First Impressions: Yonex Voltric Z-Force

This is exceptional because I usually buy the racket before giving it a first impressions.

So, the hottest things this side of the badminton world is the new Yonex racket that markets itself as the massive smash power racket - the Yonex Voltric Z-Force.

I've had a go at defending against and playing with it today, and I must say that I'm not impressed. If you look back at my Voltric 80 review, you can see how much I loved playing with the VT80 right off the bat.

The Z-Force feels like a Z-Slash with lead tape - overly heavy and sacrificing control to get that little more power. I couldn't feel the shuttle in my game at all, and the smashes were not really that fantastic.

In its defense, I was using some other guy's racket strung with a different brand (my usual's a Yonex BG66 or NBG98) and at a different tension (25lbs instead of 24lbs), so the experience might have felt different.

I had a feel of the 4U version as well, and if given enough incentive I might even grant this racket another chance at a proper first impressions.

But for now, score one for the marketing team.