Yo, people. I got this baby for christmas and I've just played a session with it so I thought I'd share my experience with you all. First of all, a bit of reference on my current racket and standard of play. I use a Yonex MP30 3UG5 with BG65Ti at 23x25lbs, though it's obviously gone down somewhat. I believe that the balance point in its original grip was an even-balanced 285mm from the butt of the racket. But I shifted that down to around 268mm by taking that grip off and putting two layers of Karakal PU Super Grips on. The racket has a stiff feel to it, which I like and it feels a little bit head-heavy though I'd prefer it to be more even. I have been playing the game seriously for about a year and a few months now. About four years before that, I played most weeks on and off for about two years. I never had coaching or been to a club at that point and I was mostly playing with the same friend. We were pretty awful now that I look back. I have become a competant player in singles and doubles and represent my local club and university this season. I have a very good and accurate touch at the net. I'm not a big smasher, but I do get some power and pretty good accuracy behind them. I've been told by county players that I have fast hands because I can defend smashes really well. My backhand clear isn't great. I can reach about 3/4 court from my baseline if not pressured or if the shuttle is unruffled but probably only about half court if either of the two factors come in. The Racket: I've looked at many places on the net and they all say that it's 92g. But the dealer I bought this from on ebay stated that it was 78g without the strings, and I believe him. I can't remember the exact balance point in its original grip, but it was definitely in 29xmm range. Yet it still felt rather evenly balanced. Taking the original grip off and putting two Karakal PU's on, I got it down to 270mm. This gave it a very nice head-lightish feel. It's your standard length racket though it doesn't affect me if it's standard or long. I really don't know how to describe the flex... it's kind of moderately stiff, but something flexes quite a bit when I hit the shuttle. I've been playing with the factory strings, as in, if I push one of the mains sideways to make a slight curve, it would stay like that rather than try to go back to being straight. I can tell that they're thicker than the BG65's 0.7mm. Performance: Clears needed a bit more than usual to get to the back of the court, I blame the strings. Smashes were a little weaker than with my MP30, but they seemed so much more accurate. Net play was tops, but I've always had good touch at the net whether I've had a break from playing or just changed rackets. Defence was superb since it was clearly faster through the air. Drives were very good as well, with better control and less effort. Drops - didn't get the chance to play very many, but they didn't seem too different than usual. Backhand clear amazed me, really. Unpressured, I can hit it baseline to baseline, even if I do have to hit it as hard as I can. When the shuttle has gone behind me, I can still get it to 3/4 court. It's quite clear to me that this was because the racket was so much faster through the air. That's just about it. If there's anything I missed, just ask me and I'll try and comment on it. I plan to get this restrung with my favourite BG65 at the maximum recommended tension of 24x26lbs, so I'll update it sometime. Cheers.
i'm not totally sure, but i believe its the arch's ability to distribute stress and load better than the squared off corners of an isometric head. since the racquet head has an even arc throughout, the tension of the stringbed is more evenly distributed than in an iso-head, where theres a diliberate deformation of the corners, creating an actual stress points where the planes of the racquet head meet at the top. and also, you mentioned the seller quoted the unstrung racquet weight at 78g? thats wrong... the lightest racquet in their current range is the 03 airblade superlite, at 81g unstrung. the rasumussen superlite is slightly heavier by a gram or two. i think the more common postings of 92g for the rasmussen Ti is more accurate. your headlight distribution of weight due to the two layers of karakal pu supergrip will further lead to the lighter feel of the racquet.
This is Cool i am trying to score a couple of these now and i think they are going to be spot on. The above taking about the stringing on a square head frame is primarily to do with the difference in the string length. The crosses being shorter apply a high load on the frame than the mains. By running the main a little tight it evens out the overall tension better. I use to use Cab-25 @ 25lbs all over with no issues but had 3x Fleet Diamond 70's which i strung @ 23lbs all over and had them ALL brake around the "top corner" of the frame.
