Badminton Racket Comparison: Carlton Airblade 30 versus Karakal M-Tec 70 Iso Gel

Two light-weight, head-heavy rackets, but boy do they play differently.

The Carlton felt too light to be of use when I first played with it a few weeks back., and the Karakal felt really strong for a light-weight racket.

After a two-hour session at the courts today, I've decided on the Carlton being the better of the two, mainly because of the additional control the racket's weight advantage gave it.

My theory on shuttle control gives heavier rackets a little more bias (again, this is my opinion and is largely due to the experience of using the 12 rackets that I have). The Karakal, being 10g lighter, just couldn't measure up to the tight control of the Carlton.

After switching to the Carlton, the Karakal felt like a loose cannon that would deliver powerful shots but not very much on target; I found my clears to the left and right taking a little too much angle and landing out.

I think the extra 10g also helped for the Carlton in producing faster smashes and more accurate swings. I guess I will need to get used to the swing speed of the light-weight Karakal.

What I also noticed is that the strings on the Karakal felt a little tigher than the Carlton's even though they're both strung at 26lbs. I'm hoping to switch to a lower tension for the Karakal after awhile to see how that would help.

I've always wanted to drop tension to about 23lbs, so I guess now's a better time than any.

Congratulations to the Carlton Airblade 30 for besting the Karakal M-Tec 70 Iso Gel.

Expect a review on the Karakal M-Tec 70 Iso Gel soon.