let's together answer : what is the ideal tension?

[victorgabriel1]

Basicly, the reason why professionals use tighter strings is that they go for the precision, the accuracy that comes with tighter strings. Having lower tension and flexier rackets is like a handicap that allows you to create power in an easier way

[vajrasattva]

Not that the physic of tighter =more power is wrong the problem is that stating that the way you did implies that tighter=more power which is not true, since it requires a bigger effort to make that string bend as much to create more power. in my mind its clear but im no great teacher...there are alot of forums on the question that explain in a clearer way that ill ever be able to why tighter does not imply more power

the bigger your effort to make the string bend, the larger the force on the shuttle!! the string bed does not bend itself.. the user does not bend the strings either.. its the shuttle upon contact..

a racquet or string bed does not generate any force nor power by itself

[victorgabriel1]

Erh well it does produce force by itself since the higher tension the more the string wants to get back to its place...

[vajrasattva]

Erh well it does produce force by itself since the higher tension the more the string wants to get back to its place...

that wont happen if the racquet is not held by anything! nothing generates force on its own!!

imagine a super high tension stringed racquet standing on the floor, shuttle comes and hit.. the racquet falls over!

the hand has to grip it, with the wrist as the pivot. if the hand is soft, without swinging, once the shuttle comes, the racquet will be deflected backwards with the shuttle probably dropping

if the hand grip is strong, even without swinging, the racquet will be deflected backwards less, and the shuttle can be bounced off forward further.


it is possible to play badminton with a soft weak gripping and a very fast/large arm swing, it is also possible to play badminton with a strong grip coupled with large swings.

the tension of the string will determine the contact time of shuttle, and will determine how much force one sees on the handle...

[victorgabriel1]

I think you get my point. I won't loose time arguing over useless stuff.
My point about the wrist is that is your wrist is locked and does not flip you will loose a fair % of your power since the power translates to the racket to the shuttle through the wrist snap.

[vajrasattva]

I think you get my point. I won't loose time arguing over useless stuff.
My point about the wrist is that is your wrist is locked and does not flip you will loose a fair % of your power since the power translates to the racket to the shuttle through the wrist snap.

no i dont quite get your point. its not useless stuff, its just practical understanding of how badminton tension translates to the amount of force one has counter produce for proper shots of which you had said many of the points were incorrect, so i would prefer to know the appropriate rational reasons on why they are incorrect although they make perfect sense in physics.

the wrist snap is important, like what i have described as the final acceleration via the wrist snap, but upon contact with the shuttle, you still have to tighten your grip on the handle, with your fingers for a split second to be rock solid in order to maximize power transfer onto the shuttle.

[victorgabriel1]

If that was true all the players would adopt a ``pan handle`` grip before smash which is not the case.

[victorgabriel1]

that wont happen if the racquet is not held by anything! nothing generates force on its own!!

Seems useless to me to have a debate on whether a racket will play by itself or not. But then again I don't want to start a fight over this. Sorry if my tone was a bit harsh.

[flamming]

Hi all,

below is just my humble opinion on show the string tension will affect our plays base on my experience, correct me if i am wrong.

I have tried out several tension from 20/22lb toward 25/27lbs.

I felt that higher tension will allow to us to have better control over the shuttle direction, can generate explosive power in shorter time and shorter swing, which might give us a faster game phase and ready for the next shot.

Lower tension will give you slower game phase as the shuttlecock will leave the string bed in long, which means you can only generate high speed shot with big swing where its affect your game play to be slow because you needs big motion to create fast shot.

Not every racket can performance with high tension. Most high-end racket from yy or lining or apacs can produce with tension over 24lb but not those low end racket. Even though those low end racket can be strung with high tension as what the manufacture claims, there will no playability as those frame are not solid enough to create solid repulsion.

In conclusion, high tension required good skill and good racket.

basic guideline of string tension :
1. 20-22lb , beginner or sweating purpose (all racket can play with this tension)
2. 22-23 , intermediate player or high school player ( most racket can be play )
3. 24 or more , advance player ( Top end racket from yy , lining , victor and apacs , eg arcsaber 10 , lining n series and apacs lethal series )

Hope it helps...

[victorgabriel1]

Hey! I agree with most of the stuff there, would just replace ``shorter swing `` with faster swing but thats just the way i see it. Also most top end rackets from yonex apacs li ning victor babolat etc can take over 27-28, just some companies prefer to play it cheap and only guarantee up to like 25 =P Also 3u 4u 5u will affect how much tension the racket can take. Last point id make is that feather seems to work better with higher tensions (25 pds up to over 40 pounds with the Panda power racket, even if average players stay around 27 28) So yah 18-21 beginner 21 23 average joe playing plastic 22-24 for medium-advanced plastic players. Feather 24-27 for medium advanced players 25-32 for advanced and like 28-40 for pros feel free to comment

[RazerCutter]

i used to weld 23-25lbs when i was aged 13-17 competing in the district level in malaysia
now im on 27lbs with 4 knots

[FeatherDance]

For me, I just want to play and not bother too much about much else, so I let my coaches decide what tension suits me, even where to string my racket (I hand over my racket to them each time it breaks). So far they have always returned it to me at 27lbs and it really does suit me. Comfortable lobbing can be done by just focusing on correct motion with minimal force. Whereas I still remember some months back when I went back to my hometown and used a 18-20lb one (dad's spare racket) and seemed to forget how to smash. If you guys have coaches who have a great history and a ton of experience (assuming those 2 caveats is proof that they know their stuff) then it may fare well for you to do what they recommend, as they know you through and through.

[Fighter886]

27 is the best

[thunderracket]

i'll bet on 22-25lbs.

[Sgt_Strider]

I'm a newbie here, but can someone here tell me why I would want to string a racquet at a higher tension vs. lower tension? For an intermediate player, what would the difference be for a racquet strung at 25lbs vs 22lbs? Let's say the context here is in terms of smashing the birdie.

[SuperAustinChu]

I'm a newbie here, but can someone here tell me why I would want to string a racquet at a higher tension vs. lower tension? For an intermediate player, what would the difference be for a racquet strung at 25lbs vs 22lbs? Let's say the context here is in terms of smashing the birdie.

don't be lazy, read previous posts.

[Shuttlebugs]

The best way to find out about it is to experiment yourself. At the end of the day, the best tension is the one that gives you the best confidence depending on your play preferences.
Good luck.