Badminton Racket Review - Min Requirement?

[Budi]

There so many reviewer out there especially on Youtube.
Some just reading the paper spec, some other put an ingame review.
Im very aware that review mostly nothing more than a pinch of salt as there is to much factor for consideration.
While im enjoying myself watching their content about my hobby, 1 reviewer i see had kinda early intermediate & the game itself is just slow paced. The hitting mostly is tapping or blocking & not exerting full burst swing.
So saying the racket is fast while the games is slow paced. Mention its powerfull yet no big bang smash performed.

Its makes me think, on what level actually a player could give a comprehensive review?

& Following the next question. Few week back, i had an argument with friend. He explain to his beginner friend (who want to buy racket for himself) all the complicated stuff about racket (balance, stiffness, swing weight, frame profile, etc). Im telling him, for beginner, just get whatever cheap racket that looks good. Any racket wont matter & wont makes any difference. On what level, do racket matter in our hand? Ofcourse we are not talking about pros level here but a competitive club level.

 

[Z-Force III]

Its makes me think, on what level actually a player could give a comprehensive review?

None. Every player has a favorite type of racket and this will mean that he dislike/like a specific type of racket and that leads to bias. Also people have different swing styles and speeds, different playing styles and prefer different disciplines. IMO people can only review rackets comprehensive when it is their type of racket and not too far off.

On what level, do racket matter in our hand?

At every. For every level there equist a wrong racket with don't maximize the court performance and is more an additional obstacle instead of a useful tool. Also don't underestimate the good feel and joy on court of somebody using the racket of his/her favorite player or even in the favorite colour despite it's not the best choice.

 

[Bieffe]

I agree with what you said about the beginner. It depends on how much he/her wants to know. How far would this beginner wanna go?
Not sexist here, but very often ladies aren't that keen on the details, the more you tell them the more you confuse them.
So for beginner just go for a cheap and light racket. Not like those aluminium rackets from the supermarket. But minimumly an full graphite racket. Low end Yonex or Apacs is a good starting point.
I will tell the beginner, badminton is 50% skill, 45% footwork and 5% racket.
Give any beginner racket to a season player, they will still out play you.

As for reviewers, I appreciate their effort and enjoy most of their content. However some reviewers after sometime lose their direction and becomes more like a paid commercial. Not every new racket is gonna give us more power, more speed more this and that if one don't have the skills to exploit to its full potential.

I will lean more towards a reviewer when my experience with the racket is the same or similar to his/her. So for my next racket purchase, I'm more likey to be swayed by their comments.

I've ever encountered a racket where my experience with the racket is quite different from the reviewer. More like afew of the reviewers. I sold it off eventually.

Anyway no such thing as a bad racket, is only if the racket is suitable to a player or not.

Give a Astrox 99 to a beginner and he will likely injure himself or quit the sport.

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[SnowWhite]

Never mind that string and tension arguably have a bigger impact in how a racket plays than the racket itself. So testing or comparing rackets should always be done with identical and new stringjobs. Somehow I don't think most hobbyist youtube reviewers have the time, funds, and will to do that, every single time. However, at the high end of reviews where reviewers receive the rackets for free specifically to review them, it is unlikely you will get a review that doesn't hype up the racket, because then why would the brand continue to donate rackets?

There is one reviewer that can adequately judge how well a racket plays, and that reviewer is your hand. But even then, strings are important. If I receive a new racket with an unknown stringjob, inevitably my current rackets with the strings and tension I prefer will play better, regardless of how perfect the new racket might be for me.

Finally, specs about rackets are available online. While they can differ between brands, they are somewhat reliable within brands, so you can always find rackets with similar specs to other rackets you enjoyed playing with and assume the racket will play similarly.

 

[SSSSNT]

The thing about racket is, as long as it's well made and not too extreme in weight, balance and stiffness, your hand will adjust to it. Any racket will feel comfortable after a while.

 

[Bieffe]

I feel is also better, if the reviewer be consistent with the strings and tension used. As rackets will feel very different depending on the strings and tension used.

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[Z-Force III]

And sometimes you need a second restring on a racket to just adjust to it and get the full picture. If you are used to oversized frames a compact head can feel around 2lbs tighter, some patterns are more dense in the middle and will also feel tighter. If you stick to the same tension it can turn out unplayable and not enjoyable if the go-to tension choice is on the end of the tension you are able to play.

 

[UkPlayer]

Even if you give a review it's only personal anyway. Badminton racket reviews are always to be taken with a pinch of salt. I don't think anyone is qualified to review a racket from an objective perspective.

Li Jun Hui was using a 5u at the Olympics, but I'm sure a lot of amateurs would have picked up that racket and written something like it's too light no power from the back!

I know a lot of people decent level play with not so expensive rackets and don't really know much about the balance and stiffness, and a lot of people of a lower level who play with expensive ones who know every detail of the technology. 99.9% of this game is being in the right position at the right time and playing the right stroke consistently which doesn't change much whichever racket you use as long as it can take a decent tension and is well made and you use if often.

