Hi, My friend decided to play badminton again with me and the last time he played was easily 10 years + ago. I consider him a begininer like me. Most important requirement for him is that it has to be light, a 4U would be great. What's a suitable racket for a mid 20s with decent built? Budget is ard S$100(+-50) or USD$70. Am thinking of yonex Carbonex 21 sp(I actually have no idea what is sp), but is the model too old? Am also thinking of maybe yonex Mp19/20/21 since its within the budget. Are ashaway models equally as good? Am pretty bad with ashaway racket models(even though I'm using it now). Thanks ppl!
I'm thinking a Karakal MTec 75. It's incredibly light at 75 grams but moderately head heavy so generating power shouldn't be too hard. There's also the lighter MTec 70 (70 grams) and heavier MTec (80 grams) and MTec 85 (you get the picture). The Cab21 is still a fine racket. Old but good. The SP is referring to the distribution code. SP means South Pacific or in other words, Singapore and around there. There are rumours about different distribution codes being better than others but I really don't think it makes a difference, SP would be fine. I'd rather have the Cab21 than any low end Muscle Power, although I don't recall it coming in 4U (I could be wrong though). Ashaway rackets are good but I'm not a great fan. I don't know a great deal about them so I'll leave that to someone who does.
I think MP comes in 3U and lower. hehz. never seen any lighter or maybe I never notice. I'll look out for Mtec 75. but what's the price like for it like?
For a budget below S$100, you can consider Karakal, Ashaway, Apacs, Proace and Wilson. For Karakal, you can get them at a good price from Sports Report, 4th floor, OUB centre. Wilson is pretty good, I traded one of my RSL for a K[Tour] and I must say the power is not bad ! Currently, they are running a promotion at Royal Sporting House and you can get various KFactor models for S$99 inclusive of a free Wilson bag worth S$89 ! Out of those brands listed, my recommendation would be Wilson and Karakal. I listed the other brands as they fit your budget and some of the models they offer may fit your friend better. For Yonex MP series, all of them are either 2U/3U, I think only MP88 comes in 3U/4U.
Cab21 is a very nice racket, but I think Apacs and Wilson are also good to look into. Both have affordable rackets with great quality.
I say think about apacs rackets. they come in 4U, and they are cheap, so you can get good deals. the Edgesabers and the Nanopowers seem ideal. i say the Edgesaber 7 is a good start.
I vouch for the Edgesaber 7. Like it's counterpart Yonex ArcSaber 7, it's friendly to any player (in my opinion at least).
Thanks guys, will looking Wilson Kstrike, Apacs Edgesaber 7, Karakal Mtec series. Hmm.. How abt Yonex? Any models to recommend? Anyway, budget is stretchable. Am willing to spend up to sgd$200 actually. Any lightweight models within the budget? Anyway, are yonex nanospeed lightweight series too?
If your budget stretches to S$200, you can get almost any racquets except for the high end yonex models unless you get those from bangkok. If you are looking for light weight high end yonex, then you have to look within the Armortec series, they have 4U models, not sure if the 4U model is available in Singapore though.
You can get a lot of racket for SGD150. Both my Cab30 and ZELM Powerplay 9990 (I finally got the number correct!!) costs less than SGD150 and are excellent rackets. There are many other choices like Proace Thunderbolt, Victors, various APACS, and as teoky and Dan suggested, Karakal MTec and Wilson. You can help him more by having him play a few games before investing in any rackets. This will give him a better idea on what to look for so it's not a shot in the dark.
@weeyeh I don't think the Cab30 are available anymore in Singapore right ? I think US is probably the only place that still has it.
Yeah. I bought mine from US. Just in case I misrepresented, I'm not recommending the Cab30 (although I loved the racket to bits). I just named it to show that your choice is enormous with a budget of SGD150.
@weeyeh Lucky you clarify, as nicholasl say he will look for the Cab 30 and he may end up spending years looking for it in Singapore ! I heard that the Cab 30 used to be available a few years ago, but they just stopped selling it and now end up only US is still selling it I believe.
I'm really suggesting Babolat Satelite Nitro if you can get one from your dealer. Those rackets are just amazing. I've played with it for a couple of years, bought an AT900Power played with it for a year and then switched again to my Nitro. It's light, VERY good for defence and the offence part is pretty good to if you have the technique. Plus they look awsome
I would suggest you spend not more than S$100 on a racket and save the balance for a pair of good badminton shoes and perhaps some lessons to re-learn the basics. Other than the brands recommended by the guys here, you could also take a look at sintec, winex, gamma, toalson and fischer racquets. These racquets are more forgiving imho. Out of interest, which ashaway racket are you using?
