I think the first few weeks, or few months you won't know what type of player you are... defensive, attacking, or all around. But after you discover that, you should be able to get a racket suited for that and develop your skills around it. I took the opposite way. I read Kwun's post about badminton equipment before I even bought my first racket. and I invested heavily on shoes... then racket. but i chose a cheap yonex defensive racket. nanospeed 200. yet i think it would have been more helpful to start with a pricier, attacking racket such as a muscle power or armortec. purely for the reason that you would always have it as a usable backup in your bag. if i was a beginner i'd choose something i liked, that i thought i would like 2-3 years down the line. like a li ning, yonex or panda power. i'm not so sure about apacs... anyways, hope this helps someone out.
@paulierand I think it would have been more helpful to start with the same budget but not a Yonex low end one.
That's kinda what I felt when I posted here, only you said it better. The reason I asked is because I played table tennis before this, and, folks also recommended beginner rackets. So a couple of years down the road when I got reasonably better at the game, I realized I have 2-3 useless beginner rackets lying around already, yet I couldn't sell them off because they've no demand on the resale market. That's when I realized I ought to have bought the S$120 racket I'm using now right from the start and work my way towards there. And that's the basis of my question, though I'm sure it may not apply to badminton to some of you guys.
For me,I did quite a fair bit of research over here in bc before I started plunging into any equipment about 2months back,due to the fact that I have injuries on me. My main research scope was is there any racket that is easy on the arm,and I got a lot of info from it,like the lightest 7u from apacs to the normal 3u,from the most flexible to the medium flex. And armed with the lot of info of the rackets that I am looking for,I went on a shopping trip,in fact a few trips,mainly to test the rackets,swinging them at the shops. Then it's the string tension, and I tried 18lbs for a few of the rackets,till now some of them at 24lbs. Up till now I think I have amassed close to 50rackets,most of them unstrung cos I am waiting for my game to be more advanced before I string them for use,however my 7u racket(apacs featherweight 200) is one of the rackets that I will keep in my bag wherever I go,as I know I can use it in the later stages of the game when I feel the stress on my arm. As far as rackets are concerned,I find that there are always two school of thoughts (in other sports as well) 1...buy a good one and work your way up Or 2...buy a beginner one and change as you go along the way There is no right or wrong in the above schools of thought ,it's only wrong if you do not have that kind spending power if you choose the 2nd route I mentioned. However,if you have that kind of spending power,I would suggest u take the 2nd route,there will come a time where you will progress and the beginner stuff is of no more use to you,and you might have difficulty selling it but it's an option you can explore whereby it will help you cut costs down should you decide to stay as a weekend player. Shoes for me was easy,as I played sports all my life so I know what kind of feel I am looking for.
Warlock, OMG, 50 rackets!!!! Like you I have a light racket in my bag which I can lend to people or when my arms feels tired. my one is a sotx lg 200 + an overgrip and it only weights 83.4g
Ya...I have9 diff models of blx 1 x kfactor Bs 08 to bs 12 Mx 70 and mx 8 02x carbonex 8 01 x carbonex 6 lite Vt 5 Vt 7 Vt 60 Vt 70 Vt 80 Nr20 Nr 80 Nr 500 Nr 700fx Nr 700rp At700 ltd edition Prince graphite I Prince graphite II Babolat satellite brio Dunlop biomenemic(forgot how it's spelt) x 2 pc 3x Carlton rackets 1 x head nano soemthing(can't remember) Apacs lurid 21 to 23Apacs featherweight 200 Tantrum 200 Tantrum 500 Finapi 80 Kason f9 Kason c7 Wrex series from apacs (5diff models I think) Li Ning wingstorm 690 And a few more which I can't remember off hand Dun ask me why no Li Ning high end..cos the price tag dun justify me paying for it,with that kind of price I rather get made in Japan yonex. Even shoes I also got like about 10pairs 1 x mizuno wave blocker 1 x apacs cushion 646 1 x yonex yellow/black the one lcw wore 1 x yonex red/white lateral claw 1 x Lining the one with a big "x" design 1 x lining red/yellow prc national team model 1 x kason 1 x Carlton 1 x Nike court shuttle IV 1 x Nike zoom (bball shoes but I use for badminton)
my recommendation would be to get any balanced racket that feels right when you swing it. this way you can practice for longer without feeling too tired or cause any unnecessary harm to your arms and shoulders. You have to extra careful in badminton compare with other racket sports. This is because badminton involves a lot of overarm movments. I learnt this the hard way.
i'd say get a medium everything as he suggested then work up. when i was a kid i still remember buying the top end racket and breaking it on a clash on my first ever badminton session :crying: lets just say, the yonex was nice enough to replace it for 2 medium level rackets later anyways for RM200 you can get both a decent APACs racket and Yonex WC92 shoes
lol some of you are very funny... beginners cant use rackets like BS09 and AT900T... obviously thats stiff lol my coach is an apacs sponsor but personally for me i hate apacs get a victor top line... its still cheap victor top lines are about 150 USD and some are mid flex but victor rackets break easily and paint chips easily
BS09 and AT900T are not stiff. A strong beginner could easily handle the 900T, and the BS09 is just a solid all-rounder, fullstop. The Victors also don't 'break easily'. They might in your experience, but from my experience and the general experience of the forum, they're actually pretty tough rackets. The Braveswords and the Meteors are very tough, where I've had big clashes with Muppety doubles players and the Meteors especially come away without a scratch. Owing to the shape of the Braveswords, they are prone to chipping, but the '11 models have extra clearcoat on them to help limit this.
