Shuttle speeds for UK

77 are usually fine, but it depends on you hall. A colder hall may need 78's. You can always tip the 77's though either faster or slower.

 

Your hunch is correct. You should be using a minimum of 78, with the view of going to 79 during the colder months. Do a speed test.

 

It is dependant on the shuttles you are using. Get a few of each speed and do a speed test. There are videos for how to do this on the net. If the shuttle is too slow it is hard to kill and too fast it turned into a competition in who can hit the hardest. Ive played in places where you test the shuttle and it is barely making it past the midcourt which is far too slow and could cause injuries.

 

Also ant as20's are not very good shuttles in themselves. Really yy have not done well on the last batch of shuttles sent to the UK and a lot of clubs are changing brands. Some people say the as40's are ok but they are expensive. Why not think about a different manufacturer?

 

Its going to be dependant on your budget. Sometimes buying the cheaper end shuttles are not cost effective as they tend to break quicker. There are loads of theads on shuttle durability and what people are using. Try them all!

 

Over in Cheshire i use Yonex Aerosensa speed 4. Speed 3 are always too slow. When I run my weekend residential coaching courses we use speed 3, but we're at a different venue.

I have written an article and video about the correct speed of shuttle so feel free to check them out.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

 

Have people given up on the concept of tipping the feathers in or out depending on whether they need to make them faster or slower?

The various popular midrange+ shuttles being sent over to the UK for the last 5 years have been dreadful to the point that in a single tube the quality and speeds variances have been significant.

The AS40 has been good and fairly consistent, as have most of the AS30's. I usually play with 3's without much of a problem with the exception of one match venue where the hall is just hopeless and no shuttle seems to behave normally. Luckily I only play there twice a season.

I managed to find an ancient tube of Gosen's from about 10years ago and they played better than anything I'd hit in years.

 

At our club we use a different brand to YY. They are way stronger than YY and far more consistent in speed and flight. We are currently using 78's and will change to 77's for the summer. If you are buying shuttles then experiment. Don't just keep to the market norm. YY have had their lions share of the industry for sometime and its good for them to have competition as it maintains standards and keeps the prices affordable. In all honesty the quality YY have been sending over to the UK is poor plus they cost more than other similar shuttles. If the shuttles you are buying are no good then try a different type.

 

I personally hate to tip the feathers. First you can easily overdo it, second the shuttles will fall apart much faster than usual.
We currently use RSL Classic Tourney (77) at our club and are satisfied with those. Not much variance whent it comes to speed and flight stability. The durability is also good.

 

I think RSL make the best shuttles. They just have less money to promote themselves as much as other brands.

 

I just played a tournament today where everyone has to bring his/her own shuttles. So this one pair (it was a double tournament) had Yonex AS-50. After testing the speed of the shuttles the Yonex shuttles showed more variance in speed than our RSL. Was quite surprised tbh.

 

I personally found speed 3 is ok or all conditions in UK , sometimes you just got to adjust your play and not the shuttle . Can I just asked what is the most durable feather shuttle ot you guys have come across. Because I noticed some need more frequent changing than other (some would last a whole game while the other lasts about 15-16 points) dependent on the length of rally .

 

I can't say that I've noticed that a shuttle falls apart faster when tipped.

I usually find that shuttles fall apart faster when players don't hit them cleanly, or when the smashes are so hard that they fail after a considerable beating.

Having said that, most of the inconsistent and poor quality shuttles I've played with over the last few years fall apart so quickly irrespective of how fast or slow they may be.

The storing of shuttles is also important and I sometimes wonder whether the brittleness of some are down to how they have been handled.

I was playing at a club using Yehlex shuttles where in almost every game six shuttles were being used and non of them were tipped. We complained and they brought out some Tourney's that were a lot better but they still fell apart quickly.

We eventually suggested that we use our AS40's to avoid running out of shuttles.

 

I admit that tipping feathers does require some degreee of dexterity, but nothing that most adults couldn't acquire with a little bit of practice on used shuttles.

If you're not sure how to tip feathers, put the tip of your thumb (not the nail) on the inside of the feather and use the nail on the tip of your middle finger to clamp down on the outside of the feather, about 2 - 3mm from the tip.

To slow the shuttle down slightly, clamp your nail down against your thumb with so as to crease the spine of the feather and bend outwards slightly. The more you flare out the bent tip the greater air resistance you'll get and the slower the shuttle will fly.

If you're not experienced enough to gauge the impact on speed, tip one in every four feathers and do a speed test. If it's still too fast, then tip every other feather. Again if it's still too fast, then you'll need flare out more or result in tipping every feather, but that would be very rare.

You can also make the shuttle slower by tipping 4 - 5mm from the end, but such a huge tip could slow the shuttle down far too much. Hence why I recommend tipping small and flaring out etc first.

If you want the shuttle to speed up, put your thumb on the outside and nail on the inside of the feather and bend inwards.

 

Tipping should really only be done when there is no alternative. It is always better to get the right speed to avoid doing unnecessary damage to the shuttle.

 

Like I said earlier, so many shuttles are now so inconsistent that if you put every shuttle to one side that wasn't at perfect speed for every different court, humidity level and temperature you'd have more shuttles put to one side than you could use.

If you tip it right, the shuttle still flies true and doesn't degrade any more quickly.

I would sooner play with a slower shuttle than one that flies out of the back of the court. Unfortunately, many clubs I play against like the idea of a super fast shuttle much to the detriment of the game.

At least you can argue that all things are equal for all players irrespective of how fast the shuttle may be, but it does spoil a game when the shuttle flies out of the back of the court by 2feet when you return a smash from 3/4s back.

 

Tipping is inevitable since we have highly variable consistency of shuttles. Conditions also impact on speed dramatically and we cant always buy 3 different speeds to avoid this as the costs would be too high.

You need to adjust your game slightly and tipping should be a last option though. Tipping if done incorrectly can make the shuttle oscillate, which ruins it.