good rackets for £60?

[jhob]

I'm looking to get a new racket as my current racket (an 8 year old carlton ag-750) doesn't really do it for me any more, I want more control and power! I tried a mate's carlton 700 yesterday and found that I had far more control and power, in fact I was quite shocked at the difference!

I have been looking around and in my price range are the yonex muscle power 77 and the carlton megaflex f4. What's opinions on these rackets? Can anyone recommend other rackets that I could try? What's the carlton airblade racket like compared to the megaflex?

I am a male casual player looking to get better, possibly playing at club level before too much longer.

There's so many choices and I don't know enough about what I like to make a *really* informed decision! Any advice appreciated!

[ObiWan]

Hi John,
There are plenty of good rackets around in this price range,in fact you would be crazy to pay any more than that.Don't be sucked in by the advertising bullsh*t or the'equipment snobbery' that exists in most sports.Yonex rackets are very good but hideously overpriced because they spend so much on advertising/sponsorship.
Unless you play at a very high level you won't have a fast enough swing speed to gain any real benefit from the top manufacturer's most expensive rackets.By 'equipment snobbery' I mean buying the top of the range gear even if it's really of little benefit to you.
I am a serious club/tournament/county vets player but my rackets cost me less than £50 each.They are ELECTRE RECOIL Ti.You can find them at www.dtsrackets.com where they were £55 when I last looked.If you live near Guildford I can put you in touch with someone who sells them for less than that.They are slightly more flexible than the top Yonex/Carlton but absolutely comparable in quality.
I recently persuaded two of my buddies [ex county players] to start playing again.They love the Electre rackets.
I have no connection with Electre or any retail outlet,just hate to see people chuck money away on overpriced equipment.
Of course,I appreciate that Yonex in particular put a lot of money into the game via player and tournament sponsorship,but they are a profit making business expecting a return on their investment.£100+ for a racket,you must be kidding.I need 3 or 4 to be fully equipped,I could almost buy a good set of golf irons for that money.

Trust me,try Electre or any of the Yonex/Carlton that you mention at around the same price.You don't need to spend any more and they will all produce roughly the same results.
If you want more control/power get some professional coaching-your footwork/stroke production are far more important than type of racket.

[jhob]

I live in Sheffield and would like to try the racket out before buying, do you know any electre retails in Sheffield?

Just found this site - http://www.sportdiscount.com/badminton/index.htm selling Talbot rackets. The ISOFORCE 911 LITE C4 Ti looks tempting, nice light weight with an even balance. What sort of characteristics would this racket have? Is it any good?

[ashok265]

i have a 2month old muscle power 66 for 50 pounds if you are intersted