People bending your racket...

YawneXpensive · 06-20-2005, 02:35 AM

I have given my racket to a couple of people to observe.. and ALL of their initial tendencies include holding onto the top of the head, and the grip, then bend it..

For example, one of my rackets is brand new and stiff purposely, someone asks for it, looks at it, swings it, then bends it repeatedly.. when i say bend, i dont mean little bend, i mean.. it bends enough for me to worry.

I am not a racket expert, but i suspect the fibers in the rackets are not intended to bend that much, and bending it only makes it weaker until it breaks at one point.

So am I paranoid about my racket breaking, (i tell them to stop bending it because of that).. and losing its quality.. or do others in this forum feel the same way?

EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already

valkyier · 06-20-2005, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YawneXpensive

I have given my racket to a couple of people to observe.. and ALL of their initial tendencies include holding onto the top of the head, and the grip, then bend it..

For example, one of my rackets is brand new and stiff purposely, someone asks for it, looks at it, swings it, then bends it repeatedly.. when i say bend, i dont mean little bend, i mean.. it bends enough for me to worry.

I am not a racket expert, but i suspect the fibers in the rackets are not intended to bend that much, and bending it only makes it weaker until it breaks at one point.

So am I paranoid about my racket breaking, (i tell them to stop bending it because of that).. and losing its quality.. or do others in this forum feel the same way?

EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already

Agree...I have this experience lots of time and I am damn pissed

at those people. I remember an uncle once told me that the new generation of racquets should not be bent as he showed me a broken racquet that the inside is made of splints of carbon binded tightly together and that if you bend it too much, these splints break and "viola" there goes your racquet...
as the performance will drop...

Im not sure about this as some people say that bending the racquet lets them know about the balance of the racquet but I think that's rubbish. I reckon when they bend the racquet, they just wanted to act like a pro testing it with their chins held high and looking at it at an angle as if they know but in the end destroying your "babe" and rubbish comes out of their mouth...cos I showed my fake MP99 once to an uncle and he was bending it like anything which pisses me off and saying it was a good racquet while it was actually fake. I think they just look at the brand and that's how they determine whether it is a good racquet or not...

Anyway, does anyone know whether bending the racquet is good for the racquet ??

*kwun* · 06-20-2005, 03:10 AM

believe or not. you bend your racket more and more often during regular games. if you look at photos of the racket at the moment of impact, you will be surprised how much the racket is bent.

so i say don't worry about it.

Super~ME! · 06-20-2005, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YawneXpensive

I have given my racket to a couple of people to observe.. and ALL of their initial tendencies include holding onto the top of the head, and the grip, then bend it..

For example, one of my rackets is brand new and stiff purposely, someone asks for it, looks at it, swings it, then bends it repeatedly.. when i say bend, i dont mean little bend, i mean.. it bends enough for me to worry.

I am not a racket expert, but i suspect the fibers in the rackets are not intended to bend that much, and bending it only makes it weaker until it breaks at one point.

So am I paranoid about my racket breaking, (i tell them to stop bending it because of that).. and losing its quality.. or do others in this forum feel the same way?

EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already

...haha....i know what you mean...one of my friends also has a really bad habit of bending racquets...he'll like ask to check out someone's racquet...and then bend it...if it's stiff...he'll push it to the max until the owner takes it away from him...but if it's flexible...he'll conclude that it sucks...if the owners lucky...he'll pay no more attention to it. if the owner's unlucky...he'll run around with the person's racquet laughing his @$$ off showing other people how much he can bend it and make a big joke about it...i personally don't like how people bend my racquets sometimes...but i do it too just to check how flexible my racquets are...and if i see someone getting close to that uncomfortable point when they bend my racquet...i'll be like "hey" and tell them to stop or ask for my racquet back...

winstonchan · 06-20-2005, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YawneXpensive

I have given my racket to a couple of people to observe.. and ALL of their initial tendencies include holding onto the top of the head, and the grip, then bend it..

For example, one of my rackets is brand new and stiff purposely, someone asks for it, looks at it, swings it, then bends it repeatedly.. when i say bend, i dont mean little bend, i mean.. it bends enough for me to worry.

I am not a racket expert, but i suspect the fibers in the rackets are not intended to bend that much, and bending it only makes it weaker until it breaks at one point.

So am I paranoid about my racket breaking, (i tell them to stop bending it because of that).. and losing its quality.. or do others in this forum feel the same way?

EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already

See what you mean, yes i hate people doing that to my rackets that they think they are all flexibility tester. Anyway rackets are designed to bend quite significantly as you can see in some action photos in a game. But deliberate and repetitive bending within a short period of time (like what those "flexibility tester" do) in my opinion is not good to the structure, as everything has a designed limit.

And to tell everyone the truth, bending a racket like this cannot tell its flexibility accurately, nor if a racket is good or not. Swinging it in the air tells very little either. The best way to judge a racket is to play with it for a game or two.

CanuckBur · 06-20-2005, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YawneXpensive

I have given my racket to a couple of people to observe.. and ALL of their initial tendencies include holding onto the top of the head, and the grip, then bend it..

For example, one of my rackets is brand new and stiff purposely, someone asks for it, looks at it, swings it, then bends it repeatedly.. when i say bend, i dont mean little bend, i mean.. it bends enough for me to worry.

I am not a racket expert, but i suspect the fibers in the rackets are not intended to bend that much, and bending it only makes it weaker until it breaks at one point.

So am I paranoid about my racket breaking, (i tell them to stop bending it because of that).. and losing its quality.. or do others in this forum feel the same way?

EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already

Were you only asked for your racquet back? It happened to me too. I was very surprised that someone could be so rude and stupid. In an impulse, I thought he was going to break it and he almost got a violent reaction from me. I shouted at the person and never again played badminton with him.

The event was several years ago. Now, when someone asks to touch my racquet, I will tell the person beforehand not to bend it.

cappy75 · 06-20-2005, 03:34 AM

Trying your best not to??! What's so hard about saying "NO"? I bend a new racquet too whenever I want to check it out. However, the only difference is that I bent the shaft slightly to gauge its resistance, not how far I could bend the shaft.

Also, shaft testing should be done holding the top of the frame and the CONE instead of the handle as the distance between the sweet spot and the handle is roughly the same as the distance between the top of the frame and the cone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by YawneXpensive

EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already

cappy75 · 06-20-2005, 03:36 AM

Heh! He could have been SUPER~ME!'s buddy

!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanuckBur

Were you only asked for your racquet back? It happened to me too. I was very surprised that someone could be so rude and stupid. In an impulse, I thought he was going to break it and he almost got a violent reaction from me. I shouted at the person and never again played badminton with him.

valkyier · 06-20-2005, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cappy75

Trying your best not to??! What's so hard about saying "NO"? I bend a new racquet too whenever I want to check it out. However, the only difference is that I bent the shaft slightly to gauge its resistance, not how far I could bend the shaft.

Also, shaft testing should be done holding the top of the frame and the CONE instead of the handle as the distance between the sweet spot and the handle is roughly the same as the distance between the top of the frame and the cone.

Saying "no" directly in someone's face may be too offensive and may end up in an uncomfortable situation which may spoil the game

.

cappy75 · 06-20-2005, 03:48 AM

It is... but then again you're talking about handing over $100 worth of equipment to another person. There had better be TRUST in the person if you're gonna agree to something like that

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by valkyier

Saying "no" directly in someone's face may be too offensive and may end up in an uncomfortable situation which may spoil the game

.

Gollum · 06-20-2005, 04:06 AM

I agree with Kwun. It may look alarming, but your precious racket is perfectly safe

CanuckBur · 06-20-2005, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cappy75

Heh! He could have been SUPER~ME!'s buddy

!

I was horrified to see the racquet near its breaking point

. Although I managed to grab his hands from further bending and holding, I had a feeling that the damage was already done to the racquet. I was into cycling at the time and heard so much about sudden breakage to the carbon fiber bike frame. They did improve the making of the frame after that.

swgiant · 06-20-2005, 04:54 AM

i dun care about ppl bending my racket as a good racket is designed for hard smash...

cooler · 06-20-2005, 10:22 AM

JMO

I think the safest way when asked to seeing your new racket, tell them NOT to test bending it(unless he/she is knowledgable about racket). If they want to know its flex, let him rally a few shot with it. They will know more than just the racket stiffness. Since u had gave permission to let him check out your racket, if he broke it, u have no recourse since u gave them the permission 'to check' without condition.

Yes, bending it will accelerate the wear and tear factor, since it's ur racket, it is u should be doing the wearing and tearing. About it's safe or not, stress/strain during manual bending isnt the same as shaft bending during a smash.

