The shuttles could well be for different speeds. E.g. Mavis blue are faster than the Green and if you used both on the same night in the same hall chances are you would hit the blues further with less effort. Same principle probably applies to the feathers as these come in different speeds.
Try standing over the baseline and hitting underhand, as far as you possibly can, up the sideline towards the other end of the court - this is a shuttle speed test, but it also gauges the suitability of your string and tension. If the shuttle lands on or within 15 cm of the opposite rear doubles service line, your racket will be set up correctly for that particular venue and conditions.
I'll tell you a secret only the pro players know about: you don't need to change your tension, just adjust how hard you hit, and like magic... the bird will fly the proper distance. I saw Lin Dan do it once... The bird was fast, so he hit it with less force and WOW. The bird landed in! And another time, LCW saw a bird was flying slow, so he hit it a little bit harder and WOW! The bird landed exactly where he wanted it to land. Only the top players know this technique though.
Mark A I usually do that for tournaments when I remember too at least i'll do it this Sunday to find out haha urameatball looool but i did hit with a lot of power :'(
it is depend on your skill and power. High tension will give you great control,because the stringbed is tight. repulsion certainly less but the shuttles fly like a bullet (consistent and sharp) Low tension will give a great repulsion (bouncy stringbed). We hit the shuttles effortlessly (especially for clears) to hit hard,your shoulder must be very good and powerful. (See Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan shoulder)
Hi Guys, After reading this, can i say that in order to generate the same power and control. I play with feather most of the time. For thicker string say a 0.66mm @ 24lbs, when i change to thinner string say 0.62mm, i should string at a lower tension? Or when on a thinner string 0.62mm, i string at 24 lbs, when i change to a thicker string, i should string it at a higher tension than 24?
can others confirm if this is true? i've heard this a lot but personally i think i hit a lot harder with higher tension than lower until a maximum is reached.
i think it boils down to definitions.. in english.. and i would think of it in the reverse scenario as described by the post that you have quoted. the current terminology is to compare between repulsion and hold, where repulsion refers to short contact time and rapid rebound from the string bed, whilst hold, is to allow the for sinking into the string bed creating some energy storage, and increasing the contact time. higher tension results in a smaller sweetspot, and greater repulsion. lower tension has larger sweetspots, and has more hold.. sweetspot? -> take a look at the physics here.. http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/viei7r2/sweetspot.html
something to take into account: i think bg65 loses tension quite a bit quicker then bg80. so you probably need to string bg65 1-2lbs higher then bg80 to get the same effective (or whatever you wanna call it) tension.
Higher tension means you'll have to have greater racket head speed at the point of contact to get the same power as with a lower tension. While this means you'll have greater control with tighter strings, it'll also cause you to lose power once you get past a certain point. Most of the time, a tighter string will feel more powerful though as you get better/more feedback and it's more repulsive (i.e. the shuttle will bounce off it more quickly). Generally speaking, string tension is quite similar to racket shaft stiffness - the stiffer it is, the more potential it has, the softer it is, the easier it is to get power out of it, but the 'limit' is lower (i.e. a very explosive hitter will probably lose power with a soft racket/string as the shuttle will remain on the strings for too long, and the racket won't have returned to it's usual form at the point of contact). For the thick vs. thin string matter, a thinner string will feel like a thicker string at a higher tension. It'll have more power than a thicker string as it's more elastic, but the drawback is lower durability. If you're an intermediate player who can afford it, playing with 22-24lbs .62 strings will feel like a more powerful 25-28lbs BG80 (slightly less 'solid' feeling though). From a certain level on, people start to string more for control and a better feeling than for maximum power. Even (or especially) pros - back in 2006-2008, string tensions were generally lower than they are now, and they hit ~20-30km/h faster than they do now...
Is there an ideal string for one that mostly play with Mavis 2000 birdies? I figure BG 80 would be ideal regardless of feather or plastic.
bg80 is too hard feel for any plastic birds for me... instead i use zm65, 67, vs850 at around 2 lbs less tension than for feathers
Have anyone using the BG Pro70 for playing plastic birdies? I mostly play with plastic birdies with all my friends, I string all my rackets with BG Pro70 in Acs 10 and Apacs Pro Furious 2000, all of them with 28lb tension, and I feel great either playing with plastic and feather, but one thing that I could notics while I change to use Pro70 from BG66, my smash power as not as powerful and faster then before, and I am sure I apply almost the same power to smash the birdies. But the control is easier and the string last very long and don't feel the tension is drop. If you are playing Plastic then you better try on Pro70 and let me know what you think!! Ben
so what does power do increase shuttle speed? and repulsion increase shuttle speed too? or power = distance clear and repulsion is speed of the shuttle?
the basic rule i go by with strings is - ignore the marketing hype about power, repulsion, control, etc. think of your string bed as a trampoline. lower tension lets the shuttle bounce more. more bounce makes it harder to control. slower racket swing speeds uses this bounce and makes your shots faster so you get more power. this is how you get effortless clears and really high lifts from minimal racket swing. if you have really good form and faster swing speeds especially on smashes, the trampoline bounce absorbs the power that should have been transferred to the shuttle so you need to increase the tension to reduce the absorption for a more efficient transfer of force. basically at higher tensions, you rely on your swing speed to generate power. similarly, at higher tensions with less bounce you have better control of the shuttle. the downside of higher tension is with less bounce and absorption of force, theres more vibration transferred from the hit to your racket and then to your arm which can hurt or lead to injuries. this is why us mortals shouldn't play with the same tensions as the pros since they both have much better swing speeds and are in a better physical shape from all the training. this bounce effect applies to racket flexibility too. if you have faster swing speeds, you have a more efficient way of transferring that force with a stiff racket. with flexible rackets, you rely on the whipping action to generate that faster swing speed. thats not to say professionals should only use stiff rackets, it depends how they play as well since they can make use of the whipping action of flex rackets and higher tensions to get power. personally, i think choosing a string brand or model suited for you comes down to personal preferences to all the other different components of the actual string thats largely ignored like coating, texture, flexibility, and material used which can all have different effects depending on the size or gauge of the string. bottom line, understand the physics of choosing the right tension suited for you, find a good string you prefer and stick with it then just practice and enjoy the game.
Good summary. One more important thing: sweetspot is smaller with higher tension, but is more potent if you can use it effectively.
