Ah I see, thanks for letting me know! If only I could have edited it... Next time I'll be sure to mention its proper head shape
The XP's are really a hybrid of MX and BS frames. So it has an octagonal cross section lower half like MX and a sword shaped cross section top half like BS. And like the BS, the top half is pinched in at 10-11 o'clock and 1-2 o'clock. Just look at any BS and you'll understand what I mean. For this reason (lighter head mass) and it's sword cross section, BS is known for it's amazing speed and maneuverability. BS has been like this for a long while, it's not oval, not semi iso, nor tweener.
I bought a 2nd hand XP70 that weigh 88gm and with 300mm bp (dry). Just had a session with it and it is indeed a very fast racquet, very good for drive and decent power as well. I am impressed with it, one of the better racquet in my collection. At the price point, it is really value for money.
Which racket is that? Anyway, if I recall correctly, mine had that long string from L12-L08 as well or R12-R05. The reason is because at the end of the main strings at either L12 or R12 in your pictures, he tied the knot off at L08 or R05. It makes sense to me since those grommets are better suited to fit a string through to tie a knot. Was there a starting knot at L05? Regardless, nothing to worry about. Glad to hear about another happy XP70 user =) I measured one of mine and it was 85.3g and 299mm, a little lighter than my other rackets but still considered 3U. will wait for strings to snap before measuring the second.
I did it.... I finally bought a XP-70 (87g, 300mm). Can't wait to try it! I initially thought the XP-70 would be too flexible for my liking but it's actually fairly stiff. From just flexing it, I'd say it's around as stiff as a NS9900 or Z-force.
^ I'm waiting for 2x XP70 (86/297). Got them as backups to my other 2, one of which I broke in a clash last wk. Having tried an MXJJS, I'd say it's the same stiffness. Easy to wield yet accurate.
^Haha, you're going to buy all of Eric's rackets Hmm, I was quite curious about the MXJJS and wanted to try it for some time now. I almost bought it but decided to go with the XP-70 instead because I can choose the specs. Do you find 86g a bit light? 87g feels fairly lighter than my BS10 which I thought was already light.
I'm more of a control counter attacking style, so speed and accuracy trumps rear court smash power, for me. 4U. Same spec especially same head wt would play similar. ZSPD is an unusual racket... at least the demo I had tried from Topline. I'd say an XP80 (88/300) would be close. I know because I've ordered one for my friend with those specs a few months ago and it has a similar swing, although not as fast as the more compact ZSPD. But ZSPD would have more oomph at the expense of defence.
I have 2x MX70, one 3U one 4U. So i know definitely XP70 is closer to JJS, especially shaft stiffness of MX70 is noticeably stiffer than both.
RKEP XP-70 (87, 300mm, strung at 26lbs with Zymax 62) first impressions: At first, the racket felt dull and a bit heavy, nothing too special. As I continued to play however, the racket showed its true colours (and yes, I spell colour with "ou", I'm Canadian ). I warmed up with a few clears and to my surprise, they were all going out! I had to adjust my swing to handle the power. Next, I tried smashing and the smashes were beautiful!! I was able to smash fairly hard from the back court (which I normally avoid from the lack of confidence ) and from awkward positions. I normally wouldn't talk about accuracy since you can be "accurate" with any racket if you play enough with it. But this racket gave me extremely sharp smashing angles for some reason . Moving on to smashes around mid-court, these smashes were on par, if not faster than my smashes with my BS10. That's saying a lot! (for me anyways) The stiff shaft on the BS10 with a fast swing delivers DEADLY smashes, yet the XP-70 was able to do the same! The XP-70 is also an easy racket to use, I can play with minimal effort, and also smash continually. Umm, the net shots and drives were average, so not too much to say (for now). I'm curious about comparing this racket to the MX JJS and the Z-speed since they have similar specs but I don't think I'll be able to try them anytime soon :crying:
Update: I played another 2 hours tonight and the XP-70 is NICE, all my shots were going where I wanted them. The sweet spot is a bit smaller than isometric rackets but I'm fine since I used to use oval rackets . I finally understand what people mean when they say "Yonex rackets feel damped", I played with my friend's NS9900 again and it felt so dull! In comparison, my BS10 and XP-70 feel SO MUCH livelier.
Hope it works out well for you! I just came back from my 2 hr baddy session, and forcing myself to rotate between the APP and JJS, I found myself coming back to the XP70 when the game got tight. Smash, half smash, clear, drive, drop, net, feel, defence ... everything was so much better with the XP70. I don't even know why I bother with looking at or buying other rackets...
