Carlton Speed Trainer

[Matt Ross]

Hi,

To be blunt, what the hell is this? I have no idea what it is or how you use it. If anyone has one, are they good, do they help your speed as they say?

Many Thanks
matt

[seanrachy]

Matt,

I hope your training is going well. It looks to me to be very similiar to a 'hand paddle' that swimmers use to build strength in the shoulders and the development of the correct stroke.

ie: looks like a badminton cover (which increases the weight of the racquet head, but has a middle section not covered so you can a) still swing it had reasonable spped without wrecking your shoulder and b) hit the shuttle in the sweet-spot.

What do others think ?

Sean

[TDotSmAsHer]

whered you get it?

[Matt Ross]

On the carlton website. This picture is from centralsports.co.uk, but it's the same thing. It's been bugging me what it is for ages and i would be grateful if anyone knew what it was and what it does

Matt

[Chia]

i think that would be sweet, it doesn't have that heavy weight to it, so you wouldn't hurt yourself.

[ZXZ]

y cant u just cut up the cover from any old racquet? instead of spending £8 on it

[Matt Ross]

so......what is it and what does i do???

[TDotSmAsHer]

I think you can actually play with that because of the strings in the middle.

[TrunkZ69]

hahahhaha. it's pretty useless guys. all it can really do is help strengthen your fingers or your wrist. I actually got one. got it for free, so glad it was free too. its a waste of money. the big gap that is used for hitting. it's suppose to train you to hit your sweetspot. doesn't work too well though cause the material doesn't really let air thru at all, so it sorta blows the birdie before you hit it.

[Matt Ross]

Good point, surely the air resistance on it is far too great to produce a good hit. Also, the resistance that IS cause will blow the shuttle away before you can even hit the damn thing!

Any one else got one of these or know the concept behind it?

Matt

[seanrachy]

Matt,

I am pretty sure it is as I have mentioned in my earlier post.

As it is advertised on the Carlton website, why dont you contact them and then let us all know.

[Matt Ross]

But why produce it if it creates the problems like Trunk said? It's not rocket science to realise that it will increase air resistance. Maybe this was intended, greater air resistance so a greater degree of acuracy when it comes to hitting the shuttle?

I have tried to contact Carlton on their website a numerous amount of times about certain subjects and have had no replies. Don't worry though, i will ask about and post the response on here...

Matt

Ps training is going fine thanks mate :) got 2 weeks of school left then i'm going full time. 12 weeks of solid traning

[Steplantis]

It`s a pretty common tool here in Japan - alot of the junior players use this. It helps build up wrist strength when you are swinging the racquet, even just standing and practicing the stroke movement for a clear, smash etc. You must have seen a lot of pro`s doing this before a match ( especially doubles players ). At their level they use a squash racquet though, and it gives you an amazing sharpness when the match starts.
Aside from that you can use this racquet cover on the racquet when doing footwork drills to add a little extra resistance. Also it would be ideal for use during drive/push practices. Hope this helps!

[Mikie]

When hitting smash/clear you have to keep your racket with its side (not perpendicular in other words) to the direction of its moving so to minimize air resistance, up to the very last moment. Just a split of a second before the hit you turn it to face the shuttle. Thus you may produce a really hard one.
Anorther point for a harder shot is to hit a birdie at the center of the racket.
To train these 2 skills is this thingy for. If you make a mistake (mishit or "open" your racket too soon) you will have NO shot and understand what are you doing wrong (poor swing - so you will feel it for sure before the hit, or mishit - you will see it clearly).
As for wrist training - I don't think this thing could be of any help. It's just to improve your technique. At least I was told to use the same device for the above purposes.
Hope this is clear.

[Pete LSD]

Originally posted by Mikie
When hitting smash/clear you have to keep your racket with its side (not perpendicular in other words) to the direction of its moving so to minimize air resistance, up to the very last moment. Just a split of a second before the hit you turn it to face the shuttle. Thus you may produce a really hard one.
Anorther point for a harder shot is to hit a birdie at the center of the racket.
To train these 2 skills is this thingy for. If you make a mistake (mishit or "open" your racket too soon) you will have NO shot and understand what are you doing wrong (poor swing - so you will feel it for sure before the hit, or mishit - you will see it clearly).
As for wrist training - I don't think this thing could be of any help. It's just to improve your technique. At least I was told to use the same device for the above purposes.
Hope this is clear.

Thanks Mikie for a very good explanation of the purpose of this speed trainer device. I think that a combination of push ups, gym workouts, speed trainer and squash racquet training is required to generate the ultra swing speed of the pros. What do you guys think?

[Matt Ross]

Hello all

I emailed central sports to ask what the purpose of the speed trainer was. I got a reply today and this is what they said.

''The carlton speed trainer is designed to make resistance when the racquet is flying through the air. This means it will increase the strength of your wrist, and this is it's main purpose.''

Hope this answers some questions
Matt

[cooler]

Really, then i have lot of racquet head cover bags that need to be marketed as speed trainer too, hehe.

[Chia]

what is the price?

if its not that expensive then why not just get one.

[Mikie]

Well, Matt, if they could explain how additional air resistance can help in wrist training... I'm afraid it can hurt your wrist or technque if you use it this way! Damn, it is called "speed trainer" not "wrist trainer"! ;)

Cooler -> You are quite right - it is useless 2 buy this trainer. I used an ordinary plastic bag for the same purpose (and maybe the cover could be ok - I don't know). And it suited ok. So, no need 2 pay for the trainer - you can make yours in a couple of minutes.