Yonex Regna is here...

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Yonex Regna is here... [New pictures]

Review coming next week.

Head size is 98 sq. in.
Unstrung weight is 310 grams / 10.9 oz.
Length is 27 inches.
Recommended tension is 45 to 60 lbs / 20 to 27 kg.
16 x 19 string pattern.
Material is a combination of H.M. Graphite, Micro Core and Nanometric.
It uses a new Yonex technology called "Interlock Energy Tech".
Compatible with the new Sony Smart Tennis Sensor.
The cap opens up, allowing you to attach the Sensor.
Racket comes with an instructional manual, but is of course all in Japanese.

Made in Japan.
Only 200 made per month at Yonex's factory in Tokyo.

New pictures showing the strung racket. String is Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 1.25 mm at 24 kg / 23 (53 lbs / 51 lbs).

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

 

[SpinToWin]

beautiful racquet! Looking forward to reading your review!

 

[kimguroo]

Wow. You own the world hahaha.
Awesome. Very good looking racket. I am still interested in but $400 price tag is still...

Do you find good paint job? Yonex racket used to have best paint job in terms of durability.
What will be the string setup? Don't say that Pacific bull gut ^_^
How good is the case for the racket? Is it possible to put two rackets in the case?
Looking forward to hearing from review.

 

[eelhc]

What's the beam width? Looks pretty hefty.

Yonex are the only frames I've had with matching weight + balance point out of the box.

 

[ShahofTennis]

This is the Mark IV(1993-2002) Toyota Supra of Yonex Frames.

 

[kimguroo]

What's the beam width? Looks pretty hefty.

Yonex are the only frames I've had with matching weight + balance point out of the box.

21.5-22.0-21.0mm

 

[stronzzi70]

Very nice frame !!!!

 

[teekaywhy]

Great pick up. Throat looks vastly different than the VCore/Tour G (3D Vector stuff). More traditional whic suggests a diffrent flex pattern. Would love to know how it plays.

 

[Power Player]

Awesome score. Let us know how it compares to your Tour G.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Wow. You own the world hahaha.
Awesome. Very good looking racket. I am still interested in but $400 price tag is still...

Do you find good paint job? Yonex racket used to have best paint job in terms of durability.
What will be the string setup? Don't say that Pacific bull gut ^_^
How good is the case for the racket? Is it possible to put two rackets in the case?
Looking forward to hearing from review.

Actually I paid more than that. In total I paid 365 Euros, which is the same
as $493 USD, according to today's exchange rate. That price is including shipping, sales tax and customs.

Yes, the paint job looks nice. I will have to wait and play with the racket
for a while, before I can say anything about the durability.

Haha...what is wrong with Pacific Bull Gut?
I still have one pack of Bull Gut left, and it would be a good idea to use it
for the Regna, because then I can make a direct comparison with my
VCORE Tour G 330 which is also strung with Bull Gut, but I think I will
start out with a polyester string.

The case for the racket looks to be very good quality. Complements the racket nicely.
And no, the racket case is very tight. It only fits one racket.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

21.5-22.0-21.0mm

@Kimguroo: do you know what the stiffness rating (RA value) of the Regna is?
Is it listed on the Yonex Japan site?

 

[bigdaddyps]

400 for a freakin tennis racquet??
Does it come with a money back guarantee to jump your game a full NTRP RATING?
If not, u have to have to have money u need to throw away or u smokin' some potent Ganja, baby.

400?? " you cannot be serious "
Or sane.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

400 for a freakin tennis racquet??
Does it come with a money back guarantee to jump your game a full NTRP RATING?
If not, u have to have to have money u need to throw away or u smokin' some potent Ganja, baby.

400?? " you cannot be serious "
Or sane.

More than 400 $ actually. $495 USD (365 Euros) in total, to be exact.
But it was the shipping cost, import customs and sales tax that drove up the price.
The base price of the racket is 37152 Japanese Yen, which is roughly 270 Euros or $365 USD.
That is the price someone living in Japan would have to pay.
If you live in the U.S., the racket would be cheaper for you (compared to what I paid),
since the U.S. only charges customs and no sales tax on imported goods, so you would only have to pay
a 3 % import customs fee. I live in a country that charges 4.7 % import customs (on tennis rackets), plus 19 % sales tax.

It is still cheaper than the Babolat Pure Drive Play though, a Chinese-made racket,
that sells for 400 Euros in Europe, or about $540 USD.

Adding the Pacific Bull Gut string (70 Euros / 95 $) to the Regna, plus stringing fee (20 Euros / 27 $),
would bring the total value of a Regna strung with Bull Gut, to a whopping 455 Euros or 615 $.

