Author: Racquet Network Staff

Racquet Network staff are certified experts. Many are also certified coaches. Racquet Network Experts undergo extensive training and product knowledge testing in order to ensure that we have the most knowledgeable staff in the racquet sports industry.
Posted on by

Yonex Aerus 3 – What You Need to Know

YONEX POWER CUSHION AERUS 3 COURT SHOLES BLUE

Yonex Aerus 3 – What You Need to Know

YONEX POWER CUSHION AERUS 3 COURT SHOES BLACK
Yonex Aerus 3 has a coloured rubber outsole and may not be welcome everywhere.
Sales of Yonex ™ new Power Cushion Aerus 3 have started strongly. Everybody seems to be interested in this shoe and everybody wants to try it. Before they rush in to buy this shoe, though, we thought it was important to let our customers know what they may be getting themselves into.

The first thing people need to consider is durability. Those who remember the first iteration of this shoe — the Yonex Aerus — will remember what a disaster that shoe was for Yonex. Billed as the lightest badminton shoe ever made, it quickly became obvious that the Aerus was not built for durability. Nor was it built for continuous adult use. In fact, we processed more warranty requests for the Aerus than any Yonex shoe in the history of Racquet Network.

The second thing people need to consider is fit. Once again, a previous version of the shoe — in this case, the Aerus 2 — provides a history lesson. With a highly tapered toe, the Yonex Aerus 2 was certainly not built for everybody. In fact, in our store we found it fit less than one-third of our male customers. It seemed to fit players under 25 well enough, but the vast majority of players over 25 could not squeeze their feet into the Aerus’ narrow profile.

Yonex Aerus Series Badminton Shoes

The final thing that people need to consider before purchasing the Yonex Aerus 3 is whether or not they will be allowed to wear it in their badminton club. Here in Calgary, for example, two of our largest badminton clubs — Smash City and Sunridge Badminton Centre — are infamous for refusing to allow coloured rubber compounds on their courts. Specifically, both of these clubs traditionally prohibit black-soled shoes on their mats.

YONEX POWER CUSHION AERUS 3 COURT SHOES BLACK OUTSOLE
Some badminton clubs do not allow black-soled shoes.
The problem for Aerus 3 fans is that, unlike the Aerus 3R which was not imported into Canada by Yonex Canada, the shoe that was imported into Canada has a coloured sole. In fact, the black Aerus 3 has a black sole, which is banned in most badminton clubs using mats.

So if you are thinking about purchasing this shoe, the first thing should do is find out if the place you play allows coloured, non-marking shoes on their courts. Otherwise, you may end up with a pair of shoes you can’t used.

If you are sure you can use this shoe, the next thing you will want to consider is the fit. Yonex has certainly been improving in this area in recent years, but their standard width shoes — like the Aerus 3 — typically do not fit about one third of the players our experts serve in our store. Most importantly, Yonex shoes do not fit older players very well. So before buying this shoe, we strongly recommend coming in to try it on.

Finally, there is the question of the Aerus 3’s durability. Will it be a durable shoe or will it be a disaster like the original Aerus?

ASICS GEL-BLADE 6
On the surface, Yonex Power Cushion Aerus 3 and Asics Gel-Blade 6 appear to be very similar.
On the surface, Yonex Power Cushion Aerus 3 and Asics Gel-Blade 6 appear to be very similar shoes. Both feature coloured rubber compounds on their out soles. Both feature lightweight, one piece uppers and both have some form of cushioning in the forefoot and heel.

The only major difference appears to be on the inner aspect of the shoe where Asics ™ has added some extra material to protect against drag wear. For players who are using these shoes for badminton, this extra layer to protect against drag wear won’t make any difference to the shoe’s durability. But for players who plan to use this shoe for squash or pickleball, this may be an issue that reduces durability. In other words, how you are planning to use this shoe may determine whether or not it is durable enough for your needs.

