4U Astrox 99 Pro Review ( For Doubles )

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by foo.tw, Oct 3, 2021.

  1. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    AX99Pro 4UG5
    Swingweight = 88 ( Took Out The Serial Grommet )
    First String = BG80 @ 28LBS
    Second String = Kizuna D66 @ 32LBS

    In the beginning, I was giving it a try with a impression that it is for singles.
    I wanna make it drive fast enough for doubles, so that I took out the serial grommet.
    The inital BG80 gives a good punch and good control, but it suffers playing drives and pushes.
    The problem seems to be the wider gap of the vertical strings besides the sweetspot.
    The excessive holding feel makes drives and pushes suffer.

    Then I cut the string and give it another try by add extra 2 pounds of my usual setup.
    This technique doesn't work out in the cases the frame itself is not stiff enough.
    However, It works in the case of AX99Pro, and I get a crisp drive in doubles.

    Comparing with AX88DP, Victor Dx9x :

    Smash : Booya
    The 68-hole system gives an extra push when doing hard-hitting techniques.

    Drive : Good
    It is reasonably fast, but not hella fast. Drive quality is about the same as Drivex9X.
    Like the Drivex9X, it is good at baseline-to-baseline drives.

    Drop : Good to Excellent
    Simple drops are the same as other good-control rackets like AX88DP and Dx9x.
    However, the 68-hole system gives more spin to slice-drops and reverse slice-drops.
    The speed and steepness of these sliced techniques are awesome, and you feel like
    urged to use slicing techniques more and more.

    Defense : Poor to Good
    The swingweight of AX99pro is high, and leads to slower defense. However, the nicely
    designed support cap mitigates this drawback if you are good at holding up to the cap.
    If your defensive controls are flawless, the maneuverability should be good enough.
    However, you might have hard time defending when your partner keeps lifting half-court
    or front-court. AX99pro might not be a good choice pairing with a poor teammate.

    Serve : Excellent
    The serves are so close to the net and spins so much that all my opponents give up on
    offensive techniques when I serve.

    Net : Excellent
    For the more-spin and good control, net skills are very easy using strings with rough texture.

    Clear : Excellent
    The swingweight and resilience make clears very easy. Backhand baseline-to-baseline
    cross-court clear is effortless.

    Conclusion
    I like AX99Pro very much in doubles for several reasons :
    1. Reasonably fast, and I can do most of my trick shots and techniques without problem.
    2. 68-hole system gives 2 advantages : a. high repulsion when strung 2 pounds higher
    b. more spin with slicing techniques
    3. The repulsion of every parts work seamlessly, and together they rock.
    4. Though the stiffness is not very high, the power generated and the precision provided
    are up to a very high standard. It reminds me of AT800DE.
    5. When holding up to the cap, it can be a good weapon in the front-court

    Requirements ( drawbacks ? )
    1. 2 pounds higher stringing might damage the racket in the long run.
    2. Without higher tension, this racket doesn't work well.
    3. It requires finger power and explosive power. For those who with weaker finger power
    to wield an 88-swingweight racket, it might not work well.
    4. The spin nature of 68-hole system might require rough-texture strings. Smooth-texture
    strings might not work as good
     
    random123xxxx likes this.
  2. random123xxxx

    random123xxxx Regular Member

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    may I ask if u got the white tiger or the cherry sunburst version ?

    Sent from my SM-N981B using Tapatalk
     
  3. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    I took the cherry one.
    Actually, it's the traditional red-black yonex color.
     
  4. random123xxxx

    random123xxxx Regular Member

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    I'm planning to buy the white tiger version, but 3u. since I'm a backcourt player and I smash most of the time, occasionally play singles, I think it would suit me. I own astrox 100zz, astrox 88d, astrox 88d pro at the moment

    Sent from my SM-N981B using Tapatalk
     
  5. Budi

    Budi Regular Member

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    I check YY official site & on 99P tech it had 2 face like Duora. Really? Do 99P also had Duora DNA or it just miss placement content?
     
  6. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    No, 2 sides are identical.
     
  7. YoonSoAh

    YoonSoAh Regular Member

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    Got 2 question to be asked
    1. Have u tried the Tour? How forgiving it was compares to the Pro?
    2. Compared to Voltric 80 E-Tune, which one's more forgiving for defense? Since I felt like I haven't been able to go on defense quite well with VT80E ever since COVID caught me a year ago, just recovered fully from the long side effect ._.

