Why is a training racket so heavy? Tried the Li-ning G-Force Pro 2200i. Quite good but I think you should get a G-Force Power 1x00 , since you like to be a bit offensive with your smashes. Avoid confusing the G-Force Pro 2200i with its predecessor, the G-Force Pro 2200. (without the "I")
Hi All, I am an intermediate badminton player. With a whole choice of rackets from Yonex, I need some advice. I have a very basic Yonex racket for beginners. I like pushing opponent to the back of the court and then playing a winning drop shot. My current racket struggles to keep the opponent to the back of the court if I am at the back of the court. I get my opponents to move around but the shuttle doesn't travel as fast as I want. While I like to do placements, I also like to attack till my opponent gives up. So I am guessing I need more powerful racket. I am not sure if I should be looking at Voltric series or ArcSaber series or Nanoray series ? and what racket in those series I should go with as an intermediate player ? I am inclined to the Voltric series rackets but heard that they can tire your arms. ArcSaber series seem to have balanced rackets that may not tire my arms but they don't seem to have smash power like Voltric Nano series seem to require too much movement of the racket to produce a powerful smash. So I am a bit confused. Please help.
"I like pushing opponent to the back of the court and then playing a winning drop shot." Nanoray 750 "Devastating speed and acceleration for deeper and faster clear shot making." I think a medium flex racket should be good for you. If you can, try a few rackets. Headlight and headheavy is another feeling. Do you play more doubles or singles?
Firstly, many thanks to 'crawshaws' on page 2 of this thread for a really excellent analysis of racquets. It still stands up to scrutiny a few years after he first set it out! May I be so bold as to add a few thoughts to the remaining questions he posed in his analysis. Shaft Flex :-- I agree that the theoretical energy stored in a flexed shaft won't really be made use of in 99.9% of hits as you will still be swinging when the shuttle impacts the string bed. This is the case, assuming the shaft flex occurs primarily at the initiation of your swing. The only situation where the shaft flex might have an impact or effect is (the almost impossible) accuracy of timing where you halt your swing a few milliseconds before shuttle impact whereby the 'springback' of the flexed shaft can take effect, but in that case you would loose the far more useful and effective mass-momentum of your arm weight transferring to the shuttle. The alternative theoretical effectiveness of a flexy shaft would be where it does NOT flex during your initial swing because you haven't accelerated your arm fast enough, but where the effective impact force of a 5gm shuttle travelling at 50 - 150 kph becomes high enough to both stretch the strings AND bend the shaft. This really requires some precise technical experimental measurements to verify and validate! I would suggest that in real life the flexy shaft probably has little effect on imparting shuttle hitting power but MAY have some effect in how the racquet feels in its swing through the air as it would 'cushion' sudden movements or changes in direction of the racquet by absorbing some initial arm force and feel more bouncy or fluid. Asymmetric tension for horizontal and vertical strings (as advised by Yonex) :-- the only reason I can think of is that by having the horizontals at higher tension one would have slightly reduced deformation (stretching) in the horizontal plane and thus help to maintain accuracy (alignment) of the shuttle rebound in the straight-ahead direction which is where you want it to go if you are hitting it square on. What is the 'Best' racquet (weight/head light-heavy balance)? :-- I was quite amazed, after a break of 15yr from playing badminton, to come back to playing and buying/using a new sub-90gm racquet, amazed at how different it felt in my hand compared to my trusty old Carlton (125gm) - which is strung, incidentally, with catgut. Having tried now two new sub-90gm racquets each with different head heavy and head light balance, I would submit that the 'best' racquet is the one that is matched with your arm physique and muscle strength, such that it feels like a seamless extension of your arm. I think this is possible now with the "new" generation of light or superlight racquets. Whereas with the Carlton I always felt I was swinging a kind of bat (albeit a very light bat) to hit the shuttle, with my favourite new Yonex (81gm including strings) I wasn't always conscious (especially in the heat of a rally) that I was holding anything specific in my hand. I now think that this should be the goal for anyone trying to choose the 'best' racquet for themselves, to get the one that gives you this feeling. I note Crawshaws' observation in his post that the trend for racquets seems to be towards ever and ever lighter in weight but I don't think that the very lightest racquet you can get/buy will necessarily be the 'best' for you. This is where my caveat about "matched with your arm physique and muscle strength" comes in. I think it may be possible to have a racquet that is "too lightweight" to match your arm weight and strength, such that you become unsure of where the racquet is or how long the 'extension' to your arm is. In this case, having a head-heavy frame if the racquet is overall too light for your arm, may help to fix and integrate the location and dimensions of this "virtual arm extension" into your brain's subconscious whilst playing. I have not mentioned strings as yet. I think the place of string tension comes in AFTER you have found the perfect racquet for your arm in terms of optimum weight including of course fitted (trial) strings plus the head balance that gives it overall that 'joined to your arm' feeling. Adjusting string tension thereafter allows you to change the style of game you want to play, allied with that all important factor - skill in footwork & shots! Lastly, may I say that I have not entirely abandoned my 125gm Carlton racquet! I use it sometimes in a 'warm-up' game to get a feel for where (how far from the end of my arm/hand) the impact/hitting area is before I change to my light sub-90gm racquet.
To keep it simple there are very simple explanations of racket variations and player guides on the links below: https://badmintonracketreview.co.uk/racket-guide/ https://badmintonracketreview.co.uk/how-to-choose-a-racket/ https://badmintonracketreview.co.uk/badminton-racket-dissected/ In essence I would say when choosing a racket the priority list should look something like this: 1) Choose your balance point first 2) Choose your overall weight i.e. 5u, 4u, 3u 3) Then focus on shaft stiffness. There are many players fixated on super stiff rackets, however, the reality is unless you have super fast arm speed and the fitness to cope with playing with a super stiff racket you will probably be better off playing with a flexible or medium flex racket.
Wow, some really interesting tips on rackets! I use the Yonex Arc Saber FD and really like this. It is the perfect weight for me and I find I play better since I've started using this. The grip is great and over all balance is too. I have reviewed this racket on my blog: www.badmintonchronicles.com if you would like any further information. As I learn more and my badminton skills improve, I wonder if I will prefer a racket which is balanced in a different way to this one. So far, so good.
yes man you are absolutely right, racket is very important equipment in badminton and it is very necessary how to use racket.