Unfortunately, at this early point both shoes are still so new that there is no way to actually compare their durability. As always, we will know more about how well this shoe wears at the end of the season than the start of the season. In the meantime, we recommend that you come in and speak to one of our experts before make a decision. Once we know what and where you will be playing, we will be better able to advise you.

Posted on by

5 Gift Ideas for Teen Badminton Players

Yonex Men's Full Zip Hoodie 30049 Dark Grey

Far more than adults, brands are important to teens. And for many of our teenage badminton customers, Yonex ™ is the most important brand in the world. So it’s not hard for us to advise people with a teenage badminton player on their Christmas list. Pretty much anything with a Yonex logo on it is sure to be a hit.

Yonex Badminton Shoes

Although many different brands of court shoes are suitable for badminton, most of our teen badminton players wouldn’t be caught dead in anything other than Yonex. Racquet Network, of course, carries every Yonex model available in Canada, but none are as popular with teens as the Yonex Aerus 3.

The Aerus 3 is designed for competitive athletes and features all of Yonex’s premium shoe technologies.

Yonex Sports Towel

Branded sports towels have exploded in popularity over the past five years. This is because of television and internet coverage that shows professional players using towels to wipe their faces between points and on changeovers.

Sweat management is an important part of every athlete’s game plan. Using a Yonex sports towel to do it –like Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei — takes it to the next level of cool.

Yonex Water Bottle

Yonex water bottles are an inexpensive way for young athletes to brand themselves.

Available in silver and blue, these bottles tend to sell out over the holidays.

Yonex Apparel

Yonex apparel is extremely popular with teen badminton players. Here is a small selection of what we have available in-store and online.

Yonex Stencil Kit

As racquets are used and strings wear out, string stencils start to fade. Stencil/ink kits give teens an opportunities to freshen up their string stencils without having to re-string their racquets.

A few of our clients even make a little cash on the side by freshening up the stencils on their friends racquets.

Gift Certificate Option

If you are not sure what the young badminton player on your list has or doesn’t have, wants or doesn’t want, you can always opt for a gift certificate. We offer them all year round in $25.00 increments.

Posted on by

Best Shoe to Replace the Asics Gel-Blast

ASICS GEL-BLAST 7 2301

The end of Asics ™ Gel-Blast shoe series came suddenly and without warning to Calgary squash players. Like the death of an old friend, he was always there and then suddenly … he wasn’t.

Not everyone loved the Gel-Blast. It was too heavy for some. It was not breathable enough for others. But the shoe had legions of fans.

In our opinion, the Gel-Blast was one of the best squash shoes ever made.

The Gel-Blast 5 was breathable and definitely the most popular model ever made.

Unfortunately, Asics followed up that legendary effort by totally crapping the bed with the Gel-Blast 6. It was a fine shoe, man was it uuuuuugly.

They recovered the following season with the Gel-Blast 7 which was definitely the best version of that shoe. Then it was gone.

So what do Blast fans do now? What shoe could possibly replace such a legendary squash shoe?

Ladies and gentlemen. May we present Babolat ™ Shadow Tour 2018.

BABOLAT SHADOW TOUR BLACK-YELLOW-BADMINTON-SHOE
The Babolat Shadow Tour is a worthy replacement for the Asics Gel-Blast series.

Not the 2017, mind you. The Shadow Tour 2017 was a nice shoe, but it’s not in the same league as the 2018 model.

The 2018 model is the perfect replacement for the Gel-Blast 7.

It has an awesome Michelin gum rubber sole, a 3D printed mid-sole and a carbon fiber upper that provides at least as much stability as any shoe in the Gel-Blast series.

For squash players, this shoe provides a platform that is every bit as wide as the Gel-Blast and a slide guard that is every bit as tough at the Blast’s famous Rhino skin.

In our expert opinion, this shoe is not only equal in every way to the discontinued Gel-Blast, it is better in every way than anything made by Salming.

For that reason our staff have rated this shoe as a five star option for squash players.

