Hello. I am looking to buy some feather shuttles but I don't want to spend a whole lot. My current game is recreational yet competitive. Here is a small list of lesser known brands that I've NOT played with and would like to try since they are cheap. Out of the four brands listed, which would you grade as the best of the lot? - KING Shuttle 707 - SOSAN Red - SOSAN Blue - BONNY Pidgeon P.S. I believe these are all "training grade" shuttles and are of LOW quality...but I really don't want to spend a lot at this time. I assume that they all probably suck, so what other brand would you recommend as best BANG for the buck? Durability aside, is a cheaper feather better than a good plastic/nylon shuttle? TIA
I have used King feather birds before, in varying grades. The practice grade birds, I must tell you, are terrible. They don't fly particularly well, even right out of the tube, and freshly steamed. The durability for this class of bird is also quite low. It would not even last half a dozen rallies. After getting discarded, these birds would not even be suitable for practising. I would not recommend getting "practice" quality birds. In Canada, the cheapest useable bird i've used cost about 14$/dozen. That was for the Holy brand. Any lower, and you might be sacrificing durability to such a degree that the net cost would be higher.
According to ibuysports.com, King Shuttle 707 is a tournament grade shuttle. I have played with them because friends had bought them and used them in our games. Personally, I will not buy them because they are not worth the money; do not even last a game and playable only for a couple of points. My suggestion is if you do not play in a tournament that uses feather, might as well use the nylon shuttles. But if you are curious on playing feather shuttles, might want to ask your group to chip in for a tube of quality feathers. Cheers.
I agree, using low grade feather shuttles is the most expensive way playing badminton. If you don't want to spend much on shuttles, try to use top grade nylon shuttles instead. Example: As I previously mentioned before, I need to use 3 crappy grade shuttle for a game while I only need 1-2 of a good grade shuttle for a game. However, the cost of the crappy grade shuttle is $10 while a good grade shuttle is $15. So, aftermath is: 1 tube of crappy grade shuttles lasts me 4 games, each game costs $2.5. 1 tube of good grade shuttles lasts me 8 games, each game costs less than $2
Top quality shuttles can be reused as practice shuttles, where as practice grade shuttles go direct to the waste bin. You actually pay a good price for better quality shuttles. Just remember to salvage them after games.
I honestly Don't think King shuttle are that bad ... I've used 505 and 707 ... i forget the speeds but one was super slow but the other was just the right speed without clipping ... They aren't as good as Victor which I believe are the best i've played with. Black Knight are the worst Brand Name shuttles I've ever used you may want to look into SeaLion ... We've bought 2 boxes of them and have been using them for training and games for over a year, they seem to be really good quality for the price ($17 a tube if bought in bulk vs 20-$22 a tube for victor), the only downside is that they are a little on the fast side and almost always have to be clipped. If you steam them they are sometimes more durable than the best Victor.
problem is the mid to lower ends feather shuttles grades are usually quite inconsistent with quality. It can varies from batch to batch
There are plenty of other intermediate level shuttles. Victor Gold, Victor Tourney, Tactic Green, Flexpro, Hi-Qua Purple, RSL, Phoenix Shuttles Silver, etc.....try google to search for these name brands. All of them vary in the price range of $10-$15.00
Added to the list will be Carlton AG9.9 Bought it for S$22 per tube, Flight is good for the first few stokes. It deforms after the 1st smash and the feathers begins to break off. They are so called tournament grade shuttle, but i find it worst than the yonex AS4. It's the worst S$20++ shuttles i've came across.
Well,i would think u should just us a good plastic shuttle,which last much longer then a feather bird. and is better then cheap birds...but....i dunno o.o
Everyone should be aware with the bird flu, there is a feather shortage. Don't be too picky, because soon there may be no more feather shuttles, everyone has to play with plastic shuttles. Check out this website for reasonable shuttle prices. For $12-14.00 shuttles, check out www.e-Badmintonusa.com.
Have you tried the new ones they just came out. I played with them at the toronto jr. open and they were comparible to any yonex shuttle i have played with
