Man.....it's been about the best part of three years since I actually paid money for a branded racket. How crazy is that? For those that don't know, I've been playing with a bag stuffed full of prototype rackets, as part of my looking into the feasibility of starting my own badminton racket company. During this time, I've spent the majority of my court-time playing with the ubiquitous 'Prototype #4'. With a layer of athletic tape on the head, it's current spec was - BP 313mm, Weight 85g; string with BG66U @ 24lbs, with Karakal PU Super replacement grip. Medium stiffness. So, wondering what the racket companies have been up to since I last gave them some of my hard-earned, and armed with my scales and by balance, I hit up the local racket shop with absolutely no particular racket in mind. Scary, I know! Knowing that I wanted a racket at about 305-310mm, and about 88-90g all done-and-dusted, I ended up with this short-list..... 1. Li-Ning N7. 2. Li-Ning N90III 3. Victor JJS 4. Victor BS11 5. Victor TK9000 6. Yonex VT80 LTD 7. Yonex VT70 E-Tune Surprisingly, all of these rackets were 88g, with a BP ranging from 304-312. The shop pretty much had all of the top end rackets. The majority of Yonex' were all out of the running early on because they were mostly all over 90g. (Not to mention that the VTLCW LTD had a BP of 330!!!) The other Li-Ning rackets were also too heavy (and over-priced) so they were out of the running straight away (Although the N90III was the most over-priced so that was next out of the running, which was a pity because it felt really lovely in the shop). So, the big question is.....which one did I walk out of the shop with? (Photos to follow.......soon....... )
Nah, I had a few hits with my Gen 1 BS11 recently and there's not enough weight in the head for me these days. The shop is the Clarendon St shop in Sth Melbourne. Old store, new owner.
Ha, I can beat that easy. 4 years but that was a short racquet for my four year old to swing! If you don't count that one, then about 10 years! My carbonex 20 (CN code) lasted forever (in fact, still not broken). The next racquet I bought was a Kason training racquet.
When I started doing some testing of sample racquets, my group were wondering if I was ill changing racquets so often. Lol
My guess would be TK9000. Are you measuring all your BPs with strings as they seem very high for dry values.
Lol...someone beats me to it. My guess is the same. If Li-Ning n Yonex r out of the pic, then there can only b Victor TK-9ooo...!
The figures are with string (or more accurately, my 3.6g Mock String Devise ) but also with the handle plastic wrap (typically 2g). My Karakal PU Super adds 2g, so when I take the plastic and the factory grip off, net gain there is less than .5g. I think adding a .6 over grip would yield lower balance points. Prize for guessing? Hrm...
I'd guess the E tune, so that Maklike doesn't have to use athletic tape anymore to adjust his racket's bp... Oh, and we all know how Maklike can't resist buying the latest model over an older one ...
I know, there's not an ounce of red to be seen. I expected this to cause confusion and fear. Ah yes, so finished specs: Weight - 88g BP - 310mm SW - 41g
My favourite racket at the moment. 4U with Nanogy 99 @27 pound. 2 pieces @ 91 and 92 gram. Karakal grip (original grip remove0. Great touch and control at the net.
So you're using a 4U TK9000? I got confused initially when you wrote "88g" and "over 90g". Those weights include string and grip? If so, I find it interesting how you play well/comfortably with such a light racket! Did you play badminton in the 80s or 90s? Or even early 00s? What weights were you and people your current age using then?
( [MENTION=107099]TeddyC[/MENTION] I play comp this Thursday so I'll let you know how it goes. ) Well, I have a theory. The theory goes something like this.....people generally play with rackets too heavy for them
Well, good luck with your tournament. You sure you should be using a "new toy" for a tournament? Hehe. I've got both the 3U and 4U TK9000, but haven't played much with the 3U yet (mostly because I only got it a week ago, and have only played once since hehe). Very much prefer the 3U so far, even though they apparently differ in weight by only 2g (according to Eric from RKEP's scales). I guess many pros go by the "feel" of the racket, and can probably "feel" that it's too light? That's why most of them use 3U?
