I see that they are approved for tournament use. What are the model names of the approved shuttles? Does "synthetic feather" mean that the skirt looks like feathers, or are these the plastic shuttles we are all used to, like Mavis 300 or Mavis 2000?
Synthetic feather isn't a common term as far as I know. You have feather shuttles, plastic (or nylon) shuttles. What I think you are referring to are usually called hybrid shuttles. These have a plastic skirt with (real) feathers inserted into the skirt. They are an attempt to bridge the gap between the feel of feathers and the durability of plastic. I haven't used them myself, but from reading reviews here on the forum, they seem to perform pretty well.
Hi SnowWhite, Thanks, but that isn't what I mean. This article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-badminton-shuttle-idUSKBN1ZJ0CE says: "The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday it has approved synthetic feather shuttlecocks for its international tournaments from next year as it bids to cut down on waste. The governing body said it collaborated with Japanese sports equipment manufacturer Yonex to develop the synthetic version, which was used at three BWF-sanctioned international tournaments last year." I think the idea is to avoid inflicting pain on geese, which would not be achieved by the hybrid shuttles you mention.
Actually, it is synthetic feather shuttles are shuttles that don't use real feathers but use synthetic material to simulate feathers - the goal is to reproduce both the look and characteristics of real feathers with enhanced durability while providing a sustainable method of production. Mizuno came out with a foam-based synthetic shuttlecock many years ago while Victor released their Carbonsonic line not too long ago https://yumo.ca/products/victor-carbonsonic-no-1-synthetic-feather-shuttle Reviews have been mixed - flight characteristics are not quite there yet compared to real feathers and the costs are still very high as well I don't think they sold well so i won't be surprised if Victor has discontinued them already
“The vision is to ensure the long-term sustainability of badminton and become less dependent of using natural feathers for shuttlecocks,” Lund added (BWF Secretary General). Extract from the link of the article posted on.... January 2020. So where are we at regarding this, 3 years later? I'm not particularly for plastic shuttles replacing feathers (neither against) but the hypocrisy of the BWF when it comes to sustainability and environment is just as great as one of their main sponsor (Total). A lot of trendy words put together and zero actions.
I think COVID had a big impact on this plan but i think it will take a very long time to develop a suitable tournament-grade synthetic shuttle - not only does it need to perform similarly to a high-grade feather shuttle, but it will also need to sell well commercially at some point. From the Victor Carbonsonic model there is still much work to do - i think something like another 10-20 years is more realistic - Much like the first mass-produced EV cars started appearing in the 90's (i.e. GM EV1) but are just finally getting to hit mass acceptance. To get tournament grade synthetic shuttles will take a while. Also there isn't much need for them at the rec level as we already have standard plastic shuttles
