Interesting post talking around the transition between rackets and thought I would add my own experience.

I've been playing for around 3 and a half years now, came back after a 40 year break and play two to three times a week at my local clubs.  As I'm now 56 I'm not interested in the competition scene, but do play seriously and I am constantly improving.

I suffer from tennis elbow, if I'm not careful and have researched a lot and learned how to deal with this issue, for my own personal situation.  Basically, for UK rackets I use two overgrips, the first applied thinly, so only a half overgrip used and the second as a full overlay, so probably around a one and a half overgrip, if that makes sense?  String tension, I play with plastic shuttles for 90% of the time and I've found that 22 lbs suits me as a re-string tension, after a few sessions that probably settles at around 20-21 lbs, so no elbow pain.  Strings I've played around with and I am presently using BG80 Power, which I really like, although BG65Ti has been my go to string in the past. Tried BG66UM but simply did not like it.

That said, the change in rackets has also been interesting as I've tried to find my 'holy grail' of rackets and I've gone through:

Initially some Carltons etc, but moved to Yonex as I like the 'feel' of them, played for a long time with VT5 and liked it, good smash, clears etc, but found I could not improve around the net, suspected that the Balance Point (BP), around 313, was probably too head heavy.  

Tried and started using VT80, BP around 310, loved it initially, played well with it, but developed shoulder pains and some 'twinges' with my elbow, so gave those up, suspect the shaft was too stiff for me.

Moved to Arcsaber 008, BP around 308, played with this for a long time and loved it, but could not improve around the net and started to become a little frustrated as everything else 'felt' fine.

Then, a real surprise, which absolutely astounded me, a close friend and fellow badminton player, purchased an Arcsaber Z Slash, BP around 303 and did not like it, he could not get over the well documented timing issues and wanted to sell it. He let me use it for a few games to 'see what I thought of it and, in particular, the timing issues'. Well, blow me over, I instantly got on with it, no timing issues, well, no more than normal. No adverse effect on smash, clears etc, but boy, what an improvement on my net play, no comparison and very much improved.  In fact, if anything I now use less effort to achieve the same results as I did previously.

I subsequently bought both the rackets from him and have never looked back.  They now have my usual overgrip arrangement and re-strung at 22 lbs using BG80power, superb.

However, I have to say, a lot of thought went into what I was buying and suffice to say, I had to ignore the hype around the Z Slash, fastest racket smash and all that marketing hype that surrounds it.  I will never achieve 'record' speeds, nor do I wish to, I simply wanted a racket that would suit me and my style of play and the Z Slash suits me and I like it.  I'm glad I could look beyond the hype and just 'see' the racket and being able to purchase two for less than the price of a single brand new one, was a real bonus.  Getting used to bright yellow has been a little harder, but I compensated by buying bright yellow badminton shoes, non yonex 

The moral of the story, as Paul consistently says, racket choice is extremely personal and try as many as you can, I would never have contemplated a Z Slash had I not been offered a chance to play with one.  Even on specs, look at what I've ended up with compared to what I was previously using. 

Finally, for your info Paul: The growth in Victor rackets at my local clubs is growing exponentially, they are gathering a real fan base.

Ain't this a wonderful sport.

Regards to all

Allan