Jayce
Thanks to a friendly loaner, I’ve added another piece of the puzzle to the AURASPEED series of completions.
Blue Factory launched the ram last year and while it’s not quite at the flagship level in terms of pricing and materials, the quality of this high-end is something to look forward to. Unfortunately, despite the fact that even the author’s city in the physical store in the early shelves of this product, did not stir up too much water splash.
The new product is endorsed by Liu Cheng, a player whose impression of me is still stuck in the violent output of the men’s doubles, and combined with the playful nickname of “Dali”, this racket has left me with the impression of an offensive weapon before I even tried it.
Parameters: 4UG5, de-bottomed, total weight 89.0g in used condition, balance point 307mm, 6.8mm center bar, 217mm long, stiff tuning, power wind breaker frame, 76 hole thread bed, 9-3 point thread slot, 30lb warranty, threaded 25-27lbs KT66F.
The navy blue color is a pretty good choice. It’s frame thickness is more similar to the Supersonic, which is thin but has a wider frame in the AURASPEED series. The Kenshiniguchi structure is also more pronounced, and considering the official statement that the grooves on both wings increase the amount of downforce from frame bending, it seems like the racket is a bit ambitious on the offensive side of things.
It’s a very comfortable high-end racquet in the hand, doesn’t bring an aggressive feel in terms of swingweight, and handles windbreaks very sharply with high swing speeds. Parametrically, the feel of the current racket would tend to be similar to the AURASPEED 80X that I tried, which is a control racket in the AURASPEED lineup, so it’s not hard to understand the tamper’s initial feel. In the warm-up of the ball on the handset, the appropriate head weight and the longer center stick have brought a good sense of borrowing and driving, very comfortable for pulling a long ball, and there is no such bad feedback as shocking the hand, the suspension handle effect is remarkable. Moreover, the center stick is very elastic, and you can hit the ball with a high arc and a deep drop point with a smooth swing, which basically eliminates my regret of not using Bailo Carbon in this game.
And the frame looks big, so a bigger line bed means better forgiveness.
The application of TR+ Carbon, RTC and the Radical Ejection System gives the Vigorous a very crispy and bouncy racket face performance, with the head staying on the line bed for a very short period of time, even under supersonic speeds. Being able to do this is obviously inextricably linked to the high stiffness of the frame, which results in better frame torsion resistance performance. When further paired with the strong core filling of the Blue Factory, the ram has a directionality above the level of its series, and may also circumvent the tendency of some models of the AURASPEED series to collapse. It’s worth being careful that this construction may have an adverse effect on the overall durability of the frame, and I’ve already noticed a few issues with frame breakage during normal use.
However, the cool and bouncy racket face may pose a risk to the delicate handling at the net, with small balls being easily returned high leaving room for further maneuvering by the opponent. But the presence of head weight also cuts down on my confidence in pouncing on incoming shots that are not too high above the net, and the point of impact will be a bit further back than expected.
I don’t have any more mature small-ball skills to use for net fighting, so when I encountered a very close-to-the-net incoming ball, no matter how high or low it was, I mostly just admitted that I was moved and picked it high.
However, the Ram’s performance in the middle half of the court with a flat draw block reminded me of the 90K again, with a sense of high swing speed, hard shots, and a steady, bouncy consistency. The larger sweet spot provides a high degree of forgiveness to keep the ball from sizzling in the racking and lead swing, and the recovery speed of the mid-range is fast enough to support a variety of fast-paced returns in amateur play. With the high spring line, the ball response is extremely fast, which can help me a lot.
Ram’s defensive performance is also to my liking, the basic catch kill can borrow the power back to the top, can easily pick high, but also to catch a shot of the opponent’s poor quality of downward pressure to draw a split side, blocking the net to follow up to destroy the other side of the continuity, the hand has food, the heart does not panic.
Some people may think that this is a speed racket that can do wonders, and it is true that the crunchy shot and moderate head weight can bring a sense of pleasure to the downward pressure, but it still requires users to have a more focused explosive power, or else it will only hit a “dragonfly” with a very fast decay.
If you don’t want to go for a one-two punch, you may be impressed by the high consistency of the tamper, which is close to 100X intensive output, and can maintain a long period of pressure on the opponent until it runs out of stamina. It is also a good racket that is worth to be exhausted.
