hi there, I have read lot of articles regarding the new yonex voltric 80... As i go further the racket was really good ... i can say that this could help us a lot during the game play.. but i never heard of MX80 ... maybe i'll read some article of mx80 for me and us to find out which is better.Visit my blog
Not to rush you but I'm a bit too eager, have you had your order delivered, strung and tested for hours on court yet? Btw, definitely, spend more time with your GF than with your baddy or baddy racquets and not try to pimp your racquets too much, your GF might raise an even higher eyebrow. Cheers,
Ok so I have both rakets now. See this post comparing weights, BP's and lengths. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...e-Meteor-X80?p=1672339&viewfull=1#post1672339 I will be playing about 3 hours worth of badminton in around 12 hours. Both my VT80 and MX80 are strung at 24lbs Mains, 26lbs Crosses with BG66UM. both also have Yonex Super grap overgrips. So it should be a fair comparison. MX80 is 3U and VT80 is 4U, but I think there's only around 2g weight difference between them. Swinging them around in the air, the MX80 feels lighter and quicker. It also makes a higher pitched sharper sound. VT80 feels heavier (even though it isn't) and seems like it has more weight behind it in each swing. Paint quality wise, both are about the same, very very high quality (some of the best I've ever seen). The VT80's paint could be more durable but I can't confirm that yet. Whilst the VT80 has a slimmer shaft, the head frame itself is thicker all around and less aerodynamic than the MX80's. Both visually look stunning, but I think I prefer the MX80's more Gundam esque techy look to the VT80's more mystical tribal art. That said, the main thing I love about the design of the MX80 is the fact that you can see the woven carbon material at the sides of the head frame. The outer most edges have more art on them compared to the VT80 as well. Anyway, can't wait to try them both later today!
Dammit a few hours from playing with my VT80 and already I've chipped it! Was swinging it around and it clipped my Macbook Pro! Lol. Only a teeny chip, filled it with black marker and you hardly notice it unless inspecting, but still. It hurts
ya well, I've got a 1cm wide paint chip right at 12 oclock on my racket (mx80) from a clash with a beginner. I usually grab one of my apacs or zelm racket to play with beginners but completely forgot this time...
Ok, so today I played around 3 hours worth of doubles games with both rackets. Used them each about an equal amount of time. Immediately after the first few hits with the VT80, I knew the thing was powerful. I was hitting the shuttle HARD, very hard. Swinging and hitting a shuttle with the VT80 is quite different to the MX80. With the MX80 (and the BS10 before it) there is very little air resistance. With the VT80, you can really feel that you're swinging something relatively heavy through the air (even though my VT80 is 2g lighter than my MX80). When I first started, switching back and forth between them both with hits, the VT80 definitely felt more powerful. But I'm not sure if it was just because of the weight. The actual shuttle was flying only slightly quicker. It wasn't a huge difference by any means. Initially I kept mis-timing my smashes, mainly due to having to adjust to the slower nature of the racket, even struggled a bit on clears since I kept clearing too far. Just as I was just getting a feel for it, I don't know what happened, but my guess is I was tiring out. It's like I just didn't have the strength to swing this thing at crazy force over and over like I can with the MX80. My smashes started to slow down, and my timing was all over the place. After losing too many points, I switched back to the MX80 and immediately got an additional burst of power AND control. I think because I was swinging less powerfully, the MX80 was easier to thrash around, and much quicker too. Suddenly it all fit together. My drives were fast, smashes precise, and placement good. What really stood out is the angle of smashes with the MX80, imo I was able to get much sharper angles smashing with the MX80 than the VT80. So really...I guess when I first started playing, the VT80 was more powerful but definitely slower, and then when I started losing initial level of stamina, the MX80 ended up being more powerful, faster and more precise. It's a hard one to rate really, but if I'm honest, I just don't think I'm quite strong or fast enough to handle the VT80. It's a solid racket, but very demanding. My arm didn't even ache once using it, I just, slowly started losing power. With the MX80, because it feels so light and whippy, I never have to worry about running out of gas. The thing is as well, I'm not even sure if it is the head heaviness of the VT80 that makes it so much slower. My 8DX is not much different. I don't think it is the head weight (though that has something to do with it). It's more the aerodynamics of the frame. Victor's sharper frame angles seriously help cut down air resistance. The Brave Sword's sword frame design or the Meteor's Octo frame design, they really make light work of air friction compared to Yonex's slightly more thick and clunky rounded boxy design. So I guess what it boils down to is, I am not strong enough to handle the VT80, and much prefer the MX80 for speed, control, and average power (VT80 has more initial power whilst your stamina is up for it). Not sure whether to sell it on or practise with it some more. You can feel the potential in it, it's just a bit of a beast to wield. And the less aerodynamic frame doesn't help. If Victor released a head heavy version of the MX80...oh boy...
