What kind of rackets have you progressed from? Why?

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by kakashihatake, May 12, 2018.

  1. kakashihatake

    kakashihatake Regular Member

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    When I started playing competitively (adults public tournament), I used li ning and kawasaki (I forgotten the model) , both served me well.

    Then I tried lining n9 first generation, which was a pretty heavy racket to me, amazed me with it's power.

    Then, my country Malaysia changed sponsor, from yonex to Victor. What was funny was that I never used any yonex in my life back then.

    My first Victor racket was tk series. Broke in 3 months because of hitting with another racket. After that incident, it created an impression to me that Victor was so soft and fragile. Never in my life had I experienced such an easy broken racket.

    After that, I started seriously studying rackets and brands. I bought js 10 after that, no other reason than because the national team are using it.

    Js 10 really opened my eyes on how fast a ball can fly with a racket like that.

    After playing for some time, I just feel it lack of power. (It is still a superb racket IMO) It requires me to swing with more strength on a soft racket like this than a more solid racket.

    I tried different rackets after that. Li ning n9ii and yonex ax88s. Both 3u racket that give me very solid feeling, but they are so different. I'm still pretty dominating with n9ii, give me a lot of confidence while playing with professional players. ax88s to me, is just getting better every time I play.

    So my progress was from soft rackets to hard, then even softer rackets and go back to solid hard again.

    How about yours? I have heard a lot of good things about bs 12, and other brands.

    Tell us your story and experience as well on rackets and brands too. :)

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     
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  2. Martynas

    Martynas Regular Member

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    I progressed from owning Yonex/Victor rackets to understanding that racket contributes about +5/-5 percent to success during competitive play at most. And there are so a lot of other brands like Apacs Fleet or Protech (ordered to try Unlimited Strike!) which produce not fragile not sinking rackets which are as good/better as yonex/victor for a half or even third of a price.
     
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  3. Borkya

    Borkya Regular Member

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    My very first racket was given to me on my 39th birthday by my friends. It was a decathalon racket. I loved that racket because it was my "first" and because it was my friends supporting me to play badminton. It didn't even make it a year before breaking and on my 40th birthday a new group of friends gave me a Victor racket. I forget which one.

    But it was a slightly heavy racket and I was having tennis elbow problems at the time, so there was a boy who would lend me his Victor Nanoray Glanz each time because it was lighter. Me and the boy started dating and on our first date (in which we played badminton of course) he refused it when I tried to give it back. I still have this one.

    My 40th birthday one broke almost 1 year later and for my 41st birthday my coach gave me a an "Excalibur Knight" racket to replace it. Still have this one and still use it most.

    Then I got an Adidas racket from the company to try and review and I really like that one.

    It's almost my birthday and my boyfriend has bought the victor Star Wars racket and bag combo. I haven't got it yet, have to wait till next weekend, but I think it's gonna be my new favorite racket. He was trying to secretly buy it for me, but I was ready to go to Hong Kong and pick it up myself cause I want it so bad, so he had to tell me, haha.

    I like that I have never bought a racket myself and all my rackets represent support from friends and others. Each one has a lot of meaning and I get very sad when they break. I even have my very first Decathalon racket hanging on my wall. :)
     
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  4. Anthony Kuan

    Anthony Kuan New Member

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    I went from using heavy rackets- 2U and one was a green old Yonex racket (my dad's) that felt like it was a 100g xD to liking 4U rackets. 4U rackets IMO are the perfect balance for everyone, it's heavy enough for powerful smashes and it's also not so heavy that you'll suffer with it if you're a doubles player. Currently, I'm a huge fan of FLEET rackets. (Since two are on its way :D can't wait)
     
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  5. Martynas

    Martynas Regular Member

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    which models you have got?
     
