New Badminton Strings: Toalson BL-6500, 6700, 6800, 8000

Visited my stringer today and he showed me a crate of these new top-of-the-line strings from Toalson.

There are four strings with different types of characteristics, as you can see from the picture. They're made in Japan, and from what I can feel after trying out three of them, they're pretty decent.

What catches me is the really cool colors they come in. Not all captured here, but they're awesome as far as I can tell.

Never thought to place them in order...
Left to Right: BL-6700, BL-6800, BL-6500, BL-8000

BL-6500 (Playability, 0.65mm)

My new racket is strung with this one, and from the first few strokes it feels good. The control was decent, but what stood out was the awesome hitting sound. Crisp and sharp, like I had tape on my strings.

http://www.toalson.co.jp/JPN/badminton/top.html

BL-6700 (Repulsion, 0.67mm)

The stringer had his Carlton Kinesis strung with this one at 26lbs. I didn't quite like the feel of this string - the shuttle seemed to come off the string bed very quickly, not fast enough for me to feel the shot. Would think that players who like Yonex BG66 Ultimax might find this a familiar feeling.

http://www.toalson.co.jp/JPN/badminton/top.html

BL-6800 (Technique, 0.68mm)

Seems to have a higher thread count than the others but I didn't get to try this string out. I tend to be wary of strings that tout technique or extreme control, given the Yonex NBG99 and its lack of repulsion.

http://www.toalson.co.jp/JPN/badminton/top.html

BL-8000 (Repulsion and High Hitting Sound, 0.80mm)

I have my RSL M10 Heat 700 strung with this, and all I can say that it's powerful. The strings smash like none I've ever felt, but that comes with a large drawback - I can't very well aim with it. The shots, while like rockets, felt very loose and hitting the lines are almost impossible for me.

From taobao.com

Thorlos Socks: Padding for your feet

So my Li-Ning shoes turned out to be too hard for my toes. On a previous occasion, a tight change in direction resulted in a busted toe. The nail literally got jammed up the cuticle...

And since that day the shoe has been in cold storage, my feet too afraid to get jabbed all over again. It took me almost 3 weeks to recover from the toe, and now 2 months later the toenail has a semblance of normality.

Then I came across Thorlos socks. They're thick and they're touted as the best cushioning for your feet. I thought about the pair of pretty yellow shoes back home and decided to give the $30 socks a try.

Not too shabby! I'm now able to move around the court with ease thanks to the Thorlos socks. They're ultra padded and super comfortable; makes the hard interior of the Li-Ning shoe almost feel like a pillow.

To sum it all up, I'm happy with the socks. For those who are interested, they're available at World of Sports chains around the island (Singapore), and the ones I've got are the tennis mini-crews. 

Just a word of caution, the socks are kinda thick. I would estimate a half size increase in the foot with socks on. Made my feet feel a little cramped initially, but it got better with a few washes. 

https://www.thorlo.com/

Badminton Racket Review: Victor Bravesword 10 (2nd Gen)

First impressions here.

So it took awhile for me to get here (what with all the new rackets that I got my hands on). The Victor Bravesword series of rackets have gained quite some fame for themselves with their fast swing speed.

This facination with the Bravesword 10 started when I purchased a replica from Bekia (who have gone on to make their own named rackets) which performed very well. In fact, it's the only racket that I gave full marks for so far. From defense to power and control, there was nothing that I found lacking in the Bekia Bravesword 10 Replica.

The original Victor Bravesword 10 tested out well in singles play, though I soon found it lacking in weight to play for long. I took it out for some doubles action yesterday and it surprised me with its accuracy and speed.

So without further adieu, the review.

Also, starting now I'll try and include a one-line round-up for the racket I'm reviewing, to give an overall impression of what I think the racket is good at for me. This comes at the end with the picture(s).

Note. This review carries my own opinion of the racket from my use. Comments welcome!

Ok here goes.

Victor Bravesword 10 (2nd Gen)
Est. Dry Weight: 88g (3U)
Grip Size: G2
Balance: Even (3/5)
Stiffness: Very Stiff (5/5)
Strings: Yonex Nanogy 98 @ 25lbs

I recommend this racket for doubles play. Too even-balanced for singles to use for long.

Defense
I like defending. It gives you a great sense of satisfaction when you manage to turn your opponent's attack into a mad scramble to an uncovered area of the court.

When the Bravesword 10 was first used in my doubles game yesterday, I found just that. If the attackes from the opponent were too flat, I was able to drive defense it across the other side of the court. Given the stiffness of the racket, I was able to generate quite a bit of power to lend that drive sharply past the front player.

When the shots were too low to drive, the swing speed of the Victor Bravesword 10 came into very good effect. The racket was able to respond to almost all of the smashes thrown at me, with satisfying results. Despite the stiffness I was able to move the racket about and change grips at ease before the shuttle came to me, and that allowed me to vary the defensive shots if need be.

