Racket Advice

[Spitfire7]

Hi there, i just joined the forum and have a question to ask. I'm 16 now and have been playing badminton for 3 and a half years. I got my first racket when i was just starting out in the game for about £15 but it has become obsolete to me now and i've progressed quite a lot since i've bought it. I'm thinking of buying a new racket but i would like to hear some suggestions. I have a budget of up to about £70.

This is one racket i was considering:
http://www.badminton.com/images/carltonpowerbladesuperlite04.jpg

Carlton Powerblade Superlight. Cost- £60


Can anyone else help me out.

[DIKO]

I, along with a lot of more doubles based players/friends, play with the Yonex Muscle Power 88! The racket is top class!http://www.rapidrepair.biz/shop/no_frames/images/badmintonrackets/mp88.jpg
http://www.rapidrepair.biz/shop/no_frames/images/badmintonrackets/mp88-tech-details.gif
Its Strong, medium flex flexible, weighs 80 to 84 grams, Material :HMG/Ultimum Ti......its a great choice all round...however you would have to strectch your budget to £80?? its Recomended Retail Price is £110 but at www.rapidrepairs.biz you can get it for £80, dont no if u can get it cheaper?check if u want elsewhere but thats where i get mine!

[Phil McBride]

What you need to do is let us know how you play, as Diko points out the chart will let you know generally what racket in the Yonex range will suit your style of play but its not 100%.

I would however recomend Rapid Repairs.

[Loafer]

www.centralsports.co.uk

£79 at the moment

[Loafer]

the amortec 300 might be worth a look too

£65 from rapid

[Phil McBride]

In case you want all the Yonex racket information:

[Spitfire7]

I play about the same amount of singles and doubles, but probably more of an offensive than defensive player. Does that help...

[Phil McBride]

Then going by the chart I posted you should be trying out the MP30, AT300, Cab 20 Muscle, AT500, MP99, AT700 and if you can get a hold of one MP100.

Budget wise you should be aiming for the MP30, AT300, cab 20M and the AT500. There might be a chance if you look around you could get either of the other two for about £90ish.

But try them out first before buying.

[DIKO]

ye Phil's right, always test a racket out first and never get one just cause of how new it is or cause every1 else has it, different styles of play and different swing speeds will work a lot better with different rackets! :o

[Spitfire7]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looking at the chart i would say that the racket which suits me best is the Yonex Armortec 300. I've seen it for £64 which is below my budget aswell.

http://www.badminton.com/images/yonexarmortec300.jpg

Do you think this is a wise choice? It seems that Yonex is the favourite manufacturer here.

[Phil McBride]

I wouldn't say Yonex is the favourite but it certainly has the most proactive market strategy and indeed the market share for their efforts. It's quite difficult in some places to find rackets other than Yonex :(

As per the two recomendations from myself and Diko try and borrow someones before you buy so you can give it a test run, if you go to a shop in a centre that will let you test it the rule of thumb is that if it feels good with the factory stringing (usually about the 22lbs mark) it will be ok after a restring with decent string.

good luck.