I guess this comes from observing the new Astrox pro line, which started to start this trend of creating pro line rackets that has more hold feel to the racket than their originals (88s/d vs 88s/d pro) Ever since Lee Yong Dae started to talk about rackets with more hold feel is preferred for him, I noticed rackets with more hold feel have been coming out to replace the top of the line rackets. Personally I prefer rackets with less hold, because rackets with more hold I tend to string higher. I usually would get a similar playability with my Arc11 when I string it at 29lbs when compared to my main racket at 27lbs. Here are the pros and cons to rackets with more hold feel on higher string tension vs rackets with less hold feel on lower tension. Just my opinion. Pros: Higher pitched hitting sound More satisfying hitting feel Cons: Shorter string life Shorter racket life Unchanged: Racket's playability and my winning percentage So, I'm asking myself whether using holding feel is even advantageous at all to consumers. Sure, to pros who get their equipment for free, they may feel better off with rackets with hold on higher tension. But for normal consumers, doesn't it just mean we have to pay more for our equipment? Why would I want to main a racket that I need to string nearly 30lbs, when I can just get something with less hold and string it at 27lbs for a longer life?
I think its more about how manufacturer bring up the trend. When Voltric come out, the trend are all about power horse. Then the Astrox riseup & the trend change to manouver & step smash. Today trend setup by Yonex are shuttlehold. Is it good? Maybe yes & maybe not. But regardless they need to put some spicy to makes new racket having a leaping improvement that is much better than the previous one. Pretty sure on far future Yonex will come back to power trend with new name & claim its brand new invention.
Can someone define what "hold feel" means, and what design changes makes a racket has more hold feel?
Hold feel are when shuttle linger on the string bed for longer duration before it bounce back. On games it feel like our shot are abit delayed & coz of that we had abit more time to control our shot. About what mechanism/design/tech that could give more hold feel, (im not sure just guesting myself) are 1. string type & tension. 2. Bigger hole grommet thus creating more movement on string bed.
I see. I wonder what actually contribute to that. What I anticipate is something that is less stiff. String material, maybe, but that's not really something that's related to the racket model. Same for tension. Bigger grommet hole, is that really the case with the newer racket? I was expecting some answer like racket head size, or racket material.
I also heard that the frame's width is a big contributor to the hold feel. Rackets that have wider frames like the white racket in this image will have more hold feel (image source: waroo badminton blog). Seeing as frames with ultra-high modulus graphite tend to have less hold than rackets without it from my experience, I'm sure the material of the frame contributes to this too. Rackets with more hold feel will have a bigger sweet spot and feel like the stringbed deforms more during impact. I usually string my rackets at 27lbs, but when I string Arc11 at 27lbs it definitely feels like the string tension is too low during smashes, where it has too much of that trampoline effect. That's why it feels more ideal to string these rackets a couple pounds higher than rackets that don't hold.
Yes. that's kinda what I expect. larger racket size, lower tension, and lower stiffness will contribute to it.
I think it may be Yonex's way of subversively improving playability for the majority of those recreational players who tend to have their rackets strung too high for their abilities. Sent from my SM-G988W using Tapatalk
Wait so the 'hold feel' in Arc 11 is basically the same as the lag you feel when you string your racket too low? So what is the advantage of getting an Arc 11 as opposed to stringing your racket lower?
