Hey guys, I have about 4 years of experience in total. I'm in my 30s now and started to play again after a 10 year break. Playing singles/doubles/mixed in competition. I play 2-3 times a week. No budget restrictions. In singles, I would describe myself as an all-round player with my strength being tight netshots and hold and flick at the net. In doubles and mixed, I would like to become more of a threat from the backcourt. To give you an idea of my preferences, here are the rackets I have tried/played with so far: Yonex Voltric 80 3U - Played it back in my 20s and really liked it for singles. Now it feels awfully sluggish and slow in doubles. Victor MX60 4U - My favorite racket so far. Good power and decent control and speed, very easy to use. Unfortunately it broke. Victor Bravesword 12 3U - Only played with it for 3-4 months. Not sure what is was, but I never liked it as much as I had hoped. Speed was exceptional but power was disappointing. Control was decent. Victor TK F-C 4U - Also not sure what is going on but my timing is off with this racket. I feel like it does not excel in any area for me. I have not figured out how to generate power with this. Yonex Arcsaber 11 Pro 4U - Tried a few times. Right from the start I noticed this is the best control I have ever had with a racket. Speed was decent but power was rather mediocre even when I hit it clean, which concerns me. Not sure what to do now. I may give TK FC another shot but I am not really confident that I will ever figure it out. Based on some research, here are a few rackets I would consider trying out: Yonex Astrox ZZ 100 4U (I heard it does not feel as stiff and HH like it is advertised) Yonex Astrox 100 Game 4U Victor TK 220H II 4U Victor Ryuga TD Li Ning Tectonic 7 Looking foward to hear your recommendations.
when you want a "speedy" Voltric 80, just try the 4u Astrox 88D Pro, or if you don't mind with the frame you can try Astrox 100zz or Voltric ZForce II
88d pro - Good allrounder. 100zz - Tricky one for me. You almost have to try it to see if you like it. Stiff, pretty tiring if you smash a lot but the power is there if you put in the effort. Great control. 77 pro - Similar to 88d pro but a little flexier and less head heavy. All 4u
I suggest giving Victor Jetspeed 12ii a try, it's not as fast as BS12 but still quick and easy to use like the MX60. It has more head weight than bs12 so should help from the back court.
Im 3U sledge hammer user before Covid. Double games & Godly Axe are nothing even on fast pace. On covid we all getting quarantine & unable to play for sometimes like some few month. Just for those short break, wielding the same Axe would just feel so heavy & sluggish. For better or worst my playstyle is shifted toward placement shot than all out attack. You other hand had stop 10 years long. At best you are now at 30-40% of you 10 year ago. & High likely your preference are different now. I would say, just enjoy your comeback. Dont makes thing complicated. Get any racket, reshape yourself & look for racket that suit you afterward.
I know the feeling. I started off 13 years ago with an armortec150 (I think). After 3 years with it I got two of the VT80 and the first one I got came misshapen out of the factory and I didn't even notice. Now I have Astrox100zz and Astrox Nextage to compare it to. I didn't notice the control. But I did notice a difficulty with generating power. My previous racquets were Nanoray800 and Nanoflare 800lt at that point, and I had never tried one of the Arcsaber range. - If you can master the Astrox 100zz, then it is a great tool. I've seen a lot of great club players using it and they make it look like a head light racquet on defense and drives. I can't do that, it hurts my shoulder when playing with it after 4 hrs. So I sometimes use it for a few singles games when I want to turn my brain off and just do lots of effortless clears. - Try Astrox Nextage Or try Apacs Stardom 800 Both are slightly flex, and slightly head heavy. Neither is too expensive (~£80-£100 nextage and about £37 for Stardom800). If you want to become more of a threat at the backcourt, become fast and strong. The hardest players I play against (doubles, division 2-3 standard in Hampshire local leagues) are the ones that are strong at returning serves, deceptive around the net, and the ones that can get into smashing position very quickly.
Mx 60 was one of my favorite rackets too, the stiffness and balance was an exact fit for my swing. I had it in 3u, but it was 85g dry which essentially made it a 4u. Other rackets that felt like it was tailored to my swing is as follows: - Auraspeed 70k old version 3u - slightly head lighter which means you have to swing harder for power. This + lead tape might be close to what you're looking for - Auraspeed 90k old version 4u - slightly head heavier and slightly stiffer, with more holding feel. If the above two rackets are 4/5 in stiffness, I think mx 60 was a 3.5/5. It's weird, I feel 3.5/5 on an even balance racket is a perfect spec for casual players but you don't see this spec that much from Victor. The only two I've played with from Victor of 3.5 /5 stiffness is probably mx60 and bs09. I didn't recommend the bs09 because it's discontinued.
We have similar taste/history. I'm currently trying trying out Bs12 SE 3u - great power. Really like it all round, maybe lacking a touch of accuracy but that could just be the last string job. 88 s pro 3u. Really agile. Plenty of power, maybe not as much as the SE. In 4u it Really took effort to get any decent power, definitely felt nerfed. AXforce 100 3u. Maybe too stiff. Good balance, quite fast for how head heavy it feels. I need to get the timing of it, or sell it! AXforce 80 3u in the near future. TKFE 4u. Was surprised how much i like it, after saying I'm done with 4u. Very close to the SE on power. Better for speed and accuracy.
