Hello everybody! I need a badminton racket recomendation. I'm 27 and not a proffesional player, nor intend to become one. I don't know my level of advancment, know nothing about badminton techniques and not very interested in competetive badminton matches, tournaments, etc. I mostly play recreationally(back yard badminton), but I don't suck at it either. I went to play to the local badminton club, but everyone there have good rackets that hit hard and my $4.99 Spalding racket that I bought in the big box sport store just won't cut it there. It just doesn't have enough power to hit hard enough. And I'm myself not a very powerfull person to make up for my racket shortcomings. So what would you guys say? What racket should i get? I want something light with decent power. My budget is up to $200, preferably about $120-150. Too bad there are no rackets sold in the area where I live so I could go and see for myself. Thus I will have to buy online. Please give the makes and models of rackets and also best place to buy. Thanks a Lot. I could really use an advice.
http://www.mybadmintonstore.com or any other site u prefer. u can just get anything u want. i suggest you don't get anything above $100 for now because you have not mastered the basic techniques enough. if you are just gonna play in your backyard forever, then stick to your spalding. if you want to improve, get some coaching or find some good friends that are willing to teach you.
yea, I agree. You can get a very good racket at 70$, and continue to get better. Remember, Its 95% skill and only 5% racket. Although IT will defintly help you improve, You can see that every winner, has better technique, not a better racket. A better racket only give you a very slight edge over someone. Get a decent racket, and take lessons instead. A person that has taken lessons with a 20$, can definlty pwn a guy with no lessons with a 300$ racket.
maybe, just borrow from friends' rackets for few strokes and check it out whether it is suitable for your type of play or not...
First, you can ask around the club to see how they get their equipment. There might be a badminton pro shop within reasonable driving distance. Sometimes, the gym owners also carry lines of badminton products. If they don't, then try to borrow and demo other members racket, and see what kinda spec (i.e. stiffness, balance, grip size, etc) you are comfortable with. If you are not into competitive games, I think $120-150 might be way too much to invest. Any well made all graphite rackets with say lower 20's lbs of tension should be good enough to what you need, and you can lower your budget to US$60-80 range. No need to go for Yonex, as you should be able to find a good deal in the non-Yonex brands.
1) If you let us know what city you live in, some one might be able to help you in direct you to good place to buy. 2) As LB suggest, any newer racquet higher than $50 racnge will be better than the Spalding racquet you are using. 3) Racquet is a smaller portion of the game. Your hard work, experience and training are more important than impresive $200 racquet you just pay for.
Besides purchase a brand new racket, if you found any decent conditioned 2nd hand rackets that your local club members willing to sell, it's still a good start, compare to the $5 rackets. Of course, you need to demo it, and make sure it feels comfortable, before any purchase.
First off thank you everybody for your answers. I live in Milwaukee, WI. The reason I looking for a new racket is because I went and played in the local club and my cheap racket is really not working there. I had to borrow an old spare racket from other player(it was black night racket, don't know the model but It wasn't that much better than my piece of junk). If i were to play in backyard forever I wouldn't bother, but I do intend to go and play in the club, thus I need better rocket. I just want to buy something with more power so I need to get get basic clues for names and models please. I also don't want impose on people in the club because I don't know them all that well and don't want to be a bother you know Thanks!
Well of course i realise that it's not about rocket, but a player. Still. You see they use feather shuttlecocks that's a lot lighter than plastick ones I'm used to. So my cheap racket doesn't have enough power to hit even medium distance. I have to hit real hard to get the birdie to other player. I wastes so much energy. That's the reason I'm looking for something better, with more power. As for my skills I don't think they are that bad compared to other players. I played with one of them and held up pretty good. I've been playing this game since I was little.
i could pick up any old steel racket and hit it from one end to the other i wouldn't spend more then 70$ on a new racket because it will be a waist of money, work on technique and yes spend some money on a coach or because you know everyone at your club ask them to help you out. A more powerful racket will not help you in this case because it takes technique to use the power from the racket. good luck and have fun!
I really doubt you will be able to play real well with $5 racket. Technically it's possible but it's a total disaster. More powerfull racket will help for sure. The one I borrowed wasn't perfect but was still a big improvement. I don't even know what the tension is on my cheap Spalding racket. If racket isn't so important, then why everybody not playing with cheap steel rackets? Funny example: If you put Michael Schumacher in Geo Metro he won't be able to do much, regardless of his skills that car won't take him that far. But thanks for advice anyway, I got some usefull tips about price range.
