Yonex new racket is coming: Nanoray Z speed!!

CanadianBadmint said:
Been meaning to try this racket out for a while and I got my chance a few days ago. It was a demo racket strung with BG65 at what felt like 24 pounds-ish. I'm a high intermediate player and I was using feathers at the time. Here's my thoughts on how it played:

Initial impressions: Racket looks great. Very flashy. I was initially concerned about timing issues because of the smaller frame but for the most part, I experienced none. My warm up consisting of drives and clears were great; very solid feeling. It's definitely head heavy and I would say relatively stiff but for clears, the racket swings much faster than it's head-heaviness would make you believe.

Drives: It's good. It doesn't stand out here but it gets the job done. Feels stiff and solid when doing drives.

Defense: Defense is a bit lacking which defies its nanoray name. Here is where the head heaviness penalizes the racket. It definitely felt slower for me when flicking smashes away to the back court. However, it's still not bad. Perfectly acceptable for how head heavy it is.

Clears: Effortless. Clears went to the back with ease, easier than my JJS I would say. Smaller frame makes the racket swing noticeably faster when doing clears.

Smashes (the odd part): This is where the racket surprised me the most. I was initially doubtful at how good it would be at smashes because I hate BG65 (I normally use BG80) but...against all odds. This thing thundered down smashes for me. Any kind of smash from a quick wrist smash to a full power jump smash, this thing just hammered the shuttle down. It downright amazed me in this regard and it felt natural too; I didn't have to get used to it, it just felt right. The odd part is (maybe it's just me), with smashes, this racket suddenly felt much more flexible than it was before with other shots like drives.

Dislikes: I had timing issues with my backhand. It was just completely off and I have no idea why. I assume it's just me not being completely used to the racket.

Conclusion: In the end, I really like this racket. It absolutely shines when doing smashes and all the other shots are just what you would expect from a racket that costs $250. I'm just a bit confused as to why it's called a nanoray. It feels much more like a voltric with its head heaviness.

Nanospeed and nanoray users beware! This is a voltric pretending to be a nanoray!
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nice review and absolutely agree with the back hand,and im having difficulties delivering steeper jump smash but overal smashing with this weapon feels great! cheers :)
 
Zhun Kit said:
nice review and absolutely agree with the back hand,and im having difficulties delivering steeper jump smash but overal smashing with this weapon feels great! cheers :)
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Yeah, it's a very peculiar racket in that it's so good with smashes yet the other aspects just feel "normal".

I can't help but think that this racket would receive much less hate if it were named a Voltric instead of Nanoray. But alas, what can you do about Yonex's cheap marketing gimmicks. :rolleyes:
 
I've been using the Z-Speed since it came out, and I can say that I have learned enough to ignore what Yonex claims the racquet can do; after all, they are a business. I batted no eye to the whole "fastest smash" thing--being a scientist, I know that isolated testing claims are nigh-worthless in real-world situations. Kind of like how a car can claim to put XX horsepower, but only at certain revs, etc.

That being said, I feel that this racquet still deserves some merit in what it does well.

For me personally (been playing for nearly 15 years), coming from an NR700RP, the Z Speed does for me what I expected it to do: generate a large amount of speed for overhead shots. Yes, it does have a smaller head which means I mishit sometimes, and the heavier head means defense suffers in comparison to the 700. However, my style on the court is heavily reliant on speed, both handling of racquet and footwork, so the Z Speed works for me. I am not a hard hitter and have trouble generating power with the VT80 and the ZF, but the added handling speed of the ZS helps me compensate. This isn't to say I've noticed a ridiculous difference, but I can see that wrist smashing does generate a faster smash than other racquets I've used.

In terms of defense, I can say that because I've always placed a lot of emphasis on my game as a defensive player (I play XD and MD), I have no problems reacting even with the smaller, heavier head. All part of adjustment I guess. Even drives and blocks are not too bad, though again the head heaviness detracts.

