Badminton Racket First Impressions: Mizuno Tetracross 700

I'm a big Mizuno fan. I've got a tonne of their shirts, and I've converted to using their shoes because they're so light weight and fast.

Now I've got my hand on a Tetracross 700, in all its green, green glory, and went out to the courts to test it out. 

Before that I've done some juggling in the room with the racket. It felt fast and very even-balanced. I got the sensation with the Yonex ArcSaber 10PG, and that's always a good sign since I'm very comfortable with the AS10.

But experience in the court proved to be very different. The TC700 lacked the power that came with the AS10, and it puzzled me why I wasn't able to send the shuttles to the back of the court. 

After two games, the Mizuno Tetracross 700 had to be switched out to the more comfortable Carlton Fireblade FX8.

It's fast and all - a good defensive racket - but the lack of ability to send the shuttle as far as I wanted to really kills it.

More to come.

Badminton Racket Wishlist: Li-Ning Flame N36

It's been awhile since I posted a wishlist item, so here it is!

I'm intrigued by the holes in the head frame. Wonder if it works the same way as the ZAR of RSL.

Hard to find at a good price though.

Poll Results: How do you like the Yonex Voltric Z-Force?

Thanks to all who gave their time to vote on their reactions to the Yonex Voltric Z-Force. It's always nice to hear the voice of the badminton community.

From the results we can tell that most of the players out there have found Yonex's new powerhouse a wondrous weapon for the courts.

76% of the voters have given it a 5/5 rating, and that has persuaded me to give the racket another try to see if it's worth the ravings I've been getting. I personally voted it 3/5, reason being it's strengths do not play to my preferred style.

Well, second time's a charm!

Thanks again to the voters! Keep reading!

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.