The different Yonex Ranges
What is the best Yonex badminton racket ? Choosing the right Yonex badminton racquet for yourself can be daunting at first. With such a wide range of rackets from Yonex to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. To help, we have written this article on how to choose a Yonex badminton racket, so that you can quickly choose which type of racket will suit your game. Once you understand the ranges, it is purely a matter of budget within the range.
Yonex have traditionally categorised their racket ranges based on balances. This makes it simpler for customers to choose a Yonex badminton racket, as once you have picked which type of balance you would like, you can focus on that range. The current Yonex badminton racket ranges are as follows:
- Head-Heavy - Yonex Astrox badminton rackets are designed to offer as much power as possible, allowing you to hit steep, angled smashes and fast, lengthy clears without compromising significantly on speed.
- Even Balance - Yonex Arcsaber badminton rackets are designed to give you all-round performance with two unique frame shapes in a single racket head, allowing you to hit powerful forehand shots and equally fast backhand shots.
- Head-Light - Yonex Nanoflare badminton rackets are designed to give you lightning-fast reflexes thanks to an aerodynamic racket that maximises your speed and power.
There are a few general points to note that are crucial for choosing any badminton racket:
- Each racket is categorised into one of three balance classes: Head-Heavy, Head-Light and Even Balance. These are not the mass or weight of the racket, rather this helps you determine where the majority of the mass or weight is actually located in the racket.
- Head-Heavy rackets have the majority of the graphite located closer to the top of the racket head, providing more power for clears and smashes but making the racket swing speed slower, reducing the amount of speed available for front court and mid-court play.
- Head-Light rackets have the majority of the graphite located closer to the bottom of the racket head and the shaft, increasing the amount of speed available for drop-shots, net-play, defending and drives, but reduce the amount of extra power available for clearing and smashing, requiring the player to put more power in themselves.
- Even Balance, as the name suggests, have an even distribution of graphite throughout the entire racket, making them all-round rackets.
- Each racket has a stiffness rating for how easily the shaft will bend. There are generally 4 categories for Yonex badminton rackets: Flexible (or Hi-Flex), Medium, Stiff and Extra Stiff. Stiffer rackets are more suitable for players with quicker (more advanced) swing speeds and technique, whereas flexible rackets are more suitable for players with slower (or use their arm more to generate their swing speed) swing speeds.
- Rackets can come in a number of different overall weight classes (this is the overall mass or weight of the racket, not the balance).
Once you have decided which range to choose from, you can then filter the rackets by flex and price. Each range has at least one flexible, one medium and one stiff racket in the mid-range and performance range price points, giving you plenty of options to view.
For more information on how to choose a badminton racket, please see our guide here. For more information on each individual Yonex range, please click on any of the links above to see more, or click here to view our full range of Yonex badminton rackets.
