Bought these a while ago and never really got to use them due to Covid and stuff, but tested these monday and decided to write a review to let you guys know what I think of these hybrid shuttles: I used these shuttles on monday, together with a junior in my club, mainly to do some smash and doubles defense training. I am one of the hardest hitters in our club and the junior is one of the harder hitting juniors in our club. We also wanted to see how long these hybrid shuttles would last when compared to similarly priced or even more expensive feather ones. #of shots played: We alternated between 12 shuttles (which were slightly used already from some drive and drop excersises before). Regarding the time we trained, I would guess we played ~500-600 shots in total, 50:50 smash and defense (250-300 each). With approximately every 5th shot from the attacker being a full power smash this would lead to 50-60 full power smashes. So every shuttle would have taken 4 to 5 full power smashes, and ~20+ regular smashes/offensive drives and ~25+ defensive lifts and drives. Durability: The durability of those shuttles is very good, every one of these survived this smash and drive torture. The shuttles did not break at all, they only frayed. As with feather shuttles, the hybrids did slow down with fraying, but it didn't seem like these shuttles were losing their speed faster than regular ones. One big thing to consider: Other cheaper shuttles tend to deform into an oval shape after a really hard smash (or bad misshit), sometimes even on the first hit. This didn't happen with these shuttles, they did a great job of keeping their round shapes. So I would rate these excellent in terms of durability. After the session: General Flight Characteristics: They tend to fly slightly "wobbly". One thing I also noticed: These Hybrid 500 shuttles seem to accelerate quicker right after the impact, but also deccelerate slightly quicker on their way when compared to regular feather shuttles. Net Shots: The "wobble" and therefore slightly higher amount of tumble is really noticable on net shots and they feel heavier overall. Wouldn't really recommend them for training around the net. Smash: As already stated, the shuttles have a fast acceleration but also deaccelerates slightly faster than normal shuttles. This felt like a very slight advantage to defender, once adjusted to the timing, and makes it slightly harder to kill the shuttle as the attacke when relying on power only. Would rate them very good in this category, but training defensive shots with these might mess with your timing when playing with real feather shuttles. Drop: We did not play many drops, but it felt like they needed a minimum of effort more when compared to regular feather shuttles. Very good overall. Prices of other "lower- to mid-end" shuttles: 13,35€ per 12 Li Ning A+60: 16-17€ per 15 Victor Queen: 17, 75€ per 12 Decathlon FSC 500: 11,99€ per 12 RSL Tourney Classic: 24,50€ per 12 Conclusion: I really like these shuttles. The price is more than fair, the durability is excellent. Especially for training purposes these shuttles would do a great job, except for training net shots, due to the heavier and tumblier feel. The feel is closer to feather than plastic shuttles, with the durability being closer to plastic shuttles than feathers. In my opinion this is a great shuttle for training, and also for juniors or beginners, who regularly hit with the frame and therefore would spend much more on regular feathers. Especially for ~13€ these are a great budget choice, cheap shuttles like the Li Ning A+60, Decathlon FSC 500 or the pricier Victor Queen tend to break feathers or deform sooner (making them pretty much unusable), before the Forza Hybrid 5000 begins to significantly slow down.
These are 5000 right? I saw on the tube it say 5000. could you add a physical description of the shuttle?
You are absolutely right, changed it. Not sure how I missed that with the pics and tubes literally right infront of me... I am planning to do a rough comparison of the Hybrid 500s to the A+60 and Tourney Classics (only ones I have at the moment) over the weekend, just don't expect it to be too through ;D
I also use them sometimes. They are great practice shuttles (and sometimes play matches with them too). They never never break (useful for/against beginners) and only fray/slow down after, let's say 1 full set. The hitting sound and feeling is really close to the feather. For me this is a better alternative to plastic to train beginners
I have a tube coming in the mail in a few days. Currently trying to get my buddies to transition away from plastics, so I'm hoping these perform well. Thanks for the review.
Is it possible to replace an individual feather in the skirt? I don’t get this type of hybrid. It’s the durability of the feathers that’s usually the issue, not the skirt.
Possible, but tedious and not really worth the hassle. The plastic skirt flexes more, so the feathers flex with it instead of snapping like with the stiffer and brittler natural skirts. Personally, I'm loving these things, and until the rest of my club decides to switch to full feathers I'm sticking with them.
I don't think the main point of these shuttlecocks is durability. I also doubt that the skirt does that much for it. The main point of these is to drive costs down. I have the kawasaki version of this from 2019 and even from the pics above you can see the feathers are not perfectly straight. We know that normally there's only a few feathers straight enough on a duck or goose that's suitable for shuttles. By eliminating the stem part of these feathers I suspect that we're now able to use more feathers that we would not consider in a normal shuttle. I.e. The parts where the stem curves too much but the feather part is straight enough. In the kawasaki they sort of market the automation side of things as a cost saver as well. With all the plastic shuttles trying to be more feather like, it seems a popular market to target, which is the plastic to feather market that hasn't switched due to costs. Sent from my MI 8 using Tapatalk
I used Forza Kawasaki Adidas and Decathlon hybrid, durability is great comparable to feather once, although to heavy and not a good idea if you will play on feather on competitions. Regarding Forza, first once I got ,in my subjective view were really great, but next batches was much heavier . PS: probably really good idea to make step foreword from plastic.
