I've been playing for 4 years now, and I played all 4 years of high school, but the whole time i've been playing with plastic birds. Now that i'm in college and playing in the club at college, they all use feather birds like everyone should be, but I'm not very comfortable yet with playing with feathers yet. I feel like my shots are extremely week and my smashes are just drives. How can i start getting used to feather birds? I know that i should just play with feathers from now on but are there some key differences that i should keep in mind when playing with feather birds and how they fly? thanks! i feel like a total noob asking this ><.
1-Feather shuttles upon contact, move at a higher velocity, but slow down or decelerate much faster than nylon shuttles do. This can mess up your timing. 2-Recognizing a shuttle that is too fast or too slow(testing it), and adjusting the feathers to fix it. 3-Feather birds spin a lot faster, making slices even deadlier.
The general rule of thumb, is that feather will move faster than a plastic shuttle on a clean hit. With the exception being if you used a fast speed plastic shuttle then a slow speed feather. One problem I encountered when moving onto feathers was control of the shuttle, and serving. This will simply come down to sheer practice, try saving up some used feathers (because they're bloodey expensive now!!) and then serving or playing net drops with them just to get used to the feel of it. One positive of using feathers is lifting from a tight net drop, I don't know the physics of it, but I think it's something along the lines of the height of the lift making it deeper, as apposed to plastic shuttles, which when lifted from a tight spinning net shot just drop miserably in mid court.
Feathers move faster than nylons do when you hit them. This is because the feathers will flex inwards. They slow down faster than nylons, because they flex out and have a wider cone. Feathers also spin more.
With more spin you should be very wary of the angle on your slice. It will provide a more downwards angle but it will also be slightly wider. Make sure you hit the shuttle as early as possible or it won't even go over the net.
How long does it take to get to the a similer standard with feathers? And also is it ok to play often with both?
I play quite a lot with both, about 2 times a week with plastic and about 5 with feathers including matches. It really doesn't take long to adapt as long as you can recognize that the pace is much higher with feathers and that the speeds vary a lot more with different brands of feathers. Make sure you have a good warm up before a match to get used to the feel.
Plastic - Due to the nature of the shuttle, a player who has much lower level than you can hit the shuttle just as hard, just as fast, and just as far as you can. Giving an opportunity for the weaker player to win. Feather - Due to the nature of the shuttle, a player who has much lower level than you cannot hit the shuttle as hard, as fast, or as far as you can. Lowering the opportunity for the weaker player to win. I hate it when a player who has horrible technique, and shouldn't be able to save many shots due to it, beat me because the plastic shuttle fly farther and faster.
I hate it when people blame a loss on equipment, this is completly un-true. The main difference bettween feathers and shuttles I have already posted... Feathers initially travel faster, but decelerate faster than a plastic shuttle. The next time you lose to a player, it was because you got beat, and had nothing to do with the equipment. A better player will always beat a weaker opponent, if not then the better player is not actually better.
Maybe if you thought about my idea before you replied, you would understand that you are horribly wrong. I FREQUENTLY and CONSISTENTLY beat this player who has bad rearcourt power and technique. He cannot clear baseline to baseline. I catch on quickly and exploit this weakness. We were playing with feather. ALL OF A SUDDEN, when we change to plastic, guess what happens? Due to the nature of the plastic birdie, it requires less technique and power to clear. Suddenly, his horrible rearcourt technique did not matter anymore. He cleared it baseline to baseline effortlessly. I cannot exploit a weakness that he should have. I lose not due to a lack of skills.
This is a complete ignorant comment. If you rely on a single weakness to win, obviously your technique is not that great either. You might have using the wrong speeded nylons for your region.
What are you talking about. I cannot exploit a weakness due to the fact that HIS WEAKNESS IS GONE when using a plastic birdie. We all know it is much MUCH easier to blindly whack at a plastic birdie and perform an average clear. With the feather, it is much much harder. My opponent does not have a good clear, therefore I clear it to him, forcing a weak replies. When he uses plastic birdie, which is basically like training wheels on bikes, he loses this weakness. I don't know about you, but your probably one of those people who loves plastic birdies. The logic behind my statement can be comprehended by anybody that has at least half a brain. People like you are disillusion. You cannot deduce that I have horrible technique just because I relied on a single weakness. Your reply sounds completely ignorant and foolish. Even based on your username, chewablemorphin, I question the character of you. I also question your brain cognition. You sound like a stubborn idiot.
But surely baseline to baseline is only one aspect of badminton? If he can now do this and beats you he must be stronger in several other areas of the court?
Very good point. Now a reply like this is intelligent. I will happily defend my position. Again good point, a baseline to baseline clear is only one aspect, however, an extremely important aspect. For example with the feather shuttle when I attack his backhand, he can only do two shots with his bad footwork. A weak around the head clear, giving me ample time to smash and win. Or he may do a backhand drop, easily anticipated as he turns around. He then must protect his backhand, MUCH harder. Giving me opportunity to fake a flick there and drop, or clear to the forehand instead. HOWEVER. If we were instead playing with a plastic shuttle, look what happens. He has the same bad technique and footwork, but then now, his late around the head clear is no longer weak. It can travel all the way to my baseline. Giving him much more time to recover, giving me much less opportunity to catch him out of position. When that happens. I lose the chances to anticipate his shots. He can now produce MANY different shots as oppose to a feather shuttle. Holding the shuttle at the net and flicking it becomes much less effective. He can still hit a good shot while being late to the back. He can now confidently cover the court. These truths can apply to ANYONE with an average technique. This can apply to ANY player whose technique may allow them to clear baseline to baseline with a plastic, but NOT feather. The truth and FACT is, plastic are much easier to travel the distance, while feather is much more difficult. Having just one weak point in badminton can lead to a huge advantage and open up a huge area for attacking by your opponent. It seems to me some people in this thread like chewablemorphin doesn't understand that.
All I see is a person who is blaming equipment for a loss. A person with 1/16th of a brain can comprehend this. If you rely on a single weakness, clearly there are holes in your game you can work on. How about using another strategy? What does chewablemorphin imply to you? I wanted to change it to "Seal Clubber" but I don't know how
I can see where you're coming from, this guy seems angry that he lost to a player he sees as "inferior" and is looking for something to blame it on. OK, plastic shuttles are generally awful (I still haven't got round to trying the Mavis 2000 yet) but I'm sure they aren't the only reason for his loss - what was the score? chewablemorphin, I think you should leave it at that post. If BrioCloud wants help on how to beat these "inferior" players, they can start a new thread in the Techniques/training forum. As for changing your user name, see this thread. Now, can we get this thread heading back towards being on topic instead of a sort-of-on-topic-argument-thing?
I wouldn't call them terrible, a good plastic shuttle can be just as enjoyable as a good feather shuttle. They are more durable than a feather shuttle, and as long as you don't play with the cone, will keep a consistant flight path. It is different than feathers, I've pointed out the reasons earlier. I would not discriminate one from the other, I've played with both and enjoy both.