A badminton equipment guide

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by kwun, Aug 27, 2004.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    we are seeing more and more questions asking for advice on rackets. considering all the rackets and all the opinions out there, i wonder if it is possible for us to come up with a guide to what racket to purchase.

    i envision the guide will have 2 or 3 recommended rackets for each level of play. beginner / intermediate / advanced.

    the price will increase with level of play.

    it doesn't need to be specific to a certain brand, but as the guide will be read by badminton players all over the world, it is important that we dont' pick rackets that is only available in a small number of markets.

    the guide will be updated every year.

    what do you guys think?
     
  2. bluejeff

    bluejeff Regular Member

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    I think it's a good idea :)

    However, many people in here just never read nor search, so hopefully people would read the posts before they start asking.
     
  3. 604badder

    604badder Member

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    So the guide will solve this exact problem. Instead of trying to alter the natural behaviour of the posters (ask first, search later), this guide will give them a point of entry into their racquet searching process. Afterall the motivation for asking first is to see if they can get a quick answer with minimal effort. If nothing comes of that process, then more energy needs to be spent searching.

    P.S. I fully recognize that is not the generally accepted practice on a large BB, but it is very understandable behaviour.

    Kwun I agree fully with the guide. I am happy to volunteer to write a section once the outline and information needed in each are defined.
     
  4. Dill

    Dill Regular Member

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    Well it's a difficult one Kwun,

    there is always the reviews section as well, maybe a link?
     
  5. 604badder

    604badder Member

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    I think there is also the matter of what are the specs of the racquet one looks for. For a newbie, this is not trivial. We here all know about balance points, what the "U" means, the effect of head shape, etc, but a new player likely won't. The guide will be a good introduction I believe.



     
  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i agree with both.

    i can see the guide serving a few purposes.

    many asked first because there aren't any information readily available. a search is ok, but a guide listed in the front page is even more convenient and it will be information that they can get without asking. it is a much more direct way to get the info one needs.

    there is also the review section as Dill suggested, but the information is too overwhelming even for me sometimes. it is hard to go through 200+ reviews for the MP100 for example!

    a distilled guide thus will let equipment seeker reach their solution much faster. that is minimal effort.

    it is true that there will still be questions posted, hopefully they will be from a more informed seeker with the help of the guide or the number of them will be reduced...

    to be honest, i think the guide will be a great contribution to the badminton community and it will definitely help out badminton players at all level.
     
  7. Dill

    Dill Regular Member

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    I don't disagree but it will be a difficult thing to initiate, I thought that was what the reviews section was for. Anyhow the two will need to be linked for ultimate feedback and efficiency.
     
  8. vienly

    vienly Regular Member

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    i think every racquet should have an review for it as even when using the search option, not much information appears for a certain racquet, just a thought
     
  9. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i see the guide more as a recommendation of specific models than a general introduction to a badminton racket. i have started compiling the general information and will be writing separate articles on them. you can see i wrote on for the serial number already.

    any volunteer writers are welcomed. spare the readers from my horrible English, please!
     
  10. Dill

    Dill Regular Member

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    You need to go to the actual reviews section of the site and I think that is where the difficulty is, Kwun's idea would simplify the process with having a link on the main page and hopefully the collumn to the left with simplistic entry level info with perhaps a link in to the reviews section.
     
  11. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    that's a valid goal to aim for. but practically not very simple to achieve! it will be a monumental effort to be able to provide a review for each type of rackets. as you can see, many models in the review section have 0 reviews.
     
  12. Dill

    Dill Regular Member

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    You need to find people who have used the different rackets you are going to be talking about.

    If I can lend a hand I surely will.
     
  13. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i agree with the link to the review section in case the reader wants to do further research into their purchase.
     
  14. vienly

    vienly Regular Member

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    a agree with kwun, "many models in the review section have 0 reviews"
     
  15. BoboTheBadder

    BoboTheBadder Regular Member

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    How about one of those survey things that they have online, where people can answer based on their preferences and then the search engine spits out 3 rackets that are good matches? And you can define the terms for people below, like the benefits of oval vs. iso, stiff vs. flex, etc.
     
  16. bluejeff

    bluejeff Regular Member

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    lol, that sounds like a lot of work :p
     
  17. BoboTheBadder

    BoboTheBadder Regular Member

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    Yeah it would. You'd have to write out the benefits of all the different types of rackets, and maybe even strings if you wanna go that far. Then you'd have to sort rackets out by their types, i.e.

    Singles/doubles/both
    Beginner/Int./Advanced/whatever else
    Oval/Iso/Don't care
    Very Stiff/Stiff/blah blah blah
    Shaft Length
    Overall racket length
    Brand names
    Price
    Balance Point
    Weight
    Grip size
    etc you get the idea

    Then a search engine has to be coded to sort these out depending on what the person who's looking for the racket answers. Maybe link them to the reviews (except the problem with the reviews is some of the reviews aren't very helpful). The only benefit is that after it's coded it'll be easy to just add new rackets to it on a yearly basis, and the definitions don't need to be updated since there's only so much stuff you can ask about a racket. Plus it would be a great tool for newbies to use instead of them having to post and ask about what racket they should get all the time. I mean they still can for clarity purposes but at least it'll narrow down what rackets they should buy for their style.
     
  18. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    I support Kwun's idea. Even though, this task might not be very easy, but with all the experts here, we should be able to get it done. Of course, this guide might not be perfect for everyone, but at least, we can avoid a lot of repeated questions. Ppl might not really be able to get the final decision by this guide, but it should at least give them hint about what questions they should ask, what features they want to look at, and further narrow down their choices.

    However, just 2-3 recommended models per lvl might not be enough. I think we might need to creat a excel matrix, and each "intersection cell" contains 2-3 models. i.e. instead of racket 1,2,3 for intermedia, we might list racket 1,2,3 for offensive int. and 4,5,6 for defensive int. etc.

    Compare to a lot of ppl here, my experience is very limited. However, if there's a need, i don't mind to share some of my own thoughts with everyone. :)
     
  19. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    i don't see the guide as a comprehensive guide that covers all skill sets and includes all rackets in the market. such a list will not be done before next year's model comes out... ;)

    instead, i am interested in a simpler list, one that we know we can come up with. one that only have a few recommendations so the buyer won't get to overwhelmed by choices. for example, i think 3 rackets for each skill level is a good number. within each level, we list rackets of different styles, say for advanced level, we have a 2U MP99 for the preference of heavier racket, a AT800 for ones who prefers like racket, and a cab20 for the ones who enjoys the classic oval geometry.

    and a similar list for intermediate/beginner.

    and that's it. enough to give the reader some choice, but not too much to overwhelm.

    surely the choices will be somewhat subjective, but that's the nature of choosing a racket. we have to understand there is not definitive choice, this is only a guide.

    one thing that i'd like to add is that, while there are many questions asked on racket choices, there are many more question that are un-asked and un-answered. the guide will help those (potential) badminton players as well!
     
  20. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    i think a survey of basic parameters is good enough. Since my racket measurment table contain unbiased measured data, why not have a poll/survey or table of subjective data for each racket.

    For example: 3U MP100
    (made up data. Dots and dashes are for formating this post only)

    Highstiffness maneuvrability smashing clearing drop net double single etc...
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5 | ....x.............................................x...........x
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | ..............x................x........................x............x
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3 |.............................................x
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2 |
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 |
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    low

    Ave. Score-4.5----3.8-------------4.0-------3.2---4.4----3.2--4----3.5
     

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