Benefits: Higher pitched hitting sound More satisfying hitting feel honestly though, professional players choose their equipment predominantly by how the racket feels and not on specifications like head heaviness, shaft stiffness, racket hold, etc, so I get why they choose rackets like that. Companies just give them rackets to try, usually 5-6 different rackets strung at the same string and tension to their preference (usually very high tension), and they'll just settle for the one that feels right. They'll pass up on any rackets that don't have hold, and they won't even bother trying the racket at lower tension because they don't need to. Players switch to new rackets all the time, but it's rare for them to switch up their string. They'll choose whichever racket that accomodates their string. For casuals, we switch strings to accomodate our racket. Because we can't try out 5 different rackets before purchasing, we just make our purchase and hope for the best, and if the racket needs a different string or tension we'll do whatever it takes to make the purchase work. Similarly, because we pay for our own equipment I think we're better off with rackets that work on lower tension. I'd much rather give up on a bit of hitting feel and have my equipment last longer instead, especially the strings. It's just so cumbersome and expensive to have to switch strings every week
Just from personal feel the Arc11 frame is much softer then most of the rackets I used. The repulsion isn't there, and when I paired it with a soft feeling string to test with an Arc11pro. I felt the shuttle was almost like being drawn into the string bed. Off center hits were also very very forgiving with this soft string + standard iso frame. Had the arc11 strung at 27lbs. I sort of feel the same as @ChocoChipWaffle, if I want a bit more repulsion I would have to string a softer feeling string higher and for sure with an arc11/11pro something about the frame and even shaft synergy feels like I'm literally just grabbing the shuttle. One reason why I always try to go thin strings as I can string at a lower tension while putting less stress on the racket and getting the nice feeling of a thicker string at the same tension. Rather destroy and cut through grommets then destroy rackets. I don't break strings often so looks like thin strings are good for me.
from my personal experience having TK770 & P8 are like this. TK770 had slight shuttle hold P8 less hold. In term of control, slicing with TK770 are easier as shuttle stay on stringbed longer. With lowered tension i can get more hold but it become to bouncy. In term of power smash. My friend told me that when i use TK770, my smash seems slower but feel heavy when blocking. As if the shuttle absorb all the momentum given to it but takes times before unloading all its force. Other hand P8 (again from my friend comment), my full smash seems faster but feel light on blocking. So feel like the shuttle leave right away making it feel faster & carry less energy which resulting light block feel.
I feel control is one of the hardest things to judge when it comes to rackets or strings. Shots like overhead slices or defensive drives are better when you have a racket or string with hold, but stuff like tumble net shots, pushes to the corner and edges can be done with pin point accuracy with very wooden rackets Which is why I don't necessarily believe Arc 11 is a control racket, when my comparatively wooden MX JJS feels so much more accurate on certain shots on the court Also it's interesting what Budi said. I remember hearing Sukamuljo's smashes are recorded faster versus Praveen Jordan and thought there was no way. But then again, I recall Sukamuljo's smashes might bounce off the racket quicker due to thinner strings or whatever equipment differences they have, and I am pretty certain Jordan's smashes are heavier than Sukmauljo's. So then we have another question- what's considered power? Is Jordan's heavier but slower smash considered more powerful, or Sukamuljo's quicker but light smashes more powerful? Guess it's off topic, but just interesting
I'm sort of confused with that as well. Isn't F=MxA? So how can a smash be heavier if it is slower since the mass is constant?
Also E=mc² and time is not absolute. But you still need to smash faster for the shuttle to get (noticeably) heavier.... very very fast.
Not really sure how the actual thing works but that actually happen. I mean thats my friend feel when im switching between my TK770 & P8 (not just 1 person but some other mention it to) & im also feel that some people smash are easier to react but hard to return due to heavy force that feel like pushing my racket yet some others require me focus & preparation for quicker reaction & if i manage to catch it, its easy for me to make a good return. My assumtion are this slight delay from the hold stuff affect how its being fast or slow.
I also have faced those type of opponents, some have smash that feels heavy to return (like it just push my racket hard), and some have smash that fly faster but easy to return. Then I observe them, and one thing I notice is the heavy smash's shuttlecock don't spin (like knuckle ball in football) while the faster one spinning like it's forcing its way through the air. And I like the heavy one, so I'm in search for racket that smash heavy with more hold time now.
shuttle rotation speed is crucial to cut through the air. It's why slice smashes seem to land on the floor much quicker than pure power smashes. It's kind of life baseball pitching where the ball rotation (RPM) is crucial to making the ball travel quicker. But accounting for shuttlecock rotation makes it very tricky to judge player's smash power. Setiawan smashes aren't as hard as some, but it's one of the most lethal in the circuit cuz he always slices it.
Yeah, smash that make shuttlecock spin fast seems to fly faster, but in exchange it's easier to return. While the shuttlecock that dont spin (should I call it knuckle cock? ) seems harder to return. I hit few knuckle cock with my 88D and hell.. only 2/10 is able to return it. Don't really understand the science behind that.
