fruitychees never mentioned which rackets he broke but I suspect it was the cheaper line. Apacs has some very good quality rackets... I have been using the Lethal 70 rackets and they are extremely solid.
But they're not good enough for someone who's ranked 20th in the world are they? Only 21rst. All that means is that they'd be ranked 15th in the world if they weren't forced to use those crappy Apacs racquets.
Why such negativity towards Apacs? They have a range of racquets just like everyone else. And what raquet do you use thunder? If I may ask..and your world ranking
In addition, he's saying if LCW was to pick up an APACS racquet for example, he'd suddenly drop down to approximately 6th in the world just because of the racquet? Haha I'd like to see that happen
Or, I could have been screwing around with the guy. Mainly for the tone of his post. 1. Generally if you start a post with "Don't listen to this guy above" It will turn be a turn off to me 2. I don't really care what player plays with what. The Idea that if something is good for the 21rst ranked player it should be good enough for me or anyone else.... nonsense. In fact, maybe the only ones who should be playing with Acpacs are players who are sponsored. After all they won't have to pay to replace defective racquets! AimUK; No I'm not saying anything about LCW you are inferring that from my posts (incorrectly I might add). Using your own logic can I then infer that because the world number one uses Yonex, Yonex should be good enough for everyone? Ok Ok I admit it, I don't really dislike ACPACS that much I'm mainly messing around with you. (I think you call it 'taking the piss' in your part of the world?)
In my experience, apacs are excellent. However, I can't help but chuckle when I read posts saying that one particular high-end racket "improves my smash" or "improves my serve" or "improves my drives" or whatever (nonsense). In my opinion, if you're seeing such a marked improvement/difference with various rackets, your technique is probably very inconsistent and/or probably very incorrect hehe.
I used the tantrum light exclusive and the edge saber. I'm not lying. I'm just telling you that you get what you pay for. I never said they weren't good rackets. I just said they were low quality in the making.
Taking the piss (yes it's used- though more people call it banter these days) is all good and well, but from a stone dead comment I couldn't tell which way you were going. It's quite hard to depict tone of voice from a text, especially if you don't use smilie faces. Is it not also reasonable that a top 20 player would not compromise the ability to play with a substandard racquet, and would probably deferr to another brand if he was to break as many as the player above did in a similar time frame? I was going against his clear moan about an unfair representation of the brand anyway, cheap is a bonus in some respects (I don't worry about denting my $250+ racquet because mine cost $90
Hey fruitychess, the edgesaber I believe would be considered one of Apacs lower end rackets.. costing 30 dollars so yes you get what you paid for. I have a lethal 70, tantrum 300 and the whole lurid series along with the edgesaber 10. The lethal/tantrum and lurids feel way more solid than the edge saber. I don't know much about the tantrum light but I'd think maybe it won't be as durable since it's a 6U racket?
You know, I thought that too once. I actually decided to switch from Yonex to some other brands and for me there was a difference. The 'clone' brands tended to break rather easily (we're talking miss hits here not collisions) and the Victors back then weren't all that good. So, I went back to Yonex. Recently, I've tried Victors again and I've been impressed with some of their models. I don't like APACS more on priciple than any other issue. They may have some of their own higher quality racquets but I know them as mainly counterfieters and I can't respect that and I won't use my dollars to support such a company. Really, for the average hacker I'm not sure brand matters a whole lot. The most important thing is balance and stiffness and choosing a raquet that fits those criteria. The funny part about what you are saying about how it shouldn't matter to an experienced player is that for me, it was when I was a beginner that it didn't matter. I couldn't tell the difference between a Slazenger bought at a department store and a Yonex Carbonex 20.
When you've played enough badminton with enough rackets, it can become easier to tell the "differences" between various rackets. However, telling the "difference" isn't the same as "improving smash" or "improving serve" or "improving drives" or whatever (nonsense) hehe. If someone is a better player than you, it's not because he/she's using a "Yonex" racket or a "Victor" racket or a "Li Ning" racket or whatever (nonsense) hehe. It's because he/she has better footwork/technique/conditioning.
