So you’ve decided you’re looking for a pro / professional level Yonex Badminton Racket - well firstly, congratulations….because the worlds best players made the same decision. So many world number 1 players over the years have won tournament after tournament with Yonex rackets. Their top end rackets are truly custom and made over a 12 day period in Japan, placing the rackets in their Kilns and making sure every racket meets their extremely high standards.
So how do you choose? Well at the top level there’s a number of more detailed factors to consider to identify the right racket for you.
Firstly you’ll need to factor your type of game. If you play singles for example you’re more like to prefer stiff head heavy rackets like the Yonex Astrox 99 Racket for example.Singles rackets at the top level generally will be stiff, head heavy by nature with a good sense of touch and control. If you’re more a doubles player, then you need to factor 2 things, firstly are you the natural front or back player in your doubles partnership. Generally front court players will want rackets with better control and reaction speeds, whilst back court will want more head heavy aggressive rackets like the Yonex Astrox 88D Badminton Racket for example.
Secondly, you need to consider what playing style you are - Attacking, Counter-Attacking, Defensive, Control or Speed. Each style will suit a different racket or range from Yonex. What Yonex have done beautifully is that they’ve created brand ranges for each style of play - for example - attacking style are the Yonex Astrox Rackets or the Yonex Voltric Range, the Speed series are the Yonex Nanoflare and Yonex Nanoray Rackets. If you’re a counter-attacking - look out for the Yonex Duora Rackets range. Finally if you’re a control player go for the Yonex Arcsaber Rackets.
If you’re unsure what racket to go for, you could also come down to the UK’s biggest demo centre at the Winchester Westgate Badminton Centre in Hampshire, where you can pick up a racket and demo it on the courts there and then to see what you think!
In addition to this there may be features additionally that top level players may want on their rackets, in particular high string tension potential of rackets, for the Yonex professional level rackets look for items that have DG in their title, this references to high stringing tension being possible with the rackets and often all the way up to 35lbs. We however, don’t recommend you string to that tension for 2 reasons, firstly it makes the sweet spot for hitting much smaller on the racket, so only if you’re a very accurate hitter is this worthwhile. Secondly, you’ll go through more strings than a fat kid trying to avoid cup cakes whilst on a diet. This will make it pretty costly for you to replace the strings so regularly. We’ve personally been top UK players like Ben Lane, who strings his rackets at 32lbs go through 3 racket strings in a single match!
If you’re looking for a professional yonex badminton racket you should fully expect to spend at least £100, without investing this minimum amount you’re going to miss out on 2 key aspects. Firstly, the £100+ rackets with Yonex are made in Japan, meaning the quality control and standards of workmanship if far higher than that of their other rackets made at a lower end.
In terms of racket flex, generally for higher level players medium flex to stiff rackets are key for advanced and professional players looking for Yonex rackets, this is because higher level players need to be accurate with their shots, and stiffer rackets help with achieving this. This is usually fine for top level players too, as traditionally top players are string enough to not need extra flex in their rackets for power.
In terms of weight, look to Yonex professional rackets within the 80-90 (4U or 3U) grams, this is because it helps achieve the optimum weight for effective shot execution in rallies for top level players for power and speed. Smashing power in particular with the Yonex Astrox Rackets are key.
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