Hello, Following the valuable advice found here and there following recurring problems of tension in the forearm (see here), I am back to you for advice on a new racquet In 2016, I bought a Babolat X Feel Essential Metricflex which did not suit me well (it seems to me that it is a stiff/very stiff, head heavy). Despite the various physio/rest sessions, it turned out that the problem came from this old racquet. I didn't have a high level before and I didn't really know which one get. In fact, I think the stiffness was too technical for my arm... I asked for more advice to find another one, I was advised the Yonex Astrox 66. I have a versatile offensive profile and it is clearly a racquet that suits me ! And most importantly, the pain is gone. It now has some wear on the frame but I don't have any other additional racquets in case the string breaks in competition. Therefore, I would like to switch my AX 66 to secondary and find an equivalent in main. I was able to test a Li-Ning Xiphos X1 but I found it too "heavy". Is it related to the fact that it is a 3U instead of 4U of AX66 or its too pronounced header weight ? So far, I have spotted : Kawasaki King K9 (4U) Li-ning Axforce 50 (4U) Victor K 12 M (4U) Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour (4U) The K9 has very good feedback but I have never tested this brand. In the same type as the AX66 (heavy head, flex/medium), which racquet would you recommend (in my list or others) ?
Sounds like there's nothing negative for you using the AX66? Just get another one or two. No need to switch when you've found a great racket for you. It's still available everywhere it seems, so my recommendation: just get more.
I can't find any of them on uk ebay or the main uk online stockists. Astrox 77 (play / tour) is probably the closest thing to it. Yonex describe it as mid flex. Can't find what they described the Astrox66 as, be it "hi flex" or mid flex. - I am currently going through the same arm / elbow issues as TC. If I play with my Astrox100zz racquet, it gives me shoulder pain after 2-6 hours of use. Because of this, I played with Nanoray 800 Racquets. No shoulder pain because head light I thought. I noticed my smash and attacking play wasn't the fastest (because of head light racquet). So I bought a Nanoflare800lt racquet to see how it compared to the nanoray800's. It is A LOT more fun to play with, attacking feels stronger. But it absolutely wrecks my elbow. After 3 months of treatment I tried it again last Friday only for 2 hrs. And yeah, Sunday evening I could not play due to the pain. Stretching out my elbow from about 130 degrees to 180 degrees had intense pain on the inside of the elbow near the bicep (golfers elblow?). Gone backbackBACK to my Nanospeed9900 4UG5 to see if that helps recovery. Slightly bigger grip and it's not soo big that it impacts my grip changing. The higher the U, the lighter the overall weight of the racquet. My NF800lt is 5Ug5 and my other racquets are 3U or 4U.
Li Ning Europe and Li Ning Family (Li Ning Denmark) do ship to France. The Axforce 80 is on sale btw. for 152€ on LN Family. Free shipping once you hit 180€.
Okay, but what's the difference between Axforce 80 Boost, Axforce 80 combat and Axforce 80 Instinct ?
The weight: Combat is 3u, boost is 4u and Instinct is the lightweight 5u. Also balance is slightly different with the 5u having a minimally higher balance than the 4u, the 3u minimally lower than the 4u.
I can recomend Li-Ning tectonic 7 (4U) it is very good, flex and elbow frendly. Kawasaki Honor S9 also looks good, I need more play time for this one to say with 100% confidence.
@Barkov Maxim i would love two read a little comparison between T7 and S9 please. Because i actually use the Honor S6 und ordered the Axforce 80. Also still interested in getting a T7 or S9.
go for kawasaki king k9, you won't regret it ! After testing kawasaki brands, i buy different models et i've never been dissapointed ! Better and cheaper than yonex for me, and by faarrrr ! I have : - honor s6 - king k9 - honor s9 (not yet)
kawasaki official store on aliexpress ! oh i forgot, i had kawasaki king k8 too, it was great but a little bit too stiff for my level, so i traded against a king k9
I can update my experience with S9. It is used with No1 11.5x12.5 kg. S9 has much higher repulsion in drives. It generates strong smash (big boom), but power is not stable so far. Control takes time. T7 (N65 11.5x12.5 kg) more softer in feeling and forgiving racket. Good control (100zz different and a bit better). Very good stable smash, but required some time to aiming point adaptation after astrox rackets (I play t7 racket about two months). In not fully recovered conditions it is easier to play compare to S9 or 100zz. In defence both are very good (100zz worser) T7 softer and better in blocks, S9 easier to clear after smash. S9 easy in clears but need good timing due to medium-small sweetspot. In general T7 and S9 are very good rackets. S9 is funnier (plays for you), T7 is more forgiving and stable. (100z 3U has the best stability but very physically demanding and not funny at all)
Apparently NOT. Following https://badmintonracketreview.com/product/kawasaki-king-k9-badminton-racket-review/ https://badmintonracketreview.com/product/felet-tj-power-4u-badminton-racket-review/ these rackets have different shaft stiffness, weight, smash frame speed, and subjective control feeling.
