2014 Yonex New Racket (Voltric Z-Force II / VT-ZF2)

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by ZeroSOFInfinity, Jan 14, 2014.

  1. VincentKoyanagi

    VincentKoyanagi Regular Member

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    hi everybody!!! I'm a long time reader but first time poser
    I just want to share the photo of my racket I am a 13 year old boy
    the racket isn't in my hands yet but its in Japan with my parents they bought it in Japan but I thought the case will be the hard cover/the voltric series cover but they only gave the soft cloth cover... by the end of March it will be in my hands already God bless us all!! :)

    image.jpg
     
  2. VincentKoyanagi

    VincentKoyanagi Regular Member

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    hi everybody!!! I'm a long time reader but first time poser
    I just want to share the photo of my racket I am a 13 year old boy
    the racket isn't in my hands yet but its in Japan with my parents they bought it in Japan but I thought the case will be the hard cover/the voltric series cover but they only gave the soft cloth cover... by the end of March it will be in my hands already God bless us all!! :)

    View attachment 156441
    image.jpg
     
  3. VincentKoyanagi

    VincentKoyanagi Regular Member

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    hi everybody!!! I'm a long time reader but first time poser
    I just want to share the photo of my racket I am a 13 year old boy
    the racket isn't in my hands yet but its in Japan with my parents they bought it in Japan but I thought the case will be the hard cover/the voltric series cover but they only gave the soft cloth cover... by the end of March it will be in my hands already God bless us all!! :)

    image.jpg
    image.jpg
    View attachment 156441
    View attachment 156442
    image.jpg
     
  4. Naim.F.C

    Naim.F.C Regular Member

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    Z-Force II | Initial impressions

    So I finally had my first play session with this racket. 4UG4, around a 308mm balance without any strings or added grips, wrapping etc. Strung with Zymax 62 at 24/25 lbs. First thing I'll say is that this is by far the best looking racket I've seen from an aesthetic stand point. The matt finish, the dark grey colouring, the futuristic decals etc, beautiful. It feels great in the hand too.

    On to initial play impressions.

    Initially my timings were off. It's slightly head heavier than my current go to rackets, the JJS and the VT80, and straight off the bat the stiffer shaft, heavier balance and smaller head started affecting my play. It felt quick in my hands, but played slightly different to the other rackets.

    Like with the JJS, I also found that the ZF2's sweet spot was less in the centre of the strings, and instead just slightly above it.

    After a few practise matches, I started to get in to the flow of things, and the racket and me started to click. Switching back and forth between the JJS and the ZF2, there was a difference in feel. Both cut through the air extremely well, but the JJS had just a touch more repulsion and hold in the shots, despite still feeling very solid, whereas the ZF2 I felt had more of pop and whack. It feels slightly crisper, but there's very little play, and immediately you feel it in your shoulders.

    I'm very wary of what I call "new racket syndrome", where every time you get a new racket, especially one that looks as sexy as the ZF2, you want to call it the best yet. So rather than letting me be the only judge, I let my badminton friends do the judging. I asked them to hit me a load of different practise shots, and let me know which racket had the harder returns. Sure enough, the ZF2 had the more powerful returns compared to the JJS and VT80, almost consistently. Smashes felt harder, made a louder pop and made the shuttle fly quicker.

    Power at a price?

    But there are downsides. The main one being that my shoulder started to ache after a while, which is something I've not experienced in a long while, not since using the original Z-Force. The question then is, is the added power and crispness the ZF2 offers, worth the added demand on your arm or shoulders? Well, I think to answer that I need to play with the racket more.

    There is a chance that the next time I play I'll be more used to the racket and my shoulder conditioned to it, which I feel will most likely be the case as my shoulder was only marginally aching, I continued playing with no issues.

    But one thing I was really impressed by was that none of the other parts of my play were really negatively impacted despite the extra influx of power afforded by the racket. The only thing I'd say is that it was harder to be as consistent overall compared to the JJS and VT80, likely due to the smaller head (and sweet spot), and slightly less forgiving overall feel. I certainly had a few more mishits with this racket compared to usual, but again, that could just be me needing more time to adjust to it.

    I'll reserve my final review for later, in which I'll do a full comparison with the VT80, JJS and MX90.


