Thanks for the info. I noticed if the tube is not full (with the dozen shuttles), the hydration seems to work better for me. Maybe more steam gets locked in the tube that way. Also, did you notice "dry" shuttles feel any different when you just hit them. I felt they didn't feel as solid compared to the good ones and it kinda felt like hitting something made of paper or somesuch.. Maybe there's more vibration in the hit...
Yep, not as solid when they dry. When hydrated the shuttles feel a bit more substantial. The key is the feathers are shiny and feel thick.
When you guys say train, what exactly do you mean. Are you doing drills that attempt to last the shuttles as long as possible? I have to train with plastics. cause if I train with feather, I go through 4 - 6 birds an hour, and thats being careful. Feather too expensive...
We generally train with old birds. There are lots lying around SGVBC plus I have my own. The only time we will use new birds is if we're testing new equipment and want to minimize variables.
we used the old birds (from matches) for training/paractice so we get the chance to utilise the birds to maximum....
surely it has to be feathers because plastics behave in a slightly different way, so to practice with them would almost be a waste of time. you can buy second hand feathers relativly cheaply anyway.
I normally use plastic with a cork base. Mainly due to cost. Yesterday my friend and I killed 2 feathered ones inside 5 minutes. They just don't last!
Sorry guys i vote for plastic coz its much more durable for me,but im still like cheap feathers for practice game.hehe.:crying:
i don't really see where people are comin from with the cost issue. where i live u can buy a box of second hand (but still in very good condition) AS-50s for £2, about $3.5 US. i find these last for ages, even with practicing slices or smashes, so i would never practice with plastic shuttles.
You don't see where we are coming from because you have this option. Unfortuately we do not. With that said, would be able to send me some shuttles?
i use nylon simply because i don't want to have to replace feather shuttles everytime we break one. i'm trying to save money. i'm not at the level where i care really whether i use nylong or plastic. its all the same to me at this point. maybe when i improve... i'll stick to feathers.
I always use feathers, 52's mostly. But we only play with 51's. We always train with faster shuttles. For warm ups we have boxes of old feathered shuttles collected each week.
i voted for feathers for the simple reason that A) my club can afford feather shuttles and all tournaments i entire are feather and B) my coach provides feather shuttles for free so it depends on individual circumstances to whether you use feathers or plastics