Badminton Racket First Impressions: Yonex Astrox 99

A few years ago, a young Japanese player came out of nowhere and rattled the international badminton scene. He displayed the cockiness of someone who didn't need to try hard to win, and took to the court with an explosive attitude.

Then, Tago Gate hit and he was sentenced to obscurity for two years.

By the way he hit back, I can only imagine the regret and torment that Kento Momota experienced. He missed an All England. He missed a World Championship. He missed the freakin' Olympics.

And boy did he repent. No one knew what hit em as he claimed scalp after scalp upon his return - with a more than 80% win rate for all the Super Series events he took part in - culminating in his overwhelming World Championship win against Shi Yuqi.

In his hand as he lay the final blow was the Yonex Astrox 99. And I got the chance to try it out today.

My first impression was how heavy it felt compared to the 88S that I am so awestruck with - albeit in 3U compared to my 4U AX88S, the Astrox 99 came off really head heavy, kind of like a wreaking ball.

In fact it felt quite similar to the Voltric Z-Force II that I have, the head not taking a lot of effort to generate power on the down stroke. What the Astrox 99 did possess however was a slightly more flexible shaft. And I think that made a good difference.

The shaft made it a little more possible to transfer energy from one swing to another, lending to the AX99 a little more flexibility and speed in momentum than the VTFZ2. Sharp whips from the wrist were also full of power and a sudden acceleration with a great angle from the back court.

While the backhand did suffer compared to the 4U speed master that is the Astrox 88 Skill, the AX99 didn't fare too badly. Soft blocks and net shots were also satisfactory.

One particular shot that I found hard to make were the backhand drop shots. The weight of the racket head doesn't make for soft shots where you'll need to hold it up for an extended period of time.

Apart from that the racket performs suitably well for me not to condemn it like the AX77.

Stay tuned for the review!