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  6. Okaharu

    Okaharu Regular Member

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    1. hand-me-downs: Ti10 1st gen 2U, MP88 2U, some old carbonex that was matte black and bronze
    2. Went through a phase where I only wanted to play with 3U hh racquets cause I thought it'll give me more power (admit it, every player goes through this ;P)
    3. Finally realised hh can actually be detrimental to your game/ability/prone to injury if it doesn't suit your style/skill set.
    4. Tried out and settled for lighter even balanced racquets; trained lots, saw improvement in play.
    Training and footwork plays such an important role in your game. A good session of training can be much more fun and rewarding than a game especially when you've mastered a new skill by the end of it :D
    side note: them 2U Ti10 and MP88 feel so light and manoeuvrable. Still don't understand how that works...
     
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  7. kakashihatake

    kakashihatake Regular Member

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    Wow 2u! U guys play 2u for doubles or singles? Can't imagine myself to swing a 2u since I'm in doubles.

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     
  8. swsh

    swsh Regular Member

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    Some free racket with a food supplement (still have it) and then bought a GR303 because *yonex* (I still have that as well 13-14 years later or however long ago that was). Moved up to an arcsaber 002 (which I actually had till it broke on a smash couple months back. Loved it to bits despite me owning more expensive stuff nowadays). Moved from the arcsaber 002 to a 3u carbonex 21 special which was my first made in japan racket. Looking back, I really shouldn't have bought it as it barely got used and I always would pick up the arcsaber again for school team practise.

    The part below all happened in 2017-18.

    Then I quit for 7.5 years or so and after suddenly getting the urge again, went to the nearby shop at 8pm and bought a Voltric Force. It looked the most up to date thing there. Ended up cracking and collapsing after a few months at 30lbs so it annoyed me a bit. Went ahead and bought a 10DG this time. This really hit home for me since it felt all heavy and nice. Loved that more than I should have before I got the urge to splurge on a high end and just went ahead with the latest again (at the time being this). Liked it a lot and then my 10DG got stolen so I wanted something similar and bought a zf2 3u lcw edition. And then it's all down from there. Sudden urge for a TK9900 and I bought that. Then I got an N90, swapped my ZF2 lcw for a D10 LCW which I swapped for two apacs and a 10dg and then bought a 2u Z Strike which I couldn't find more of so I thought buying another Z Force 2 3u would be nice which I got bored of so I got n9ii a few days later that I didn't like after a session. Went ahead with three Infernos but I didn't like the feel of it that much so I went ahead with an 88s which I use now. I also got another li ning and a 1dg somewhere in between the last three months to experiment on (ultra high tensions) and learn more about it.

    That's about it I think.
     
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  9. kakashihatake

    kakashihatake Regular Member

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    Interesting experience. Why break for so long though?

    Try more in n9ii. Took me a few months to get used to it, now, I'm like having a beast in my hand :)

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     
  10. Okaharu

    Okaharu Regular Member

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    solely used for doubles. That's the thing, both of those racquets were so effortless to use in doubles... weird right?
    Doesn't even compare to VT70 3U or ARC11 3U I have. More like 4U racquets Nanoray Glanz and Inferno
     
  11. shreyas666

    shreyas666 Regular Member

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    Started playing with carbonex 9 back in 2006 in my school team, was twice the zonal winner. i still have that racket. i also owned a Carbonex 50, still have it. Took an enforced break from badminton due to studies and academic load, meanwhile i was gifted victor mx-jjs, which was beyond me at that point. picked up again in 2015, december 9th. got an arcsaber 001 (and started loving the game) on 22nd of january, 2016. Got a Muscle Power 29 and started trying different strings, mostly victor, gosens and yonex. Came September I ordered Two Apacs Z-zigler and lethal8. my game improved a lot with these. z-ziggler prepped me up for zf2(compact head part) and started weight training and running.
    Demonetization in India happened and in a bid to get rid of Cash i got Ashaway phantom x speed. this opened me up to the world of speed and stiffness. Best racket, it was so good and my game had an extra x-factor of confidence. Came january 2017, i got a zf2. Spent a month getting used to it. Met @swsh after india open in march and started playing with a lot more seriousness. In April, i had a vt10dg and in may i had tk8000. this was really a great racket in my arsenal. was Enjoying every moment of it, till in october 2017 i lost my ashaway to a clash with a noob! damn that man to hell. felt devasted and it took a week for that loss to sink in. also discovered sinking in tk8000, was left heartbroken and insecure. Exhcnaged . my zf2 for a vt80etune and sold my both apacses and vt10dg for duora 10lcw(didnt like it). gave away arcsaber 001 and mp29. bought zstrike in january and finally zf1 and duora 8xp this april.
     
