Yonex Armortec 30 Badminton Racquet

Yonex Armortec 30 Badminton Racquet

If you’ve read my review of Armortec 600 you’ll know that the Armortec range has grown this season with the introduction of 600, 70MG, 50 and 30.

Having tested the new 600, the next racquet I chose to test was Yonex Armortec 30.

Straight out of the bag, the racquet has striking graphics in copper (my description), black and silver/grey. It’s a nice looking racquet.

Technical specs are it’s a 3U, G3 which means it weighs 85-89g and has a large grip than Armortec 600. Grip size is nice although won’t suit smaller hands. That said a good retailer can build a grip to suit your hand size.

Even before I went on court I felt this racquet was heavy. The weight is in the head which considerably affects the balance. Personally I didn’t like the balance at all, but it will suit those players who like lots of “meat” in the head to thump those smashes on the floor.

As this racquet is at the lower end of the price spectrum, it’s factory strung probably around17lbs or so. I had to make a lot of adjustments to play with this racquet, although with time got used to it.

There’s no doubt that this racquet packs a punch for overheads, it scores highly here. The combination of a heavy head and medium flex shaft means it’s some “kick.”

Where this racquet struggles is around the net and defence. The heavy head makes recovery harder and slower. You need to ensure your technique around the net is good, otherwise you’d be unable to play a number of shots around the net in succession.

RRP on Yonex Armortec 30 is £60 so you’ll probably pick one up for under £50. Value for money I’d give it 2 stars because I feel there are other racquets that perform better for the same price.

Will this racquet suit your game? As you know choosing a racquet is very personal. If you like a head heavy racquet to give your smashes a bit more “beef” then this racquet does the job. If you spend more time at the net or are a very defensive player then this would not be my first choice for you and certainly would not make the top 5 racquets for testing.