If you feel like it does the job for you that's all that counts. The only way to tell is to pick it up and play with it. The best thing for people would be to pick up a racket without knowing who made it, who plays with it and how much it costs, but that's never going to happen. If it was just based on the racket the companies wouldn't need to spend to much on marketing.

I think for a lot of people the fact that a pro plays with it and everyone else says it's a really good racket often comes into it because that way you know you're not missing out even if it's not really done anything for you.

I've also seen people get injured when switching rackets, that's a double whammy, buy a high end racket because everyone says it's good and spend 6 months out of the game because it was stiff enough to tear your weak rotator cuff

 

[kwun]

It is a difficult call. We can also argue that a racket that a good strong player like might not be something appropriate for a beginner.

The real issue is that there isn't an objective way to measure the performance of a racket. Heck, just the definition of "performance" is hard to define itself. A "well performed" racket by one person might be the worse for another. We can of course do measurements on things like weight and stiffness, etc. but that's hardly translates to how a racket fits a person.

But if we can, that will be quite revolutionary for badminton reviews.

Before that, I am afraid we will keep seeing subjective reviews from reviewers of all different playing levels.

 

[kwun]

Another factor is matching of racket to string and string tension. I have personally found that it is not a one size fit all when it comes to string and racket. I personally perfect softer strings on light rackets, and stiffer ones on heavier ones. But not everyone does. Suddenly now there are a lot more variables in the equation.

 

[Suilven]

The thing about racket is, as long as it's well made and not too extreme in weight, balance and stiffness, your hand will adjust to it. Any racket will feel comfortable after a while.

There’s some truth in that, back in the day my first racket was a Carlton 3.7 (gut strings),
played with that for as long as I remembered, nothing other club members played with took my fancy,
until one day someone brought in a Yonex Blacken B8100, game changer!,
that was when my Carlton days stopped and my Yonex love started,
subsequently I went onto Carbonex 8 then 12 before I stopped playing,
when I came back after 20 yrs or so break, the game has moved on, point scoring moved to 21 etc,
decided to move with the times and see what new one piece rackets are like,
bought a 2nd hand Voltric 60 + bg65……wow!, had the same feeling as the day I tried that “Blacken”,
what a beaut, lovely action and felt right.

There was no reviews back in the day, moral of the story is take reviews with a pinch of salt,
you can only find out what suits you by having racket in your hand and how it feels and playing with it.

 

[Bieffe]

From many years back, improvements with manufacturing process and material will product rackets with difference we can feel.
But along the way these changes has become more and more insignificant. They promise us alot, but very often is just marketing. But for a capitalism view point this is where the money is.
So one must take all reviews with alot of salt.
But reviewers will only be honest at the beginning, once the sponsors come in then...maybe 1 should move on.

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[kwun]

Beiffe has some good thought provoking points!

1) Marketing
That's a good point. If there is ever a way to remove all the marketing, that will be great. Each manufacturer will have some sort of "10% faster smash" all their racket, or 10% better defense. How is it possible for such marketing to not affect the reviewer?

2) Sponsorship
dozens if not hundreds of racket gets released every year. Even the ones with significance, maybe 2 dozens. How is it possible for the average "youtube" reviewer to afford so many rackets? So when sponsorship comes in, then ultimately there will be some sort of bias.

Ideally, there should be some way to eliminate all the external factors. Have a rich publication that is not influenced by brands and sponsorship, and then strip off all the paints on rackets and do batch comparison blind tests with different combination of strings and tension.

Such will be a full time job, and who's gonna pay?

 

[SSSSNT]

A better way is to create a swing machine in a controlled environment (no wind etc) that can output power levels consistently and also measure the drag. Something like:

I feel like a good engineer could easily do this. Then we can have people send him rackets for some useful data.

 

[Suilven]

A better way is to create a swing machine in a controlled environment (no wind etc) that can output power levels consistently and also measure the drag. Something like:

I feel like a good engineer could easily do this. Then we can have people send him rackets for some useful data.

Woah!…to coin a phrase from Pink Floyd, “careful with that axe Eugene”.

 

[Suilven]

From many years back, improvements with manufacturing process and material will product rackets with difference we can feel.
But along the way these changes has become more and more insignificant. They promise us alot, but very often is just marketing. But for a capitalism view point this is where the money is.
So one must take all reviews with alot of salt.
But reviewers will only be honest at the beginning, once the sponsors come in then...maybe 1 should move on.

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

Yep, exactly my view, the moment i picked up that Blacken was like stepping from a Lancaster Bomber to a Lockheed Blackbird,
and that experience was repeated when I played with the Voltric 60, I thought to myself “my god!, manufacturing has come a long way”.

 

[Bieffe]

Beiffe has some good thought provoking points!

1) Marketing
That's a good point. If there is ever a way to remove all the marketing, that will be great. Each manufacturer will have some sort of "10% faster smash" all their racket, or 10% better defense. How is it possible for such marketing to not affect the reviewer?

2) Sponsorship
dozens if not hundreds of racket gets released every year. Even the ones with significance, maybe 2 dozens. How is it possible for the average "youtube" reviewer to afford so many rackets? So when sponsorship comes in, then ultimately there will be some sort of bias.

