I was playing on Friday with our club coach, she was trying out a racquet her boyfriend had just bought. She hit a shot, and I could tell straight away that she liked the racquet, and she immediately said "I like this racquet, it sounds great, I will have to get him to give me it". I just bought a new racquet myself, and I had it strung with Yonex BG68ti, because I liked the feel of that string when I used it before. But I notice that the characteristic of this string that gets the most prominent mention on the packaging is its sound! Being a fiddle player I am very interested in the sound properties of violin strings: but why should the sound of badminton racquet strings matter?
Well, when playing feathers, the sound is an important feedback for the player that the shuttle was hit crisply, ie in the sweet spot, perfectly timed, and squarely. A sharp paaaarp vs a dull thud...
All things being equal, a nicer sound makes for a nicer experience when hitting the shuttle. Anything that makes you want to hit can't be a bad thing.
Some do put sound right up there when choosing a string. Even with a racket, there are plenty who like a particular sound of how it swings. Both helps the player "feel" good. The racket gives a feeling of slicing through the air. The string gives the feeling of a good powerful hit. Manufacturers know it, Marketing sells it. I don't care much for either, as long as the string and the racket connects with my play, I'm happy. But then, I'm not much of a hard hitter, I like the silent drop.
You're very right on the feel part. Good feel and sharp sound is *the* most important criteria that I use in choosing strings. More than repulsion and durability.
Sound does matter. Babies have very weak vision initially, mother's voice and physical touch are the mediums for babies connecting to the outside world. Apart than badminton, sound is very important in our daily life. Sound will give you warning before danger striking, car horn, thundering, avalanche etc. My son, daughter, dog, cat and I would all run for cover as soon as we detect the tone changing of my wife.
Totally agree, just for me, other qualities in the string matter more and sound is not a top criteria I look for when picking strings. Yep, we all have different opinions. Sound is not on something I often check...unless each time it's hit, the string sounds like a racket cracking, no matter how durable, controllable, or repulsive, I'm not touching that string.
Even I was in fear when I first smashed with zm62... from the sound, thought I had cracked my racket.
I'd like to discuss something regarding sound. I like the nice boom i get when i smash with the BG66UM. However, I've been trying to fall in love with the ZM62 but the sound doesn't give me confidence in my own smashes when compared to the BG66UM. Is that the case with everyone? I play with an apacs vh1800 at 24lbs.
Bg 80 / bg 80 power makes that big boom sound that I really enjoy , bg 66 seems more high pitched then bg 66 ultimax
With NBG 95 u can produce a loud mid-high pitched metallic boom. If u can hit really hard u can even get a metallic thunder sound. BG80 does give a solid bang. Rackets do make a big difference too though. The best sounding frame I used so far was my NS9000 Type S.
BG66 is a high pitched metallic boom sound, but seriously 25 lbs on it and I smashed and broke it... On two mains near the top, same thing happened with BG 80????.. Except bg 80 lasted longer, and bg66 didn't last a day.
