A friend of mine called and requested me to get 2 rackets for his 10yr old kid who is going to start badminton coaching class soon. Anyone has any experience/recommendations on what type of racket to get for such scenario? I am interested with the characteristics of the racket than the brand(head heavy, even, headlight, string type and tensions) Thanks in advance.
I would probably suggest something like the karakal MTEC 70 for a full size one (only 70 grams) or the yonex muscle power 2jr racket. http://badminton-market.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_9&products_id=13 http://www.yonex.com/badminton/racquets/muscle_power.html bottom of the page
i say start out with a even mid flex racket. see if there are any MP45'still around. if not, try an Arc7. if looking for a cheaper alternative, try a metallix 2000, 4000.
Yy At 600 I agree with the mid flex. My son @ 9-10 plays with a AT600, 4U G5 with YY BG66 at 20 pound. Its light, enough flex and stable. Do not string higher than 22. Good luck to your friend!
if he is only starting out then there is not much point spending too much money in case he gives up. I would recomend he got an nanospeed 500 until you are sure he will carry on playing. If he has been playing for some time the an arc7 will be the best option
A light (4u) racket would be the best choice; Armortec 500 and Armortec 600 are both excellent options. Also, the most important thing is to start him off correctly. The coach is the most important factor. If he starts off learning bad techniques or habits, it will be very difficult to correct.
Anyone who gave the advice to buy a light racket for a starting kid might be barking up the wrong tree. Although intuitively a light racket would seem to be easier for a kid just because they're smaller and don't have a lot of power...this is a misconception. The racket, regardless of price or brand, should be medium-stiff to medium-flex, and middle balance, and medium weight. Heavier rackets are much better for learning correct arc and swing, and also prevent bad wristy habits from popping up. All the better to make sure the form and technique are not turned into bad habits. Cheers!
I don't agree with this, kids just aren't as strong as adults and should use a racket sized for them. In most sports there is equipment specifically for kids to use that is sized and weighted in proportion to their size and strength and they can grow to use full sized rackets and weight as they grow taller and stronger. Your comment about bad wristy habits may make sense for a kid with the strength of an adult using a light racket but how is a 10 year old, who is 1/4 as strong as an adult going to learn bad wristy habits from a racket that is 3/4 as heavy? I'd say they'd learn worse habits in trying to deal with a heavy racket which they just aren't strong enough to swing properly.
druss - I understand your approach and skepticism regarding using a full sized racket for youth, but one must keep in mind that we're not asking the kids to use a tennis racket, or anything of a drastic change. I feel that the -10g discrepancy that we're speaking of between a 4u or 5u racket vs a 3u racket is not enough to injure children. if anything, overextending of the wrist with an overzealous wrist snapping would be more of an issue. One might also be underestimating the strength of a 11 year old child. I remember playing in my middle school gym class as an 11 year old with some of their horrible super heavy steel rackets, and using horrible technique as it is, and even that didn't hurt me. When I started training a year later with a regular racket (a Cab20 - still considered heavy by professional racket standards), there was no issues with weight.
I'm not underestimating the strength of kids, but don't tell me you think an 11 year old is as strong as a 20 year old. You can find kids rackets at under 70 grams which in comparison to a 85 to 90 gram 3U racket is 15 to 20 grams not 10. I also never said the kids would injure themselves, just that the relationship between strength and weight of racket would be completely different between an adult and a kid. I would not expect a kid to use a full size bowling ball, tennis racket, hockey stick... etc. so I would not get them to use a full size racket regardless of the weight. This is also my experience as a father and how I plan on teaching my own kids. To each their own. I'm saying that relatively speaking, we should be training them to strength and size of racket that they would have when an adult.
I would go for something a) light, b) head heavy, and c) relatively flexible (and d) cheap) because new starters need as much help generating power as possible, and rackets fitting the above will give them confidence in the early stages. As for a specific racket, I would definitely go for a low/mid-range Armortec (100, 250, 300, 500, or 600 - the 500 and 600, especially if your budget will go that far, but you could get a matched pair of 250s for that money). I can't really give a competing brand because I only ever see top-shelf stuff these days at the club.
Kids these days ... Not allowed to play outside, allergic to everything, lightweight rackets I doubt any of todays top players started with 4U/5U rackets Even that MP2 Junior is a 2U