Ideally, there should be some way to eliminate all the external factors. Have a rich publication that is not influenced by brands and sponsorship, and then strip off all the paints on rackets and do batch comparison blind tests with different combination of strings and tension.

Such will be a full time job, and who's gonna pay?

Ya nobody wanna do destructive test. Just to give viewers some reviews and likes.

So striping paint is out. Not to mention the paint does affect the racket some what. Is reflective of it quality and durability.

Some may recall some rackets are prone to flaking paints, running decals, noisy caps...and mind u these are not cheapo racket but top end rackets.

I suspect many of the reviewers get a special discount from the local shop they frequently get from. Instead of direct from the manufacturer. This way, is less likely for for reviewer to be bias for a certain brand.

The reviewer should then after the review either, sell the racket away or keep it or give it away as a prize for viewers.

Nevertheless is hard work and to make it full time is a huge mountain to climb.

But some reviewers are such a brand fan boy....so obvious.

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[Bieffe]

Yep, exactly my view, the moment i picked up that Blacken was like stepping from a Lancaster Bomber to a Lockheed Blackbird,
and that experience was repeated when I played with the Voltric 60, I thought to myself “my god!, manufacturing has come a long way”.

Love ur description! Are you by any chance a veteran?
But nowdays the marketing is so unbelievable. What steeper, more accurate etc...
Yonex marketing ploy is bad. Pro, Tour, Game, Play? And the all look the same!
Or have some holes along the frame and say it become more aero dynamic and will make u swing faster.....
It sometimes become faster, when someone ask me for an opinion to buy a racket but then gives me the full data sheet believing everything printed there.

Have a good day everyone.

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[Suilven]

Love ur description! Are you by any chance a veteran?
But nowdays the marketing is so unbelievable. What steeper, more accurate etc...
Yonex marketing ploy is bad. Pro, Tour, Game, Play? And the all look the same!
Or have some holes along the frame and say it become more aero dynamic and will make u swing faster.....
It sometimes become faster, when someone ask me for an opinion to buy a racket but then gives me the full data sheet believing everything printed there.

Have a good day everyone.

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

In my 62nd year on my next birthday, how time flies.

The marketing is unreal regarding new rackets, I look at reviews and read the spiel,
the jargon is unreal and I am non the wiser, so I give it the Salt Bae treatment, large dose of it.

 

[Z-Force III]

There are also alot prejudices and simplified rules of thumb which don't work for everyone, are sometimes wrong/inaccurate statements. I also got fooled by this higher tension more control, defensive players - headlight and flexible, offensive players - stiff and head heavy stuff and if you are prone to have pain in the arm/shoulder most people will suggest you a lighter racket.

I made the decision to reduce my tension by 4lbs over the years (thanks @DinkAlot who gave the advice to play the lowest tension you can tolerate) and noticed a significant change in my game.
I had alot of pain in my arm with light or too stiff rackets and cured it with a heavier racket and can't think off to use anything else than an even balanced 3U with midflex/midstiff shaft for my allround offensive game. I simply thought and got also this told by various shop owners that offensive people need to use a stiff shaft for smashing.

I personally think that many players play too stiff rackets instead too flexible rackets, because mostly the flagships are stiff ones. There is some fear that it will result in so slow rackets, that some strokes become impossible to hit. Yeah, you can't do drives anymore and will only play lifts and your smashs become clears, lol.

IMO this reviews always aim flagships and boost the marketing hype. Where are the reviews of the DG 0.7s, the Astrox 22 lt or a Li-Ning Windstorm 72? They seem to be bad rackets otherwise somebody would review and promote. And the reviewers review the flagships because they seek for maximum attention. Who will click on the Astrox 01 Clear review, when the spotlight/attention and all eyes are only on the pro/flagship rackets?

It seems that even pros are not saved to get fooled...I get the impression that many players arms and wrist are more often covered and wrapped with tape than ever before. How come? Are current rackets more demanding or simple tensions too high or the whole thing close to playable without issues?

Even the terms flexible and low tension make people think that the shuttle get spread allover but not into the court or tight over the net. And to be clear, I was this kind of person as well until I made own and different experiences.

I know that many people will disagree with me and I'm fine with this. And if we all disagree about such things how should somebody be able to give other peoples good advices/reviews when we all have different understandings and opinions on simple specs?

Li-Ning got criticised, that they don't provide much informations about their rackets. From a different point of view, this was something good as well, so you were not biased by this informations too much and discovered on your own how they played.

IMO a good indicator of new flagship rackets is the buy/sell section and also the 2nd hand market. If many people bought and sell again quickly this might be a good signal to not pay too much attention on the marketing machine and the reviewers. Sadly sellers don't spread the motivation/reason why they sell again, but this would be for me good and helpful information.

I also agree with @Bieffe . I wonder how many reviews are more on the positive side. Maybe I'm a little bit paranoid, but for me this feel not trustworthy when simply no racket turns out to be a lemon by some reviewers.