More Reviews on the Way Soon

Hi again, as you may be aware I am currently trying to be a little more pro-active with posting reviews and other content on this blog and here's a quick update to tell everyone what they should expect within the following month or two.

My full review of Zymax 67 will be on the way shortly, also followed by comparisons and reviews of Zymax 65 and 62, which I have been lucky enough to get hold of a few packets. I also have a couple of sets Yonex Nanogy 99, so you can expect a review of that in the not so distant future, as I know it is a string with a lot of interest surrounding it and I know a few people have already asked me for a review. 

Other than that, there may be a couple of comparison posts between Yonex strings and other manufacturers, as well as a couple of stringing related posts that aren't necessarily reviews.

Thank you for your patience.

APB Stringers 

Ashaway Zymax 67 First Impressions

It's been a long time since I've done one of these string reviews, mainly due to the fact that buying sets of string for testing and reviewing can become quite expensive at times, but more on that in another post.

I am very happy to tell you that the lovely people at Cramp Sports (www.crampsports.com) managed to hook me up with some free Ashaway Zymax 67, so I will be able to do a quick first impressions post now, with a full review hopefully coming in the next couple of weeks after I have been able to assess the tension retention and durability of the string.

I was extremely excited when the package arrived at the door as I'd heard a lot of very good things about the Zymax series of strings, however, I'd never wanted to leave the security of using a string that I have used for many years, Yonex Bg80. As soon as the string arrived I immediately strung up my Tactic Voyager 80 at 27/29lbs. I must say that this string is quite difficult to string with due to the fact it's has a very rough texture and this causes more friction between strings, so makes it harder to thread through shared grommets.

I only was able to play with this string for a couple of hours the other night, but I must say, WOW! This is by far the best first impression I have ever had from a string, the only other string that came any where near this is Yonex Bg66 Ultimax for immediate impact. I usually string my rackets at 26/28lbs, but for some reason I decided to go a little higher with this string and the gamble definitely paid off. I was hitting smashes that I've never hit before, with power, steep angles and accuracy that I thought I could only dream of. I found it had excellent control and very little in the way of string movement.

I will be able to give you a more in depth review once I have been able to play a little more with this string. I have also decided to order some sets of the Zymax 62 and 65 to see if I am able to get ever more power out of the strings and see what the durability of the even thinner gauges is. So hopefully there will be a few more reviews coming in the next few weeks!

Thank you all for your patience.

Antony

Different Coloured Yonex Strings

Why Yonex don't sell all of their strings all around the world can sometimes be a mystery to me. There is quite clearly the same market for coloured badminton strings in the UK, so Yonex could be losing a lot of revenue just from not stocking a product that they already sell elsewhere. I know that many people are put off by the fact that Bg80 only comes in yellow, which makes people go for a usually slightly cheaper white string. However, if you look on the Yonex USA website, Bg80 is only available in white over there! This is something that baffles me beyond belief.

I also have many different people (usually girls) ask me if I have a variety of different coloured strings, and I can usually get a string from a different manufacturer that is of the colour they would like, but that is still a sale that Yonex has lost here in the UK. If you look on www.mybadmintonstore.com for example, then they have some Yonex strings in as many as about 7 different colours, so if ever I have a specific request for a particular Yonex string in a colour that is not available in the UK then that is the place I got to first.

Here is the problem though, I should not have to order strings from abroad just because Yonex do not think there is a big enough market here in the UK, there clearly is and after speaking to one of the biggest UK retailers of badminton string, who said that if Yonex did have coloured string in the UK they would happily buy at least a box of reels of each one, it shows that Yonex are potentially losing a huge amount of profit every year by not selling all of their colours of strings everwhere!

Sussex Senior Restricted Entry Form

I know that this is not going to affect the vast majority of people who read this blog, but I will include it anyway. The entry forms for the Sussex Senior Restricted are now available at www.sussexjuniorbadminton.co.uk this is because the main Sussex badminton website is down, so if you want to enter the restricted the forms are available and are due in on the 14th of September!

Bg80 Power Review

Well, my review of Yonex's most expensive string in the UK is finally here and its definitely a bit of a weird one! When I heard that Yonex was going to be releasing a "power" version of one of their top selling strings around the world I have to say that I was extremely excited. Everyone wants that little bit extra power in their game don't they? But does the string live up to all of the hype?

Stringing with Bg80 power is no different to stringing with any other Yonex string, although I did find that the slightly less textured surface did mean that I was able to weave the crosses slightly easier than with Bg80.

When it comes to playing with Bg80 power I am still a little undecided. Of course it is a good quality string coming from a big brand such as Yonex, however I am not quite sure whether it deserves its hefty price tag. It doesn't have quite the same sharp feel that you get with Bg80, or the raw power of Bg66UM, in fact, it seems to fall a bit short in my opinion. I would say that you can get the same repulsion power, with a better feel from Bg80 and I can't see why you should spend the extra £20 a reel on a string that offers very little in the way of increased power or performance.

I am still sticking to my opinion that Bg80 is the best all-round badminton string available in the world today, I'm not sure why Yonex would risk ruining the Bg80 brand by bringing out a different version of the string that doesn't quite match up to the original, but their marketing opinions are their own.

All in all, if you're looking to use a slightly softer, less immediate version of Bg80, then here's your answer, if not, then I would recommend continuing to use Bg80 or try a completely new string entirely!