Attack
This is where the even balance of the racket dragged it down. The Bravesword 10 didn't manage to throw off the power smashes that the rest of my rackets could do, even if I gave it my all on the smash. Somehow, the lack of weight in the front didn't allow me to get off as much power as I wanted to.

Which made me favor the front of the court a lot when I played yesterday. Most experiences at the back were the sharp smash downwards or the drive forward before I moved up to close off the front.

It's good, but not really the choice if I were to come up against defense-crazed veterans.

Control
Amazing. So seldom did my shots fly off course with the Victor Bravesword 10, be it defensive drives or attacking smashes. The shuttle just seemed to fly where you want it to, and I give it to the extreme stiffness of the shaft.

Though I did find a little difficulty controlling the tight net shots (not enough weight at the front I guess), the racket came off very well on control.

Looks
Seems the Victor Bravesword series have come to adapt a similar look - primarily grey with the different accents for the various rackets.

The Victor Bravesword 10 comes with black and white accents down the 5 and 7 o'clock of the head frame. The "Sword" decal comes branded in gold, as bright shiny red text adorn the shaft of the racket.

Victor Bravesword 10

"Defensive Drive Powerhouse"

Defense: 10

Attack: 7

Control: 10

Looks: 7

Badminton Racket First Impressions: Li-Ning Air-Stream N55-III (Silver)

So I got a chance to trade my gold one in for the silver variation, and it turned out pretty well. Loving the gun metal finish more than the purple-gold combination, but also the racket seems lighter and more suitable for my game.

The perks of the previous racket remained - I was able to get a very steep downward stroke, and that added to the variety of shots that I had for my game. Being that much lighter (I reckon about 5g or so) I was also able to turn the racket around faster for the defensive shots.

The smashes also came off quick with the silver version of the Li-Ning Air-Stream N55-III, thanks partly to the Air-Stream system that reduces drag around the racket head. The swings don't come off sounding like they're powerful, but when you contact the shuttle it's another matter.

But what really surprised me today was the amount of power that I had with this racket on the backhand. I managed to put a shuttle out of the court from a backcourt backhand clear. I usually add a little more strength when I do a clear, but with this racket I could feel that I didn't need as much.

Will have to experiment more to find out. For now, the silver version seems to work out better for me.

Badminton Racket First Impressions: Li-Ning Air-Stream N55-III

Had a swing with the racket this evening at a singles session and decided to write a little about it since I managed to get enough play time to get a good first sense.

First off, this is one pretty racket. Along with the rest of the Li-Ning N-III series rackets, the N55-III comes in two variations - Gold / Purple and Silver / Black.

This one here's the Gold / Purple version.

Now that you're done drooling over the sneak peak, it's down to talking about the performance.

The Li-Ning Air-Stream N55-III comes off as a very head heavy racket. Very. I had a little difficulty getting used to the weight, and for about two to three games in I was still thinking that the racket is too heavy for its own good.

And then the jump smash happened.

What's special about this racket is the Air-Stream technology, where holes are cut into the head frame to allow a higher level of aero-dynamism.

What it does it it manages to pull off a very fast downward stroke very quickly, which means that the shots come down steep and fast. I managed to pull off quite the angle with my jump smashes today. 

Defense-wise it doesn't come off very impressive, what being a monster at the head heavy department and all. I've to test this out in a fast game of doubles before I say anything about this though.

But all in all, the racket surprised me with the steepness and speed of the attacks that it produces. Heavy heads pull off clears quite well so I won't touch on that for now.

More with the review.

New Hotness: Li-Ning N90-III and N55-III

Just. Couldn't. Resist.

First impressions soon.

New Badminton Racket Launch: Yonex Nanoray Z-Speed

As most of you would have heard by now, Yonex's latest racket has set another world record for fastest badminton hit of 493 km/h. That means at the moment of contact, the shuttle moved at that speed.

We've seen the malaysian men's doubles pair use it in the 2013 BWF World Championship, and here it is, finally unveiled.

Photo: www.yonex.com/nanoray

Slated for release 13 Sept slightly before the Yonex Japan Open, this stunned in deep orange looks set to top the sales chart and give Li-Ning a run for its money.

This one comes with a whole array of new technologies that Yonex claims can increase swing speed by 10%, hence increasing your smash speed.

One of the more interesting techs is the snap back zone, which means they've made the 3 and 9 o'clock of the head frame a little thinner to allow a sudden snapping motion from your smash, translating that into greater force.

I've extracted these from their site to make for easier reading. All images extracted from www.yonex.com/nanoray

The racket comes in 2U and 3U, and can take up to a recommended tension of 28lbs for the 2U and 27lbs for the 3U. That means you probably can string it to the low 30lbs range if you're the tension crazy sort.

They've even got a nice video to tell you about their new achievement. Watch the video and learn about the technologies behind the Yonex Nanoray Z-Speed.

Looking forward to this? More to come.