Acceptable synthetic shuttles?

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by Dimo, Feb 25, 2002.

  1. Dimo

    Dimo Guest

    I feel that badminton would benefit from employing a standard type of synthetic shuttle that everyone is (relatively) content with. I wonder if this is possible? Most other sports don't have to rely on "consumables" during play.

    Also, the variation in shuttle type, speed, storage and the range of temperatures in halls (some warm, some nearly freezing) means you never quite know what to expect when you begin warming up. I have played matches in a cold hall with poor shuttles, making clears under pressure a problem. Other times I turn up and the hall is warm and the shuttles are really flying! OK so if you're lucky you may have a choice of speeds, and you can also tip them, but if badminton is to move forward wouldn't a more permanent, durable shuttle be a good idea?
     
  2. Christian

    Christian Guest

    NO SUCH THING AS Acceptable synthetic shuttles?

    Excuse the head-line, but I still have not seen any acceptable synthetic shuttle..

    and in my club, weI've tried everything that we have been able to locate on the Danish market.. we even tried importing some samples.. because it seemed we could save quite a bit of money...

    At the end of the day - the synthetic shuttles just were not good enough... and some of them were even more expensive in use than the inexpensive "birdie" which we currently use for some of the teams.. .

    So now were using synthetic shuttles for "beginner kids"... There it seemed to be both the most cost efficient thing to do and it did not seem to affect the game...

    Everybody else plays with nature's own materials...
     
  3. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    i think there are more shuttle variation of the feather kind
     
  4. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    Remember when Prince tried to make the adjustable, repairable feather shuttle? It used a plastic cage, and the cork was designed that feathers can be individually removed and replaced. There was also a method to twist the cage making the shuttle faster or slower for the gym tempurature. Each tube of shuttles included a dozen or more replacement feathers, and each shuttle required a plastic tab to be inserted near the head in order to lock the cage to prevent changing of speed.

    This shuttle cost twice the normal price of a premium grade shuttle. Feathers still broke, the cage was susceptible to damage, replacing feathers often made the shuttle unstable, since the other feathers were worn evenly. The locking pin sometimes flew out when the shuttle was smashed hard.

    It sounded like a great idea at the time. It wound up being not much more durable than a standard feather, hassle of replacing feathers, and the cost were the primary reasons for killing this product.
     
  5. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    I find the opposite results. I use yonex mavis 300 and 350 exclusively which i guess majority nylon players use also. Since they are injection molded, i find each nylon shuttle very consistent right of the tube which I can't say that to feather shuttles. Each feather shuttle (FS) is hand made from geese/duck. Considering the number of different farms, breed of geese and ducks, and manual laborers, i can safely say no two FS are identical. I also find nylon shuttle degrade slower than FS and therefore i can get more consistent shots per game than a fast degrading FS. Sure, if i can get free unlimited FS between rallies like the pros, FS playing can be very consistent between rallies too. Let say i hit more tape and lines with nylon than FS. That's my plug on nylon shuttle. Sure, FS has its advantage but in term consistency, i find nylon has an edge over FS in this regard.
     
  6. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    There is always going to be slight differences between feathers in a tube (since the feathers would have come from different birds).

    Even though plastics are more consistent (i.e. the manufacturing process for a single batch do tend to produce more similar shuttles), there are a lot of things that you can't do with plastics (e.g. spin/tumble the shuttle) and you also have the problem with the nylon skirt collapsing in mid flight resulting in a faster flight or unpredictable flight.

    I personally prefer feather as I find them to be more "true" given the right speed for the current environment. Until the IBF mandate plastics as the standard for all tournaments, you are going to have feathers as THE preferred choice.
     
  7. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Indeed not

    I agree. It just amazes me that we're past the year 2000 and we haven't been able to invent an acceptable synthetic badminton shuttle...
     
  8. Dimo

    Dimo Guest

    Yes, I completely agree with feathers being the preferred choice. I personally don'y like nylon shuttles at all.

    Maybe the IBF should commission NASA with the task of developiong something 'space age' - except the price would be astronomical. Ha ha!
     
  9. Christian

    Christian Guest

    I see your point, but there are still several performance issues.

    One example is that I still have not found a synthetic shuttle which reacts "correctly" when I "cut" the shuttle on the "feather" (for instance in a drop from the baseline or at the net).

    It is impossible for the strings to get the right "resistance" from the synthetic material in the short interval where the two touch.
     
