Badminton Racket Launch: Yonex Voltric Z-Force Limited

Here's the latest drop of milk in Yonex's marketing campaign for the Voltric Series - the now Purple Voltric Z-Force.

Identical to its green counterpart in every aspect but color, this one falls into place in Yonex's 2012 Limited Collection.

Joining the ranks are the less-popular Voltric 9 and 3, the two new Yonex shoes SHBF1LTD, SHB86LTD, and the SHBF1RX.

Noteworthy are the dresses for the female players. Looks like BWF wants to sex up the sport of badminton with a little leg. Coming up, plunging necklines - because we know them girls love to lunge.

Badminton Rackets: The Lead Tape

So I modified my old APACS WREX Punch with a little lead tape to see if I could put some life into the old racket. It's the first racket I got and the sentimental value explains why it's not at the back of some school kid's storeroom.

Initial attempts have it head heavy failed as the 5U racket refuses to give power. The frame feels like it's made out of very little material, each shot resonating down the shaft and onto my arms. The shaft for this one is very stiff, which gave me the idea to modify me a Nanospeed 9900.

Tons of lead tape down at the shaft near the cone, and a little at the t-joint to stabilize it later, the new APACS NS99wannabe is born!

Took it to the courts today and it was fast! The shot still rang off the head frame despite the stabilizing layer I placed at the t-joint, but the head light properties of the racket made it ideal for the doubles game that I was having that night.

Here's what I imagine it to be - a 4U head frame attached to a 3U very stiff shaft. The hits come off a little hollow, and lack the power that comes with a well-made racket, but it still won me a couple of games and the defense is awesome.

No reviews for the APACS NS99wannabe, but I'll be sure to use it a few more times to get me a feel of what lead tape and some experimentation can do to your interest in the game.

Worries

I have these thoughts, and they run through my head so often it hurts sometimes. And I try to shake them off, take them to the back and shelf them up high so I can forget.

But they return, each instance worse than ever. It's like the more I try, the harder it hits.

So I gave up.

It's been three months since I saw Dr Fawkes, and I don't know if it's a good thing. He's been the only one who has managed to make the pain go away, but the price he asks for mounts and piles into astronomical proportions.

It was he who gave me the solution, and I have to return to have it fixed again.

He warned me that it will be even harder now that I've stopped treatment the last time. There was a hefty price but I'm prepared to pay for it.

The nurse collected from me before the procedure, and I parted with my money easily.

Anything to make the pain stop.

As the doctor spoke to me I could imagine his stern face looking at me. The operation lasted longer than expected, but Dr Fawkes assured me that all was fortunate and well.

There was the smell of surgical instruments and gauze and medication and tensed nerves as they surrounded me.

I felt a pair of trained hands reach behind my head, dislodging the clips that held my bandages tight.

A relief, and the tension eased from my skull. Round and round the wrappings went, each turn a revolution towards my penultimate state.

Three, two, one. I'm free.

They surrounded me, and I could sense the confusion.

The world was dark, covered in a layer of mist. The fog thickens and all I can do now is hear. As the voices came they slur and fall into a deep muffle.

There is no sight. There is no sound. I am happy.

Badminton Racket Review: Yonex Voltric Z-Force

This is the big one. I've never seen a racket sell so well and garner so much attention. So much so that I've been tempted into buying one to try it out for myself and even wrote multiple entries for it here.

The Yonex Voltric Z-Force is the badminton giant's latest attempt to tap on the Asian market's delight for fire power. Boasting a 19KGf smash force on your opponent's racket, the dedicated website for the VTZF even has testimonials from the Malaysian Nationals about how they couldn't resist its temptation.

I knew there was something about the new racket when I noticed World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei adopt an extremely offensive style of play leading to its release at the Yonex All England, and I was proven right when the 10 rackets my stringer got in disappeared in a matter of 4 hours.

Suddenly the badminton world is ablaze about the marvels of Yonex's new haymaker.

But I have other ideas. Not every foot fits in this Cinderella shoe, and this here is one of them.

This review is from my opinions of the racket and of the game of badminton. Take this with a pinch of salt, but feel free to ask me if you have any more questions that my review failed to answer.

Ok, here goes.

Yonex Voltric Z-Force
Est. Dry Weight: 84g (4U)
Grip Size: G5
Balance: Extremely Head-Heavy
Max String: 26lbs
Flex: Stiff
Strings: Yonex BG66 Ultimax @ 24lbs

I use this racket for singles play.

Defense
As expected given its extreme weight distribution, the racket leaves much to be desired when it comes to defense. The slightly smaller head frame and the weight takes your defense down a notch off the get-go, but once you get used to it the extra weight down the front will end up giving you better returns.

But when it comes to defense, I'm not one to make a game of chance out of it. I'd rather be able to take a beating than give one, and the Yonex Voltric Z-Force doesn't give me a good defensive game.

Clearing from end to end is effortless given the balance, but the loss of control leaves more to be desired as I had to mentally calm myself into making safer shots.

Attack
The Yonex Voltric Z-Force feels like a VT80 on steroids. They didn't increase the weight of the racket much, but boy did they perform an overhaul on the weight distribution! Pushing most of the weight into the head frame made this racket extremely head-heavy.

I'd go as far as to say it's pretty much feels like an 80/20 balance.

The result being a very forceful downward stroke. People with a further downswing on the follow-through should watch their swing lest it starts to drill a hole into the net (or ground!).

With that domineering allocation of weight also comes, in a my opinion, a slightly flexible shaft. This gives drive shots and check smashes a whole lot of power as you which the racket to give you an added boost to speed.

This is one amazing racket to attack with, especially if you like to use the wrist to get it that surprise attack.

Control
But all that speed and power comes at a price of control. You're going to need more concentration to keep that shuttle in play. Feedback from the strings feel lost because of the lower density coming down the shaft.

It didn't feel right hitting the shuttle and I couldn't feel the path of the shuttle as well after it leaves my string bed.

People who like that half smash-fast drop will also find that the shots are taken down a lot steeper than with previous rackets, another resultant effect of top-loading the Voltric Z-Force to hell. I'd push a little more forward than downwards with this racket.

Prepare to lose a few points to control till you get the hang of it.

Looks
Weird, is what I said when I first saw the racket. Yonex went off and removed the shiny coating from their rackets, replacing it with a smooth, matt layer that's often accompanied with shoddy finishing.

The distinctive tattoo markings on a Voltric was also diminished, overshadowed by sharp lines that perhaps reflected the company's focus on delivering a devastating downward stroke.

Green, white and black were primary colors of the Yonex Voltric Z-Force, which in my opinion was a good change away from the angrier colors employed in the VT70 and VT80.

Overall, it's pleasing to the eye if you can get past the inevitable bad finishing.

Yonex Voltric Z-Force

Defense: 7

Attack: 9

Control: 7

Looks: 7