The little orange thing is nothing to do with hitting bigger clears – it's there to dampen vibrations. Some people actually consider this a bad thing, as it reduces the amount of feedback the racket gives you when contacting the shuttle, which is a problem when you're playing delicate net shots (makes the racket feel kind of dead or numb). And you have to wonder about the quality of any racket for which vibration is such an issue that they needed to add a special cap.

The NS6600 is a defensively oriented racket, so power is not really its forté. That's not to say it's a bad racket – just that if you're after bigger clears, then its probably not the one for you.

Beyond that, it's impossible to recommend a racket unless you give us some more information about yourself. What's your budget? How good are you? Do you play singles or doubles? Are you an attacking or defensive player? Do you want power or speed or a bit of both? Do you care about brand names? What country do you live in?

There is no one “best value” racket – a racket I love probably wouldn't suit you at all. That's (partly) why manufacturers make so many different models.

I've used my NS4500 for about 18 months now and I like it. I have to say I haven't had chance to test it against an Arcsaber or Voltric though.

Mine is medium flex, head light. The reason I like mine so much is how fast it is round the net, not so much in terms of hitting drops, but defending against drives around the net. I can react very quickly to counter punch drives and quick drops back at my opponents.

I would stress that I don't play singles at all, purely doubles, so I rate speed round the net and mid court above anything else. In terms of out and out power the Nanospeed undoubtedly lacks something. But in doubles that doesn't matter as you are only looking to gain the advantage and get your opponents to return badly to set up your partner for the net kill. No one hits winners from the back in men's doubles, you just force a weaker return and attack from there. So there's no problem if you only smash at 80% of what you can because the accuracy of the smash is more important.

If you want help with your clear I'd go for a racket with a bit more weight in the head. I don't have any problem clearing back to back with my racket, but I'm a guy in his mid 20's playing league badminton, I've no idea how old you are Scotty or what standard you play.

In terms of value for money, you can get a NS850 for around £50-55, down from an RRP of £90. I've played with the 850 and it's decent value for £50. The NS6600 is more than £100, so I guess it's up to you how much money you want to spend. The 850 would give you a good look into the Nanospeed range in my opinion.