If you’re looking towards Tecnifibre for your next racket, there’s a big chance that the Carboflex is at the top of your list. You’ve probably seen or heard of the Dynergy range, but with less players using it, most people tend to bypass that range and go straight for the big guns. I took the two ranges of rackets on court to try and work out their differences, who they might suit, and which one I personally prefer.
Why do so many more players use the Carboflex than the Dynergy?
Head to any club, and you’ll see what feels like every other player using a Carboflex. Where I play, I’ve only ever seen one person using a Dynergy racket. I don’t think there’s a simple answer as to why the Carboflex is more popular, so I’ll break it down into chunks.
- Big name players. The Carboflex has some incredible players endorsing the racket. Within the men’s and women’s Top 20 (July 2020), the following players use Carboflex rackets: Mohamed ElShorbagy (#1), Marwan Elshorbagy (#7), Miguel Rodriguez (#9), Fares Dessouky (#12) Gregoire Marche (#16), Nouran Gohar (#1), Nour El Sherbini (#2), Hania El Hammamy (#6), Joshna Chinappa (#10) and Rowan Elaraby (#15).
- This has given the Carboflex a fantastic amount of airtime on TV and naturally defines the racket as ‘the choice of the pros’. The Dynergy on the other hand has comparatively few players using it. Nele Gillis (#16) is the highest ranked player using a Dynergy at the moment, with nobody else inside the top 20 arming themselves with this racket.
- Older editions of the Dynergy didn’t seem to go down very well. A quick look through the internet will tell you people found the last iteration of the Dynergy a little too heavy. Many players also mentioned string breakages happening more often than with their other rackets. Miguel Rodriguez, who endorsed the AP racket to begin with, ended up moving to Tecnifibre’s much older Heritage 125 (until they brought out his signature ‘Cannonball’ racket). Thankfully Tecnifibre has completely changed the shape this time round, mitigating the risk of string breakages.
- People tend to think that ‘advanced’ rackets are inherently better – I’ve been guilty of this. When a racket’s description reads ‘designed for advanced players’, you immediately think it’s going to be a ‘good’ racket. This is especially true when you see all the world’s best players using it. When you read ‘for intermediate players’, it just doesn’t have the same appeal, no matter how…intermediate…you might be. It’s the exact same principle as beginners using double dot balls. We always tend to see ourselves as capable of using equipment designed for more advanced players.
On to the comparison
I took both racket series on court at the same time to give me the opportunity to really get a feel for the differences, understand the different attributes of each racket and try and establish which types of players they might suit.
For the test, I used the 125 and 130 Airshaft models, and the 120 and 130 Dynergy models. The rackets within each range play fairly similarly to one another – with the heavier rackets generally being a little less manoeuvrable and a little more powerful.
Feel/Control
Touch and feel really are areas in which the Carboflex shines. Thanks to the thinner frame and fairly dense 14×18 stringing pattern, feel off the strings is fantastic. I find myself having complete confidence taking the ball in short and attacking with these rackets. You really can feel the ball as it leaves your strings, therefore controlling where the ball is going feels second nature.
The Dynergy has a thicker frame and a less dense stringing pattern (14×17) than the Carboflex. These two elements combined result in a little less feel through your shot. It’s not to say there’s no feel at all, far from it in fact, though it’s just not as prominent as with the Carboflex. Where the Carboflex has a fairly ‘sharp’ feel on contact, I’d describe the Dynergys as having a slightly softer, more dampened feel.
Result – Carboflex
Power
The first thing you notice when you take the Dynergys on court is just how powerful they are. I found myself generating a huge amount of power with minimal effort. When you really hit through the ball, it absolutely flies off the strings – the noise the ball makes off the front wall is just different to any other racket I’ve used. Power is touted as the Dynergy’s key attribute, and it really shows. They have a slightly more head heavy balance than the Carboflex, while still maintaining a light overall frame weight.
The Carboflex rackets are powerful, there’s no denying it. Watching Mohamed Elshorbagy hammer through the ball with his signature racket is frightening. Though it’s worth remembering that Mohamed is one of the hardest hitting players on tour. Regardless, when you find the Carboflex’s sweet spot, these rackets can generate enormous amounts of power for any player. In this comparison though, I simply found the power from the Dynergys to be far more accessible.
Result – Dynergy
Forgiveness / Sweet spot
One key feature to look out for, especially for amateur players (myself included) is how forgiving a racket is. Essentially, how big is the sweet spot, and if you don’t hit the sweet spot, what’s the damage going to be.
The advantage to the Dynergy’s thicker frame and less dense stringing pattern is that it makes the rackets a lot more forgiving. The sweet spot on the Dynergy feels huge. Even when I hit the ball off-centre with these rackets, I didn’t find it massively impacting the result of my shot.
With the Carboflex on the other hand, they’re known for not being the most forgiving of rackets. Their stiff, thin frame and dense stringing pattern results in a smaller sweet spot. This means that when you hit the ball off-centre, you’re going to know about it.
Unless you’re a really good player and consistently find the sweet spot, the Carboflex rackets can take some real adjusting to, especially for amateur players. I guess the upshot to this is that you’re forced to improve your timing and technique to make the most out of the racket – silver linings!
