I'm wondering if there's an regulation of how long a badminton racket is? If there's not, I'm going to do an experiment. hehe... I'm thinking of investing on a cheap racket after april (since I'm gettin my annual allowance after this semester (I never knew i had this "annual allowance" until today -_-") I'm thinking of getting a cheap/second hand (3U/4U racket) and as an experiment going to saw most of the grip off and play with it. Since the racket's going to be 3U or 4U, hope it wont be too head heavy after most of the grip is sawed off. With a light racket to start off with, I hope the balance point wont be too head heavy and be manuverable. btw badrad! I still gotta talk to u about that racket I supposively was gonna get off of you lik a month ago ^^"
4.2 The frame of the racket shall not exceed 680mm in overall length and 230mm in overall width. however, there is no minimum length - so if you want to play with a nub of a racquet, go right ahead... honestly to make it easier on yourself, why not simply use a table tennis paddle - the length should be short enough? The old racquets are still here...
I think Sigit would have no problem using a ping pong racquet the way he's holding a badminton racquet now!
hehe, well here's my thought. If less weight of the racket means that you have less weight to manuver around. However, the racket head would have to be light(or fairly light) in order for this to work properly. Also, the head cannot be too heavy or too light. Too heavy = hurts wrist when using wristy shots. Too light = no power generated from swings. During doubles I just play with the raacket choked up to the cone anyways, so it will not affect me. The racket will definately not be used for singles. mm, Badrad, I'll be busy til abour April 10th-ish, izit ok that I get it from you then? cuz last time I went to Guilford (was suppose to meet u there unless i rmembered wrong again) you weren't there. (you were busy that day I think) Sorry for the inconvenience.
If you're going to choke up on the grip all the time, you may as well cut off some of the handle if the balance is OK for you. As time goes by and equipment evolves, I think we are going to see more variations in custom racquet design. Stock racquets have to be made to suit the widest range of players for economical reasons.
I think cutting the end off is a bad idea. The advantage of choking the cone is that there is end-weight to counter-balance the head-weight, thereby increasing reaction times.
that's y I will look for a head light and overall light racket do work with. So after the cut the racket wont be EXTREMELY head heavy
If u cut the handle, won't it be too small for ur hand? I mean, choke to the cone and even shaft all the time, surely won't be very comfortable after a while.
of course not the whole thing LB I did some estimates yesterday. The protion that's going to be cut off actually isn't that big, but only a few cms
The weight of the racquet has nothing to do with the balance point. You will need a extremely head light racquet to begin with so that after you removed most of the handle, the balance (hopefully) will either be even or slight head heavy. Don't know why you would even bother since if you play choking up all throughout the game, there shouldn't be any difference if you use a similarily balanced racquet. One thing for sure is that you should able to swing the racquet head a bit faster.
Re: Re: Legal Length Of a Racket Are you sure about that WWC? I think otherwise. When one is choking up the cone, there is significant weight on both sides of the rotation axis. This is especially true for a headlight racquet. The mass at the handle isn't dead; it's movement adds to the power of a racquet. You can verify this very easily by holding the cone while slapping the handle downward.... of course the racquet obviously flies upwards. But having mass closer to the rotational axis, the maxium amount of power than can be transfered by a typical person is lowered, but the efficiency at which your energy is transfered goes up. Here's a rough example: Effort / Energy transfered to bird Cone grip: 10 -- 9 20 -- 16 30 -- 20 40 -- 24 50 -- 26 Handle grip: 10 -- 6 20 -- 11 30 -- 20 40 -- 28 50 -- 38 I'm just using this as an example since I can't be bothered to actually calculate a differnce. My point is that cutting off the end of the handle will reduce power since there is less rotational mass and hence less rotational energy. Since I haven't calculated anything, I may well be wrong though. I'm sure JChen will let us know how it turns out.
Lol... I did not mean cutting the entire handle, either. I seems like to grip all the way at the "butt" of the handle, which let the "bottom" cap being really tightly against my hand. This way, seems it gives me more control. However, I think ppl are different, and if I really need to cut the length of handle, I will try to take 2 cm out of the middle, and glue the end back again. heheheheheh...
