Thanks to Iwan(see eqpt forum) I have thought up of this topic for discussion.

Do lighter racquets benefit the regular player? (Regular meaning somebody who playes badminton more than once a week).

Here's my personal experience:

In my first few years of badminton (still a teenager) I did a bit of training (like 8 sessions over two months). Now that time, the coach made me play clears. Just high clears for the whole hour! I must have done this shot 99% of the time. It used to be exhausting.
Funnily enough, the lighter the racquet was, the harder it was to produce the effort to do the clear repeatedly.
I found out adding insulating tape to the top of the frame (only a small bit) helped enormously in not needing so much effort.
Later I found racquets which are less head heavy are difficult to smash with (i.e. less power)

So my belief is that the lighter racquets (3U) actually do a disservice. They are only useful for the irregular, occasional social player. If you want some serious badminton, stick to 2U. (and you'll also have a sturdier racquet)

What's other people's personal experience (not just repetition of advertising literature please)?
Do lighter racquets help you and how much do you play (school, matches, league, local(or regional) tournaments)?

Local=within your city/district
regional=includes a few cities

(Brett, just preempting you here, I did think about wether this should be in the general or eqpt forum :) )

I believe that lighter racquets are only useful as a defensive role...

I've been using Yonex Carbonex 21 in the last few years... (to me this one isn't that light..) I could get a clear very easily and my smashes are ok... (I'm not that good when it comes to smashes)... but with this racquet I couldn't hold many of the smashes that were coming at me...

But because I'm a real defensive player, I bought the Yonex Iso SP SR, which is very light... it's really a great one when it comes to defense... I can stop about 95% of all the smashes coming at me... (don't think my opponents were beginners or something) .. My drops are almost perfect too.... :)
But when I try to make a clear or a smash... there's just no power in it... unless you get used to the light racquet and put alot of effort in it...

So to my opinion... i believe that lighter racquets are only great when it comes to defense..the light head makes the manouvrebility (how the hell do you write this word??) a lot better... But that's all that's positive about lighter racquets..

Again I would like to say.. that this is just my opinion... don't flame me if you don't agree with me.... everyone's opinion is different right?

Out:
LeeLloyd

You two... start training your wrist. Get a 3U racket, point it upwards with the rest of your hand (as if you're asking to get struck by a lightning) and swing it back and forward as fast as you can with ONLY YOUR WRIST. This is what I've done and I have noticed a significant improvement to my wrist strength, I'm able to perform beautiful clears with Iso900 SA strung at 24lbs without feeling I'm putting extra effort, prolly worn down to 22lbs now . And my smash is powerful enough as well.

Anyway, I really don't like the idea of losing the maneuverability of my racket just for that one shot... smash. Greater maneuverability allows you to play drives easier and drives can score as many points as smashes if you learn to play it right.

However, the thing I've noticed about heavier rackets... is I get more feel of my control over it. I some how find it easier to control the amount of power I let out to get that dropshot or netshot beautifuly done with a Ti 10 instead of Iso900 SA.

I use very light karakal rackets, lighter than 4u - 75 grams

I will be on the UK circuit again next season.

One of the other guys who uses them is very young, ranked in the top 30 in the UK and will be going pro soon. So it's not for the irregular social player!

I find I get as much if not more power out of these than any of the heavier rackets funnily enough! I definitely react a little better in defensive situations, but it's only a minor differences. The only thing I've found that lacks a little is control so I find I have to hit just a little further in from the lines, but that may be to do with the racket or my playing style as opposed to the weight. Again this is a minor difference.

Sying that, I think it's dependent upon the player and not the racket. If you've got a hard smash it and good style will be hard if you're using a 2u or 4u.

I prefer to use a lighter racket because I believe it aids in preventing injury. I've had problems with my arm in the past. If you hit an off balance shot with a light racket it doesn't cause any problems.

I posted a little while back on Andrew South who is ranked 4th in England and 63rd in the World. He uses an sl80 which is a 4u. You can pick these rackets up for £50 in the UK.

what tension do you have on your racket? is it iso head shape? is it available in long version? thx :)

Hey, I was going to ask that question as well! You just beat me to it.

UKP,
Andrew South's choice of racquet might just be influenced by sponsorship. Difficult to say without his input.
Just some further questions.
What strings do you use?
What strings does Andrew South use and at what tensions? I am very curious.
If his stringing tension is above 27lbs, how many racquets does he have in his bag from the sponsor?

It probably depends on individual's wrist strength. For me, I perform best with my 900 SR or Ti SP SS (both are relatively light racquet). 2U version of Ti-10 or MP100 is too heavy for me - I can play with them, but not to swing the racquet fast enough. On the other hand, I found similar problem as you described when I use 4U version of MP80 - it is too light and too weak (even for clear) !

Cheung & Iwan

I use karakal pulse strings strung at 21lbs. This is the same as original factory stringing, and I like it so I keep it at that. The racket doesn't come in long or ISO.

I'm not sponsored by karakal, but I know someone who is so I get stuff cheap. They say their rackets can be strung from 16 to 30lbs.

I don't know that information about Andrew South but I'll see if I can find out.

His racket is probably influenced by his sponsor, granted, but this isn't the top of the range racket, and it's not the heaviest. Regardless of pressure it does go to show that you can use a 4u and be pretty good though!

UKP

I'm doubtful about whether he strings over 27lbs by the way. From knowledge I know a most of the top UK string at 27 or below. Simon Archer strings at 24lbs. Most swear by Ashaway strings.

well... I havn't been playing all that long to be honest.... I started last summer and only play on fridays at a local community center.