Overall, I have good impressions of what I wanted out of the racquet: a racquet that has handling properties of a NR that can deliver shots like the VT without too much detraction from defense. For me, the ZS is an improvement over the 700RP in that it adds attacking speed to an otherwise very good well-rounded racquet. I don't care about getting the fastest smash; who can't smash in badminton anyway?

One disadvantage that I personally dislike is that the ZS feels very poor in hitting nylon shuttles. The speed generated by the racquet almost feels negated by the flight characteristics of the nylons, especially those that have been well-used. Granted, I have been testing different strings and tensions with this racquet, but I feel as if using a more repulsive string at lower tensions remedy the situation slightly, whereas for feather shuttles, my setup thus far works quite well.

That being said, I own a pair of ZS and the head heaviness is inconsistent between them. They are only 2 serial numbers off, but one of them feels way more head balanced than the other, which is head heavier. I have identical grips. The only difference is the strings: one has ZyMax 65, the other 66UM. I can't imagine that the strings give that much difference that I can feel, can it?

After reading lots of people's opinions on this racquet, it seems like it comes down to what the hype generated and how the racquet failed to uphold the claims. Again, it comes down to not just what the racquet can do in an isolated situation, but how it lives up to what you expect it to do and how it fits into your style of play.
 
stealthy1 said:
One disadvantage that I personally dislike is that the ZS feels very poor in hitting nylon shuttles.
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-__-"

IMHO, Nylon(Plastic) shuttles is for 100% beginner only.
And this racket is designed for advanced player.
The only disadvantage of this racket is it feel bad when hitting something which is not designed to hit.
Anyway, thank you for your review. :)

If you want to a orange racket designed for Plastic shuttles,
you should try this one. (Just Joking:p)

ux_a12072500ux0369_ux_g03.jpg
 
lhkjacky said:
In 2013 BWF World Championships,

TBH used NR-ZSP, but he seem didn't smash as strong as before.
and KKK had more unforced error too. :eek:

The TV even didn't show his smash speed and he is not listed in the top five. :confused:

View attachment 151551
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Well, i never believe what Yonex or other manufacturers said on their racket...
Fastest racket on earth, and etc..
its just a marketing hype....
that 493 kmh was done in a very condusive condition, no crowd no pressure...
when there is no crowd, the air flow would be different...
pressure also will affect the players' performance, i dont think they can achieve 493 kmh, plus it is just like "one-off", not something that can be done repeatedly...

i never have a chance to use NRZS but when i hold and swing it at the shop, i feel like it is heavier than VT70, i feel like im holding a VTZF...
that racket is truly not for beginner, i think even intermediate player should avoid it too...
the one who made 493 kmh is a national player, who train everyday...
racket is just a tool, it may affect just 5%(i think), the rest is up to us, our arm and wrist, swing speed and technique...
 
Many people know they cant get the 493km/h smash or play like LCW but in reality the demand of rackets use by professional player keep on increasing in the market although the racket available on the market is not the same as the one use by professional players
 
Shinichi said:
Many people know they cant get the 493km/h smash or play like LCW but in reality the demand of rackets use by professional player keep on increasing in the market although the racket available on the market is not the same as the one use by professional players
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it's called "marketing"... and it seems to be working... ;)
 
Sometime swing from shop and play with it, will give us diff feel.

I owned vt80, vt70 and TI10.

Had borrow from a friend to test nrzs.
Is not head heavy than vt70.

It much easy to swing and i could continous smash and attack from overhead. Very easy to generate power and smash compare to vt80. No way i can do that with vt80. My guess it may not stiff as vt80?
 
It seems sucessful in the first launch as people looking forward to it , i just spoken to some shops in SG , they mentioned there were some feedbacks that why they stop bringing it in . From their sound of that , i suppose those who bought it probably feel good to have a new try on the Guinness world record Racket but didnt considered that we are not national players like TBH & LCW ?
 
ouch.....

seems i made a 'mistake' ? lol..... with so many negative response...no wonder it went on 10% discount ...

just got one....hope I 'can suit' this racket...

haven't got the chance to try it out...prolly this wed...
 
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