JMO

LazyBuddy · 06-20-2005, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwun

believe or not. you bend your racket more and more often during regular games. if you look at photos of the racket at the moment of impact, you will be surprised how much the racket is bent.

so i say don't worry about it.

However, during play, the racket only gets bent for a fraction of a sec, then quickly bounce back to the normal form on its own reflex. Some local players tend to bent the racket, and let it stay in weired form for at least 3-5 sec. Not sure if such attempt will cause the actual damage.

cooler · 06-20-2005, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LazyBuddy

However, during play, the racket only gets bent for a fraction of a sec, then quickly bounce back to the normal form on its own reflex. Some local players tend to bent the racket, and let it stay in weired form for at least 3-5 sec. Not sure if such attempt will cause the actual damage.

furthermore, most bend it out of curiosity, not really knowing what they're doing. There r still some AT700 and Ti-10 owners think their own racket is extra stiff or stiff, even tho they own it, bend it many times over and use it for months

chickenpoodle · 06-20-2005, 02:34 PM

i agree totally with cappy75. when i bend a racquet when i encounter it for the first time, its silghtly, to see how easy or hard it is to bend, to guage resistence as he had mentioned. basically to compare it to what i'm used to.

but the racquets are bent and twisted in action more than what we can bend with our hands, so i don't generally worry too much about it.

06-20-2005, 02:35 AM	#1
YawneXpensive Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Vancouver Posts: 9	People bending your racket... I have given my racket to a couple of people to observe.. and ALL of their initial tendencies include holding onto the top of the head, and the grip, then bend it.. For example, one of my rackets is brand new and stiff purposely, someone asks for it, looks at it, swings it, then bends it repeatedly.. when i say bend, i dont mean little bend, i mean.. it bends enough for me to worry. I am not a racket expert, but i suspect the fibers in the rackets are not intended to bend that much, and bending it only makes it weaker until it breaks at one point. So am I paranoid about my racket breaking, (i tell them to stop bending it because of that).. and losing its quality.. or do others in this forum feel the same way? EDIT: please dont just reply with "dont give other people your racket" cuz i try my best not to already Last edited by YawneXpensive : 06-20-2005 at 02:41 AM.

06-20-2005, 10:22 AM	#14
cooler Regular Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Used gopher hole Posts: 19,811	JMO I think the safest way when asked to seeing your new racket, tell them NOT to test bending it(unless he/she is knowledgable about racket). If they want to know its flex, let him rally a few shot with it. They will know more than just the racket stiffness. Since u had gave permission to let him check out your racket, if he broke it, u have no recourse since u gave them the permission 'to check' without condition. Yes, bending it will accelerate the wear and tear factor, since it's ur racket, it is u should be doing the wearing and tearing. About it's safe or not, stress/strain during manual bending isnt the same as shaft bending during a smash. JMO Last edited by cooler : 06-20-2005 at 10:25 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
A more relaxed and powerfull swing	wedgewenis	Techniques / Training	36	06-01-2005 01:57 AM
Modifying Racket Balance Points	wood_22_chuck	Equipment	28	02-18-2005 06:02 PM
Some querries about my racket	Mr. Anderson	Equipment	21	12-28-2004 06:07 AM
racket weight consistency measurements.	kwun	Equipment	20	12-03-2004 08:30 PM
Real or fake YY racket?	sze	Identify Fake Racket	17	06-26-2001 09:12 PM

06-20-2005, 03:10 AM	#3
kwun Administrator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA Posts: 19,889	believe or not. you bend your racket more and more often during regular games. if you look at photos of the racket at the moment of impact, you will be surprised how much the racket is bent. so i say don't worry about it.

06-20-2005, 04:06 AM	#11
Gollum Regular Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: London area, UK Posts: 3,179	I agree with Kwun. It may look alarming, but your precious racket is perfectly safe

06-20-2005, 04:54 AM	#13
swgiant Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sibu Posts: 64	i dun care about ppl bending my racket as a good racket is designed for hard smash...

06-20-2005, 02:34 PM	#17
chickenpoodle Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,236	i agree totally with cappy75. when i bend a racquet when i encounter it for the first time, its silghtly, to see how easy or hard it is to bend, to guage resistence as he had mentioned. basically to compare it to what i'm used to. but the racquets are bent and twisted in action more than what we can bend with our hands, so i don't generally worry too much about it.