REVIEW: Carlton Powerblade 9909

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by kwun, Mar 23, 2009.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    Carlton Powerblade 9909 Review

    Kwun Han - badmintoncentral.com

    Carlton sent me a few rackets to be review a while ago. I finally gotten round to stringing up the Powerblade 9909 and did some long term testing and review. The design of the racket is not traditional Carlton. in fact, quite the opposite. it is - long racket - slight Isometric head - long carbon handle About the only thing that bears the Carlton tradition is the relatively flat taper at the end of the handle. However, what is unique about the PB9909 is the shaft. the shaft bears the special label "shaft by Mitsubishi Rayon, Japan". Mitsubishi Rayon is more famously known for their golf shafts. and it will be interesting to see how golf technology will affect the play of this racket. The racket is "Ti-wire reinforced" throughout the shaft and head, as well as utilizing Nano-resin for the graphite composite. The design is quite pleasing, a blue dominant color scheme with silver and gray highlights. utilizing sharper color transition and gold accents gives a good departure from smooth Yonexians design. kudos to Carlton for striving to be original and separates itself from the el-cheapo amateur Chinese graphics design as well as not joining other manufacturers in cloning popular Yonex graphics and naming. the result is a fresh looking and unique racket that is actually quite attractive. The PB9909 is a 4U racket with an advertised weight of 78g. max tension of 28lbs. balance point at 300-305mm. I had it strung up with Carlton AG66 string (gotta match it up with Carlton strings!), one piece stringing @ 25lbs. I spent a full 4 hours testing out this racket in the gym. After a few minutes of warming up, the racket and new strings has started to break in and loses the initial vibration feel. and i myself starting to accustom to its character.

    I was surprised at the solid feel of the PB9909 despite the 78g weight. in fact, it feels like a 2U racket. the racket is very stable, the racket head held its direction even with off center impact with the shuttlecocks.

    The shaft is stiff, lively, it will reward anyone with lots of power in their technique. it does means that it probably won't suit anyone without a solid foundation with their hitting skills. look to the lower end models which we will review in the future. however, if you have that power in you, the Carlton PB9909 is a joy to use. in fact, the harder you hit, the more rewarding it is. when impacting the sweetspot at power, it gives out a very deep "bam" sound, but when hit at even higher power, BOOM, and explode into the shuttle.

    drives are fast and snappy, even though rather maneuverable, the directional response was a bit different than previous rackets i have used and timing has to be adjusted. lots of spin can be induced on drive or smash drive return. control is precise.

    initially, i didn't have any extra overgrip on hand and had to make do with the factory grip. surprisingly, it was quite adequate in terms of grip. however, i also noticed that the underlayer of the factory grip was too soft and was allowing some sliding movements which i do not like. later on in the testing period i have replaced the grip.

    the liveliness of the shaft really shines when it comes to defense. remarkably, i compared it with many other rackets i have, this racket gave the most effortless defense, a small flick will drive the shuttle back deep and far.

    now, the bad. touch and feel of the racket is only mediocore. i personally prefer rackets that don't damp out most of the vibration and the vibration is a feedback. the PB9909 unfortunately damps out a little bit too much of the feedback. as a result, i have more trouble with it doing delicate pushes and netshots. the feedback feels a bit hollow. eventually one gets used to it.

    overall, i think Carlton has come up with a excellent racket that is suitable for strong intermediate to advanced player.

    thank you to Carlton Asia for sending the racket sample.

    if any manufacturer wants to send samples for review, please contact us: info@badmintoncentral.com
     
  2. drifit

    drifit newbie

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    almost 2 years waited.
    nevertheless, thanks to kwun for the review.
    is it 78g or 2U?
     
  3. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    any pics?..............
     
  4. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    some specs from the shaft:

    weight: 78g
    balance: 300-305mm
    max tension: 28lb
     
  5. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    aside from the ones that ctjcad pointed out, here is only one that i took:
     

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  7. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    as you can see, there are 5 Carlton rackets.

    unfortunately, the younger brother of the PB9909, the PB9902, died prematurely. so i won't be writing a review for that. i will post review of the other ones when appropriate.
     
  8. Pete LSD

    Pete LSD Regular Member

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    What happened? I feel so sad of your lost :D :p.

     
  9. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    Was it..

    ..an accidental or unnatural or natural death??..:confused:
     
  10. george@chongwei

    george@chongwei Regular Member

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    lmao. died prematurely?:p
     
  11. teoky

    teoky Regular Member

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    Kwun, I wonder if there are different version of PB9909.

    The one I have, it states 85gm and 280 - 290mm bp on the shaft and max tension of 30lbs.

    The design and color is the same as yours.

    I did not weigh it but definitely the bp is 28xmm as I measured it.
     
  12. dubber

    dubber Regular Member

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    So wait is this a review of a 2 year old model or am i getting it wrong? Thanks for a well written review though :)
     
  13. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    natural death, the PB9902 frame cracked without any collisions. very strange.
     
  14. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    a bit more than a year. still a good model IMHO.

    however, given that this is Carlton, it is a model that is probably only available in Asia. they have different models for the US and different ones for Europe.
     
  15. teoky

    teoky Regular Member

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    When I 1st got the PB9909, I find it hard to generate power, maybe it is because it is head light. I stop using it for quite a while and recently took it out again for a tour of duty and this time round, I find it pretty good in smashes !

    One thing for certain, the PB9909 has always been really good in defence.
     
  16. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    maybe like yonex they have different weight grades?

    i think a heavier version will be even nicer.
     
  17. george@chongwei

    george@chongwei Regular Member

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    do you have warranty on your racket?:confused:
     
  18. teoky

    teoky Regular Member

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    I find it weird as Carlton has different range for different regions and it seems that the Powerblade series is for Asia and yet the specs that is printed on your shaft is very different from mine.

    I wonder if they misprint the specs as you feels it is like 2U instead of the 78gms stated.
     
  19. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    mine came from Singapore. but no idea about the different weight.
     
  20. teoky

    teoky Regular Member

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    That's weird, so far, all the PB9909 that I have seen at the shops here in Singapore are 85gm, 280 - 290mm and 30lbs max tension.

    I am wondering if there's a misprint as the only Carlton racquet available in Singapore that has the same specs as what's printed on your PB9909's shaft is the 9500 Nanolite.

    Anyway, regardless, like your review said, it is a good racquet !
     

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