Badminton Racket First Impressions: Carlton Vapour Trail Elite 2011

So it's off to the courts with the shiny new racket to see how a really heavy (90g dry weight) racket will feel with 27lbs tension on the strings. I've tried a VT70 on 27lbs Yonex BG66 and it wasn't pleasant.

But the VT Elite and its Ashaway Zymax62 came off pretty well. I was able to send the shuttle to the far side of the court without too much effort, eve, on the backhand. What stood out however, was the amount of control I had at the net with the racket. Oh, also the smash. And the blocks.

Physically, the Carlton Vapour Trail Elite isn't as head-heavy as the Voltrics, and that gave me a lot of leeway in terms of agility and speed. I also noticed that the head frame is slightly thicker than the other VTs, probably Carlton's way of putting more juice into the attacks.

Overall, it adds up to a satisfying first experience.

However, just thought I'd state something I observed from the last rackets I gave first impressions of.

I've always been on 24lbs because I didn't want to end up using too much of my energy punching the shuttle to get distance, and now it feels funny talking about new rackets having to put into consideration the tension of the strings.

I hope I'll be able to give a good review after few more games with this gem.