LOL, fine you go play with a Carbonex 8 and then play with a VT-80 and tell me there's no difference in your game. Until then you are simply talking out of your rear end. Edit: And just to be clear for you. When I say tell the difference I'm referring to difference in performance.
Not a drastic difference, really. A better example in this situation would be to use two of the same racquets with the same string, but of different tensions.. one at 17lbs and another at a normal tension of 22~28lbs. Plus, Cab8 isn't a bad racquet.
Not the best comparison - when did VT80 come out and when did Cab 8 come out? If you read my post(s) carefully, I was talking/implying more on modern high end (or comparable) rackets. Regardless, I used the Cab 8 about 12 years ago and I reckon my play was better then - won a couple of tournaments with it. Was it because of the racket? No way. It's just the fact that I got used to the racket and my footwork/conditioning was relatively much better then (although it's almost as good now as I've been "training" again). Anyway, as jhirata has said, probably not a drastic difference - Lee Chong Wei using a Cab 8 would still thrash me with my VT80 hehe. Seriously, we (all) spend far too much time dwelling on rackets and not enough time dwelling on footwork/technique/conditioning. Then again, I like dwelling on rackets too!
I don't know if the edgesaber is a low end racket for apacs because all their rackets are around that price.40-90 bucks. And I don't know if there are any 6u rackets, but the Tantrum light was a 3u and was probably one of their high end rackets because it costs 89.95$
Yes you're right all Apacs rackets are around 30 - 90 dollars price range but the edgesabers themselves are on the lowerend of the scale and part of Apacs clone line. Apacscanada doesn't even sell the edgesaber/nano line because he has deemed them lowerend and is concentrating on selling Apacs better quality line of Lethal/Tantrum/Lurid/Slayer/Stern The Tantrum Light Exclusive is 6U as stated on http://www.apacsuk.co.uk/apacs-rackets/tantrum/tantrum-light-exclusive/prod_66.html and http://www.badmintonbay.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=35_36_42&product_id=96 so I could see it being a bit more fragile but ya it costs 90 bux so one would think it could hold up. And comparing my EdgeSaber 10 to a Tantrum 300 you could tell the EdgeSaber 10 (4U) is lower end. And I don't think it's fair to really compare Apacs vs Yonex fully anyways but I just don't agree with people saying it's total crap quality.
I agree GaryC, but I'd take it even further than that. In my opinion, apacs high-end rackets are generally just as good as Yonex high-end rackets in terms of performance. With all things equal (footwork/technique/conditioning), the racket contributes very little to performance. I believe that a certain racket may "suit" you better, in that it makes shots slightly easier to do. However, I believe this difference becomes almost negligible in practise. For example, I've never really seen anyone (including myself) become significantly and consistently better at smashing/dropping/serving/driving/clearing (in a short space of time) just because they switched from one (high-end) racket to a "better" racket. Any (apparent) improvement in performance is much more likely due to the fact that you're playing more badminton and therefore are improving your footwork/technique/conditioning. Anyway, just my personal thoughts.
Lee Chong Wei would thrash us with a tennis racquet. The question is would Lee Chong Wei with Cab 8 be able to beat a Lee Chong Wei with a VT-80? The question isn't about relative importance of equipment versus other factors. It's a matter of finding an edge. If some people are more comfortable with a given racquet they are going to play better regardless of what you may say. But if you want to talk about Lee Chong Wei then perhaps you can tell me what deficiency in his swing caused him to reject the Z-slash? Surely if racquets play no important role what so ever in performance there would have been every advantage in having Yonex's marquee spokesman playing with what at the time was Yonex's Marquee product? I'm already smiling seeing in my mind you as the Yonex rep telling LCW the Z-slash is a fine racquet and the problem is his footwork, technique or conditioning.