Yesterday, I played about an hour of badminton with a squash racket. After that, I picked up my MP100 and man.... it felt like lighter than the IsoSP SR that I always use. Every stroke I made with the MP100 was done effortlessly. However, I think I felt a lack of feel. So the question came to mind, do you want your racket to feel really light, or slightly heavy for the feel? Some of you might say definetely slightly heavy for the feel. I thought so too in the beginning, but then I thought again and I felt that maybe the feel isn't really important if you can master the stroke without the feel. (In addition to that, being able to play shots effortlessly can make you be more deceptive.) Then I started thinking about the professional players... some of them change rackets in the middle of a match... to us, that would take sometime to adjust... but to them, it could be different, right? So what do you guys think? Is it possible to not need the feel? ie Is it possible to master the strokes so that you dont need the feel?
I'm pretty sure they change to another identical racquet. As for "pumping" your muscles... I don't think the extra strength justifies the loss in accuracy. You aren't actually stronger when you swing, you just feel that way because your muscles are more trigger-happy and fire more often.
Before discussing Iwan's topic, I need help on the difference between control and feel. To me, they are the same. If this is true, then I would say playing effortless without any feel is not a good idea. Some of you may think that faster the birdie is being hit (effortlessly), better the chance it lands on the ground. However, I agree with BRL If the swing is made too quickly, you lose control of the birdie since the contact time is too short. The birdie may land out of the court. That happens to strong player smashing with light racket. Also, when you are swinging the racket too fast, you lose agility. At fast speed, it is always hard to change momentum and angle of the shot. If the opponent is good, he/she can predict the direction of the coming birdie in this case. Therefore, I believe power, speed, feel, control have to be taken into account when picking a suitable racket. Back to my own confusion, I always see control and feel are two different thing when I look at the comments on rackets or strings. I am kinda lost on the diffinition of feel.....
I prefer a moderately light racquet which is balanced. Weight may not matter but I usually care about the balance point. On real good days I like head heavy racquets but now I only have 2 balanced racquets.
I think it depends on what your game is. If you play doubles and stay on the net more, a light, mid-balanced racket is definitely an advantage simply because you can maneuver the racket a lot easier. While a smasher would definitely benefit with a head heavy racket. For singles I personally prefer a nice medium weight racket with even balance since out maneuvering your opponent is probably a better tactic than smashing away at your opponent. Besides if your opponent is any good he'll probably return your smashes anyway right? So in conclusion I would really say the racket should be right for YOUR kind of game. Another note: there's no question that the feel for the shot should always be present because this game is so fast that thinking isn't really a luxury. The player just depends on instinct and feel for the game. Everything happens in a split second so if all you do is hit the ball for sake of hitting you'll just end up on the net, in the out of bounds or the bird in your face Well that's just me thinking out loud.
