I sometimes think back to when i first started badminton. I was in school then, must have started playing around the age of 13-14? Had to use School equipment too, not very good, they were carlton rackets, 3 piece, strings with absolutely no tension, frame was most likely bent out of shape and the weight of the racket? Well all i can say is that today if i took a swing with one of those rackets i would still give myself a serious injury.

Well since i was getting into badminton i thought i might as well invest in a better racket. I didn't have a clue about rackets back then. So i trundle my way to the shops and looked for something in my price range and that felt fairly light.

About 1 hour later and about 5 sports shops i settled for a Yamasaki racket. Purple, bluish colour, 3 piece. How i cringe now!!!!

I use an MP100 now, makes my first racket look absolutely pathetic. But i guess the old 3 piece steel racket has some form of sentimental value.

What about you guys? What did you start with?

1st racquet was a 3-piece aluminum racquet that went through a lot of beating. The paintjob is all gone and chipped away that it is just black w/ silver metal exposed. There is tape at the 3 o'clock and 7 o'clock position to hold it together. The racquet head shape more like a rhombus than an oval. I still have it in the closet, a lot of sentimental value with that thing. O, no idea what brand it is, that part is chipped off too.

1st racket (10, 11 years ago)?

I remember it was a wooden racket with sucks string. Me and my friend can't really be more than 15 ft away, otherwise, every "smash" becomes "drop" or "hit the net". The string broken within a month, and there was nowhere I can get re-string. Actually, I never bother to think about that, since those wooden rackets were really cheap at that time.

Metal one piece racquet to Carlton Aerogear only two racquets in about 7 years. God the new Carlton logo is terrible!!

I strat with YY cab15, I bought good racket becuase I know that I really like playing badminton now I use TI10 and MP99. But in my openion, TI-10 is the best of all racket.

my mom let me use her racquet.. its from the 70's i think..
its yonex, no model number, metal frame and shaft.. no idea what model..

my own racquet i got like 6 years ago.. factory strings, prince spectrum.. i still use it today.. it really bites ass cuz nothing has been changed.. no strings, no grips, nothing..

hoping to jump an era and buy a Yonex Swingpower =P

My first racket was a Benson. 3 pieces, metal shaft, metal or aluminium head.
Factory strings were hy-sheep or something like that. The racket deformed very badly after leaning on it ..they still don't make racket you can lean on :(
I remember that i was proud of the high tension of the factory strings on my Benson.
Wasn't aware at all at that time that stringtensions is just a matter of choice. But hey, the racket was about same price or cheaper compared to what you pay for a stringjob with a high-end string nowadays.
Too bad that i don't have that racket anymore.

my first racquet was a cab 23 :D i had no clue on racquets so i asked for help from the guy at the badminton store. he asked me how much i was going to spend and play level. he didnt care about my play level, but rather how much i will spend. so i ended getting my cab 23. but something unfortunate happened to it, but im getting another one since i like it.

Can't rem the name or brand of my first racket.... I can still find out as it's still with me. Lazy to find it though. :D

I know that the 2nd racket which I bought was a Yonex Carbonex 25 SP. And I also clearly remembered that I initially wanted to get an Yonex Isometric 800 SP but didn't because I did not bring enough cash at that time!

ok, just found the 2 rackets which I first used!

They're : Altrom AJ-016 and Altrom AJ-018!! Hmmm.....

Brand: Jaguar
Construction: All aluminium

At that time promoted by Gillian Gilks (had no idea who she was at the time)

Cost: between 8 - 10 GBP

first racket i had... carlton steel shaft aluminium head. about 12 years ago when I was 7 yrs old, didnt really use it to play badminton... imagined it to be a sword at the time :D too much kungfu movies makes kids go krazy sometimes :p

my first real badminton racket was given to me by my father when I was 9 yrs old, that time I was in spore and wanted to play badminton, so he got me two Yonex rackets called Widebody 30. Its a full black carbon shaft, 2U, with greenish font that writes Widebody 30. It was a great racket, I wish I still have it :( one of them broke and I lost the other one :( used it for about 6 years. I still remember the look on my primary school coaches when they tried out that racket :D

My first racquet that I used to play 'real' badminton was lent to me by my friend: a Dunlop wood racquet, with metal shaft. Few months later saved enough to buy my first racquet: Carlton 3.7X. At that time, this racquet felt really good - and VERY light!! :D

It was either a Sportcraft wood or the Carlton 4.3. I had both, but I can't remember which came first.

