So not a wet noodle for you then Mark? I thought it would be like the tk6k. With the 9k being the softest thing you could tolerate.
I've only played one game with the TK6000, but if I was to compare the Onigiri with anything, that would be it. I reckon the Onigiri is pretty much all about the shaft, Mark. The head is sooo rigid it's not even funny.
I mentioned to Dave how strong it was on the diagonal and under stringing - I was amazed. And the carbon in the head seems... brighter, somehow. Hard to explain.
Shaved to perfection. So what's changed, aside from me ruining any resale value I might've had? Taken 2g off the handle, BP has gone from 305 to 310. Now it feels...awesome. Wish I could play again tonight Yeah Mark, the head is strong as %&$@k. Just take it in your hands and twist it, and compare it to other rackets in your bag. It's ridiculous, but then again, the cross-section isn't exactly svelte.
Glad yours is a beast Maklike... mine suffered (I still am wary of the guy who did this whenever we pair up again, he has a tendency to ahh....intrude). The TK6k didn't work out for me, too wet a noodle to handle but this... behaves well. How are you finding it now that perhaps you've broken it in?
Need more time with it man. Shaving the handle down was a good move because it feels so manoeuvrable now. Probably won't get to have another hit with it til Monday, but I'm really looking forward to it!
The add on weighted grommets are dumb. Having the strings go over the top of them means you have to cut the strings to change them. If Yonex does something that didn't work for RSL, then why copy it? Do something different FFS.
I seem to recall previous efforts by 2 smaller brands which did exactly that years back...removable strips that doesn't require the string cut. You just press it down onto the frame and it snaps into the grooves. Adidas Switch Pro was the most recent effort I believe, another introduced it many years back. Never tried them but I wonder why they didn't catch on? Those are more elegant in my opinion.
I think the vast majority of people want to buy a racket already at the correct weighting. Or if not, just adding athletic tape allows for a more DIY customisation that has been popular amongst the pros like Lin Dan and Chen Long. Things are not always about 'elegance', and your definition may not be everyone's definition.
Well yes, targeted audience is one aspect of it. I'm pretty sure for those among us who loves to get down and dirty with their racquets (not that kind!), a little bit of elegance would be appreciated instead of looking like it came out of a battlefield. But what about the engineering part of it? Is there a reason why yonex/victor are not adopting 'elegance' but chose to go the 'cut string to customize weights' route? But I'm digressing.
Well, it's a tougher engineering job to design a weighted system that is held on by something other than the strings. Badminton rackets are such a dynamic structure, that once you mess with something like the frame cross section to do something other than not collapse in on itself, things start to get real complicated real fast. These changes also dramatically effect the way the racket feels, too. So just making the grommets do that job is a relatively easy solution to that 'problem'. Should also clarify that the Oni doesn't have this. It has four standard dual 'bridged' grommets down at the T, followed by a four-hole 'super grommet' next to those. Not completely sure why, to be honest. It would definitely spread the load of the strings better. Maybe a stringer would have more of an insight here.
Ungh. Atrocious session with the Oni today. Two sessions, two clashes, and now I'm way too self conscious of the racket and not just forgetting about it and just get on with playing. Gunna get it restrung, too. The top four strings for some reason have got super loose but the rest havent, making it feel like a Z-Speed. Gunna go back to the ol' stand-by - white Ultimax at 24x25lbs - give it a few sessions for it to settle down and see how it goes.
If it is not too much trouble, I would (so would others) appreciate it if you could provide your review and opinion of this racket? Thanks, Justin