 2 hours (as it's not competition. To play a 2 hour competition match, you'd have to change the scoring system and train about 5 years :D).
 
Sgt_Strider said:
How much did you get the 5U FB for?
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I got it less than $180.

Sgt_Strider said:
I think Yonex is on to something here. I don't think the FB is a toy. I definitely see the potential. I have a feeling the 5U version of this racket is ultimately what will make me happy. The 5U version may be able to address some of the loss of power that I experienced. I hope Matt will be able to post some impressions soon since I think he have used the 6U version of the FB.
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I got the 5U stringed up at 26x28 but did not get a chance to use it yet. I did let my friend use the racket for her to try out a few days ago. She likes it, I can tell you that.
 
amazed by this recket.. someone strung it up to 30ibs... quite impressive.. two weeks already and still look quite sable.. maybe this recket designed for high tension.. maybe.. just maybe... i strung 27ibs yesterday.. next week able to try the feel.. heheh
 
visor said:
Be forewarned that a low swing wt racket like FB will not feel that great and will lack power especially when playing with plastic birds. It's fine if you're just hitting around socially, but if you want to win some serious games, you'll find your attack lacking bite.
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So you think the FB is handicapping Mogensen then?
 
j4ckie said:
Ya. Despite what quite a few ppl have said - the racket is just too light. Granted, it was the 6U, but seeing as we have certain limits to our swing speed and the shuttle is not getting faster, this racket really lacks punch. The devastating thing about such a low swing wt is that if your grip isn't 100% tight when you hit the shuttle you'll lose a dramatic portion of your power.

Concerning the 'strain free experience' - if you can't play for 2 hours, train more. Not on court - on your apartment floor and in the forest. Doing just a couple exercises at home and running are certainly sufficient to get to the point where you can play 2 hours (as it's not competition. To play a 2 hour competition match, you'd have to change the scoring system and train about 5 years :D).
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I don't think this is a one size fits all situation. I don't think I've hinted that I can't play for 2 hours. When did I say that? Strain free doesn't mean I can't play for 2 or more hours. I think that's an important distinction that has to be stated.
 
Sgt_Strider said:
I don't think this is a one size fits all situation. I don't think I've hinted that I can't play for 2 hours. When did I say that? Strain free doesn't mean I can't play for 2 or more hours. I think that's an important distinction that has to be stated.
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Ya what you said is that you didn't feel fine after playing 2 hours before, which is indeed not the same as being unable to play 2 hours. Otoh saying you're not fine after playing means (to me) that you're not only tired (which is normal), but hurting in some way. If playing 2 hours with a normal racket hurts you, you need to up your conditioning.
I think I could play longer than usual with the ArcFB as well, seeing as it really takes next to no effort to swing around, but it really isn't worth the downsides - lacking any real power overhead and having to concentrate on every single clear to avoid hitting it short. I think it's a fun recreational racket, but has no use in serious competition.
Mogensen's recent lack of penetration from the back seems to undermine that opinion, while Ahsan had the sense to switch back to his previous racket. Really surprising though how well RI seems to play with it - but perhaps for her less offensive game, its attacking capabilities are sufficient. Don't really think it's some other repainted racket, as she could just as well use the Arc11 if she wants to promote a new racket - which would be only a small change from her Arc10. Anyhow, let's see if there's gonna be another player apart from her who can actually succeed with the FB - I doubt it.
 
Sgt_Strider said:
So you think the FB is handicapping Mogensen then?
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its all propaganda..

if morgensen won that game, people will be raving like.. omg! this racquet enabled him to do it!!
if he didnt, then the racquet handicapped him.. blahblahblah..

30 years ago, people would have said 4U is too light, who can play with such a thing... all other racquets are 2U and even heavier..

so why are people not using 2U and heavier racquets these days? causes them strain? then by the same argument with the FB these people should go to the gym or go train aerobically to be able to play the 2U and heavier for hours.
 
There just is a limit to the speed with which you can swing your arm and racket, and the lower the weight, the closer you get to that limit or even cross the line, so to speak. The lighter the racket, the less strength you use to swing it, but it also has a smaller momentum. If it's not pretty stiff and you're not gripping it very tightly at the point of impact, it won't accelerate the shuttle as much as a heavier racket because of that low momentum.
Looking at the trend, people have stopped going lighter and lighter. Since ~2003, 2004 rackets have stopped getting lighter despite it being possible. Many players use heavy 3U rackets, some with very high balance points - especially in singles. Lighter rackets are available, but don't seem to offer enough advantages to outweight their weaknesses for those players....why else did LCW go heavier and heavier over the years? Why didn't LD go for a lighter racket?
With the shuttle speed remaining constant, there's definitely a limit to what weight is practical. If the shuttles were to be made faster, lighter rackets would be very useful, but with the shuttles staying the same weight(s) and not getting faster there's pretty few advantages to such low weights.
You'll definitely improve in the fast, finger-based swings, but can't utilize your arm as well, as the speed you swing your arm with actually won't improve as noticeably. So while your defensive reactions might be quicker, you'll lose penetration when on the offensive. Badminton being the offensive sport it is today, is that trade-off really worth it? According to Mogensen's play, no.
Keep in mind that I don't cite the results as a reason - just the penetration from the back. For all we know BoMo would've performed just the same with their old rackets. But I'm fairly certain Mogensen's attack has lost some of its bite (yeah, he doesn't smash all-out all the time - but when he does, it's not nearly as devastating as it used to be).
 
