Feathers vs Plastic string tension

I would say maybe 2-3 lbs less for plastic, in my case I play both so I play @ 25 lbs for both as it isn't as high. 25 usually drops pretty low anyways.


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I play both at 23lbs at the moment. If you use the very same racket and tension for both types of shuttles it takes some adjustment if you go from plastics to feathers; in my case my clears and especially drives will end up meters behind the court. So to compensate for that you can add a few lbs on a designated "feather racket".
Hitting both types of birds won't determine the lifespan of your string in my experience: its just that if you go over 23lbs and hit plastics the odds you break a string is much higher. Therefore I always pick a durable and thicker string if I want to play both feathers and plastics with the same racket.
During this summerseason when I play less frequent and have no tournaments coming up I mostly hit plastics, so at the moment I dont have a racket specificly for feathers. When the new season I arrives I will restring a racket a few lbs higher (25lbs) and use a thinner string on it and use it on feathers.

 

Not sure though if climate may be a factor in this. As climate influences flight and therefore impact on a string, it also may have more or less impact of plastics or feathers. I can imagine humidity does different things to feathers compared to plastics for example, so your experiences may differ.

 

You should not only look at the tension, have an eye on the string choice, too. I think that a softer string type and thicker diameter for plastics work well, while a thinner string with hard feel gives you an orgasm in terms of feel and repulsion for feathers.

What is your current go-to for feather @ 22-23lbs? IMO anything lower than 22lbs is pretty useless. I would keep the tension and just go for a different string for plastics.

I doubt that at 22-23lbs you will break string at 0.68mm or thicker quickly with plastics. Even when you mishit.

 

Well.. Yes. And remember to hit slowly at first.. I smashed Hard on 1st game on second set on freshly strung racket.. Broke.

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TBH every string choice and tension can be alright. It depends on the player and his liking, not on views like mine or someone else.

If you have a decent technique and don't care about durabilty, you can go for everything what you want and are used to. Your requirements and abilities are the limit and most important. I suggest to string just 1 racket with BG65Ti @ 23/24 and would try it. If you think it is too tight for plastics, you can drop the tension for the second racket by 2 lbs. If you think it is alright, you stick with it for both and if you think it is too loose for feathers, you go for 2 lbs higher for the second. BG65Ti is not the best string when it comes to tension retention, so you should play the first racket 1-2 weeks and make your decision.

 

Can't answer your question in general, because everybody has a different impression of "DURABLE". I wouldn't go for myself any BG65 because it drops too much tension which will effect feel. From my point of view, I would cut it fast because it will quickly perform poor. It would not last for me long which I define as durability. Other will think different.

Please state your weekly court time and what would you expect and define as "DURABLE"? As a stringer, I often have some customers who have impression that a string lasts nearly forever...

IMO BG80 Power is a good allround string. From my recordings a 2 times per week (each session around 3 hours) plastic and feather guy gets regular 2-2.5 month @ 23lbs.

 

I use BG-65ti at 22lbs with plastics but I find it's still a bit too bouncy so I may increase the tension a pound or two. The strings last long enough, probably a couple of months though I only play 2 times a week for maybe 2-2.5 hours.

I am interested in trying BG80 though.

 

Personally I have never agreed with this idea, but I am unusual in that I have to play mainly with plastics. The thinking is that plastics have less "weight", and thus have to be hit harder for the same effect.

My advice would be to settle on a string and tension you like with plastics, and then just ue that for the feathers.

 

I'd do the exact opposite. I find myself in the same situation as you Mark, but my line of thinking is that if you play nylons most of the time you have to think about hitting your clears and drives less hard all the time, when hitting feathers. This extra thinking takes away a part of your focus, takes a fraction of time, and might be a thing you forget in the heat of the rally. After hitting I find myself thinking: "sh*t, its a feathershuttle, its way to fast".
In times I find myself playing feathers only a few games once in a while thats no problem, but in the middle of the season when I get to play feathers more, in training and in tournaments, adding those few pounds are a perfect fix for the speed issue and that the tighter tension adds some extra control is another nice bonus.

 

My thinking in sticking with my palstic tension for feathers is that it's easier to adjust power downward for feathers than upward for plastics.

Besides, plastics don't have the feel of feathers, and reducing the tension would reduce the feel even more. Quite a few people think I'm mental for playing rock hard strings at 30-odd pounds with plastics, but that's a big part of why - the feel.

 

For me, I kept it lower because, I had bad experience in durability.. But maybe it have also something to do with my shots (now I think I am a bit better in that department) but because of that experience, I have 2 rackets that have a bit lower tension for me to play with plastics.