Yang-Yang Tactic 9000 has been our best selling racquet in 1999. Some of our customers who own the Tactic 9000 requested to have a racquet with similar balance and flex as the Tactic 9000 but with more swingweight on the head, a more head-heavy racquet. With so many request, Yang-Yang released the Tactic 8500 model. Tactic 8500 is a modified model of Tactic 9000. It keeps almost all of the characteristics of Tactic 9000 in flexibility, materials, and construction. The only thing they changed is the weight. They made the weight of the overall racquet slightly heavier. This weight is hardly notice by us, but it increases the swingweight and momentum of the player's strokes. During strokes such as smashes and clears, we notice that our stroke is more solid and powerful. We believe this is where Physics come into play, having just a little more mass than before and having it travels at the same speed, the Tactic 8500 produces more power than the Tactic 9000. ( Don't forget... you also need more energy to swing Tactic 8500 than Tactic 9000 because Tactic 8500 is heavier.... Did not get 100% on my first Physics test because of this. )

First Impression:
We tested the Tactic 8500 with Gosen Tec-Gut Tour, Yonex BG-65 and Yonex BG-85 at 22 lbs.The first thing that the racquet is very similar to the Tactic 9000. We notice that the racquet is a little heavier and have similar balance as the Tactic 9000. The added weight increase the power in our strokes. Though the difference is a little, it can mean a lot for player who prefer heavier and more powerful racquet. We believe that Yang-Yang only added little weight because they do not want to change the characteristics of the racquets that made Yang-Yang Tactic 9000 an excellent racquet. Adding too much weight might change the flex, balance, and swingweight of the racquet drastically. It is just like Tactic 9000 with steroids. The same body, characteristics, and behavior but with more power.

Good:
The Tactic 8500 added a little more power while keeping all the other excellent characteristics of the Tactic 9000.

Bad:
Again, this racquet is a little too light for some of our testers. Balance is a little more head heavy than Tactic 9000, but some of our testers who want more power prefer more weight on the head to generate it. ( These testers are mainly crazy nuts double player who want to kill their opponents with their smashes! )

Conclusion:
We give this racquet 4.5 out of 5 © rating similar to the Tactic 9000 because it is very similar. Likewise, we also give our Badminton Alley recommendation stamp.

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