My first racket was a Sun Batta (spelling?) about 18 years ago. I think it was an all aluminium construction with a silver coloured shaft and a red coloured head. It weighed a ton!! I still know someone that uses one today.....

My first proper racket after that was a cab 8 about 15 years ago and I've still got it somewhere (don't use it though).

well to be honest, when I first started playing badminton in College some 11 years ago, I had some really crappy steel framed racquet which wasn't even mine. I think it was a Palson or something like that. Anyway, fortunately my dad was an airline pilot at the time and his co pilot was Sri Lanka number one. So dad asked him what the best professional raquet to buy was. HAh! Can you believe it? They flew to Japan together and got me a brand new Yonex Carbonex 8!!!!!!! That racquet is by far the best thing that was ever made, but they don't make them like the original anymore. Mine was an Original Japanese made Yonex. dad got it from the factory itself in Japan. Anyway when he gave it to me for my first tournament, I was like, "WOW, thanks dad and all, but didnt have a clue as to what a Ferrari of badminton racquets I had. Well not until my partner who was knowledgeable told me that the Carbonex 8 is a dream racquet for any aspiring young player. Besides, I checked it's weight only yesterday while it was unstrung and ungripped. YES ITS A STAGGERING 79 GRAMS! No my scale isn't wrong! Anyway it still works and I stopped using it in play coz I dont want to destroy such an oldie but goldie. I currently use a Carlton Airblade 2000 which is 85 Grams and Gosen for practicing.
So there you go. My first racquet was a Carbonex 8 and I still have it. I doubt anyone has a racquet that lasted for so long.

Mr first racket was a very cheap wooden racket when I was in small kid. :(

My first real badminton racket (not cheap toy wooden rackets) was the wooden frame with steel shaft Silver Grey (blue and not the superlight). That was avery expensive racket in its day. I then used a Yonehama 8000 (which is still around), before Yoneyama changed its name to Yonex. I then used a Carlton 3.7X followed by the Carb 7. This was followed by the Carb 8. All these rackets are by present day standards antique, but there are still many original Carb 8's around. I still have 3 Carb 8's and they are actually still decent to play.

Ron

My first racquet was the Pro Kennex grand pix line xl Destriny 1700 - about 12 years ago. This was the most unique racquet I have ever seen, it was bright blue and one piece that looked like a sqush racquet. The head of the racquet flowed continually into the shaft - not like all the racquets today that have the head come full circle to the shaft making a T.

I only wish Kennex still made this type of racquet the style was amazing!

Does anyone eles rember this racquet?

My first racket was Yonex Blacken. It was powerful racket for me at that particular time (20 yrs ago). I still keep that racket, there are so many memories, my childhood friends and how my coach made me vomitting (hehehe....)because too much doing foot work exercise and smashes.

My first badminton racquet was a kawasaki brand. It broke not too long after I got it. I bought it because it was fairly cheap and it was a one piece graphite racquet.

Ben

The first raq I got is the Cab 8 and Blacken. Still have the Cab 8 with me but to sad broke the blacken long time ago. Can't even remember when.

First racket was when I was 7. Fortunately my Dad was a coach and also very handy with his hands. He took an aluminum Slazenger racket and shortened it to a much smaller length. I loved that racket.

my first racket. one of those department store ones, it was back when i was only 9 or may be 10 yrs old. a steel racket, with rust, and i believe it cracked as well, since it was steel, and probably strung with something close to fish lines at a tension of 10lbs. it was holding well.

later, i upgraded to a Yonex Blacken 2. that was the first real racket i have..