  10. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    Nylon shuttle - spinoff from feather

    There is another alternative and that is for the IBF to create a spin-off of rules specifically for nylon shuttles. This is similar to different sports (ie. short-track vs long track skating, beach volleyball vs indoor volleyball, etc). Disciplines are different for nylon versus feather, there are limits to what nylon can currently perform, but games are still competitive regardless. No matter how close nylon could get to feather shuttles, they will constantly be compared, so why not create a spinoff group for nylon competition.
     
  11. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    Re: Nylon shuttle - spinoff from feather

    bottomline, feather and nylon shuttles (NS) each have their own playing characteristic, it is not being one better than the other, each have their strengths and weaknesses. People keep comparing NS to FS because the game of badminton was originated using FS so the FS has its root and history. As in life, things that are expensive generally feel better, don't you agree? :p

    I think the NS can be made better but i think yonex, hiqua, victor, carlton, etc purposely kept the NS subpar so to maintain strong FS demand, where more $ can be made.
     
  12. Brett

    Brett Regular Member

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    Re: Nylon shuttle - spinoff from feather

    The differences between nylon and feather shuttles are not that great that it fundamentally alters the game and therefore creates a "new" sport. You don't have two ski events on an identical course, one with skis below 150cm in length, the other for skis longer than 150cm, so why should there be separate events for nylon and for feather shuttle badminton? The ski analogy is closer than the speed skating (very different strategies and styles of skating on different length tracks) or volleyball (two players vs. six) analogies.
     
  13. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    The Dark Side

    In essence an evil badminton cartel? What a compelling thought!

    I am afraid the truth is less exciting though. I think it doesn't exist because it simply can't be done (yet anyway)...
     
  14. UkPlayer

    UkPlayer Regular Member

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    Re: The Dark Side

    That makes more sense. If it could be done and the big companies weren't doing it then I'm sure a smaller companny would have moved in and claimed the territory. But I'm still surprised there isn't a decent long lasting shuttle in this day and age. Whether nylon, feather or titanium, I don't care, but badminton is far too expensive if you want to train properly.
     
  15. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    Re: The Dark Side

    Titanium shuttles? Hmmmm... Long lasting, and deadly!

    But I think a conspiracy theory is not too far fetched. I seem to remember a Carlton invention for a nylon shuttle that had a small air sac inserted in the cage. Apparently (never actually saw or played with it) the air sac gave the nylon shuttle durability and was almost identical to a feather shuttle, with less cost to manufacture. This was patented by Carlton, but never saw this in production.
     
  16. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    Re: The Dark Side

    yeah, my last statement regarding FS market is just a postulation but I do think in past, only a few companies were selling FS and they do have more influence on prices. Nowadays, a lot more brands and sellers are available and price fixing is less obvious. In real $ term, FS cost less now than before.
     
  17. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    Re: The Dark Side

    yes, i had read and was waiting for that NS to show up too but somehow it got stopped cold. The review was pretty good too.
     
  18. shuttlejunkie

    shuttlejunkie Regular Member

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    Re: The Dark Side

    I think there are fundamental problems with synthetic shuttles that cannot be overcome. Principally rigidity. As soon as it is struck the thing deforms and takes all the"snap" out of the shot. Also the tragectory is totally different. My club has a junior section and we would not let them use synthetic. OK they're lucky because out of the several hundred dozen shuttles per season the senior club gets through we have enough decent used feathers for them to practice with. They would have to learn different hitting techniques. It is not easy to play proper wrist shots with synthetics. If you assume the juniors progress to a certain level you have to teach technique all over again when they start playing tournaments with feathers. Apart from that feathers are such great looking objects it sometines seem a shame to hit and damage them!
     
  19. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    Re: The Dark Side

    A brand new feather shuttle out of a brand new tube is quite beautiful. The sharp edges, the whiteness of the feathers, the smell of the cork and leather. The sound it makes coming off a tight strings. Then the inevitable happens... Oh, well there's another 11 of them in the tube.
     
  20. trapped-never

    trapped-never Regular Member

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    It should not be impossible

    I believe that synthetic shuttle with better characteristics can be developed and produced. The key might be to use two different materials in the shuttle skirt. Now I will start to move on thin ice but anyway: how about 12 light and flexible metalic stripes embedded in nylon in positions of quills?

    I think that IBF should offer a grant for development of cheap and more feather like synthetic shuttle. I am positive that good solution would help badminton to grow globaly.
     

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