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  12. swsh

    swsh Regular Member

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    I'm a semi-pro or "was" would be a more appropriate term (tennis) so Badminton never had priority and I kind of just left it after a little bit.

    In no way is this against n9ii but I pretty much disliked it right away. TK9900 and ZF2 3u destroy it for pure power and inferno / js10 destroys it for speed. It's aimed more towards power but makes little sense if you can handle 9900 or ZF2 properly.
     
  13. Charlie-SWUK

    Charlie-SWUK Regular Member

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    Prince Lumina -> Arc 9 > ZF2 -> N50 III [Switch to left]
    N50 III > Voltric 0 > ZF2 > N90 > Took a break, sold a lot of rackets > PP Trinity Pro (?) one Duckfeet kindly lent me > SonicPro 99 > VT 50 E-Tune > K9000 > N90 [Back to right]
    N90 > Z Speed > Astrox 77

    There were various other rackets, but most didn't last very long. I still have a bunch of rackets like an N99, Z Strike, Z Speed etc. etc. but some of them just didn't pique my interest.
     
  14. Anthony Kuan

    Anthony Kuan New Member

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    I just received two new Fleet rackets, one is a Duo Speed and the other is a High Tension Frame 9, can't wait to try it out later tonight! Oh, and my current racket is a Fleet H30-13 (red). :D
     
  15. Anthony Kuan

    Anthony Kuan New Member

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    Yeah, I have a 2U racket as well, dk if it's the same model as yours but it is also a Yonex Ti model. Doesn't feel like how a 2U should :/ it really is weird
     
  16. Martynas

    Martynas Regular Member

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    oh You are really going for the best bang for the buck :D
     
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  17. Vivek@1983

    Vivek@1983 Regular Member

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    How was your experience with fleet high tension frame 9 racket.... How is it ?
    I am looking for high tension frame 13 racket.... Will it be good for attack..
     
  18. Kenny Ng

    Kenny Ng New Member

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    My very first racket was old wooden racket given by my neighbour when I was just 8 years old, at the same time I was inspired by Yang Yang, then only decided learn to play.
    After 2 - 3 years the racket broke then only searched for cheapest Pro Kennex racket. I can't remember how long I was using Pro Kennex until it broke then bought Pro Ace racket and managed to enter school team during secondary school.
    Along the way after broke the Pro Ace, I was lucky to get Yonex Carbonex 8 as gift from my uncle. Carbonex 8 served me the longest period by far until graduated from polytechnic.
    During working life, I've been using RCL, Fleet and few more cheaper brands rackets, I wasn't particular on rackets all these while. Then I stopped badminton for few years due to working abroad until I came back in 2009, I decided to buy a good racket so I was planning to buy Li Ning N90, end up the seller introduced me a fake copy of N90 and fake copy of Archsaber Z Slash from Impact with just 1/5 price of the original price that time. It feels the same with original copies and I don't care much just using it for almost 9 years.
    After bored with fake N90 and fake Arch-Z, I decided to try lighter racket due to long term shoulder pain and tennis elbow injury, I bought Apacs Feather Weight 200 (7U). I was so regret after that, my shoulder pain even worst and sold the racket and continue using the fake N90 and fake Arch-Z, it was better but my tennis elbow pain still exist.
    Finally, I told myself... SCREW IT! Let's spend more for the first time to get my all time favorite brand Yonex, so I bought the VTLDF 4UG5 and really happy with it. Then recently also purchased Yonex AX88D 4UG5 and never regret it, both are good rackets to me and I really enjoy to play more now days, 4U just suit me as I'm getting older with old injuries :p:D
     
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  19. Sgupta02

    Sgupta02 New Member

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    A
    any views on the two new rackets ?
     

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