Sight

He is a small man, hardly worth noticing as he makes his way to an empty seat on the bus.

The steps he take are shuffled, weighed by the fatigue of his laborious day job; his punch card flapping carelessly in his side pocket.

His face wore a blank look, no further can he see than his empty bus seat next to the door. His sunken cheeks stands out the most on his weary face, protruding as do every joint on his sickly frame.

He would be refused acknowledgement by the people around him if not for the obvious smell that clung to his cotton polo t-shirt.

To him it is the result of a hard day's work, but for the commute it is a reason to criticize him and look down on the credit that he is due at the end of a long shift.

He ignores them, but turns to his punch card for proof of his usefulness. Large letters carved onto the thick cardboard sheet gives him existence that society refuses to grant.

Narrow gazes from tiny slits steal his dignity one peek at a time - what is his name; where does he work; how long is his shift?

When all they want to know is when he gets off.

His knobby head bounces with the bus, each jerk felt doubly on his starved body. His right hand is scarred, perhaps from work, but it holds strong as he picks up the pen from him pocket to fill in the day's hours.

Carefully he writes, knowing fine well the foreman will ask for a new sheet if he made a mistake. Large clear letters start to populate the empty spaces, and soon he is rewarded with a promise of salary at the end of the working month.

He keeps the punch card, and takes out his mobile phone instead. From the battered device spews songs unrecognized by the people around him.

But there he sits, staring blankly into the lit screen of his Nokia. He listens, now not the insensitive whispers of the more fortunate but to the familiar chords of a place far away.

Above the noise and the prejudice, he presents an avoidance - loud, unbiased music that clears his mind and make him want to stay on the bus.

The screen stays lit, and he looks down at it. The bus moves on, and the people continue to stare.

Badminton Racket First Impressions: Karakal M-Tec 70 Gel Iso

The first time that struck me about this racket was how good it looked - white body with black tattoos all over the head, ending with the striking red and black Karakal logo at the T-Joint.

The specs of the racket are printed on the 2 and 10 o'clock positions of the racket head, something that I've not seen often, leaving the shaft free for some pretty awesome (insert sarcasm here) decals.

Karakal are known for their superlight rackets, and the M-Tec 70 Gel Iso is among the lightest they have to offer alongside the oval-headed SL70 Gel.

Another observation apart from how nice it looked was the weight difference between the unstrung and strung racket. What felt like 70g unstrung bloated to what felt like a respectable 80-85g after the Yonex BG66 Ultimax was applied at 26lbs.

The racket also came default with a black Karakal Super PU Grip, a nice surprise after the wrapper was torn off the handle.

And the surprises kept on coming!

On the court the racket was a dream, sending clears high and far, drops clean and controlled, smashes fast and hard. The slight complaint I can make is the lack of control that I experienced from the straight smashes and offensive cross-court clears.

Otherwise the Karakal M-Tec 70 Gel Iso is a very pleasant surprise. I spent about 1.5 hours on the court with it, playing mostly singles.

More to come when I get a better feel it the racket.

New Wish List Item



Yonex Badminton Strings Review

Let me start off by saying that this review is based on my personal experience with the strings on my rackets, and in no way is an accurate and absolute judgement of the product.

I may also start to sing praises of certain products, but I am in no way sponsored by any company.

I am a high-beginner level badminton player who plays leisurely with a low to mild attacking style. I like control plays and will focus on placing shots to move the opponent around court instead of causing pressure using heavy attacks.

Now on with the review!

Background
I've never had much regard for the type of stings used until I happened to end up using four different types of Yonex strings.

So I decided to give them a shot over the course of one 2-hour session and attempt to try and find a difference so that I can narrow the choice of string I will use.

The rackets used were all singles-oriented, 3U and head-heavy, and the strings were all strung at 26lbs.

Repulsion
This is what gives the string its power. We'd all want a string with repulsion power like a stinky school uniform drenched in teenager sweat in a bus full of tired office workers.

