Hi guys, I've been playing with the BS-12 (3UG5) for the past 2+ years and I'm pretty satisfied. I tried a couple string setups but I settled on Bg65 at 30x28 (the only one durable enough at that tension for me). I only or very mostly play doubles and mixed doubles, I tend to be an offensive back court player. I love the BS-12 for its speed and manoeuvrability on defense, and I think I can smash pretty hard with it but other players say I could be even more powerful with a more stiff and a little more head heavy racket. I haven't tried many brands/models for a couple of years now, and was wondering if there are any alternatives I should consider if I want to improve my powerplay without sacrificing the things I like about the BS-12. Thanks!
This is a singles oriented racket. Quick exchanges and defence will probably suffer until you get more accustomed to it and can yield it more fluidly. If it's really cheap I'd say get it anyway.
I tried and was not impressed http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...racket-for-singles.166051/page-4#post-2521320
Oh, no, TK6000 is a completely different racquet and has nothing to do with BS12 or JS10. And it is very difficult to find it now, they do not produce them anymore (I bought mine in Canada, by the way). The closest alternative to it is TK Onigiri I am a big fan of BS12 myself and as I understood, there is not alternatives to it. If you like BS12 find another BS12. If you like to try something new, I would look at JS12 or JS12F... But I have never tried them, so it is just a suggestion.
If you really love the BS12, you will have a hard time to find a racket which perform as good as it. At this tensions I can recommend you to stay far far away from any Jetspeed or newe Victor! IMO it's difficult to find a racket as fast as the BS12 and beeing still forgiving. Maybe demo an Arc11 or DuoZS, if you want to go stiffer and can sacrifice some speed for power. Otherwise the answer is still get more BS12. If you are open to something new maybe you can demo a Li-Ning N9 II.
The closest thing to BS12 is Apacs Virtuoso Performance (AVP), the twin brother of BS12 with half the price.
I did try the AVP in the past, played a couple months with it and didn't like the feel of it. The stringbed and sweetspot felt small and inconsistent. I was also pretty disappointed about the important difference in feel/weight/balance/stiffness between the two AVPs I bought at the time. I sold them both after like 3 months. All things considered back then I returned to the Tantrum 300, even though it was a much slower and stiffer frame.
Then try the new Tantrum 200 II, similar to T300 with slimmer shaft, that would give you a little more swing speed.
Thanks, I'll take a look at the T300ii (it seems to be 300 instead of 200 with APACS Canada). If it's a compromise between the old T300 and my current BS-12, it sounds great. The recommendation I hear the most is to go with the Arc11 (at least twice the price of the T300ii).
Decided to try the T300II from Apacs Canada. The solid feel reminded me of the older model I used to play with. It's definitely faster, not as fast as a BS12, but still fast enough. Compared to the BS12, it's a bit more stable and powerful but at the same time a little more demanding. Through the last couple training sessions, I was getting used to it and started to like it more and more. Strangely, I've noticed a small crack on the frame of the racket that appeared without a physical hit and was getting bigger the more I played with the racket. Then, the racket completely broke just by hitting a simple drive. Pretty sad. That being said, I'm still searching for a potential replacement for my good old BS12.
Interesting that searching for the T300II only shows apacs Canada. The description also says slimmer frame... Is that true? Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
yap, T300II is oversea version, I think the shaft is slimmer (6.7mm now, was 7.0mm), not too sure about frame.
Shaft is indeed slimmer. Frame is the same. It swings faster and feels a little lighter (maybe more flexible) than the previous version. Improvements for fast paced doubles IMO.
Yes it's an option indeed. I was just trying to find a more powerful alternative without sacrificing too much of what I love about the BS12.
Better than BS12 is only another BS12 If you need quick racket with effortless power try Thruster 6000 in 4U