hahahaha....i must say once i did that as well. thanks to permanent marker black for that contribution.......(my BS10 scratches for kids play). i knew how u felt, afterall it's is not our fault
I really want to try the VT80 out again now. Give it another stab and see if I do any better with it this time. Usually I dominate our games and it was weird that I was losing points and matches more often with the VT80. But a part of me still thinks it might just be because I was not used to it. Or I'll just end up finding out the MX80 is better suited to me lol. Like I said many posts ago, it's not like I actually need any more power than my MX80 gives, it's just that greed and lust for more lol. One weird occurrence, is that during smashes and clears, I wasn't mis-timing hits by being too slow, but instead being too fast. I kept swinging slightly before I needed too. Very odd. I thought it would end up being that I was too slow with the VT80..
Oh well, I suppose VT80 is for me then, yes definitely. I'll just rush out and buy one and won't even mind comparing with MX80! I love head heavy racquets. But I got to hear good evaluations first and I trust you did your best part by being as thoroughly impartial as possible...). Since you gave it a thorough breakdown, I'll take it as a go ahead for me with the Voltric 80.
give it sometimes...at least we both know that we have two most powerful rackets in our hand..and motivate us to practice harder to deserve its power then...
Yea, I think I'll practise with it more. At the very least it will make me a stronger player, that can't be bad. I think the mistake is to play doubles straight with a new head heavy racket. Because you're not constantly returning or hitting (your partner does half the work), it's not enough of a practise session. I always find I improve skills the most, and get used to rackets best playing singles, then afterwards take what I've learnt to the doubles games. I reckon I'll play singles next session to get better used to the VT80. On a side note, my knee is fudged up. Getting some pain in my left knee and sometimes when I turn too sharp it not only hurts a bit, but feels like it's moving out of place a bit. I dislocated my knee years ago and wonder if injury pangs are coming back to haunt me. I think I'll wear a knee bandage next game.
that's the thing..VT80 is fast and power. i kindda like it very much compare to my other rackets. it is just i am not good enough to handle it little longer time...i keep practice my strength and muscle by now...one day, i will grab VT80 and there is no turning back.
it's not having the most powerful racket that wins level doubles not only does your racket choice of power vs speed depend on your abililty to wield it effectively, but importantly it depends on the skills and tactics of your partner and opponents. if your group's tactics is to play "mono" doubles, ie. doubles in a singles manner with clears and smashes, then of course get a powerful racket but if your group uses more advanced doubles tactics, with well placed drops, drives, etc, then speed becomes more important than pure power
Agreed. But right now I'm the most consistent smasher in our group, so I'd like to keep the pressure on with power. The rest of the group haven't quite got to the stage where they can confidently defend against my smashes, so I'm trying to take advantage of that. One other random observation, which could explain a lot of my mishits and so on, is that I feel it's much harder to be a "loose wrist flick" player with ultra head heavy rackets. With light, quick or less head heavy rackets, it's easy since there isn't added inertia or momentum dictating movements. A lot of effort is taken off the arms and you get better angles with quick loose flick adjustments. This is harder with head heavy rackets as they tend to lose stability within loose palms. I think the only way I'll make up for the new dynamics is to either use more arm/forearm whip, hold the grip tighter, or to use my index finger more as a guiding tool when flicking. I'll experiment more next session and let you guys know how I get on.
I am currently deciding between the MX80 and VT80 as well as the LN N90II. Although I am also considering another SW35. need to read more first on these rackets, but I have other priorities at the moment, which unfortunately involves going nowhere near a Badminton court.
