What do you suppose are the reasons why no synthetic shuttle has been developed and employed at the top level? Is it to keep the manufacturers in business, or is it because the BWF doesn't have the belief that a synthetic would be acceptable, or that the BWF doesn't have the will? These days is it not inhumane to continue with feathers? Let me quote:- The bird is caught by handlers and held down, its wings pulled open and dozens of feathers pulled out from its wings. It bleeds horribly. Each feather shaft is full of blood. Technicians then identify the feathers needed. They choose the whiter feathers and they must weigh between 1.7 to 2.1 grams or else they are discarded. After this the feather angle is measured. This step is vital because if a single feather is off slightly the shuttle will wobble in flight. Thousands of feathers are thrown away as wastage. Barbaric practice.
Not true. The BWF has approved synthetic shuttlecocks. Google the articles BWF approves synthetic feather shuttlecocks from 2021 and BWF approves adoption of synthetic feather shuttlecock for long-term sustainability. Yeah, I don't like how feathers are extracted, and the BWF does have power to only get their feathers from suppliers with strict animal welfare operations.
What do you mean, not true? I have yet to see any major BWF tournament where synthetics are used. Approving them is one thing, adopting them and completely discontinuing feathers is another.
If you look at major tournaments there appears no choice at all. Non-biodegradable is a flimsy excuse for continuing with feather shuttles.
Feather shuttles are significantly superior when it comes to playability. If they had to hit shuttles in the dark, all the top players could identify a feather shuttle just from the feeling of hitting it. Its a cleaner hit, it gives more feedback, which in turn allows for more consistent higher quality shots. As long as that is true, no one at bwf will push for synthetic at the top level. With science and engineering, you are limited by the attributes of the materials you have, and what you can do with it. It's not always 'where there is a will, there is a way'. Anyone who finds a way to make synthetic shuttles that are indistinguishable from feather, could undercut the market and make millions. I won't say it's impossible, but it's out of reach for the time being.
Well the BWF doesn't see much difference. This article talks about them trying a synthetic one at three international tournaments in 2019, with feedback that the shuttles had 'very similar flight and performance' https://www.reuters.com/article/us-badminton-shuttle-idUSKBN1ZJ0CE In this article Thomas Lund says that elite players involved in testing synthetic shuttles were able to adjust to the 'slight variances' between these shuttles and feather shuttles 'quite quickly.' https://badmintonoceania.org/bwf-be... Federation (BWF) has,of all levels from 2021. So unless these articles are all lies, the BWF are pushing for synthetic at the top level.
Not lies but politically correct statements to show the entity is making an environmental "effort". Now saying they are pushing for plastic shuttles? I'm dubious about that. If a change happens one day, it will not directly come from the top players or the BWF but because of environmental or ethical restrictions.
Things would change if the news media got on the case - but probably not much chance of that. -Unless a few determined individuals see fit to repeatedly publicise the plight of the geese.....
@scamp there is this petition you can sign https://www.thepetitionsite.com/664...c-shuttle-be-used-for-the-sport-of-badminton/
That depends on an individual’s values. What you regard as flimsy might be very important for another person.
I started a club recently and decided to use only synthetic shuttles. Nobody complained and interestingly, yellow is a much more popular colour than white! I bought some Bird3 shuttles which I like though they're a bit slow with indoor temperatures being low at the moment. But the players at the club don't like them as they fly like feathers! We use Mavis 300 shuttles, and they typically last 4-6 hours of matches. They would last longer if the skirt didn't start spinning in the cork. Plastics may not be the same as feathers but if feathers disappeared over night we'd all still play badminton, tournaments would continue. And manufacturers would undoubtedly make better synthetic shuttles!
My local club plays with Mavis 2000 since 2 months now and after 48 hours of play with those, I have to say, they perform decently. Better than Mavis 600. Their trajectory isn't fully feather-like (obviously) and it still feels too light on impact but they do have a trajectory closer to a feather shuttle when clearing and performing drop shots. Feedback when touching the string bed is better too (comparing with the Mavis 600). Not a perfect shuttle but definitely playable. Having some fun with it.
If your badminton is social club badminton, there isn’t such a great need to use feather shuttles because the requirements of the participants are different. Hence the lack of comments. There are players who will actively avoid groups playing with plastic shuttles.
And here, I also met with players that avoid playing with feathers! Others demand to play with feathers only, and sometimes with a specific brand of feather shuttles . I have recently got a tube of the Victor Carbosonic 1. It's better in my opinion than the Yonex Mavis 300 and 350, but still not that feel of a feather shuttle. I do not have much of a problem playing with the Victor CS shuttle, but my playing preference is undoubtedly with a good quality feather shuttle.
I wonder when the synthetic will be used in international tournament. It's been a while since the news of BWF approving it. I think the new synthetic shuttles will be different from the current Yonex Mavis series. But could not find any more information online. Anyone have any clues?
