Here's my tuppence-worth. Honest Branding: 'Voltric Z-Force 2: The Elephant Gun. It will put a hole in anything, but if you're not careful it will break your shoulder.' Z force 2 is a difficult racket to use well. It was my racket for a few years though. It does have a small head and 'isometric' but still quite skinny. Small sweet spot. Totally unforgiving with bad timing or late shots. But you can shoot an elephant dead with it if you get a good contact. Its not suited to intermediate players. It puts a stress on your body if your technique's the least off with overhead shots and its not the fastest for flat play. Yonex's blurb is a bit hype but its on point. The shaft is really bloody strong and stiff. The extra length is there for the optimum simple harmonic motion kick. for that flex i guess. Just compare the racket with other rackets, it looks longer and the head tiny. The stiff shaft means tons of power - if - you can accelerate the racket correctly. It also means accuracy, i hate whippy rackets for singles. The head is small, but thats to keep the weight down, a good player will make solid strokes with it. Its strict but fair, if you make a good shot, it is your friend. if you mishit, god help you. The thing about breaking your shoulder isn't as much a joke as black humour. i actually think it contributed to my shoulder problems. ---- If you want a nice 3u head heavy, have a look at Astrox 99 Tour, game or play. i have the pro, and it has a massive sweet spot and seems unfairly easy to hit accurate drops with. it is very efficient and gives easy power, its not extra stiff, the head kind of rotates into the stroke, its so nice. smoooth. Id say go for tour, game or play in the same range, as they are cheaper and are again much easier for intermediate players to use well. Summary: Tour is less head heavy than the pro, quicker on defence, but not as smooth. (both tour and pro have this different head shape and power assist bumper) Game is even less head heavy (~even balance), no faster than the tour (it has a different head shape than the pro or tour and a half-recessed frame profile) C.K Yew really liked the Play, which is the cheapest one, (more than the Tour or the Game in fact.) Nice solid feel. Bit slower than game and tour but feels head heavy like the top end one. and at a third of the price of the Pro you can't go wrong.
I know that the dimension of ax 99 is decent. Does anyone know the dimension of ax 100, is it as large as ax 99? Ridiculous that I can't get this critical information.[/QUOTE] The Ax 99 has a much larger head than the 100 zz (which is not much bigger than the Z force II). The Ax 99 should be horribly heavy but its got a really smooth feel. The 100 zz has a bigger sweet spot than the Z force 2 and is far easier to handle in flat play, its also a lot more even-balanced than either the 99 or the z force 2. Its really powerful (not quite at the same level as the Ax 99 or Z force II but still brutal), and also really stiff, its accurate but its a wand, if you like to feel the shuttle its not got that. Perhaps for marketing, Yonex call the 100 zz head heavy, i say bulls$hit. Because its a racket marketed towards singles players who usually want 3u+head heavy. its more head heavy than most doubles rackets tho. Even balanced, i'd say. Its even balanced but it has the power of a head heavy racket. Where's the catch? A bit less feel. ----------------------------------------- To the OP, I feel the frustration of not being able to find out the exact specifications of things from Yonex. I dithered between the 3u and 4u for Ax99 Pro, and the heads seem to be different sizes between 3u and 4u when i went to a shop to have a look - it used to be that 3u and 4u rackets of the same brand came in the same size and grip size and the weight difference was just made up in volume cut resin in the head. Now we have different head sizes and different grip sizes for 3U and 4U, but no information to make an informed decision from.
The Ax 99 has a much larger head than the 100 zz (which is not much bigger than the Z force II). The Ax 99 should be horribly heavy but its got a really smooth feel. The 100 zz has a bigger sweet spot than the Z force 2 and is far easier to handle in flat play, its also a lot more even-balanced than either the 99 or the z force 2. Its really powerful (not quite at the same level as the Ax 99 or Z force II but still brutal), and also really stiff, its accurate but its a wand, if you like to feel the shuttle its not got that. Perhaps for marketing, Yonex call the 100 zz head heavy, i say bulls$hit. Because its a racket marketed towards singles players who usually want 3u+head heavy. its more head heavy than most doubles rackets tho. Even balanced, i'd say. Its even balanced but it has the power of a head heavy racket. Where's the catch? A bit less feel. ----------------------------------------- To the OP, I feel the frustration of not being able to find out the exact specifications of things from Yonex. I dithered between the 3u and 4u for Ax99 Pro, and the heads seem to be different sizes between 3u and 4u when i went to a shop to have a look - it used to be that 3u and 4u rackets of the same brand came in the same size and grip size and the weight difference was just made up in volume cut resin in the head. Now we have different head sizes and different grip sizes between 3U and 4U (which means different shaft lengths), but no information to make an informed decision from. So to my mind those are not different weights of a racket, those are entirely different rackets. [/QUOTE]
Totally agree, I also use the 77 and it is really good. I am deciding to switch to the 88d pro as an upgrade from my 77. I tried 88dp on court few days back and it had more power and was pretty fast, faster than the 77 I would say. 88d pro is not very stiff also, pretty pliable shaft
I’d say, it all depends what standard you play, i see so many intermediate players playing with ridiculously high tension with top of the range racquets, badly i might add The combinations of racquets / string / grip size is mind boggling, perhaps ask to try some racquets from other club members and see what you like
ZF2 is one of the hardest rackets to play of all time. There is a reason almost no pros uses it in doubles and only some had achieved success in singles with it. Going from a 3u head-heavy stiff to another 3u head-heavy stiff like the 99 will change absolutely nothing. A bigger racket head (what, 3mm larger ?) won't magically make you hit dead center. You need to find out what exactly is lacking : - You hit too much off-center ? only technique will help you or going down in tension for a larger sweet spot - You feel it's too slow on defenses ? you need to go neutral. - You feel it's too heavy and struggle keeping consistency in length/backhands ? go 4u or neutral - You feel that you don't have good length when playing in late shots ? go medium/flex
you might take a look at Victor Ryuga and Lining Aeronaut 9000D.. if you want head heavy racket and you want more 'Power'
First impression from astrox99. Compared to z-force 2, it's light as a feather. I move significantly faster, the shots are easier and on average more powerful (especially after the first hour of singles). That is, momentum is mv (mass X velocity). It's a trade-off: if it's too heavy, then it would be too slow. I think I'm too much of a wimp, and zf2 is just too heavy for me. --- I tried the Lining 9000. Indeed it's heavy head, and you can see it's balancing point. However, it seems to have only a 4U version. Not familiar with Victor. Maybe next time.
very true. If its to heavy you need more strength to give the initial push. The same if its to light you need more swing speed to compensate the weight loss. Finding the best combination on BP & weight that could give the most swing speed + weight is what give you best optimal power. But to find that, its not an easy journey (or at least not a cheap one) For Lining, i think Combat version are 3U but Lining reciept are Combat 3U less HH Drive 4U more HH So i dont think there is 3U very HH on Lining lineup.
whoa.. I hv yet to try the 99/100 more than 1 game, but I always had the impression zf2 is still the stiffest in YY range. Now YY is really expanding the range like crazy, each model got pro/tour/game/play variants
not all had the luxury to enjoy high end racket. Mostly they had tight pocket & to be able enjoy their love on badminton, the cheaper one would be good alternative. Lining had so many lineup that available on on all price range & they sell like candy for sure. If YY want to grab this kind of market, they should widen up their line up for sure.
Is this strange head racket even playable or need 'High God'-like skills to wield it? LOL. Can't seem to find any reviews online or in youtube.
