Badminton Racket First Impressions: Yonex Nanoray 700RP

So after having a look at the NR700FX and seeing how freakin' ugly it is, I decided to still give Yonex's headlight series a go and purchase the Nanoray 700 RP instead.

The Repulsion version of the Nanoray series comes with a stiffer shaft and special material called Fullerene applied to the 5-7 o'clock part of the head frame. That supposedly gives you a faster hit.

The thickness of the head frame has also seemed to be increased, and it's easily 150% of the Voltrics.

All that promise doesn't come off blank though, as the Yonex Nanoray 700RP delivers very quick swing speeds in the games I've had. The clears were pretty decent, and the control was good. This gave me enough confidence to give it a try for my doubles games.

The quick swing speeds translated to very decent drives and pushes, but I felt a lack of power on the smashes, the head frame giving a hollow resonance when the shuttle leaves the string bed. It almost feels like there doesn't seem to be enough material up there.

Despite that, the racket performed well in my singles session today, and I'm looking forward to the next few games.

Full review soon.