Before diving into the Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour review, allow me to add some context.
I’ve been playing with the younger cousin, the Arcsaber 11 Play for a while and loved it. The 11 Play is suitable for beginner and low-intermediate players, so I’m looking for an upgrade that’ll feel similar to play with but is a touch stiffer.
The Arcsaber series doesn’t come with Game editions for intermediate players, so the Arcsaber 11 Tour or Pro might seem like the obvious upgrade choice. But it appears to be much stiffer than what I can handle with my intermediate skills and it’s a popular racket among the pros.
That’s why I ended up with the Arcsaber 7 series. I understand that the Pro is slightly head heavier from CK’s review, so I figured I’d prefer that one, but it wasn’t available so I ended up with the Tour edition as it appears to be virtually the same as the Pro but at a 30% lower price.
Not bad!
As a reference point, the 7 series comes in a Play edition for beginners, along with Tour and Pro editions for intermediate players (according to Yonex’s racket matrix).
The Arcsaber series is categorized as even balanced rackets, but the 7-series falls slightly on the head light side of the middle.
I purchased this racket with my own money to give you an unbiased opinion. After ten hours on court and a restring to my usual Yonex BG80 at 10.5KG in tension, I’m ready to review the Arcsaber 7 Tour.
Table of Contents
Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour review
Let’s dive into the Arcsaber 7 Tour review.
Power
In terms of power, I found a bit extra power, likely due to the more responsive feel coming from the stiffer shaft being more suitable for my technique.
On the other hand, I also noticed it being that touch more head light which meant I had to make sure I connected cleanly with the shuttle to produce the same amount of power as with the Arcsaber 11 Play.
In terms of raw power, there’s no chance I’ll be hitting through my opponents with this racket even though I still found smashing to be effective in my doubles games as part of pressuring opponents into making mistakes.
I’ve especially noticed half-smashes and stick smashes to be more effective since it’s easier to hit more precisely.
Clears were okay most of the time, but I did notice them often landing slightly short of the backline when I’ve been under pressure.
My technique isn’t exactly amazing so that lack of length on those shots could be due to me not hitting the shuttle cleanly every time — I noticed this several times as I’ve been adjusting to the shaft’s stiffer flex.
Soft shots (midcourt + defense + net game)
The Arcsaber 7 Tour felt slightly faster when swinging through the air than the 11 Play, but it wasn’t much.
This speed has grown on me as my doubles game has developed, since I enjoy the slight improvement in defense I get from being able to put the racket when the opponents are on their second or third attacking shot in a row.
But the extra speed also means you don’t have as much power and momentum on smash blocks so you’ve gotta be ready to swing the racket that bit more to generate power.
I lost a bunch of rallies where the shuttle would come up just short and hit the net on my side of the court as I was getting used to the slightly lighter racket head.
This happened on net shots too, but the positive side of this is that once I got used to it, it seemed like I had that bit more control on super soft shots. Where I often have challenges giving my net shots too much height and making them easy to kill, they often came up as faults on my side of the net with this racket as I didn’t add enough power.
It felt like it had less repulsion (power) than, say, the Nanoflare 800 Game with its extra strings, during defense. With the Arcsaber 7 Tour, I had to think more before playing each shot and attempt more precise shots instead of going for quick power.
The Verdict
POSITIVE
Great all around racket for the mid-intermediate doubles player.
NEGATIVE
Not amazing in any one area (and power can be a challenge when under pressure).
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Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour: the verdict
Summary + the beasty score
I found the Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour to offer a good balance between speed and power. It’s leaning slightly towards speed but works well all around except when you’re looking for raw power during a good power smash.
This is fine in doubles but can be an issue in singles games where power tends to be more useful. As such, I could see this being a tricky racket for singles players.
I imagine most doubles players wanting to upgrade from the Arcsaber 11 Play will like the Arcsaber 7 Tour, if you’re looking for a racket that’ll feel very similar but slightly faster and more crisp.
There isn’t much negative for me to say in this review. I enjoy playing with the Arcsaber series in my doubles games since it’s well suited all around the court, which is handy when you have to switch between the front and rearcourt.
Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour racket specifications
| Flex | Medium flex |
| Balance Point | Head light (almost even balanced) |
| Weight / Grip | 4U G5 |
Best player types for Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour
You’ll like the Yonex Arcsaber 7 Tour if…
- You’re a low or mid-intermediate doubles player wanting an all around racket
- You find the Arcsaber 7 and 11 Play rackets too flexible, but the 11 Tour and Pro to be too stiff and demanding (the 7 Tour falls right in the middle of those)
You might not like this racket if…
- You’ll probably not like this racket if you want a lot of help with power or if you’re playing singles mostly
