Best Shuttlecock Speed For a Region

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by coryprice, Sep 28, 2004.

  1. coryprice

    coryprice Regular Member

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    I hope this thread is not a duplicate. I try very hard to search out the information I am looking for first, but was unable to find it in this case.

    What I would like is an idea of the best shuttlecock speed for a given region. I realize this is subjective. However, in most of the reviews I read, it talked only about durability and reaction and touch, and occasionally speed as well, as if it was the same everywhere.

    Feather shuttles last longer in the more humid areas of the world do they not? Or in the opposite, in dry climates don't they fall apart faster?

    As well, not much was said about altitude. Birds may fly too fast, or too slow, or fall apart, but nothing said about climate and/or altitude. Unless I have missed it, for which I am sorry for duplicating.

    My post is to find out which shuttle experienced players find are the best in both plastic or feather in an overall sense for a given area.

    I am playing in New York, about 75 miles from New York City in the area known as the Hudson Valley. I am wondering what speed is used in the New York area I am referring to. I want to order shuttles but I see blue,green and red speeds, and don't want to order one that won't be as accurate as possible.

    For those who want information, as I read the sticky post about details:
    I an ex-high-level competitive player (national level) in Canada. I want the most durability I can get, but along with accuracy, for the lowest price. Obviously this is a tall order, since value can be so subjective. I am right now wondering of plastic, but if someone has feather info as well, that would be nice. I am thinking even more in particular of the mavis 370, but wonder which speed is best for this climate and altitude.

    I am a fairly hard hitter, less with drops and net shots. I am looking for good speed, flight accuracy, but something that also either lasts long, or is cheap so I can replace it.

    Thank you all in advance. I am trying to find my place in the forum, without making the errors or problems that people before me have. And if I have missed something, I am open to suggestions and will take them into consideration in the future. I try to be respectful. Thank you.

    Cory
     
  2. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    NY area should be around speed 77, 49 or 3, depending on the speed system used by the particular brand. that was what i used when i was in Pittsburgh, not too far away when it comes to climate.

    in general, the thinner the air, the slower the shuttle you use. and vice versa. ppl who live high in the mountains, like some members from Calgary need to use speed 74 shuttles. a speed 74 shuttle will be very very hard to clear baseline<->baseline in coastal climates.

    there are also seasonal variation, i find that shuttle flies faster in the summer, slower in the winter.

    the archaic speed rating system you mentioned, blue / green / red band is no longer used anymore. the speed of shuttles are usually marked with a small sticker on the tube container.

    hope that helps.
     
  3. coryprice

    coryprice Regular Member

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    That is perfect for what I was wondering...thanks

    That is just what I was wondering, thanks. I know about the situation in Calgary as that is where I used to play in Canada. Calgary and Edmonton. All the stores carried the blue label yonex shuttles, which flew too far too easily. That is what lead to my question about this region, as I have not played down here since I moved to this area. I will look into the number speed when possible.

    The websites I have checked so far for the yonex mavis 370 are in the UK. They seem to list the shuttle as only slow medium or fast, and also offers some notes on whether it is green, blue or red. So far I have not been able to find numbers for the speed. But thank you for the information, Kwun.

    Cory
     
  4. Neil Nicholls

    Neil Nicholls Regular Member

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    I think Kwun was only talking about feather shuttles.

    Yonex plastic shuttles do still come in speeds denoted by the colours green, blue, red

    green = slow
    blue = medium
    red = fast

    I have heard of a light-green = very slow, but have never seen any

    Even in the UK at it's coldest, I don't think any clubs use red shuttles.
    (I could be wrong, Dill up in Scotland could probably shed some light)

    Most places would use blue.
    I have used green, but don't find them much different to blue.
     
  5. OTFK

    OTFK Regular Member

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    From a fellow Canadian

    I live in Saskatchewan. My town is 428 m above sea level (1404 ft). For comparsion Calgary is 1048 m above sea level (or 3437 ft). We use either a 77 or 78 speed for the feather shuttle and blue band for the Yonex Mavis 300 and 350. I have not used the Yonex 370 so I cannot comment on that.

    In summer, we use more 77 speed. Whereas in winter, we use 78 (unless someone cranks the heat up in the gym). I have tried Yonex red band and green band; they are either too fast or too slow. We are very dry here in winter (-20 to -30 C and 10-20% relative humidity indoors) so all the feather shuttles were steamed to maximize durability. I recently got a tube of Yonex Aerosena 20 and it has a speed of 3 - it works pretty well.

    Black Knight makes a plastic shuttle that users can slow down the speed by peeling off a plastic tape (1 of 2).

    In regards to durability, I prefer Victor Champion (green stripe with a gold label) but it is not that cheap (CAD$ 28). Yonex Aerosensa 20 is good but less durable (CAD$23). IMO, Black Knight feather shuttle is the same as Aerosensa 10 or 20.
    On plastic, Yonex Mavis 350 flies better than the 300 and it is just a bit more durable. Black Knight plastic shuttle flies OK and durability is OK.
     
  6. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Agree. Most local players seems using 77/78 (49/50) speed shuttle in NY area. ;)
     
  7. coryprice

    coryprice Regular Member

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    What color is what speed

    I hate to bring the oft-detested plastic shuttle, but if these are speed rated based on color (at least with Yonex, and maybe others too...) what is the equivalent speed for New York/Eastern PA climate/altitude based on color?

    Many of you are recommending number speed, but are those considered the fast speed shuttles, medium rated, or slow? Just so I can translate on those places where the shuttles are only noted by color, or by speed by name (slow, medium, fast).

    Thank you for your responses.
    Cory
     
  8. Neil Nicholls

    Neil Nicholls Regular Member

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    If NY is using 77/78 feathers as LB says, then the blue medium plastic should be OK.
    Same as UK.