High repulsion means easier clears, faster smashes, better blocks - generally less effort needed. This is probably to me the most important statistic for a string.

In the area, there's a close fight between the BG66 Ultimax and the BG6.

Both strings were able to deliver a noticeably better experience when it comes to repulsion. Unlike the BG66, on which I felt the shuttle just tends to stay a little longer, and the Nanology 98, on which it felt like the shuttle was hitting a thin piece of wood, the other two performed admirably well.

But the BG6 felt a little better though, so I'm going to give this one to it, though only by a small margin.

1. BG6
2. BG66 Ultimax
3. BG66
4. Nanology 98

Control
Well there's not much use having a fast shuttle without it landing accurately on the opposite side, so control's yet another high-factor statistic when it comes to choosing the right strings.

I can't really say how I think one has better control over the other except with a "it just feels accurate" comment.

Which is true. When my smashes and drives down the side tramlines are landing on the tape more often than not, and my clears and high serves leave opponents wondering and hesitating, control definitely there.

This award has to go to the BG66, with which I found myself landing the most difficult straight smashes and net shots.

1. BG66
2. BG66 Ultimax
3. Nanology 98
4. BG6

Hitting Sound
BOOM. Nuff said.

1. BG6
2. BG66 Ultimax
3. BG66
4. Nanology 98

Conclusion
For being more cost effective, the BG66 will be my string of choice. But the BG6 comes in a close second, and I'll be sure to get that for when I need a little color on my strings.

The string test

Tomorrow I will try to give a final decision on which strings I will stick to.

Currently my rackets are strung with 4 types of strings - Yonex BG6, BG66, BG66 Ultimax, and Nanology 98.

The test is simple - I have 2 games of singles with each string, and then judge them based on hitting feeling and sound.

Yonex BG6 (0.66mm gauge)
- Strung on the Dunlop Aerogel 4D Tour @ 26lbs
- White in color, but comes in all sorts
- Packaging says it's got a soft feel
- Hits sound duller, I expect less control when it comes to net play

Yonex BG66 (0.66mm gauge)
- Strung on the Carlton Fireblade FX8 @ 25lbs
- White in color, only other option seems to be neon green
- Medium feel
- Sounds like strings should sound? I've had a nice experience with my Fireblade so I'm expecting great things from this string

Yonex BG66 Ultimax (0.65mm gauge)
- Strung on the Yonex ArcSabre Z-Slash TH @ 25lbs
- White in color, with neon green as only alternate
- Medium feel
- Sounds great on the smash, but I personally think it's also for something to do with the racket; best control I've had so far for net play

Yonex Nanology 98 (0.66mm gauge)
- Strung on Prince Black Pearl XP @ 26lbs
- Gold strings!
- Medium feel
- Used it on two occasions and they sound decent; net play was good, but it didn't make me notice there was an improvement.

Badminton Racket First Impressions: Prince Black Pearl XP

I took the racket out for a test drive today after applying the replacement grip to see how much different it will feel compared to the Oversize Black.

Had about 4 games of singles with it, and it felt more or less the same. I guess it's expected since the specs of the rackets are similar.

I expected a faster swing speed because of the conventional head shape, but it didn't feel like it.

Will give it a more detailed run and get a review out when I'm ready.

The Wish List


Juggling

My room's a little cramped, so it's a nice place to practice juggling the shuttle.

The rules are simple - the session is to 500, accumulated, and I have a checkpoint every 50 hits. I can go as fast or as slow as I like, and I can't let the shuttle touch the ceiling.

After the 500 counts I go freestyle and see how much I can go without the shuttle touching the floor - my best is 468 so far.

It's a fun way to train the reflexes and to test out how fast a racket can go (4U rackets have the noticeable edge here), as well as string testing (I currently am deciding between 3 strings - BG6, BG66UM, and NG98).

I'd supplement the juggling with wall hits, but that kills off shuttles really fast in exchange for a great control and reaction training. Also, there're no walls here I can practice on...