TKL, It is most likely your technique because you should be able to hit full distance with both feather and plastic with a decent amount power regardless what racket you are using.
FYI, the $5 racquet uses nylon fishing line. The tension is most likly less than 15lb. Yes, racquet matter. However, badminton is a sport dominated by skill and experience, not machine. Example is funny but not a good fit. Yes, a good racquet that fit you will give you that initial big leap from the cheapo racquet. That is why many of us suggest you to demo a racquet, find your style, get to know a few good friends. In the mean time, any $50 all graphite racquet will do. A best thing can happen is one of the player in your club has an old racquet for sale and you try it out and find out it is a good fit for you. If not, try out old racquet from other player can tell you what does not fit you and after a few tries, you will know what you need. Good luck.
I'm able to hit it full distance with my racket. But after while it gets pretty tiring very quickly. See I have to apply extra amount of force, while better racket with proper tension would reduce my problems. As for technique I know you have to hit with the tip of the racket for extra power, still hard with cheap recreatinonal racket.
Yup, you are correct, you have to put like extra momentum to get it to go. I used to use the old Cab 8 when I was learning badminton for the first time. Initially when I read your post, the wording, gave some of us an impression that it sounded like it was your technique and power.
If you want to become a regular, you need to get to know ppl, regardless you need help or simply want to enjoy the games. Don't be shy. Regarding the rackets, I agree that any well made all graphite racket with reasonable tension (20lb or a bit more) should be good enough, compare to what you currently using. If you don't want to demo rackets from locals, then just go with an even balanced US$50-70 (surely no point to be over $100) all graphite racket should be a safe choice.
Ok here it goes! Which one of these rackets, should I pick? Just like you guys said up to $70. So I gathered all the rackets in this price range from badminton warehouse using their racket selection guide. If anybody had any experience with any of these rackets please give some feedback. Thank You! So what you fellas have to say about these bad boys(don't be shy: Hobbyist or Institutional: Carlton C500 $29.95 VictorAL3300 $24.95 Carlton C300 Powerblade $19.95 ProKennex Iso Dynamic 300 $19.95 Beginner to Intermediate: Qiangli 5501 $27.95 The Carlton Powerblade C700 $39.95 Intermediate to Advanced: Carlton Powerblade Titanium $64.95 Yonex Muscle Power 21 $74.95 Wilson Dynasmash 500 $59.95 Wilson V8 $49.95 ProKennex Ti 898 $64.95 ProKennex TriFlex 6666 $79.95 ProKennex Titanium Pro 727 $49.95 ProKennex Iso Dynamic 400 $44.95 Advanced to Professional: Qiangli BG603 Titanium $59.95 Carlton Powerblade Carbon TT $69.95 Qiangli 5543 Titanium $49.95 Qiangli BG605 Titanium $54.95 Qiangli BG602 Titanium $54.95
I haven't played with any of those, but IMO, if you want to save the most $$$, get the cheapest one that has all-graphite carbon construction (the lighter stuff instead of steel/aluminium). Make sure both the shaft and the frame(aka head) are made of graphite carbon, not just 1 of them. Maybe pitch in a few more bucks if you feel you want more features and stuff, or if you're looking to use this upcoming racquet for some time (longer than 2 years), . But personally, until you know the game well competitively and have learned some nice moves, any light graphite racquet that doesn't have quality issues will do fine. Might want to check with flexibility or headlight/headheavyness with each racquet to see what your playing style is that matches them. Not sure about quality regarding the different brands, best to check with someone else.
Thanks man. I'm not that rich so yeah I want to save some money, but I don't wanna buy some cheap crap either, so later on I will still have to buy something better anyway. It happened to me before P.S. I'm not really sure but something tell me I should steer clear from Qiangli. Nothing with such name could be good,lol.
Maybe a personal experience can help in your decision, TKL2300. I myself am proud of my RSL Millenium Attack Ti 3200 racket. It was my "badminton passion racket" - days where I got hooked in the game and wanted to beat those veterans that wipe you off when you're just a beginner! It almost have the same standards as of the "high end" rackets of all known brands. Best thing about it was it's durability that lasted for three years of maybe 200 playing times and approximately 7% number of that in clashing/hitting incidents with minimal or no damage. Bought it with a price that could make you buy 2 more as reserve, in other words - affordable! It's light, have an ISO head as the trend of current/modern rackets, stiff shaft that gives that power in smashes and a 28lbs max. string tension - vital in your control preferences. Just maybe this racket will suit you at present. Good luck in your endeavor!
