Hello people, I'm really curious whether it is true that badminton racket that is soft and light are more for girls and bad for smashing? However I think Cai Yun is currently using a soft flex racket too?
you are combining 3 different variables here flexibility of a racket does not determine if a person could smash hard or not people with slow swing would be benefited from flexible racket while people with fast and explosive swing would be better with stiffer racket why people don't like flexible shaft? because when you develop your technique, and your body for playing badminton, you will develop more efficient stroke which is short, fast and more explosive flexible shaft cannot keep up with the force that is transferred it would bend and the racket will be late to hit the shuttles (for example you want to hit a smash, but it becomes a clear) and men naturally have more power than female counter part (yeah yeah, bash me with "not all men strong" and "not all women weak") of course stiff racket would put strain to your muscle, you need more power to do a shot with stiff racket for more explanation about shaft stiffness http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/40187-Shaft-stiffness-flexibility-explained light weight means the racket is less stable the racket has less weight thus less dense it will give a lot of vibration, it does provide better movement but it is not solid enough especially when defending from a smash, you will feel the vibration I don't know if it's gonna affect smashing though.. (IMO it would affect smash) weight also might pose a problem to people as it is "too fast" some people cannot keep up with fast racket, thus, why not use heavier racket to gain the right speed while maintaining solidness of your shot? head light, it is simple, for example you have 2 hammer one, hold it normally, and swing it you will feel big force when you swing it now try to hold the head parts and try to swing it I'm sure you will understand about it straight away (yeah, I know this could be the worst explanation about head heaviness, but it is simple way to explain it) to say it, head heavy, would make it hard for your to swing it around (imagine you need to swinging a hammer around) but once you try to hit a smash, the head heaviness on the head give you more force (force downward to hit a shuttle to create a smash) head light means the weight is distributed more to the handle area and less to the head this provide better maneuver, but when you swing it, you will not gain the advantage that head heavy would provide you can imagine swinging around a hammer? try to ask a women and men to swing the hammer and see who can last longer (that's why men would prefer head heavy racket. but of course some women could wield it) to sum up: flexible racket: not for player that develop better technique (and also male because they have more power than women) light weight: less solid head light: does not provide bonus force when doing a smash, definitely bad for smashing I would say yes, if you are average guy with good power, and technique, then flexible, light weight and head light is not good for smashing cai yun use medium shaft, he didn't use flexible racket to add, his racket is head heavy and 3U (which is very normal)
comprehensive explanations! Thanks a lot dude for sharing knowledges and experiences ... your answers are indeed very useful for me
Nice post Avenger. For reference, bmtfreak123, CY is using a stiffer racket than his supersmash partner FHF. So ultimately, it's up to your personal preferences.
This is likely due to the fact the FHF has to smash so much more; even for a professional player, smashing with a super stiff racket all the time would be tiring.
Tiring, probably. But that's not the reason why he doesn't use a super stiff racket; after all, JJS uses the MX80 and manages just fine. As discussed in some other threads, FHF uses the racket he does because he relies on a big arm swing for power instead of wrist. The softer flex is better suited for arm swings whereas stiffer rackets require more wrist involvement.
Also, the stiff rackets are more accurate especially in the front net area and for driving, and also feel a bit faster somehow (less head lag?). So the doubles frontman would probably choose a stiffer racket since he has to place the shots fast and accurately. For backcourt smashing I think people subconsiously adjust to take the flex into account, so the accuracy is pretty good as long as the flex is consistent. But for the front net type stuff the racket waves in wierd directions and often little or no backswing so the stiffer shafts are nicer. Its actually quite incredible when you do the calculations how precise people are in smashing. Even amateurs can usually smash say lower than 20cm above the net most of the time, and probably into the area the side of a biggish rubbish bin is not unreasonable. To hit with that precision from the back of the court with a swing to a moving shuttle while moving themselves is unreal. But we all manage it . From the photos the racket shafts bend easily over 10-15 degrees, maybe less (5-10?) at the actual contact point, so i think people really are taking the flex into account.