    Plastics don't seem to be affected by temperature/humidity as much as feathers are, so less speeds are needed.
     
  9. Stijn

    Stijn Regular Member

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    I'm planning to buy some Mavis 350's...
    Don't know which speed to buy.. Is the Belgian climate most suitable for blue/green? I would appreciate any help...
     
  10. SWC_Ant

    SWC_Ant Regular Member

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    Just a note and warning. my high school used BK plastic birdies with those "adjustable speeds." during league games. on one of the late-game rallies against one school, the tape came a little loose, and was half trailing off the shuttle as it came at me. i got so distracted i didn't hit the birdie :eek:. good thing after we played 3 sets (with 2 14-14 set games) we won in the end.
     
  11. wirre

    wirre Regular Member

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    Haven't noticed any significant differance between blue/green (live in Uppsala, Sweden). Much more apparent when switching from blue to red.....

    I'd say go with blue 350's, or green 370's. Read what Neil Nicholls wrote about how the speed compares between nylon and feather shuttles.

    / mats
     
  12. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Question about my own old post, is 49/50 really 77/78? Or, 78/79?

    Most of the shuttles I used are labled with 49/50. However, recently got some 77 ones, but seems too slow... :(
     
  13. enthusiast

    enthusiast Regular Member

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    I believe that 50 corresponds to 77 and 51 to 78, 52 to79.....etc. It has been my experience that 77 is good for Seattle most of the time. I am surprised that NYC would require a faster speed, unless it is winter. Here is an article I ran across:

    Shuttlecock.com / BA Open
    Shuttlecock Speed
    by Wang Ming ( Posted with permission from author )
    First, what is speed? In badminton, The term "speed" refers to how far a shuttlecock will travel when struck with a standard force, "further" being considered "faster". Due to differences of air resistance related to altitude, humidity and temperature, the same shuttlecock will have a different "speed" at different locations. A shuttlecock which is good in Hong Kong may not be good to use in London. Because there's differences in temperature; humidity; altitude and air pressure etc.
    Because of weight differences and other factors, the shuttles come in varying speeds. The referees are responsible for testing the shuttles each day and determining what speed will be used that day. During a round of competition, we can be asked to change the shuttle speed because conditions - heat and humidity, for instance- have changed. That can be one of the more difficult disputes since a slower shuttle might benefit one player¡¯s style while a faster shuttle would be advantageous for the other.
    In an IBF tournament, most of the Chief Referee will test up to 3 different speed of shuttlecocks to ensure that particular speed is right for that particular place at that particular time.
    Fast or slow do not represent the quality of the shuttlecock. But, of course, the consumer has the right to choose.
    Table below is the 3 most common system using right now:
    international-metric wt.-grain - speed
    1 ------------- 48 ---- 75 - slow, for use in highland
    2 ------------- 49 ---- 76 - medium slow, for use in hotter area
    3 ------------- 50 ---- 77 - medium, most sea level area
    4 ------------- 51 ---- 78 - medium fast, cold area
    5 ------------- 52 ---- 79 - fast, cold area, below sea level

    From the list, you can see that the shuttles were traditionally divided into 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 according to the weight of the shuttles. 49 weights 4.9g, 50 means 5.0g, 51 means 5.1g and so on. We found the shuttles using these rating was inaccurate and therefore was difficult to classify. So we change the shuttles' speed standard. We use Speed 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 instead. There is a 30cm distance between eachspeed. Shuttle speeds are ideal for different parts of the world. For example, shuttles with Speed 76 are used in China during the summer and 77 during the winter months. Shuttles with Speed 75 are good in Thailand, Speed 76 ,77 in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, Speed 77, 78 in the U.S.A., Speed 78,79 in Finland, Canada, Korea and Japan. Speed 79, 80 in Australia in winter. Speed 73-74 would only be played in high altitude area as Yunnan Province in China and Colorado Springs in U.S.A. or high temperture area as Johannesburg in South Africa.
    Shuttlecocks also have rotational speed which is crucial for the stabilities. For shuttlecock stability at speeds higher than Mach 0.65, the upper body flaps were moved from the average position of 11.8 degrees to 20 degrees upward from the body surface.
    If you ask what's the maximum speed in kilometers per hour for the shuttlecock ever got regardless circumstance, please check the Guinness Book of Records. The shuttlecock is poised to enter the Guinness Book of Records at 162 miles per hour (261 kph) -- the speed it travels on the smash -- compared to squash`s 151 mph (243 kph) and a mere 138 mph (222 kph) for tennis. Badminton`s promoters hope the speed record might bolster the sport`s image and help move it out of other racket sports` shadows, particularly in regions where tennis and squash reign supreme. Beside Guinness, I saw somebooks claiming the speed for shuttlecock is about 300 km/h.
    As the shuttlecock flys, two forces affect its motion: gravity pulling down and air resistance pushing it up. The acceleration due to gravity is constant. The acceleration due to air resistance increases as the shuttlecock picks up speed through the air. The shuttlecock's acceleration, a, along a vertical coordinate axis with positive down, is given by an equation of the following form:
    a = g - f(v)
    while f(v) depends on temperature, humidity; altitude and air pressure etc. Write it in a general form:
    a = g - bv^r
    here r is within 1 and 2 depends on temperature, humidity; altitude and air pressure etc.
     
  14. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Thanks for answer my old post. I think there are more factors contribute to the uncertainty of selecting shuttles:

    1. weather: NYC range from 20'F to 110'F in different seasons. None of our gyms are equipped with AC, therefore, huge changes in temperature / humidity will require different shuttles.

    2. brand: different brand might have different QA system, therefore, some brand's 77 might feel like 78 for another. This can even be true with different batches.

    Anyhow, mainly I am using speed 49/77. ;)
     

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