 

[purple-n-gold]

400 for a freakin tennis racquet??
Does it come with a money back guarantee to jump your game a full NTRP RATING?
If not, u have to have to have money u need to throw away or u smokin' some potent Ganja, baby.

400?? " you cannot be serious "
Or sane.

And why should you care what somebody else does with their $. No need to throw out insults.

I remember back when Prince charged $300/frame in the 80's.

YY love

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

And why should you care what somebody else does with their $. No need to throw out insults.

I remember back when Prince charged $300/frame in the 80's.

It's ok. All is well. I did not see his comment as an insult. All opinions are welcome, positive or negative.

 

[sargeinaz]

That thing sure is sexy. Looking forward
To the review.

 

[Dan Z]

given my habit of breaking racquets I'd be terrified to ever use that beauty. amazing looking stick though.. very envious

 

[syke]

Awesome buy.... You are the man....

 

[syke]

Same strings with your Tour G please. We need an apple to apple comparison here. ;-)

 

[samster]

nice looking frame!

 

[julian]

Interlock Energy Tech ???

What is Interlock Energy Tech?
Is it some kind of explosive device?

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

What is Interlock Energy Tech?
Is it some kind of explosive device?

No, it refers to the so-called "Lock Fiber" that has been inserted inside the frame, at the edges on each side.

See here:

http://www.yonex.co.jp/products/material/images/tennis/racquets/inter_l_01.jpg

 

[v-verb]

Awesome buy.... You are the man....

Is he putting Pacific Bull gut in it?:?

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Is he putting Pacific Bull gut in it?:?

Maybe. What is wrong with Bull Gut? It would make sense, since I have
Bull Gut in my VCORE Tour G 330. That way I could make a more direct
comparison between the two rackets.
I have not decided yet. I could if I wanted to. I have one pack of Bull Gut left.

I ordered some Ashaway MonoGut ZX Pro from TW, which I am waiting for.
It has been almost three weeks, so it should hopefully arrive soon.
I was planning on using a combination of red and black MonoGut ZX Pro for the Regna.
Same string, but just different colors for the mains and crosses.

Another option would be Kirschbaum's new Max Power Rough. I got two sets of that string.
Used one for my VCORE Xi 100, so I have one set left.

 

[julian]

Can some help with Japanese?

No, it refers to the so-called "Lock Fiber" that has been inserted inside the frame, at the edges on each side.

See here:

http://www.yonex.co.jp/products/material/images/tennis/racquets/inter_l_01.jpg

Can someone help me with a Japanese of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLf_MJXzBVg
Thank you

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Sorry, I was wrong.
"Interlock Energy Tech" does not refer to the Lock Fiber.
It is a fancy name that Yonex uses for the properties enabled
by the combined use of Micro Core material at the top of the frame,
and Nanometric in the shaft.

Someone who speaks Japanese would have to translate this graphic.
It explains what Interlock Energy Tech is:

http://www.yonex.co.jp/tennis/regna/images/technology/article02_img01.jpg

 

[Funkdrummer]

That is honestly such a beautiful racquet
You should give this baby a test run and tell us more about it

 

[imajica77]

That is one awesome looking frame. And worth every penny with the tech built into it. Hope it turns out to be everything you want it to be.

 

[Vegetable Lasagne]

Wow! Very nice paintjob.
Looking forward to your thoughts on how the Regna plays.

400 for a freakin tennis racquet??
Does it come with a money back guarantee to jump your game a full NTRP RATING?
If not, u have to have to have money u need to throw away or u smokin' some potent Ganja, baby.

400?? " you cannot be serious "
Or sane.

:roll:

Same strings with your Tour G please. We need an apple to apple comparison here. ;-)

This! Go the same setup.

 

[coolblue123]

Wow.. very nice frame! wonder why they don't sell it in the US? I am sure with the low supply and prob high demand, it will surely be profitable for yy.

 

[AceRad]

Never heard of this racquet. It's very nice though.

 

[kimguroo]

@Kimguroo: do you know what the stiffness rating (RA value) of the Regna is?
Is it listed on the Yonex Japan site?

Japanese racket specification usually does not include stiffness rating.
I don't know why. Rarely they only say stiffness of high, medium or low...
I was curious too but have not found yet.

 

[syke]

Come'on Michael, don't keep us waiting...

We need to know if this is the holy grail of retail racquets.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Wow.. very nice frame! wonder why they don't sell it in the US? I am sure with the low supply and prob high demand, it will surely be profitable for yy.

