Rovell: The Tennis Racket
Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen04/news/story?id=1872892

Although this article is not about badminton, the ESPN article touches on the rackets tennis professionals use and how these rackets differ from the ones that are available in stores. Interestingly, it mentions that many players who use a paint job to disguise their old/outdated rackets to look like the newer models.

Quietly, for the past several decades, racket painting has become a common practice in the tennis industry without many consumers being aware of it. It emerged as racket companies sought to break out their latest and greatest in technology; players, though, often prefer to use the same model that allowed them to reach elite status.

Painting was first seen as a temporary solution to that issue, but it's still prevalent today. Graphic designers paint the rackets to resemble the marketed model to the very detail, including the model names, at a cost of hundreds of dollars per racket.Hmm, does this practice of racket painting exist in badminton?

Hmm, does this practice of racket painting exist in badminton?
Yes I think so! :rolleyes:

- use to but don't think so anymore. Back then painting was to cover brand not to hide models. It was to hide from sponsor, not public.
- unlike tennis racket, badminton rackets break under normal use, pros has to change rackets (except cab20 and ti10 which are still quite available)
- I dunno any pros currently even alter their racket balance and weight from stock spec.


question: does anyone know if yonex has country code for their tennis rackets?

Covering the brand implies hiding the model too! :p
I don't think the objective is to hide it from the sponsor who should be easily capable of recognizing the models, but rather to make the public believe that they are playing with their sponsor's racket (that's what the sponsor wants).

Whether rackets break easily or not doesn't change much, pros don't have just one racket anyway... the risk of changing the balance of the racket by painting it seems a bigger problem to me.

Would paint change the bias noticeably? Maybe dipping in a paint removal solution prior to painting would solve that problem.

Whether rackets break easily or not doesn't change much, pros don't have just one racket anyway... the risk of changing the balance of the racket by painting it seems a bigger problem to me.

In fact I don't know whether it changes much... the type of strings you put also changes the balance somehow so it might not be very important...

In fact I don't know whether it changes much... the type of strings you put also changes the balance somehow so it might not be very important...

i knew someone who used a string stencile thing and painted the superman symbol on his raquet strings

http://www.chriscabrera.com/gallery/images/superman.jpg

so how do u paint a cab racket and make it look like a mp99.. haha .... i wnana paint my racq if im guiven a chance though... hmm.. why not spray our names or whateva we want on it?