    Thinking about getting the Tour but some said it has a hollow feel, of which am not sure whether it'd affect the vibratikn reduction or not
     
  8. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    Can't give comment cause I don't have those 2 rackets.
    But for defense, AX99 Pro is for sure not in the tier-1 group.
     
  9. fufu27

    fufu27 Regular Member

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    TBH I owned both 99pro - white tiger and cherry sunburst colour of this racket, they feel different. White tiger has head heavier frame between it, and cherry sunburst more lighter due to the balance point. So, when play double, I recently used cherry sunburst version and white tiger for single play. Strung with BG66 29 Lbs both, perfectly work for me.
     
  10. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    Yonex racket's quality tolerance is not very tight.
    One may vary from others in terms of weight balance and stiffness.
    That's why most racket manufacturer do not give exact specifications.
    One good aspect of this is that you may find desired racket among massive rackets.
     
  11. Dekkert

    Dekkert Regular Member

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    Is this true for Yonex? Because in tennis it seems that Yonex's QC is top notch and second to none. If you get more of one type of racket, chances are high you get exact same weight, balance point, and swing weight. I would assume they use the same high standards for their badminton rackets.
     
  12. Budi

    Budi Regular Member

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    just assuming & imagining here...
    Tennis racket are heavier, bulkier, & bigger.
    Its easier to adjust the spec from such mass material. Trim abit here & there, & magic happen, you get the exact spec you want.
    But badminton are smaller, slimmer, & way less material. Trimming would makes what already thin become even thinner thus weaken its structure which is bad for sure.
     
  13. Dekkert

    Dekkert Regular Member

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    Ok, that could possible be true. But is Yonex known for having a lot of variance per model (weight, BP or SW) compared to other brands? I have quite some Yonex rackets, but only one per model. In the past I had multiple of one model for different models, but I never had the idea that they varied much. Never measured anything to check though.
     
  14. Budi

    Budi Regular Member

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    idk, i myself dont have big collection of racket & i just like to own different racket:p
    So cant tell for sure.
    But at least my Victor TK770 had all the extreme side off from the actual spec.
    The most heaviest & the head heaviest:eek:.

    & from comment i had read, the best to maintain its spec are Adidas. But Adidas not quite a big name on Badminton so the sample would be quite small to tell.
     
  15. ice man

    ice man Regular Member

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    Just received mine on week ago, 4UG5 cherry sunburst version. Strung with BG66UM at my usual 26 lbs tension.

    Compared to my 88D pro 4UG5 which is my go to, it’s clear that the 99 pro feels head heavier. It gives a lot of power even being a 4U version. The smash is easier and much more powerful than 88D pro. It’s just satisfying to smash with 99 pro, whereas smashs with 88D pro are good if you work them but not in the same league.

    Defence with they’re close, but you can clearly feel that 88D pro’s shaft is more snappy, responsive… same with drives, they’re quite better with D pro… just more lively…

    Net play, they’re on the same league, good performers but not on par with arcsaber 11

    To me, 99 pro 4U can be used in doubles if you’re looking for power from the back court, it’s clearly not a racquet tailor made for someone who prefers to defend or counter attack, but it’s no slouch to be ruled out of the doubles game
     
  16. foo.tw

    foo.tw Regular Member

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    It's not the shaft that is responsive. It's the stringbed.
    The problem is that you strung with your usual tension.
    I did strung with my usual tension and it sucked very much just like you have experienced,
    and it sucked even more when the tension dropped.
    If you string 2~3 lbs higher, you will start to notice the shaft's quality is beyond AX88DP.
     
  17. fufu27

    fufu27 Regular Member

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    Agree with it. I add more lbs to this racket, and give more fun game to me whenever I rolling from back to front court.

    Shuttle controlled very well at net play. Big smashes, and good placement. I think 68 grommets must be strung at higher tension if you wanna get a good feeling with it.

    I use ax99pro 4u5 with bg66br. Still love to use top bumper grommet.
     
  18. akatsuki2104

    akatsuki2104 Regular Member

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    Does it make that much of a difference to replace the original top grommet?
     
  19. Josef Briza

    Josef Briza New Member

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  20. Josef Briza

    Josef Briza New Member

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    Hello,

    can you pls let us know what is BP with and without serial grommet?
     

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