Re: Re: Re: Legal Length Of a Racket Yes yes, any suggestions for a racket? perferably a older model (I will also look around for used rackets) so I dont have to spend too much $$ on this experiment. Well cutting off the end will allow me to manuver the rackets even better becuse playing all the way choked up sometimes distract me from some of the wristier shots when I do use thm (not often but yes sometimes i use wrist when I'm desperate) becuase the butt of the racket handle may hit the lower part of the forearm during a swing I sure will! as long as I find a racket that I can do my experiment on. Come to think of it now, I need a head light racket that's heavy overall, because the Ti-10 I always use is somewhat on the heavier side. I guess ur right WWC, not light overall, just light headed
OK, I just went and sawed off the end of my broken Flex OS, and noticed taht most of the length I sawed off was hallow in the center(and I did saw a bit too much of it off) This means that there should be little weight that I take off. I estimate only about a few grams atmost... so if i were to do the experiment on an old Bk racket, the weight difference before and after shouldn't be too different (assuming they drill the handle at the bottom at the same depth) so now all is left is a choice of racket!
Given the centre of gravity of a typical racquet is at the middle of the shaft, one would presume weight on either sides of the shaft would be nearly the same. Since the handle end is shorter, that logically means it weighs at least half as much as the entire racquet.
And this comes back to the question of - do I put in the time to improve my skill or do I make quick modifications to my equipment to make me look like some goof on the court with a stubby racquet... I've been following this thread and a few other similar ones where the answer is to do something radical to the gear, wear or other accesories and never the obvious of getting with the basics by getting your ass onto the court and do your time to practice and improve... Next time I see you JChen99, I will personally make my racquet stubby by cracking it over your head to beat some sense into you. Put your time more productively and work at becoming a better badminton player.
Badrad, this is only for scientific purposes! has NOTHING TO DO WITH SKILLS!! Besides, all I can do right now is think about things, since I cant physically be on the court. Also, U do have to admit for someone who had just picked up a racket 2 yrs ago (not even yet) and only had a whole 3 hrs/week of playing time at a place like cameron(even you said urself "It's not an ideal place to play if I wanted to improve" But at that time it was the best I could get my hands on) for almost a year (and now on and off with school) I'm one of the better of the bunch (doubles at least). I will pick up my racket again and get my ass on the courts after April 14th (estimated). I will bring my skill back up to when I dropped off my racket, and even furthur than that. Trust me, even after a month and a half of not seeing court time, I will still be able to improve. Just you wait!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Legal Length Of a Racket If the butt of the handle is hitting your forearm, you have a technique problem in not pronating your fingers properly.. I wrote a long time ago (d'frent thread) that I suspect you got a panhandle grip that is causing the problems....still is it seems. Get the basics right and there won't be any need to choke up the grip. And just because Sigit does it........does that mean you are able to do it? When I was talking to an indonesian born international player about my early philosophy of trying to improve my badminton with coaching, I mentioned my aim of learning good basic technique. He nodded in agreement and said 'yes, it's very important'.
Re: Re: Re: Legal Length Of a Racket BRL, I think you better go to NASA They have areas for your expertise!!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Legal Length Of a Racket The butt of the racket brushes against my wrist when I'm trying to do some wristier shots (maybe due to the fact that I usually dont use wrist when I play). It doesn't hit my forearm, but it's irritating especially when I'm trying to place a shot in a corner or down a line, slight differnce in angle might turn into a hugh difference in where the bird lands. And nope, I definately do not use the hammer grip anymore. I have experimented with different grips ever since I learned (and fully absorbed) the "proper grip". I do choke up for doubles, but I play gripped all the way to the bottom when I play singles (which is rarely) Nowadays I play with the "proper grip" but the space between the thumb and the index finger is more tightly packed (for the forehand) than the "proper grip" (which will allow less movement between forehand and backhand grips). What Sigit does I wont necessarily do, but whatever helps with my play I will, even if the intnational players dont do it (btw, I've not known who Sigit is until 2-3 months ago ) Yes, I DO agree that basics is important, no matter in which sport.
