Voltric 80 3U or 4U

Thats right, I tried the VT80 3U, and thought to myself "no way that I will play double with this beast". 4U maybe a better option

 

I was just having another think about it. I think the fact that the weight varies with "3U" and "4U", this also plays a significant part.
3U = 85-89.9g
4u = 80-84.9g

For example, a 89.9g racket would feel different to a 85g racket (difference of 4.9g), but they are both still considered "3U". Similarly, a 80g racket would feel different to a 84.9g racket (difference of 4.9g), but both are still considered "4U".

Looking at it another way, a 85g racket would be a "3U", while a 84.9g racket would be a "4U", even though the difference is only 0.1g!

So my question to you is exactly what weight is your "4U" racket, and what weight are your friends' "3U" rackets?

 

I think a happy medium would be to get a 3U that weighs in around 85-86g (that is, specify this to the distributor). What do people think?

Personally, I'm not really sure if a lighter racket equals better defense/drives. I have a 6U apacs Lethal Light Special (I think it weighed in around 77g), and I wasn't convinced that my defense or drives were better/faster with it. However, this is probably because I have relatively superb defense with 3U rackets. Again, just shows the importance of personal preference.

 

do really play doubles ssj100? If so, do you have opponents stronger than you? If so, next time why not try to return their smash (with backhand swing) using your 6U Apacs (which I assume is strung at the same tension to your other rackets) and then mid way through the game switch to YY 3U head heavy racket (like VT80 or AT700). And then how about you let us know how you went.

 

Unless you are a regular customer or bringing your own scale, I dont think a seller will care so much about giving that option to you. I think if you are willing to go for 3U it means you can accept racket weight anything between the specified weight.

Or you dont have worthy opponents to test that extra millisecond of your reaction and speed.

 

Yes, I've tested exactly what you are saying, except I didn't test with such head heavy rackets as the AT700. When I had it, I generally found the AT700 quite difficult to defend with, but perhaps this was because I was not used to super head heavy rackets.

I of course agree that in general, a heavier racket may be more difficult to defend with than a lighter racket. However, for me, I don't find that lighter rackets improve my defense/drives at all. In fact, I found it worse with lighter rackets (can blame it on many things, including bad technique hehe). Again, I am stating my opinion and my experiences. It will be different for other people.

 

Many of the players I play with have big smashes. I think reaction time is purely dependent on the person holding the racket. The speed of the racket probably plays a significant part when you are trying to lift/clear a big smash to the back court. Still, for me, I didn't find the 6U racket any better for this.

 

Of course I assume you hold the racket correctly But yeah OK fair enough, each of us have different experience on things in life including badminton.

I know what you mean by that. Thats exactly the drawback of Apacs 6Us, they do not have enough stiffness to generate satifying power even when returning a smash. Even thats the case for me, i sometimes enjoy defending with a 6U racket, especially at the end of my session when i ussually already tired and just want to play a lazy game. But IMO YY or Victor 4Us are totally different story, and its not fair to say that just because you find Apacs 6U no good means that YY 4U are also no good for you. Just out of couriusity, have you tried the VT80 4U??

 

IMO AT700 and VT80 is quite similar in terms of head heaviness, in fact VT80 is even slightly more head heavy IMO. Hence if you found that AT700 is harder to defend with, then imagine how hard VT80 would be.

 

Since when did I say YY 4U's are also no good for me? I think you are reading far too much into my comments. No, I haven't tried any of the VT80's yet. Will get a chance soon. Have you had a chance to compare the 3U VT80 with the 4U VT80?

 

I don't know, I keep reading reviews that the VT80 is much better to defend with than the AT700.

By the way, my defense is probably just as good as my smashes. The next more pleasurable thing in badminton for me is to block off a massive smash (ideally with a flat drop) with apparent ease hehe. I think defense is probably the strongest part of my game, and I've been using 3U's for a long time. Perhaps this could be the reason why I don't find the 6U apacs racket an improvement - in fact, I found my defense worse initially, as I wasn't used to such a light racket (often swung through too quickly). Smashing is probably the next strongest part of my game. I've improved my footwork/movement around the court a lot in the last 6 months or so, but it still has a lot of room for improvement.

Anyway, that's why I said to the OP that if you are used to head heavy, stiff 3U rackets, it might pay to stick with what you are used to. If you can defend really well with a 3U head heavy, stiff racket (like me), it might be worth sticking with the 3U VT80. Again, it's mostly all about technique - you can always adjust it to suit the racket. It's not like we're talking about differences in weight of 10kg or a difference in received shuttle speed of 1000km/h.

By the way, out of curiosity, I'd really like to know whether the male pros mainly use 3U's or 4U's in singles/doubles/mixed doubles, or whether it's about 50/50.

 

By the way, possibly another good reason to get the 3U VT80 is because it can take higher string tensions. Although Yonex doesn't suggest/imply the difference is that big, it may be worth thinking about. Max tension suggested by Yonex on the 3U is 27 pounds, while it's 26 pounds on the 4U. So if you like higher string tensions, the 3U may be the better racket to go for in terms of durability. Might be more important if money is tight for you.

 

You suggesting the OP to use 3U while using Apacs 6U as an example, so what does that mean?? Im confused maybe i have not reading too much into your comment

No but i at least i used the VT80 3U and comparison based solely on weight is not that difficult. Plus also I have compare many rackets between 3U and 4U on the same model of course. So I can say that 90% I know how the VT80 4U will feel like. So there is no wild guess here.

 

Im sure most pros use 3U (it wont make much sense if they use 4U) but that does not mean that 3U suit us better. They have many things that we dont. Depending on you good you want to get, you might as well stick with 4U. For me personally, at my age (32), no matter how hard i train it will just just too late to reach top level. So why not compensating that with something like 4U racket, which I can play better in areas i mentioned in previous post.

But that said I have seen many national level players (maybe just 1 or 2 level below world top ranks) are using 4U and prefer head light rackets especially the double players

 

Damn I have to agree with you on this hahahhaha.......(its not fun anymore is it?) Yes I think 3U is more durable than 4U. But the max tension that YY use is just to protect them from warranty claim, I strung my 4Us at 30lbs max and 28min and no problem for years, in fact i cant remember when i have a broken racket (beside that Wilson crappies)

 

I was just giving an example. Nothing more. From my experiences, a lighter racket doesn't necessarily mean better drives/defense. In fact, for me, it simply means having to re-adapt to what I'm used to.

Not too sure, I've read somewhere that TH used to use a 4U AT700. Not sure if he still uses a 4U racket?

I think you're under-estimating yourself Yoppy! 32 is not that old hehe. Still time to train to be as good as Peter Gade hehe.

 

bro,
may idea was as below
the theory i knew the diff for 3u n 4u comes due to deviation of 4g contribute from the wood handle.
as u may knew items made of wood have moisture or water content therefore the 3u or 4u comes for such tolerance in consideration.
so how this effect your string tension, etc

 

I dont know about that, from another thread they said the wood handle is only to balance out the deviation occured on the frame and shaft in order to maintain the right BP.

 

no matter 3U or 4U, its refering to total weight of the complete racket.
the process of making the shaft n frame is pretty much consistant and tolerance was manageable due to the material properties chracteristic but wood is a material which tricky to control due to water content.

for quick tweak here i suggest...haha
3U to 4U, put ur racket into ur dryer
4U to 3U, put for few mins into ur freezer