Hello again. The Badminton Discord is now hosting a repository of racket reviews, and as such I'm trialling a new review format that is perhaps a bit more casually readable that I will continue to post here, but also our Discord.

Babolat X-Feel Fury Ti - 3UG5

What was a light hearted purchase to celebrate the Paris Olympics ended up being one of the best racket experiences of the year. Babolat has revamped their X-Feel series this year (2024)and the Fury Ti is the flagship of the series - the stiffest and heaviest of the lot. It features a complement of high end technologies - foam filling, metal inclusion in the frame - but nothing ground breaking. The pleasant surprise here is the feel and the unexpectedly high quality shaft. Let's take a look.

My racket measures 89 grams empty, and combined with the 303 mm balance point and stiffer shaft, this is a broadsword as far as rackets go. However, the Fury is well-balanced and reasonably manoeuvrable, and doesn't feel too cumbersome in the hand. The hitting feel is direct and very satisfying, without annoying vibrations even on big hits. The shaft is stiff but is very satisfying to flex - almost whippy and transmits power very well.

The Fury excels in directionality/precision, steep angles and also raw power. An excellent MS racket for me. Big hits with the Fury are so, so fun! Defense and net play are very easy too.

The Fury is fairly average in its speed and flat play. It is on the slower side for a doubles racket. However, its excellent control factors and the ability to smash out winners are significant advantages over faster sticks. The power ceiling, power generation and power transmission aspects of the frame are all top tier. Smashes have excellent extension & weight, no less than top HH sticks like the Ryuga M, 100zz or Ax100.

The biggest surprise to me here is how good the shaft feels, and the perfect integration of the shaft and T-joint/very hard head. The Fury feels so good in the swing! If you had told me this was a new Ryuga racket, I'd believe you. I fact, I much prefer the feedback and the flex of the Fury than my Ryuga M.

The Babolat Fury, just like the Wilson Vertex 9000 I reviewed earlier this year, demonstrates to me that there are many worthwhile rackets outside of the Big 3. The Fury is one of the most enjoyable rackets I've sampled this year, and well worth trying especially for MS players.