Yonex Voltric 80

Yonex is launching the new Voltric 80 in next month's All England competition.
http://www.yonex.co.jp/voltric80/main.html
The racquet is white in color and incorpoates the new nanopreme material.
Earlier information gathered is Voltric 80 is a more head heavier and stiffer racquet than Voltric 70.
This would probably increased the attacking aspect of the racquet. Let's see what does the new Nanopreme thing does to improve on the feel of the racquet...

Yonex BG66 Ultimax

Just got my racquet restrung with BG66 ultimax, it's a 0.65mm thick string.


Brief review:
I found this string to be excellent. It is a slightly improved version of the BG66.
The repulsion is similar to BG66, not much difference.
Note I'm comparing it to BG66...

Pros
The feel is better given the thinner diameter
The sound when smashing is more crisp
The power is slightly better
Slightly improved BG66

Cons
The string is thinner hence more vibration is absorb by your hand/arm...
The cost of the string is significantly higher than most strings, may not be economical to constantly restring
The durability may yet be an issue given the thinner diameter

APACS high end racquets, Lethal 90 and 100

I chance upon these two racquets at a badminton shop.

Looked very impressive for a high end APACS racquet. The racquet is made of entirely high modulus graphite/woven material with some bulge for strengthening the weaker 7 and 5 o'clock region of the frame.

I didn't buy any racquets for lack of funds today...only restringing. Tried Yonex BG66 Ultimax

Lethal 100
The flex is stiff APACs rated it 8/10 and is head heavy around 295mm.

Lethal 90
Roughly similar to Lethal 100 in specs

APACS claims that it is designed for professional players.

Broken racquet, clashes and mishits

Badminton racquets are relatively fragile compared to the more heavily constructed tennis or squash racquets. The badminton racquet is usually made up of graphite, a light but strong material.

The chief physical parameters of a badminton racquet is reduced weight for speed/handling yet strong enough to hold around 20-30lbs of string tension. To save weight, racquets are relatively hollow save for anti-vibration foam/glue.

As such, hits on the structure of the frame can easily cause cracks/paint chips or downright cause catastrophic damage like on the racquet below.

Cracked racquets are usually cause by the following reasons: mishits, clashes with partner's racuqet or clash on the floor.

warm up gear

Warm-ups are very important before a high intense session of games or a match.

Gears like sports pants and jackets can also help warm up especially in games in the morning or when the temperature of the court is much cooler...

A light warm up jacket


A light warm up sports pants

The benefits of warm up can be found here.

Sports related dehydration

I just came across a dehydration chart at one of the local sports hall.

Dehydration is one of the danger of a high intensity sports especially in a humid and warm conditions. This is evident in an enclosed indoor hall, where badminton is played.

An advisory from Mayo clinic here talks about the symptoms and dangers of dehydration.

A simple way is to monitor at your urine colour...


There also many sports drinks, for example brands like Gatorade, 100 plus etc. They serve a particular purpose of replenishing lost fluids and provide some carbohydrates for fueling the body.



Above: some of the sports drink available in the local market: Pocari Sweat, Sportswater and H-Two-O.

I actually find sports drink contains more sodium that is lost as is refered to in this article.