Posted on by

Gift Ideas for Pickleball Players

Pickleball is extraordinarily popular right now. Quite rightly, it has a reputation as a game that is easy to learn. Unfortunately, it also has an unearned reputation of being an injury-free sport. Those who know better, though, know that there is no such thing as an injury-free sport.

As with all other court sports, injuries ranging from minor to major happen every day of the week all across North America. Many of these injuries are completely unnecessary. They happen because pickleball players are misinformed. They think they can’t get hurt, so they don’t take steps to prevent injuries.

At Racquet Network, we want to keep all pickleball players safe and healthy. So we offer our customers a range of useful products.

Proper Court Shoes

Most pickleball injuries occur as a result of falls. Players trip and fall because they are playing pickleball in running shoes. As they fall, they stick out their hand to break their fall and end up breaking or spraining their wrist.

Unlike running shoes which are designed for steady forward movement only, court shoes are designed for explosive movement in all directions.

Racquet Network offers more models of pickleball shoes than any other retailer in Canada. We have shoes for men and women of every size, width and colour preference. Check out the shoe section of our website to find the perfect pair of shoes for the pickleball player on your Christmas list.

Proper Athletic Clothing

In addition to proper court shoes, it is essential that pickleball players wear non-restrictive athletic clothing. Freedom of movement is essential for all athletes, regardless of age.

Unfortunately, many seniors who play pickleball either don’t have the money to spend on proper athletic clothing or believe that it is not necessary for athletes at their age/level.

In fact, as our certified coaches will tell you, it is even more important that athletes over fifty wear proper clothing: A) because they are more susceptible to injury and B) because it takes longer for their injuries to heal.

Training Tools

Over the past five years, the use of training tools such as step counters and heart rate monitors by middle-aged athletes has exploded. The primary motive for using these tools by athletes in this age group appears to be weight management.

Older athletes, meanwhile are using the same tools, but for different reasons. While middle-aged athletes are concerned with monitoring calories burned, athletes over 50 are rightfully concerned with monitoring their maximum heart rates.

Tennis Elbow Prevention/Treatment

Finally, no discussion about preventing pickleball-related injuries would be complete without pointing out that tennis elbow is the most common minor injury suffered by pickleball players of all ages.

Using a Theraband ™ Flexbar is the best way we know of to prevent tennis elbow from occurring. We are also told it is one of the best ways to help treat tennis elbow once you have it.

Gift Certificates

If you are still not sure what to get the pickleball player on your Christmas list, don’t worry. We sell gift certificates in $25.00 increments and our expert staff can help the recipient get exactly what he/she needs.

Posted on by

Head Light Squash Racquets – Do They Really Exist?

Head Light Squash Racquets

Every year, we see dozens of new squash racquets come out that are marketed as “head light”. Some of them will even go so far as to print “head light” on the frame, the product card or the SKU.

Unfortunately, very few of these racquets are genuinely head light.

Here at Racquet Network, our experts put every racquet on balance beam to determine its actual balance. In most cases, the number we get it very different from the manufacturer’s number.

Take the Dunlop Precision Pro 130, for example. Dunlop ™ claims this racquet is head light. They even put “HL” on the product tag to indicate that it is head light. But when we put it on our balance beam, it comes out as 6 points head heavy.

In fact, since we started balancing squash racquets in 2004, we have only ever found one all graphite racquet to be genuinely head light, and that racquet was discontinued nearly a decade ago.

The few squash racquets that genuinely come out as head light are invariably cheap, aluminum racquets with extremely heavy handles — like the ones below.

Racquet Selector For a full list of racquets in this category, please check out our ONLINE RACQUET SELECTOR. You can sort by sport, gender, brand, size, weight, balance and more.

Head Light Squash Racquets

Here is a selection of head light squash racquets available in our store and/or on our website.

Racquet Selector For a full list of racquets in this category, please check out our ONLINE RACQUET SELECTOR. You can sort by sport, gender, brand, size, weight, balance and more.

So if you have been searching high and low for a genuinely head light all-graphite squash racquet, stop wasting your time.

The closest you are likely to come is the least head heavy racquet on our racquet selector.