I had the pleasure of testing the new Astrox 88 S Pro to see how it compared against its predecessors. On its racket chart Yonex plots this racket in a similar position as the original 88 S in terms of the balance and shaft flex so I was looking forward to seeing and understanding just what the differences were.
First impressions
The racket looks and feels great, and unlike the first generation Astrox 88 S, the Pro model doesn’t feel as head heavy to hold. The colour scheme is an elegant emerald and black with flashes of gold found throughout the frame design. This really is a cool and 'on trend' racket design.
The spec of the racket I tested was a 4U G5 and strung with Yonex BG80 yellow at 25lbs. I recreated my usual set up which is to remove the factory grip and use a few wraps of cushion wrap with an over grip on top. This gave an overall weight of 91g and a balance point of between 300 - 305mm
So what’s changed?
The biggest change from the original 88 S is the stringing pattern. Yonex have disposed of the four single grommets at the 10pm and 2am position and replaced them with shared grommets.
The other big change is in the frame profile. Yonex have favoured the fully recessed frame profile on the Pro vs a semi-recessed frame on the original. The shaft is also semi at just 6.6mm.
Let’s see how these two key changes effect the game play.
Rear court
Rear court to rear court clearing was effortless. The first thing I noticed was the feel of the shuttle on the string bed felt very different to the original 88 S, a very compact and solid feeling with plenty of feedback. The sweet spot also feels bigger on the 88 S Pro and any slight off-centre hits weren’t affected as much – this is a big plus.
Moving on to smashes. Didn’t notice too much significant difference in the smashing power between the Pro and the original. But the one thing that was noticeable, it wasn’t as tiring to smash continuously with this racket. Perhaps the slight reduction in head weight playing a part. Just as a caveat, those players with really big smashes may prefer the extra head weight offered by the 88 D Pro.
Mid court
Wow – this is where this racket shines over the original. This racket is incredibly fast and responsive in the mid court area, both when playing fast flat drives, and also softer pushes. Defending was also a dream with the newer frame profile cutting through the air easily and without the cumbersome feel you get from some head heavier rackets.
Again I loved the solid feel off the string bed with every shot giving me feedback.
Front court
Once again this racket performed well at the front court. Net shots and kills were easy to execute, again with no adverse effect from the supposed head heavy balance. Not quite as easy as my usual NF700 but not far from it.
Summary
The big question from most people is, ‘is it worth paying the money to upgrade from the 88S to the 88S Pro?’ In my opinion it is. For me you gain speed, accuracy and a much better feeling from the string bed. However, you don’t compromise power. I can see this racket being a real hit with doubles players, and would perform equally as well at the rear court as the fore court.
This racket is currently available in the U.K. at both YC Sports and TRME Sports and is priced between £150.00 and £170.00.