I was fortunate to play with a demo racquet tonight. A Victor Power Waves 11 that was lent to me by another member of the online badminton forums that I frequent. (I’m sure I’ve just lost the 3-4 readers that come here).

However, what can you do? This is the sport that I’ve decided that I will play for the rest of my life (or until I find something else).

I played 5 matches tonight. 4 of them I used with the Victor racquet.

The racquet is true to its name. It easily hits as hard as my Woven 11

Pros:

• Very forgiving
• Stiff racquet and tight tension — good precision.
• Great power. I was jump smashing quite a bit late in the evening. Nice.
• It has a very crisp hit (Good pop). My Woven kind of has a spongy feel with it when I hit the sweet spot.
• Clears and drives are good. Subjectively, it feels better than my Sotx racquet (I think it’s the sound the racquet makes)

Cons:

• I think the string tension was a little much for me (It was strung at 26 lbs). I had to work quite a bit to generate power, but when I hit it right—wow. The control at the net was nice, but it felt kind of dull.
• The girth of the handle is too thin.
• Balance is super Head-Heavy. It is shifted more to the racquet head than my SotX (that surprised me). Consequently, defense is very slow. The previous owner wrapped the grip up all the way passed the triangle—I was totally using it. bq. ASIDE: Good tip, I’ll consider doing that from now on)
• It is a demanding racquet. My arm was aching after the 4 matches I played tonight.
• It seems heavier than my woven.

Here are some pictures courtesy of Trinhity