You guys seem to hate this racket at such a point that you think no one should use it.

Keep in mind that something that doesn't work for you might work for others. The lighter weight does decrease your power. No one can deny that. However, it also increases your swing speed, which translates into some power.

Now I'm not claiming that this racket is more powerful than a VT-ZF, or that it's the best racket ever and that everyone should use it. But for me, and many others, it was powerful enough to justify making the trade off of a little power to much more maneuverability. I get much more power from that racket than many 3U rackets.

Keep in mind that we don't know exactly how everything works in regards of rackets vs power vs control, etc. So you can try to justify with weight/flex/wt/etc being incorrect, but as long as you don't know the complete equation, it'll never be accurate.

Also, saying that pros are losing because of the racket is pretty mindless... If they didn't like the racket, they'd use another one. If Yonex wouldn't allow them to use another one (I'm pretty sure that'd be the dumbest move ever), they'd do like usual and play with repaints.
 
Re repaint, true Yonex can do that as they probably
have done before. Misrepresenting a 3u racket with another 3u racket, most players won't feel the difference if they bought one.

But to willfully and falsely mislead you and me to think that a pro is winning with a 73g 6u racket while in reality using a 88g 3u racket, that would be a major fraud in my eyes.

Especially if I go out and blindly buy it like many people based on their idol using it, and then find out that they can't get much power out of it.

If I ever find out a company did that, they would lose my trust and business for good.
 
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This is one racquet that is certainly polarizing opinions!

I'm inclined to think this racquet may actually suit many people and their playing requirements, while others may of course not find the power on tap that they would like to feel available to them. In the end, the market -and permutations- is big enough to welcome such a racquet. The way I look at it, this could be a boon to many intermediate and "serious recreational" players who may be over 35 or younger than 18 -and who want a hard, fun game with lively rallies and all, but with a lesser risk of injury.

I'm not saying the serious and pro player won't find a use for this racquet -I'm sure they can do more than lesser mortals can with even a 6U- just that this racquet should in fact, appeal to many people who have played with tougher beasts and been bitten by them! :D
 
visor said:
Re repaint, true Yonex can do that as they probably
have done before. Misrepresenting a 3u racket with another 3u racket, most players won't feel the difference if they bought one.

But to willfully and falsely mislead you and me to think that a pro is winning with a 73g 6u racket while in reality using a 88g 3u racket, that would be a major fraud in my eyes.

Especially if I go out and blindly buy it like many people based on their idol using it, and then find out that they can't get much power out of it.

If I ever find out a company did that, they would lose my trust and business for good.
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which are the racquets that yonex had repainted? that could be interesting

i wouldnt mind a zforce ltd painted arc saber 11 or something like that
 
yan.v said:
You guys seem to hate this racket at such a point that you think no one should use it.

Keep in mind that something that doesn't work for you might work for others. The lighter weight does decrease your power. No one can deny that. However, it also increases your swing speed, which translates into some power.
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I think you're absolutely right about that. I think the problem for most people is that they buy into the notion that if one racket works for someone, then it's going to work for him/her. The reality is that most people won't be able to take advantage of a racket like the VT-ZF. Most people forget that players like LCW or LD are pros and have mastered the proper techniques.

The problem here is that it's hard to find the ideal racket on the first try. Ideally one should try a variety of rackets with strings strung at different tensions to get an idea of what will suit them. Unfortunately this does cost a bit of money.

Now I'm not claiming that this racket is more powerful than a VT-ZF, or that it's the best racket ever and that everyone should use it. But for me, and many others, it was powerful enough to justify making the trade off of a little power to much more maneuverability. I get much more power from that racket than many 3U rackets.

Keep in mind that we don't know exactly how everything works in regards of rackets vs power vs control, etc. So you can try to justify with weight/flex/wt/etc being incorrect, but as long as you don't know the complete equation, it'll never be accurate.

Also, saying that pros are losing because of the racket is pretty mindless... If they didn't like the racket, they'd use another one. If Yonex wouldn't allow them to use another one (I'm pretty sure that'd be the dumbest move ever), they'd do like usual and play with repaints.
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I agree with you. It doesn't do Yonex any favour if their sponsored players loses a match.
 
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