I've been advised by a partner who I had an Intra-Mural League match at our Uni with last week that the nylon synthetic shuttles I have are "too fast" and he says that I should switch to feather shuttles, but the thing is I have only used feather shuttles once and thought I didn't play very well with them. I bought a pack of 3 Carlton T800 Blue Premium Nylon Shuttlecocks at JJB Sports and I know that feather shuttles in this country can cost a lot of mkoney. Can somebody recommend to be a cheap pack of feather shuttlecocks that will be suitable for my standard -I am a beginner, who at the moment plays more for recreation and to compete ?
I suggest checking out www.mybadmintonstore.com. The page I linked has a few brands for ~$11 (USD) per individual tube. You can buy 10 tubes to save more, but I would recommend starting with one tube at the medium speed to try out (testing both the brand and how well you play with a certain shuttle speed). Of course, you have to remember that feathers fall apart more quickly than plastics (especially cheaper shuttles, most of the time). So don't throw away your plastic shuttles yet!
In and around Kent, I honestly don't know of any cheap but relatively good feathers :| But with that said, if your gonna continue badminton for a long time in the near future, you might aswell get someone/ buy yourself lots of feathers elsewhere, but in bulk so u save alot of money.
nylon shuttles are indeed fast. mostly, honorable online stores offer cheaper prices than in store. the mybadmintonstore suggestion is good and if you just search the forum, there are many other recommended online stores. if you are just starting out and do not mind fake shuttle, eBay may have some cheap birds. mind, they DO fall apart VERY quickly especially if there is a mishit. Vince is right, if you can gather friends who will all chip in, buying in bulk will save everyone quite a bit of money.
I would recommend yonex AS5 for feather shuttles. because in the long run, better shuttles will actually save you money. For example: If gradeC shuttles die in 3mishits, and gradeA dies in 9mishits, you will need to use 3x gradeC shuttles to compensate for 1 gradeA shuttle, so in the long run, you might be able to save money. do not get the too lousy ones, although it will be cheap, but you guys will not enjoy this beautiful game.
I've been purchasing from this ebay seller I found. So far I really like his quality and price. Might not be the cheapest around but for "goose" feathers I think it's quite reasonable and acceptable. The cheapest price I can get from him is around USD$10 per tube for a order of 25 tubes, the quality is comparable to Yonex AS 15~20 which I use for practice and casual gaming. and USD$14 per tube for their tournament-level shuttlecock, comparable to Yonex AS 30,which I use to play with my trainer. The price was not including S&H, since his store is close enough for me to do local pick-up. You can email him directly, avoid ebay fee, to get the cheapest possible price. His email is chichistore@gmail.com hope this helps
I have used Decathlon's own feathers and they play quite well. I found the 910s (the cheapest ones) had great staying power compared to most other shuttles. A tube of 12 Artengo (decathlon) 910s would cost £7.95 if you could get to a Decathlon but I'm not sure where your nearest one is. A single 910 can endure a set of me and my friend (who are both highly competitive) smashing at each other like there's no tomorrow and still be reasonably playable at the end. For a beginner like you, they should be fine.