    Some photo's I took in the mean time.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    #804 Naim.F.C, Mar 8, 2014
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2014
  5. mds nl

    mds nl Regular Member

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    VTZF-1 has been officially discontinued but what a great racket the VTZF-2 is.
    So easy to restring.
    1977025_539759546121435_1409578567_n.jpg
     
    #805 mds nl, Mar 8, 2014
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2014
  6. Renmazuo27

    Renmazuo27 Regular Member

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    Thanks for your thoughts Deity. Reason I went for a 4u Zforce2 was i actually struggled with the 3u zforce for doubles. As I like to play fast and i tend to favour the fore/mid court area, the Zforce LTD did admirably in these areas, as it was quick, light and packed decent punch (though my only gripe would probably be the lack of feel-felt quite spongy).

    I may give the 3u zforce 2 a shot to see how it goes in 3u, as you say the quicker swing speed may offset the weight do help to sweeten the deal ;)
     
  7. Renmazuo27

    Renmazuo27 Regular Member

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    Man...those are are some sexy pics Naim.
     
  8. nelson1990

    nelson1990 Regular Member

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    Can you upload more photo? Including your grip, please? :D
     
  9. Naim.F.C

    Naim.F.C Regular Member

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    Uploading the rest with my review :)
     
  10. delaneau

    delaneau Regular Member

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    1959524_691221244277863_1056913750_n.jpg

    looks like a repainted VTZF...so dont think its a massive transitision
     
  11. nelson1990

    nelson1990 Regular Member

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    Alright! Thanks a lot!
     
  12. bos_dc2

    bos_dc2 Regular Member

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    Thanks for sharing pictures Naim, those strings look intense on the matte frame
     
  13. alphaQue

    alphaQue Regular Member

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    ^ agreed. My next strings will be that color :)
     
  14. lingo124

    lingo124 Regular Member

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    Well I got it... $196.50 not too bad! Pictures came out upside down... =/
    34t8msp.jpg
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  15. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    Foo's ZF2 review

    My review on VT ZF2 (BG66Um 28lbs) is as follow:

    Reviewer: Foo
    Intermediate to advanced player
    normally use 3u 8DX 27lbs bg80p and 5u ARCFB 29lbs bg66um as main racket.

    Generally, I don't write reviews in such a short period of play.
    However, VTZF2 makes me do this review after only 5 hours of game time and few hours of practice.
    Initially ZF2 makes me feel not able to get used to it's feel and timing.
    But I get used to zf2 with a pretty good learning curve.
    (I initially think it would take a long time to get used to zf2.)
    This kind of learning curve may not apply for everyone,
    but it makes me feel confident to post a review about this racket.

    Something you should know first: nanometric rackets requires good wrist work to accelerate the racket head to maximum speed in a very short time to perform great. If your style is long swing distance or using head weight to generate power, this review might not be helpful.

    Flat drive (front-mid court):
    speed in between 8DX and FB, excellent for a headheavy racket.
    Zf2 perform equally good in active & passive stances.
    I would rate it as 4.5/5 in this area.

    Flat drive (long distance) :
    Very impressive speed and distance, better than 8DX and FB.
    However, in passive stances, where some ppl might not be able to
    generate good wrist power, the performance suffers.
    In this area I would rate zf2 as 5/5 active & 3/5 passive

    Defence :
    Very swift, the aerodynamic head shape ,small frame , long handle make zf2 defend reasonably well, though not as good as 8DX & FB.
    (small head still have some drawbacks)
    I would rate zf2 as 3.5/5 in this area.
    Note: 3.5/5 is a general verdict in denfence department. In some sort of defensive shots zf2 can get 5/5.
    Clear:
    Good at clear is nothing special for a head-heavy racket.
    The frame is a little more stable than ZF1, but 8DX is more stable.
    Improvement over ZF1 is there, but not much.
    Whip with your wrist makes the clear fast & deep, even cross court.
    (this is something very impressive in this department.)
    I would rate zf2 as 4/5 in this area.
    Note: In term of best performance, zf2 can be rated as 4.5/5 or even 5/5. But the small head and frame stability stops me from rate it over 4 points.

    Smash:
    Initially I can’t smash well in the first two days. the timing is simply off.
    On the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] day, I incorporate wrist work and body pressing altogether.
    The result is awesome.
    You may have to make some adjustments to squeeze the bests out of zf2.
    It’s performance is over what I can expect from a 4u racket, no complaint.
    I would rate it as 4.5/5 in this area.
    Note: still, there are a lot of high swing weight monsters out there,
    so that 4u zf2 can’t hit the ceiling.

    Serve/net/drop:
    Nothing special, not very impressive. However, no complaint at the same time.
    I would rate it as 4/5 in this area.

