Bending a racket to "check flex"

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by Wingu, Nov 12, 2012.

  1. Wingu

    Wingu Regular Member

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    Hi all,

    I turned my VTZF over to the head coach of our team today as he wanted to know which racket I'm using. As I did, he started bending it back and forth, to check flexibility I'm guessing, but is this healthy (so to speak) for the racket?
    I searched the forums and came across an old thread from 2005, but all I could see were opinions about it, and not anything concrete. Does anyone know, for certain, what happens if someone bends the racket to test the flex?

    Truth be told, I got scared when I saw him starting to bend it as much as he did, but maybe it doesn't affect it as much as I think it does... At least it didn't break so I'm guessing it's still fine, but one thing is for certain. I'm never handing one of my rackets to him again.
     
  2. Accordaz

    Accordaz Regular Member

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    I had the same scare like you. You've bought your VTZF recently, right? :)
    Read my incident: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...-flexibility-(bowing)-gt-unhealthy-for-racket

    I can tell you that my BS LYD is still stiff and there seems to be no damage has been caused by this bending.
    But yeah, I wouldn't like it to see someone bend it like that too.
    Just keep being happy about your racket. There's nothing to worry about :)
    If it let you calm down: How many times do you save a point? How many time do you smash your racket on the court and bend it shortly while you're getting up again. I think actions like these are more harming the racket.

    Just my personal opinion, without any knowledge about the materials in this racket.
     
  3. Wingu

    Wingu Regular Member

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    Hi Accordaz,

    Must've missed your post. Thanks for sharing.
    I would've gotten **** scared if something like that happened to me :S

    Fortunaly, as far as I can tell the racket is still 100% intact with not cracks or anything so if the guy who answered your post is correct, than the racket is fine.

    And yeah, I bought it this summer, so it's pretty new :p


     
  4. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Should be fine... If you watch some of the pro players smash in slow motion, you'll see that their racket shaft will bend up to 30°, so not to worry.
     
  5. george@chongwei

    george@chongwei Regular Member

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    But sometimes once in a while, i see pro players break their racket with the excessive bending in tournaments though..:eek:... Quite scary if it were my racket too..
     
  6. speedyJT

    speedyJT Regular Member

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    lyd_bent_racket.jpg
    Don't panic......
     
  7. dexter980

    dexter980 Regular Member

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    Hello,

    I just want to chip in to this topic. I'd dont think it is a good idea to let some one bend your racquet unless they are going to pay for it. My friend broke his ti-10 as a result of such testing.

    Have a good one.
     
  8. speedyJT

    speedyJT Regular Member

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    Did he bend it over his knee?!:eek:
    Sorry but I can't imagine that a racket can break into peaces by holding the grip and bend the racket head from left to right!
    I think then the racket was already damaged before...
     
    #8 speedyJT, Nov 13, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2012
  9. rogerv2

    rogerv2 Regular Member

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    Yes, in this example the bend is probably for a few milliseconds.
    However bending it up to 30 degrees manually is another story and maybe cause micro cracks all over.
     
  10. Wingu

    Wingu Regular Member

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    Hi speedyJT,

    Thanks for the picture. I've seen these kind of pictures before. The thing is that, even though you can see the racket is very flexible, the strain of these kind of power shots is instantaneous and only last for a very very short time.
    While on the other hand bending it yourself means putting a strain on it over a longer period of time.
    But yeah, I think I'm just overreacting. Thinking of how people have been using rackets for years doing these kind of hitting should be proof enough that a bit of flexing shouldn't be dangerous.

     
  11. Wingu

    Wingu Regular Member

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    See, this is where I get confused. Is there any proof at all of rackets having "micro cracks"? I mean, it would be hard to see those with human eyes me think.

    Would actually be awesome if there's a racket specialist of sorts on this forum who could answer these kind of questions.

     
  12. R20190

    R20190 Regular Member

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    I once saw a friend of mine bend his Carbonex 15 to almost 90°, certainly more than in the photo above. I have never seen a racquet being bent that much before. I was seriously quite worried that it would snap but it didn't! Apparently he had a habit of doing that a lot.

    I guess with the old racquets, they tend to me quite flexible, whereas the newer ones are stiffer so may be more brittle. I'd never try that on my racquets, that's for sure!
     
  13. SolsticeOfLight

    SolsticeOfLight Regular Member

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    Stiff rackets needn't be more brittle than flexible ones.
     
  14. rogerv2

    rogerv2 Regular Member

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    You cant see it, you would need specialised instruments.
    However the paint job certainly will have spider web type cracks appearing soon.

    I once accidentally stepped on my VT80 while playing and it kind of broke and tore apart with tons of strands still attached. It was not a clean break.
     
  15. betazone

    betazone Regular Member

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    I disagree with all those who say it's of no concern, it is a big isssue and myself also hate those who do it to my racquet. Why? because when pro players do it the bend is due to the swing weight of the racquet but when someone bend it with two hands they are applying the force at all the wrong areas of the racquet.
     
  16. Wingu

    Wingu Regular Member

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    But then naturally the follow-up question would be:
    What's the difference between the force of bending a racket by two hands, in let us say a 10 degree angle, compared to the rackets doing it by it's own weight? It requires equally as much force to bend it 10 degrees, does it not?
     
  17. R20190

    R20190 Regular Member

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    You have a point, I agree if you are limiting it to say 10° angle or so.

    However, the risk with someone else bending it is that, that someone else may not know...

    A. When to stop.
    B. How much force is too much!

    Btw, I once snapped the head off my carbonex 21 playing a smash, but I think it was more to do with material fatigue than the power of my smash! lol
     
  18. sayshh

    sayshh Regular Member

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    Seems to be a good logic, when the racket bends during the course of play, it bends where it is supposed to bend, i.e. the more flexible areas "give" (as per the manufacturing technology).
     
  19. dimcorner

    dimcorner Regular Member

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    I bend racquets quite often, but only about 10-20 degrees max. That is more than enough to tell if it's stiff or flexy. If it easily goes towards 20 then I let off. If it's hard to even make it go 10 then I let off.

    I don't need to lay on it all the way to figure if it's stiff :confused:
     
  20. gundamzaku

    gundamzaku Regular Member

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    that's why nobody touches my rackets, if they want to check the flexibility, go to the freaking website and read about it. :)
     

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