The Regna was introduced as a unique luxury racket for the Japanese market, outside the EZONE and VCORE range.
Yonex's factory in Tokyo will only be manufacturing 200 Regnas per month.
Based on this production capacity, there would not be enough supply to cover the whole world market.

 

[JUAN_PRADO]

its too Japanesse cosmetic for me .... hahaha

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Come'on Michael, don't keep us waiting...

We need to know if this is the holy grail of retail racquets.

It will only be a week more.
A suitable string and tension has been selected.
I have already shipped off my racket today, to be strung.

Should I post my review in this thread or start a new one?

 

[kimguroo]

It will only be a week more.
A suitable string and tension has been selected.
I have already shipped off my racket today, to be strung.

Should I post my review in this thread or start a new one?

what was your string selection?
please keep your review here so when we search word "Regna", we can find everything here haha.
Looking forward hearing from you.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

what was your string selection?
please keep your review here so when we search word "Regna", we can find everything here haha.
Looking forward hearing from you.

Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 1.25 mm. New polyester string with a textured surface.
24 kg / 23 kg (53 lbs / 51 lbs) tension.

Hopefully it will be a good choice. I will only keep it for one month anyway.
I plan on changing strings once a month with the Regna.

 

[idono1301]

Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 1.25 mm. New polyester string with a textured surface.
24 kg / 23 kg (53 lbs / 51 lbs) tension.

Hopefully it will be a good choice. I will only keep it for one month anyway.
I plan on changing strings once a month with the Regna.

Cool, I can't wait until the smooth version of that string comes out for retail! It's supposed to be similar to Alu Power

 

[radtennisfan]

I love Yonex. If this thing is better than the wawrinka 330 racket I will buy one with natural gut at 65 lbs.

 

[kimguroo]

Did you get your regna from your stringer? If not you should fire him as a stringer unless he took long summer break hahahaha.
If you tried regna, let us know the first impression (sometimes, the first impression is the most important whether rackets work for you or not).
All I can remember from lafino's youtube review was "すごい (great)" ^_^
Hope you can find great things from Regna.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Did you get your regna from your stringer? If not you should fire him as a stringer unless he took long summer break hahahaha.
If you tried regna, let us know the first impression (sometimes, the first impression is the most important whether rackets work for you or not).
All I can remember from lafino's youtube review was "すごい (great)" ^_^
Hope you can find great things from Regna.

Not yet, but I got a shipping confirmation yesterday, that it has been shipped.
So it is on the way and should arrive soon, in one or two days.
I think the stringer took a long summer break last time, when it
took 10 days to receive another racket back. This time the shop was quicker.

I also sent an e-mail to Yonex with some technical questions about the Regna.
When they respond, I will post here with any new information.

As soon as I get back my Regna, I will post my review in one week, at the latest.

 

[syke]

Where did you ship your racquet for stringing? You really need to get a stringing machine for yourself.

 

[hoodjem]

Definitely, a "chick stick". :wink:

 

[RF97]

Whereabouts in Botswana are you? I looked into doing a TEFL course in Gaborone after I graduated but ending up travelling in Europe instead!

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Where did you ship your racquet for stringing? You really need to get a stringing machine for yourself.

To a tennis retailer.
Buying a stringing machine is one thing, but someone would have to teach me how to use it. I have no experience.

The Regna arrived today, freshly strung with Kirschbaum Max Power Rough 1.25 mm at 24 kg / 23 kg (53 lbs / 51 lbs).
Strung weight including overgrip tape: 337 g / 11.9 oz. No extra weight tape added.

I will update my original post tomorrow with pictures of the strung racket.
Review coming next week.

 

[kimguroo]

Reviews are slowly available.
Some people claim that regna is stiffer than XI 98 and AI 98.
And much heavier feeling than XI98. Probably swing weight is higher???
Also Regna felt combination of XI98 and AI98.
A little surprised that most of reviewers gave 4 stars instead of 5...
Also there were complains about high prices too ^_^

Looking forward to hear your review and seems like it might take a little more time to adjust with Regna.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

I have updated my original post with pictures of the strung racket.

Yes, it does feel heavier than the Ai 98.
I used to have the EZONE Ai 98, but have never tried the VCORE Xi 98.
I will provide more information in my review next week, and will compare
the Regna to the VCORE Tour G 330.

 

[Michael Lesbowicz]

Definitely, a "chick stick". :wink:

What exactly is a chick stick?
I am curious about the definition.
The racket looks and feels very manly to me.