    Feel:
    Generally, feel is not a required area for decision making.
    For nanometric rackets, some ppl may worry about over-damping & lake of feel.
    ZF2 is still dampened by nanometric, but the impact is minimal.
    The feedback feel, IMO, is much better than ZSP.
    It’s very close to traditional rackets.
    However, since it’s less dampened & the frame is not one of the most stable shapes,
    the vibration on impact is there.
    IMO, this is a good compromise between feel & vibration.

    Overall:
    I’m not going to give Zf2 an overall rating.
    I think the performance varies on different ppl & situations.
    I can’t make a recommendation on something you might think it sucks.
    However, from my personal viewpoint, it’s in the top tire.
    I’ll definitely switch my main racket to Zf2 4u.
     
  16. SleepyEyedBoyZ

    SleepyEyedBoyZ Regular Member

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  17. delaneau

    delaneau Regular Member

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    Seems like M.Ahsan is using a VTZF as well but FB repainted...do basically no international players actually uses FB for tournament?
     
  18. CarbonexFan

    CarbonexFan Regular Member

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    Last Tuesday was the first time I've played with the VTZF2, but it was training day. So testing was minimal, and I always use 'older' rackets for training. But last Thursday, Friday and Sunday, there was plenty of time to test this racket. I always start with the VT-ZF to get used to the head heaviness of these rackets and to compare the old and new one.

    Coming from a 2U-G5 Carbonex 30 MS, the 3U-G4 VTZF was manageable. I did not had any problems playing with the racket. The only downside was that is still lacks some accuracy and only when playing on the limit in terms of speed (Fast attacks from the wrist and fast defenses) I noticed some mistiming. But that’s expected from a racket which has been designed completely different. Still, the power of this racket is one of the most powerfull rackets on the market.

    After I get used to the VTZF, it was time to test the VT-ZF2. The First noticeable thing is that this racket felt lighter and easier to manoeuvre. Because it's lighter, the first blocks and drops on the net, were too short. It's not much, but if you are playing on the edges, these differences are noticeable. The feeling was more solid and gave me a good feedback on the shuttle. In terms of feel, I prefer this racket over the older VT-ZF. The control of the VTZF2 is also better. Not sure if it has something to do with the stiffness, but the racket gave me a better control and accuracy. Speaking of stiffness, the racket bends just as much as the VTZF when putting some weight on it. Given the fact that the shaft is thinner, the material used must be stronger. Well done!

    When it comes to smashes, the VTZF2 felt better, but I don’t think it smashes harder. Sure, it was easier to smash and the solid feel gave me the feeling that the smashes were hard, but the ease my opponents returned the smashes stated otherwise. Still it’s easier to smash due to the lighter balance and air resistance. I don't think the VT-ZF2 is more powerful than the older model, but it's just easier to generate the power. And the fact that it's a faster racket to manouvre, makes it a better allround racket compared to the first version. It's even possible to smash from the wrist, which was almost undo-able with the VT-ZF.

    Comparing the racket to the Nanoray Z-Speed, the Z-Speed has clearly been designed differently. Offcourse the NS-ZS felt lighter, but also faster. If you want to compare the Z-Speed and the Z-Force2, the only thing in common, is the head shape. But the transition from the Z-Force2 to the Z-Speed is an easy one. I did not had any timing issues.

    I'm very excited about the VT-ZF2. The problem with the VT-ZF1 is that it was very head heavy, so rather slow in movement, but when you get used to it, it's like a hammer: very powerfull. The downside was that it was not easy to manouvre. They have fixed this somewhat in the VT-ZF2, and I'm also pleased that the sticker problem has been solved. To me, this is not really a Voltric Z-Force II. It's a complete different racket, and it was not really necessary to discontinue the old one. But if Yonex wants to sell the new racket at the same price, there is really no need to keep the first version alive. I would not hesitate buying the second generation. In my opinion, the VT-ZF was always the more powerfull one and the VT80 the one with more control. With the VT-ZF2, it's maybe time for VT80 players to test this new racket.

    So the Nanoray has a new topmodel, and the VT-ZF has been updated. I really wonder why Yonex did not work on the update for the Arcsaber Z-Slash and updated the VT-ZF instead. Playing with the ARC-ZS after the NR-ZS and VT-ZF2, makes the ARC-ZS very outdated. It felt soft, and still has timing issues. I hope the ARC-ZS will be updated to the current standard, because if it's not, I'm expecting it to be replaced with a new line of even balanced rackets.
     
  19. Naim.F.C

    Naim.F.C Regular Member

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    Fantastic post and impressions. One of the best yet!
     
  20. delaneau

    delaneau Regular Member

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    how many of the new owners stringed 2 knots or 4 knots?
     

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