Nowadays rackets are available with shafts from the very flexible to the super stiff. But which shaft has better control and generate more power? Some said stiff shaft has excellent control and attacking/smashing but so do those who use flexible shaft rackets.
I think that the flex of the racket does litttle to alter power, probably does in 1 way or another but i think its more of getting used to the racket you use. I have 3 rackets which i alternate, which is the Yonex Ti-10, Ti-3, Ti Pro 60 and Fleet Ti-99. Their shafts are extra stiff, stiff, medium stiff and elastic respectively. Its just a matter of getting used to the racket, in my opinion. I'm going to add a Yang Yang Dragon to my bag soon.
It's all depents on how strong a hitter you are and how you generate power. Wrist players tend to be good at defense, and can flick the shuttle far if they have flexible shafts. But this doesn't work so well with stiff shafts. I play with extra stiff shafts on Ti-10 and Ti-8s, and believe me, it takes a lot of effort to flick to the back of the court with just my wrists. A stiff shaft will help a powerful player who smashes using his whole arm and wants to transfer all that power into the hit. If he uses a flexible shaft, some of that power will be lost in the overflexing of the shaft. As for control, I think it's more a matter of choice. I tend to feel that the stiff shaft gives me for feel, I can sense exactly how hard the face of the racket is hitting the shuttle, so that helps with drops. When I used a flexible shaft like the Swing Power SA, the springy-ness counteracted some of that feel. But I have partners who use the SA and have superb control on drops and smash returns. They feel that the stiff shaft feels 'dead' and is too rigid for them.
I personally find that I can generate powerful smash with stiff shaft (isometric) racket although the feel is, well, stiff. Yet I find seem to find better control and at ease to use a more flexible shaft racket.
Personally, I think it depends on the player, and his/her playing style. However, I tend to like a little more flex in my raquets. Too stiff, it makes me feel like the raquet is heavy and slow. Furthermore, when smashing with more stiff raquets I think my shots tend to be more flat and go out, however with more flex the shots are more downward oriented. bTw I actually flex my Ti-8's shaft regularly because I don't like it stiff. I've compared mine to other Ti-8's seems to be working =b
Typically, I've found that the stiffer shafts give marginally more power & control, but are less tolerant of off-centre/mis-timed hits. I therefore think that shaft stiffness is a trade-off: Too stiff & you'll suffer unforced errors. Too flexible and you won't have the power/precision to hit attacking shots. Finally, I believe 'medium stiff' is between 'medium' & 'stiff', therefore less stiff than 'stiff'.
Absolutely correct, I recently got a Mizuno prototype x1 the racket quality is very good but the only thing it lacked is the stiffness. I was able to generate more power with stiffer shafts than flex shafts.
