My 20 dollar badminton racket that I bought at a local store broke (the wood broke at the end of the grip from swinging the birdie with too much power), so I'm looking for an upgrade: I've been playing for about 2 months, but I'm overall very athletic and can see myself improving very fast. Intermediate level player might be slightly inadequate but I'm sure I'll hit there soon I should state that I've looked around online looking at different rackets and stuff but I'm so clueless and I don't really trust salesmen. I'm looking for an intermediate level racket that will last me a while. Here are some questions I found at a nearby sticky that I thought I should answer that would narrow my search by quite a lot. I need help in both the grip & the racket. my 20 dollar shoes and polo shirts are good enough for now. Thanks for the help in advance. QUESTIONS: If you want a grip, answer these questions: 1. Do you like tacky or smooth grips? Smooth 2. Do you like hard or soft grips? Slightly on the softer 3. Do you know what overgrip is: Nope, what is it? 4. Do you care much about durability or is it all about performance? Durability is very important 5. Do you sweat a lot? Mediocre If you want a racquet: 1. How often do you play, how serious are you? 7~10 hours a week 2. What style of player are you? (Aggressive smasher, net player ...) I seem to be a lot better at the aggressive smasher side (tennis muscles ), but I love playing net, so somewhere in-between? 3. Do you care much about durability or is it all about performance? Again, durability is important, but performance should be there as well. 4. How much money do you want to spend? Around 120 USD, +-10%, for the whole package (racket, grip, etc) This store is near-by me, so I might give it a visit, but any other online US stores that have good prices are welcome: http://www.badmintonalley.com/Yonex_Badminton_Racquets_s/17.htm P.S.: Something that comes in a whole package would be preferred (racket, grip, string, etc.)
If you want to improve and play competitively (means, move around frequently and in fast pace), I think the #1 thing to upgrade is your shoes. Most of shoes (worst, running shoes) do not offer enough grip and support, which can cause very serious injury to your feet, ankle and knee. Regarding racket, I think any well made all graphite racket should be good for now. badmintonalley offers plenty of choices, and I think mid-level ones from $50-$100 range should be good enough.
if you find a local store they usually give overgrips for free. if you'd like a decent all round racket try some of the muscle powers or carbonex's with medium flex. Think the rackets like MP29's won't be too bad for you. Slightly higher market the AT500 would be a decent buy for you.
