They'd have to be completely, utterly different from the normal Zm, because I was absolutely shocked by how numb and powerless the Zm65 and 67 were in their latest renditions
Should a junior say(girl , not particularly strong or well build) 13 -14years old string their rackets at 28lbs tension? will this have any detrimental effect in he long term to their arms or development?
If she has a clean hitting technique or tries to hit the shuttle rather with accurate technique than with raw power 28lbs+ will be good for her. Because when you play at high tension with power and without technique it will only destroy your arm and do not give you any benefits. But if your technique is good, high tension will give you more power and accuracy, and teaches you to hit even more cleanly. And there are many wrist strokes that are easier to execute at high tension which you would not play at low tension. So high tension will help her to develop more explosive and compact hitting techniques that are necessary at fast pace games where you do not have time for full strokes. When she plays the first time with high tension you have to tell her not to use power but to try to hit as accurate as possible. You may can start with simple clear practice. And make sure she stops when she feels pain. Normally it takes time to adapt to high tension so she will lose some power first until she is able to hit the smaller sweet spot repeatably.
Honestly, just my opinion, I would say no. Most girls I know that are on school teams, are strung in the low 20s to mid. In fact, I know a girl who has very good placement and court coverage and she's places in state in the top ten I think? for the past 3-4 years, in singles. She is only playing at 20/22 lbs. Another pair who placed 2nd last year in state, I'm betting their tension are also in 20/22 lbs. The fact is there are not a lot of players who are focused on string tension, it's only in this niche forum that us fanatics constantly discuss going higher and tighter. Especially in high school, I know of hardly any that have an idea of tension.
Depends also on string diameter... if BG65 at 28lbs, no problem, but if BG66UM, then watch out for arm pain...
Short answer: no, don't even think about it. That's way too high and will injure her. Longer answer: Starting at a low tension (say, 20 lbs), she could gradually increase it by 1 lb each time. The goal would be to find the tension that gives her the most power for the least effort. If she has approached 28 lbs honestly via this process, over several years, then it could work well for her. She would have to be an exceptionally capable player. With a teenage boy, I would be even more concerned, because his ego would likely interfere with being honest ("high string tension = I have big balls"). I also condemn the idea of using high string tension as a "training method". This is ineffective and extremely irresponsible. Players should never be told they will "get used to it". This is like selling someone shoes that hurt and saying, "they will be fine once you break them in".
It all depends on her skill level: For example my brother (very skilled) when he was like 9yo his string (22lbs) broke and he had no spare racket took mine stung at 30 lbs (Bg 65) and made his best game. And he stayed playing at high tension and did not want do go back. Now he is 13 and still plays at high tension (BG 80 30 lbs). And its a difference like day and night when he plays with a racket strung at low tension. He plays in every aspect a lot lot better at high tension. And he never had serious arm pain in those 3-4 years. His leg, knee ,angle got hurt far more often (but never serious) than any part of his arm. I although know a few skilled young players in Denmark, Swiss, Germany (U13) who play ~28 lbs BG 80. But you don't need high tension to play good badminton there are much more players who play only around 22 lbs at this age group and are very good. Low tension is securer for the players, only let her play at high tension when you know her good enough and don't force her to play at high tension. She has to decide for her self.
In principle, I agree that it all depends on the player. For that reason I hesitate to say what I'm about to say... But a 9 year old child playing with 30 lbs tension? You've got to be kidding me. That's asking for trouble. There's a worrying trend on these forums for everyone who's ever picked up a racket to say they play "at 30 lbs". If you get your information from BC, then you would come away with the impression that 30 lbs is for strong players, 28 lbs is for ordinary club players, and 25 lbs is for beginners. This tension inflation is dangerous. I hate to be argumentative here, but I feel someone needs to challenge the statement that a kid is okay playing at the same tension as a professional player. It's really not okay. Now, I have met strong, young county juniors (boys of course) who brag their racket is strung at 28 lbs. I "ping" the strings and find it's only 22 or 23 at most. The same applies to some adult players. Plenty of players are confused about what the tension in their racket actually is. Regardless, this trend of normalising very high tensions is worrying. It's bad enough that adult players are doing themselves harm; encouraging children to do the same is unforgivable.
I fully agree with Gollum. High tensions, super stiff and very heavy rackets are not advisable in your low teens. I know very capable players using 24lbs Bg65. If you dont get your kids started on the "high tension equals skill" bandwagon and let them get used to the feel of those tensions, they will be fine with 20-25lbs. Regarding the story of the 9yo using 30lbs - there is actually a chance he will come to regret that. A team mate of mine used to play at a National level and he basically wore down a tendon in his shoulder to the point where its super thin and makes it impossible for him to smash hard anymore. You want to play the lowest tension you can possibly tolerate with the thickest string you can stand. That's actually a quote from Tony Gunawan, not just my opinion.
