Badminton Racket First Impressions: Victor Bravesword 12N

Now, we all know how I feel about Victor rackets. They have a certain way of impressing you at first try before leading you down a slippery slope of mishits and less-than-satisfactory gameplay.

I've been there with the Meteor 60. Meteor 70, Meteor 80. Meteor Jung Jae Sung. TK8000. TK8000 Iron Man 3. Bravesword Lee Yong Dae. Bravesword Lee Hyun Il. Spira 22. Spira 21. They have all failed to make a good impression.

The one exception is the Bravesword 10, who has ranked really high on my charts till now. It's trusty in defense, it's reliable in attack, it's absolute in control. It pleases me so much that I allowed it to be the testing bed for Yonex's new string - the Aerosonic (still working out a conclusion on that one I'm afraid).

And tonight, I had the chance to test run the fabled Victor Bravesword 12N in a singles match.

I had the racket for a little practice swing, and I must say it didn't impress me enough. The shaft was too soft and I could hardly get a feel of the strings (it was supplied with the Yonex BG80 Power).

The magic came with I had a go at it in an actual match. There was no need to hold back, the spirit of competition set in, and I let loose on the swings.

Man did the shuttle fly!

Perhaps now I can understand the fascination the forums had with the particular racket. The swings were wild, but you could sense a slight control to them - while the shuttle was quick to springboard off to the other side, you could also direct their fury to the sides of the court you like them to.

As I was doing most of the attacking during the match, I could not test the defensive capabilities of the Bravesword 12N very much.

Maybe if I had few gos at it in doubles matches I'd have enough for a review.

But for now, attacking in a singles match just got more feasible (and fun)!