I wanted to give a shout out to a guy who is a badminton coach, and lives in my neck of the woods. His name is Paul Stewart and he has recently begun his own badminton coaching and racket review site at http://badminton-coach.co.uk/ He is as keen as anyone, and very passionate about badminton in the north west of England. His site is full of racket reviews and solid coaching tips for beginners and advanced players alike.
He is a yonex sponsored coach, so all the reviews are on the latest yonex rackets such as the z-slash, 8DX and the nanospeed range. What he does do though is try to remain impartial in his reviews, and what he does a hell of a lot better than me is to have videos of the reviews. His latest video is of the Arcsaber 8DX, and you can find it from his website. He does a pretty good job as well, with a well laid out video that is very clear and specific.
The only problem is that it is difficult to be totally impartial if you are sponsored by a company and you are reviewing their rackets. It would not do much for your new sponsorship deal if you give bad reviews would it? However, Paul does mark the rackets down on price, because we all know just how expensive yonex rackets are, so no matter how good they are there is always the question of "is it worth the money?"
He is as honest as they come, and is putting a lot of effort into promoting badminton via the internet, so good luck to him, and i hope his site goes from strength to strength, he deserves it.
On another note, i think it is time to do a few more reviews myself. My 2 Carlton Airblades have died, the heads on all of them have snapped. They have given me years of faithful service so i cannot complain. Stringing at a higher tension will eventually take its toll, and this is what has happened to these rackets. I would like to take a closer look at Victor and Li Ning, just to find out what they are like, and if they are worth the money. I will be looking for someone to send me some free rackets, so some e-mails will be going out very soon. Frankly, if i was the boss of a badminton racket manufacturer i would jump at the chance of some free promotion.
Saturday, 29 May 2010
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11 comments:
Antony
Thank you so much for this article. It's very unexpected and really surprised me.
I have been testing Victor racquets recently so there will be a number of updates on my blog soon regarding their racquets.
The ones I've tested have been superb, two of which already have 5 stars because I feel they are that good. I haven't videod these reviews because that would be breaking my contract with Yonex.
I can test and review racquets because of my association with a retailer which dictates they require my assistance before agreeing to stock a brand.
My blog is taking shape now in terms of content. I try to balance between coaching and reviews with greater emphasis now on coaching.
Since I launched the site I've now established a residential badminton coaching weekend which is almost full. I do intend running 4 a year if there is the interest - something I'm working on.
The biggest is yet to come. I'm currently filming for an online coaching program which will challenge anything on the market in terms of quality, even using our own equipment. It's an ongoing program so it's flexible too, allowing for breakout sessions to answer questions, help players with burning issues.
There's also going to be a special members only area on my blog to discuss the latest video, ideas, problems etc so it's meant to be a really player-friendly program.
As you can imagine, it's incredibly hard work with each video taking around a day in terms of writing, filming and editing. Plus, there's a whole new infrastructure required behind all this to make the technology work as it should.
We're only at the beginning but hopefully, we'll find a formula that players love and want to visit.
Antony, if you are in my neck of the woods, get in touch and I may be able to help solve your Victor testing dilemma.
Thanks again for your blog post about me and also for a great blog too.
To your success.
Paul Stewart
Hi Paul
Hope you are well. I wanted to give you a shout out because it is pretty obvious you have put in a huge amount of effort on your site, it is one of the best i have seen by far. Full of information that badminton players need to know. I started this blog a few years ago to provide some real information on rackets, instead of the usual stuff online that comes from retailers pitching for extra sales. I am sure you know what i mean.
I think you are doing a great job, so keep up the good work.
Hi Antony
Many thanks for your kind words.
The offer is open to meet up and test a few racquets. Let me know if you fancy getting together and having a blast with a range of Victor and Yonex racquets. It'll be the best comparison test you've probably done.
Keep up the good work on your blog too.
To your success.
Paul Stewart
Hi Antony,
Thank you so much for the good reviews on your blog. It is really helpful.
I have a question to ask but I couldn't find your email address anywhere. So here is my question,
Which of these two racquets are more powerful for smashes?
Apacs visible hollow 2000 and lethal 50. Lethal 70 are too pricey for me! hehe
and have you tried this racquet?
Apacs Nano 9900 Power.
How is it? Can that be considered as a cheaper option for the visible hollow and lethal models?
Many thanks in advance.
Best Regards,
Faz
Hi Barca
I have not tested the 50 or the visible hollow, so i cannot really give you an answer as to which one is best. If the 50 is anything like the lethal 70 then it should be a very good racket indeed. As for the 9900 power, i have not tried that one either! I did test the 999 power last year, and was very impressed with that, especially as it was so cheap as well,
Sir, do you have any comments for this racket? Actually, i emailed you my concerns. thank you
http://www.tobys.com/products/golf/racquet-sports/prince-os-platinum-chrome
Hi,
thanks for your reply.
i have never heard of the 999 power in my part of the world? or is it called differently outside UK?
Antony,
You are great...
Hope you can test on Lethal 90 ASAP.
waiting for your review result.
Tq
Great jobs all of you.. It is not easy right..
Hi All
Hope Antony won't mind us commenting on here. I see there has been a request for a review of the lethal 90, good news is Antony has the L90 and a Tantrum 300 to play with from Apacs Sports UK.
Barca96, check out Lethal Badminton Rackets we have the new Lethal 7 and Lethal 11 which start at jsut £54.99.
Cant wait for the review.
Steve
Apacs UK
Hi Steve
You beat me to it! I am just stringing the rackets so will be playing with them very shortly, review to follow.
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