There has been a huge amount of traffic on the forums about this badminton racket. I can’t remember a time when a new racket has been so eagerly awaited. The Yonex Japan website lured us in with their advertising, however they kept us all in the dark about what this racket looked like until a few days before release.

When images became available, the Arcsaber Z Slash badminton racket received a mixed response. Some said it was awful, while others raved about its colorful graphics. But did it live up to the hype and hype? Let’s get into the review. Above all, remember that the choice of a racket is personal and you are the only person who can judge if this racket is for you.

With all the hype surrounding this racket, I was expecting a flashy cover, something different that would set it apart from the rest of the Yonex range. As you can imagine, I was a bit disappointed when I saw the standard Arcsaber racquet cover. Fair game to Yonex though, they are trying to standardize their range so somehow why should this racket get special treatment?

I had that Christmas morning feeling as I slowly unzipped the lid and pulled out the racket. wow! I came across the most eye-catching graphics I’ve seen on a racket in a long time. If you’re ultraconservative, you might see the racket as flashy or wacky, but I really liked it. The graphics combine black, red, yellow, gold and white.

At first glance, apart from the graphics, it looks just like any other badminton racket. But, there are a number of differences when you investigate further.

First of all, the head looks a bit thinner. Initially I thought this was due to the stringing. But, Yonex stringers are among the best in the world, so this needed a closer inspection. No, this is definitely a slightly different shape, drawing from the sides about half a centimeter each side, which is considerable. The length of the head is the same.

The Z Slash’s shaft is about 1cm longer than my Nanospeed 9900’s, so it should make a bit more power. The handle is about 2 cm shorter and the ferrule (plastic piece on top of the handle) has been reduced by 25% (my estimate). The splint itself appears considerably smaller and has a slightly different shape. Personally, I don’t see this adding much, if anything, to the racket’s performance, although I’m sure the marketers will tell you otherwise.

The racket is a standard 3U (weight 84-89g) with a G4 grip size. This is a bit of a surprise as usually in the UK we get the G3 grip size which is slightly larger. Yonex has previously supplied larger grip sizes to our market because they feel we have larger hands. Therefore, I cannot understand why this top of the range racket is supplied with a smaller grip size. Let’s go…

So how does this racket feel? It’s certainly different from the Arcsaber 10. It’s almost a cross between the Armortec 900 Power (which readers will know is one of my favorites) and the Nanospeed 9900 (my current racket).

It’s certainly well balanced, although I’d say it leans towards more head weight. Before I walked out the door, I grabbed the racket and couldn’t take a few hits in my living room. wow! The speed through the air was amazing. Certainly much less “drag” than other rackets. This racket certainly felt fast for power shots, which was a surprise considering the heavier head. It will be interesting to see how it performs both in terms of air power and defense.

I used the racket on a training night at my league club. First I played a men’s doubles match. In the warm-up I felt pretty good with the racket, although I knew it was going to take some getting used to.

Why?

The racket is certainly solid enough. My touch was a bit strange, but that was partly due to the lower string tension and having to adjust to the racket. His head was a bit heavier, though he was certainly quick around the net.

Where this racket really wins is when you actually time your shot correctly. The shuttle travels like a bullet and all the comments about how powerful this racket is are believable. In the warm-up I landed some good shots that fell like a shell: fantastic, now I’m ready for the game.

Wrong! Getting my timing right in the warmup didn’t prepare me for the speed of the game at all. I realized that even with my experience, I was miscalculating so much overhead. Although I stayed there, we lost the game easily, which was disappointing.

Then I fed a little bit with the racket and it felt really good. A lot of armpit feeding was a doddle. I was still very conscious of the weight in the racket head and felt very comfortable with it.

After this, I worked with the players on defense. Having previously been the feeder, I was really looking forward to getting involved as a player and trying out the racket. I was delighted with the results. This racket was really solid defensively moving very quickly to respond to the shuttle. The extra weight in the head felt great and gave me that extra kick on the high lifts to get good length, even when hitting shuttles off the hip of my racket.

After this we did some quick hand work around the net. Again, I was delighted with the racket. It was certainly fast enough in this department with the added “meat” and consequently control I lost when using my Nanospeed 9900.

Unfortunately I couldn’t play another game, I’ll have to wait until next week.

To sum up my evening, the racket performed like a troupe in every department except my topside, the place where it’s supposed to shine the brightest. I was really delighted with all the areas we tried, and boy did we try hard tonight.

I have read with interest on badminton forums the comments of players who have bought this racket and found that it does not suit them. I can completely understand the frustrations of these players, as I guess I was feeling the exact same thing earlier in the night.

This is a brilliant racket, no doubt. So why can’t I play with it right away? The answer is simple…

The Arcsaber Z Slash badminton racket is a racket that takes convincing to achieve greatness. When you time your shot right, this beauty delivers power galore. And herein lies the crux of the matter… when. I have a harder time getting used to this racket than any other I’ve used before.

Maybe it’s the combination of a longer shaft, shorter handle, and smaller head? Maybe it’s the streamlined head that moves so fast when asked to act this way; it’s almost too good for me right now.

After giving more thought to what I just wrote, I came to the conclusion that it is the racquets ability to generate such magnificent speed in the air that catches me and messes with my timing. When I master this, I think I will tame this beast and be able to get the best out of it.

I also lent this racket to other players tonight. The looks on his face when they timed a spike were something to see. Tonight I saw some incredible shots with this racket. But, these big hits were a very small percentage of the many hits overnight.

How am I going to rate this racket? Retail price is around £180 which makes it the most expensive Yonex racket on the market. It is possibly the most expensive Yonex racket ever! It’s worth it? Only you can say it.

Personally, for many players it will be out of reach. Maybe not from a price perspective, but more in terms of what you can get out of it. An average league player can do better by choosing his next racket wisely, rather than thinking that the most expensive is the best racket for him.

Having said all that, and even though I didn’t propose on our first date, I really love this racket. I want to spend more time with him, get to know him better, and figure out how to make us a perfect partnership.

This racket has blown my mind. I don’t know why exactly, but I really want to try it again and again and I want to master overload time and see what this beauty can really offer. I can’t wait for our next appointment.

I can’t remember the last time a racket had this effect on me. So despite the immediate downside that I believe is due to the amazing airspeed this racket generates, I am going to rate this racket 4.5 stars. I truly believe this racket has the potential to be a classic, if it can be tamed. I’ve taken a half star off for the price, although I must confess this could be taken off entirely and changed to a 5 star rating when I get used to the incredible power this racket puts out.

I have also posted a video review of Z Slash vs Nanospeed 9900 on my badminton blog which you might find interesting.