I agree with [MENTION=2233]Gollum[/MENTION] and [MENTION=64484]j4ckie[/MENTION]. Sometimes I get the impression that some guys here try to compensate something. A 9 year old kid shouldn't use anything higher than 22lbs. That's my opinion. If it's a wonderkid it couldn't be at that age so decent and strong to handle 30lbs. Regardless how much training and talent. Holy cow a toddler with 30lbs. I think panda must make a special edition which can take 50lbs to serve the trend. I noticed this trend in my club (180+ member) as well. They choose rackets and tension because LCW CL or LD use it. Kids and Teens are asking for freaking tensions. My rule is under 14 nobody over 22lbs and under 18 nobody over 28 without the agreement of the parents.
I can't be the only one that raises tension to get a longer string life span. I can't stand playing with really low tensions on feather shuttles. On plastics I have an old racket with like 18-22lbs somewhere of BG65. But for my new rackets I use for feather play, I like having around 24lbs of tension. Trouble is, if you string at 24, you get so little time with 24 that you'd have to restring every fortnight for that feeling. I started increasing it - last time 25, this time 26; I'm not sure if I wanna exceed 26. It takes me some warming up before I can use it properly or my shots end up short. But I go 26 so that when I get the guaranteed tension drop, I'm still riding fairly close to my desired tension. I think I could probably go up to 28 if I used a thicker gauge of string (I'm loving 66UM), but I don't think I'd want to change string just to use a higher tension. That said, I had an unpleasant shock when I went from my racket with low tension 65 to a new racket with 24 BG 80 - especially on plastics. Had some shoulder pain with that for a week or two. My stringer does a very honest job, and when compared with other people's rackets, I'm pretty confident he's giving me what I'm asking for tension wise. One thing I can't understand for the life of me is how few people take care of their strings. I see so many players using factory strings - whether it's a £30 racket or a £150 racket. It perplexes me as to why they'd buy such an expensive racket and then neglect the part they're hitting with. Factory strings can't be at more than 19lbs or so after that long.
Yes, tension drop is unavoidable, and raising the initial tension slightly is one way of mitigating it. Personally, I feel stringing at 26 to get 24 after a fortnight is too big a jump. You'll spend plenty of games playing at a substantially higher tension than you actually want. As you said, this can make your shoulder sore -- and that's not a good sign. That said, your general approach is reasonable and beyond that we're talking about details. I have tried this in the past, and I find it doesn't really work for me. Adding extra tension does not maintain the "freshly strung" feel, no matter what the tension. I think there's more to playability than just tension loss. I think the overall quality of the strings deteriorates as they cut notches into each other, making them less responsive. If you want the best-feeling strings, you have to restring really often. Like, a racket a week or more. Personally, I try to choose a tension which will be ideal after the racket has "relaxed" for a day or two, and then had a few hits in the knock-up. By the time I actually play a game with it, it must not feel like extra effort to play a clear or smash. If it does -- well, I'm picking up another racket right away; my shoulder is too precious.
[MENTION=2233]Gollum[/MENTION] Yeah I'm very wary of shoulder injury after my big jump from 18-22 up to 24. (That was thick gauge to thin gauge too.) Fortunately, my shoulder pain was short lived; it only lasted 2 weeks, and might've been because I was playing on slow plastic shuttles. I've heard kids (sort of 14-16) on about increasing their string tension up to 24. When they start talking about it, I hand them my spare racket with BG80 @ 24 (probably dropped a couple of lbs by now I got that done in October) - if they struggle with it I tell them they definitely shouldn't go as high as 24. My spare ends up my warm up racket these days. I play with it for 30 minutes to 1 hour, and after that I swap to my ZF2 with 26lbs 66UM. If I start at the 26, my shots aren't quite right. I don't understand why people don't at least get a fresh string on their rackets once in a while. They play with 6 month old factory strings. Playing on anything like that drives me crazy, the shots feel hollow and weird.
most likely it is cost. these day in the US a fresh set of strings can cost as high as $25-$35 out the door. that's a lot to regularly pay for many players. home stringers charges less but most people don't go to home stringers.
Totally agree. The trouble with appreciating nice strings is that, well, you end up buying a stringing machine and restringing a racket every week. I put this off for many years, but now I have finally succumbed.
@Gollum Haha don't think I'm at that stage yet. @kwun I'm not talking fresh strings every 2 weeks, or even every month. But I see people play with factory strings for 6 months or more, they've never had the strings done. I find that a bit odd. @visor Tell me about it. I tried BG80, wasn't for me. 65 is only on my old racket. 66UM I'm absolutely adoring though. Anyway @john1994 After tension drops, you're not looking at 27lbs. If you got it restrung at 30lbs, it'd be more like a leap from 23 to 30. Why not go for another 27, or up it by 1lb to 28?