I started with an old old BK racket... it was heavy... but I guess when i just started to learn how to play... it didn't matter as long as it's a badminton racket, i basically learned how to clear/smash etc with that racket.... then this one time i was pissed at a bad shot and i broke the frame... (smashed it against my shoe sideways ><... dumb...) so i got another racket(still BK) i just got a cheap one cuz at the same time I was getting MP100s from Taiwan ^^"

slightly lighter than the old BK rackets i was used to... the new racket was pretty evenly balanced... but nonetheless headheavier... i could preform smashes after smashes after smashes... very fast smashes, but since it was quite heavy (didn't expect much when it's $40 CDN before tax) i could not react fast enough to a lot of smashes thrown my way, and i can not clear far enough as always... the birdie would start decending in the middle of the opponent's side and start coming downwards... result ----> smash right back

When i got my M100 (3u g4), i could feel the racket being way lighter than my old BK knight... actually... i think the MP is only half the weight of the BK.... MP was extremely evenly balanced... and i could make clears lik it was nothing... but when it comes to smashes... there was a time when i couldn't even smash at all... then i gradually got used to the light weight... and started throwing more wrist into it... but the smashes were still not powerful as smashes produced by my BK, and drops were more accurate too ( this part most of my friends just said i improved over the time... but I have doubts in that)

then this one time i tried my friend's Ti-7... or was it 5... cant remember... it was EXTREMELY head heavy... and way heavier in general than the MP100... i LOVED that racket!!! the opponent was kinda awed when they just heard the smash and saw nothing of the bird til it reached the ground ^^

just a lil input... hope this helps

IMO, I feel that light racquets are only useful if they are on the head-heavier and on the flex side. Because the added weight in the head can create more momentum, therefore more power in the shot.

I started out with a Yonex BR2000 3 years ago...when I started to learn to play badminton...it was pretty evenly balanced and heavy.....kinda like a U....you can say it would be powerful if I had the tension strung rite....everything was pretty easy when you got the technique.

A few months later, I bought a Prince Axis63 because it was pretty cheap and was a TINY bit lighter....like 2grams...lol.....but it was significantly head heavier....all my shots were increased in power and I could do good smashes with an angle....I would say that this my racquet had increased my wrist strength by ALOT!.....

The year after....I bought a Iso96VF.....which was a 3U....but too HEAD LIGHT!!.....more headlight than my friends ISO900SA!!!......the only thing good about that racquet was for clearing and net shots.....other than that....any shots that had to hit with an angle sucked.....so that racquet is also in my closet now...

Last year...I bought a Ti-SP-SR.....it was like the best racquet I have owned so far because all the other racquets were low-end models....the clears are fairly easily and the drop shots are better in terms....you can say that this was a better overall racquet than all the other racquets i have owned.....but recently....i developed stronger foream and wrist strength.....so when i had to clear or smash, i could feel some LAG.....like the shaft bending.....i would say that the power isn't affected much, but instead... the control of the shots were difficult because of the lag...

Overall....IMO, i would say that a lighter racquet is beneficial if you do not have enough wrist strength and that you tire out easily. Other than that, a good 3U or 2U is good enough.

I like heavier raquets. It probably feel very at first after u switched from a light raquet, but once u get use to it. Your wrist will be stronger, and swing speed will also be faster.

I think That the iso Sx range is good for what u say! They are light and hav the momentum transfer!

Six months ago, when I switched from my ISO 96VF to my current Ti-SP-SS, my forearm was sore for almost three sessions due to the extra weight on the racket head (everything is relative). My smashes improved as a result.

Now I got used to SP-SS and I will experiment by adding lead tape to increase the head weight. I hope the added weight will give me extra power in my smashes. Has anyone tried using lead tape?

Cheers!

I don't think that weight alone is the most important factor. Racquet balance is equally important, and aerodynamics and racquet length also play a siginficant role.

My old Cab 8300 is a 2U racquet with a box frame and slightly head heavy balance. It is only so-so power wise and maneuverability-wise. My Carlton AB 900 is a lighter racquet at 90g, but is significantly more head heavy and also has a more aerodynamic frame shape, and it is much more powerful than the Cab 8300 on all shots. My MP-77 is a 2U, feels substantially heavier than my Carlton and is substantially slower and less maneuverable than the AB 900. On a smash with lots of time to prepare, the MP-77 is about as powerful as the AB 900, but on all other shots the Carlton is more powerful because I can move it faster. I think the extra weight, length and air resistance all contribute to the newer Yonex's performance lag compared to the Carlton. The MP-77 also caused my arm to ache after playing with it and I eventually stopped using it. Perhaps I would have had a better opinion of it if I had switched straight from the Cab 8300 to the MP-77.

Very light racquets (<85g) seem more popular in England and possibly the rest of Europe than in North America and Asia, if selection from online racquet vendors gives an accurate impression. Anyone know why that might be?

UKP,

I would be grateful if you were able to find out the exact strings and the tension that the Brits use.

The cost of Ashaway string is high (in my location). I'd like to try out what the England team use and rather not have to go through the whole Ashaway range!

Thanks in advance

Archer uses Ashaway Flex 21 Micro 0.7 mm 24lbs
Vaughan uses Ashaway Microlegend XL 0.69mm 27lbs
Hunt uses Micropower 0.7mm 27lbs

That's all the info I've got from ashaway though there's probably more

That was fast!

Thanks

One of my coaches (a Malaysian international player) used to mention to
me that a lighter racquet is better. His style is the more wristy, snappy
style. According to him, lighter weight makes it easier to whip the racquet.

I once tried the very light weight racquet my wife used. However, I had
problems with it, as I find I can't do some of the power shots I used to
be able to handle (e.g. end-to-end clear).

In general, in singles, I prefer a heavier racquet, as I have more time to
swing. But in doubles, racquet speed (and recovery) is important and I'd
like a lighter one (e.g. cab 20).