I was reading Kelvin's review on this raquet and he explained that this raquet was very stiff because of the proper mixing of graphite and boron.....would this mixing still exist in a clone raquet? to be specific, a Hiqua raquet..... especially when i'm not even paying a high price for this. Does this mean that it must have HARDLY any boron in it(if at all?). If this is so, whats a good raquet to buy for aroud 150CDN(a good smashing raquet heh heh)?
I think i'm starting to lean towards a Cab23 or Cab10 tour as i can get these for 135 and 90 CDN respectivly. would these be good for power? I, for one, have not had many experiences with Yonex. I have previously used Carlton and Prince...
HQ Boron-200 can be found in HK as well, however I doubt whether it is an exact clone of Yonex Boron-200, i.e. it seems that they mainly look the same. Some Yonex Boron-2 have come to HK, but the price is terribly expensive - over HK$2,000 ...
Gotta love that smashing! In all honestly, it depends again on your style of play. If you like playing singles, your alternatives are mainly the Carbonex series. If you like to play doubles, unfortunately your stuck with the squarish frame of the Isometrics... eg the Ti10 I was trying to sell you hehehe. Anyways... let me know your style of play, and then I can make a small list for you to try out, of the racquets I know about, and have played with myself. Again, if you can at all possible, try before you buy. I think there are a few shops in Toronto that will let you do that.
Carbonex series are always good for power, the weight bias is more towards the head, and it offers a very stable hitting platform for you. Just like when you throw a ball... if you don't have a good grip, you will not throw it very fast or hard. Of course the Ti10 incorporates the same design principles as the Carbonex+Isometric series, that's why it's fairly popular with those that can afford it. Keep an open mind, and maybe even check out the Muscle Power 77 or 55 when they arrive here. I'm waiting to see the new Carbonex racquet with entire head designed in the Muscle Power frame... but then again I'll make due when my Carbonex's arrive next week. Do you like to have more control over your shots? or are you for just pure power? Remember those two racquets you mentioned above have fairly different flexibility on the shaft. If you're not able to play properly with the stiffer at first, you could end up injuring your wrist/shoulder... always take it easy when you get a new racquet. That was you can pay attention to the handling characteristics better, and learn the highs, and lows of each one. I think that's about it for my advice, hope this helps. Good luck with your new weapon.
Emmy's brother told me that his friend have a few Boron 2 in stock, but it costs HK$2,000+ even for him to get one (so the price he sells it will be even higher). Due to the high price, he has no plan to buy from his friend. Please note that he still keeps one brand new Boron 2 in his shop (in Tusen Wan), it was sponsored by Yonex at the time he played international tournaments. He said that he is willing to sell it at HK$5,000 !
you mean Emmy's brother has a shop in Tsuen Wan? i thought they are in Mongkok. and didn't Emmy's brother row instead of play badminton for HK?
That I had been told (i.e. I can't confirm) - the shop in Mongkok is primarily operated by Emmy's husband and his father. The shop in Tsuen Wan is operated by his brother (but he rarely shown up) which is a completely different shop (the shop name and products being sold are different) from the one in Mongkok. I know Emmy's brother because I learnt badminton from him as well (on every Tuesday evening). He is a very good coach IMO - he can quickly find your weakness and explain to you how to make improvements (of course, whether I can really make improvements depend largely on how much effort I can spend).
The Yonex Boron 200, yes, it was of the Widebody 30 aka Aerotus design. The Yonex Boron 2 was closer of traditional Carbonex design. I didn't find the racquets that stiff though, hmmmmm, maybe cause I never actually owned one, just hit around with it for a bit. I know a guy who swears by the Boron 2, still uses them to this day, I am amazed he hasn't broken them yet. Anyhoot, have seen clones of the Yonex Boron 200 around for a few years. Winex and HiQua. These racquets seem slightly lighter, 3U as the Yonex Boron 200 was 2U. I noticed that they were pretty close, just lighter overally. The major advantage was the price savings, a real YY costs soooo much. I could easily pick up 2 of the clones, even 3 if I was lucky. LL
you might want to let Shaun know that there are clones then... Going back to the stiffness factor, then you must be bigger & stronger than me if you didn't think it was all that stiff, because I used the Boron 200 series for well close to if not just over 7 years, before I had to put my last one away. All I'm trying to say is that there are tradeoffs to buying those clones... as you mentioned they are not original, also with Yonex, they're produced in Japan, hence shipping costs would be through the roof. I've used other racquets that contained Boron... and let me say that the boron/graphite composition was not even close to being as stiff as the Boron 200. The Ti10 isn't even as stiff ( I own both...). It served me very well for my competitive years, and to me that sticks out in my mind. anywho, I find I prefer 2U better than those 3U racquets... but again that's just my opinion... no right or wrong, as you will perceive something differently from the way I do.