Result – Dynergy
Manoeuvrability / Balance / Speed
Here’s where comparing the rackets get a little tricky. Traditionally, the Carboflex rackets were evenly balanced. However, with the latest iteration, the Airshaft, it appears Tecnifibre has added some weight to the head of these frames. At least that’s what I found with the demo rackets I used.
The Dynergy on the other hand was historically described as being Tecnifibre’s heavier feeling racket. Many players using the older AP often spoke about their head-heavy balance. With the new APX range, it feels like the gap has closed significantly, thanks to a reduction of weight in the head. Both the Airshaft and Dynergy actually felt fairly similar on court in terms of manoeuvrability.
Both rackets felt pretty quick through the air, with a slight head heavy balance, especially with the 130g variants. It was hard to work out which felt the most manoeuvrable, so I broke out the kitchen scales to do some incredibly non-scientific scientific tests.
By placing each racket across two scales, one under the grip and one under the head (like this), I was able to get an idea of the weight distribution across each racket. Not very scientific, but good for a rough idea. As you can see, the weights all came in pretty close across both ranges.
| Racket | Weight in the head (g) | Weight in the grip (g) | Overall weight (g)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dynergy 120 | 82 | 70 | 152 |
| Carboflex 125 | 83 | 71 | 154 |
| Dynergy 130 | 85 | 71 | 155 |
| Carboflex 130 | 85 | 72 | 156 |
Result – Draw
Looks/Design
The Dynergy features a slick black and orange paint scheme, whereas the Carboflex is dressed in Tecnifibre’s home colours of red, white and blue (Vive La France!).
Both rackets have Tecnifibre’s new grip cover, which is a nice addition to keep your racket looking tidy when you replace the stock grips.
Honestly, it feels a little silly rating a racket on its design, given it makes no actual impact to the racket. I’m giving this a ‘draw’ and I’ll let you make your own conclusions.
Result – You decide
Price
Both rackets can currently be picked up from PDH Sports for just over the £100 mark. This puts both rackets firmly in the ‘premium’ segment of the market. Be prepared to part with a big chunk of cash for either of these rackets.
Result – Draw
Durability
This is a tough one to comment on. I’ve taken older Carboflex rackets through hell and back and they’re still in one piece. I’d hope the new Airshaft lives up to the tank-like reputation of the previous Carboflex rackets.
The Dynergy range has a much thicker shaft and therefore promises to be just as durable than the Carboflex rackets, if not more-so. I’ve never used a Dynergy racket extensively though, so at the time of writing this, drawing a conclusion isn’t really possible.
Result – Tie
Conclusion
The Carboflex is a range of rackets that’s clearly designed for players looking for touch and feel on their shots, while still retaining power and manoeuvrability. They are fantastic all round rackets that seem to tick every box for players that want the most out of their racket. There’s no wonder they’ve found their way into the hands of so many squash players across the globe.
For less advanced players, the main difficulty with the Carboflex rackets is their unforgiving feel. I’d be confident in saying they’re more suited to higher-level players. I know lots of beginner players who purchased a Carboflex, thinking it would make them a better player, only to find they really struggled using it in practice. To me, the Carboflex rackets can be difficult to use, but incredibly rewarding.
On the other hand, the Dynergy has a clear goal in mind. To deliver power with ease, with a big sweet spot and a forgiving feel. The only word that I can think to describe using these rackets is ‘easy’ – you can just pick them up and play. The comfortable feel as you hit through the ball, combined with easy to access power, and now with much more manoeuvrable balance makes these rackets instantly enjoyable to use. I would happily say suggest any club player give these a try.
Where you’ll perhaps struggle with the Dynergy rackets is in the consistency of your shots – especially when you want to take pace off the ball. Gentle drop shots and slower drives were generally a little more inconsistent than the Carboflex, thanks to their lesser amounts of feel.
Dynergy vs Carboflex – Which would I choose?
For the past three years I’ve been using the Carboflex range of rackets, so I went in to this test expecting the Carboflex to be the one for me.
Much to my own personal surprise, I had a really enjoyable time with the Dynergy rackets. There’s just something really satisfying about hitting through the ball with them. I expected them to be far less usable than the Carboflex rackets, but that just wasn’t the case at all.
I’m going to bite the bullet and say that I actually preferred the Dynergy APX to the Carboflex Airshaft range. It’s a close call, but I think the Dynergy has just edged it for me. Playing with the Dynergys just felt more ‘fun’. I felt hitting lengths was a little easier, and found myself making less mistakes when I didn’t hit the ball perfectly from the centre of the strings.
I still love my Carboflex rackets and will continue to use them. When the time comes to buy a new racket, it’ll be a pretty difficult decision.
Which should you choose?
Unfortunately this is the one question I can’t answer. If you’re considering purchasing a new racket, as with every review I write, the best thing I can suggest is to try before you buy. Just because I preferred one racket will have no bearing on the one you’ll prefer. Try both out and enjoy the process of working out which one feels right to you!
Remember, a different racket won’t change the way you play. If you have £100 to spend and you already have a racket that works just fine, spending the money on coaching sessions will help you out much more in the long run!
Purchase links
Carboflex Airshaft
Dynergy APX
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