I've been using these for the past few months now and I love them. Big recommend. No, they're not exactly like natural feather shuttles, but they're close enough and very durable, and would be perfect for casual club players.
I managed to get them for £8.50 a tube which is about 10 euro so picked up a load for doing drills. In retrospect I should have picked up a lot more while they were on offer. Slightly different feel and flightpath so I won't use them for touch/control training. The apacs 900 looks like another one to hit the market, don't know if these are all the same.
I ordered a tube of the Adidas FS9 and they indeed seem to all come from the same OEM: Will give them a try tomorrow. I already don’t like the lower quality „spiral“ feathers. Weight wise, they are only 0.3 g heavier than a full-feather FS5. I wonder if the original OEM is D‘Mantis and how their higher priced models might make a difference (https://www.badminton-point.de/balle/hybridballe/d-mantis.html).
I know king kong do 3 versions, 300,500,and 700. The 300 and 700 say duck whereas the 500 says goose. I've seen this "3 in 1" on all the hybrids I've seen so I don't know what the difference is between them all. There's so many makes on the market now.
That's the clear tell that they all come from the same OEM. So basically it will be irrelevant which brand name is written on the tube, the stuff inside will be the same. Some brands seem to offer the various quality categories, others seem to just offer the cheapest version looking at the price tags. That FS9 clearly has duck feathers too.
I've brought the Kawasaki hybrids way back in 2018 August. I wonder if this was the OEMs first customer or Kawasaki are the OEM themselves. Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
Tried them yesterday. Overall summary: They are... okay. And that is a positive statement. Yes, they do feel different from regular full feather shuttles on impact. In terms of feel and flight, on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 is plastic and 100 is a good feather shuttle, I'd put the FS9 on a 75. Even the hitting sound is nice and crisp. I played two games of singles with it, and I came to the situation in which I didn't really think about the shuttle tbh. Which I take as a seriously good sign. The biggest surprise for me were the touch shots which I didn't feel to be any different. No issues whatsoever. In terms of stability, I think they are really, really solid. Due to the plastic base, they don't get deformed and won't start to wobble as easily. The feathers get ruffled, but once you straighten them before the rally, you can make them last really long. To give you a picture, this is how it looked after 2 games of singles, there were no real hard-hitters on court though: I am positively surprised. We definitley give them more playing time over the next weeks. And I wonder how much better feather quality could even improve the flight behaviour.
Glad these shuttles are getting more traction. The durability and flight pattern make them perfect for people transitioning from plastics to feather without breaking the bank.
Based on the surprsingly good experiences and feedback from club mates over the past sessions with the FS9, I ordered a tube of the D'Mantis 75, which seems to the be the highest available grade hybrid shuttles atm. They are at 17 EUR per tube, compared to the FS9 which is at 13 EUR. First optical impressions (click to enlarge): Comparison with FS9: Again, they all seem to be coming from the same OEM: The feathers seem to be of higher quality (straight, and no spiral shape) and I would say they are goose feathers. The plastic cage seems to be identical. I'll cut through the cork when I'm done with the first ones. Really curious to see if there is any noticable improvements compared to the FS9 that might justify the extra money. @Woesi Would it make sense to change the thread title to make it some kind of general hybrid shuttle thread?
The Dmantis looks pretty decent. Just hope the skirt maintains it shape. Took a look at the manufacturer and it says the Feathers are class A duck. Looking forward to your review.
Well that was an interesting session. We were using two D'Mantis 75 and one Adidas FS9 as reference. And here comes the kicker: The FS9 was the clear winner - both in terms of feel and durability. The D'Mantis feel heavier on impact and they fly faster. Regarding durability they have the problem that hole feathers start to break off rather quickly which makes them fly wobbly and pretty much unusable instantly. Shuttle #1 lasted around half a game of singles, #2 even less. The feathers started bending inwards after only acouple of rallies. Here's how they looked liked afterwards: #1: #2: The FS9 on the other hand stayed playable for two full games of singles. The feathers were looking horribly ruffled towards the end, but the flight was still consistent and without any wobbling: All three players involved in the test agreed that the FS9 felt closer to a full feather shuttle. Personally, I was again really happy how well they do on touch shots around the net. The hitting sound on overhead shots is crisp and you can clearly hear if you've hit the shuttle properly or not. So either I was having a massive lucky shot with that tube FS9 or they are a true bargain. My advice: If you want to try hybrid shuttles, definitely start with the cheap ones!
