Im looking to re-string my racket with some higher end strings to give me more playability(power/control/shock absorbtion), and most importantly take the load off my arm. My racket is an Apacs Tantrum 300, strung with Bg65 at 22lbs, My strings are 8+ months old. And I don't believe they were strung well to begin with, the guy was fumbling around, and halfway through stopped to ask what tension I had asked for... There was also a substantial amount of play in the strings, regardless. I did not have this problem for the first few months. Im not sure if I have my racket strung too tight, or if I just need better strings and a restringing, but the last few months have been absolute hell on my arm. There's been a couple nights my elbow area hurt so bad I had to just go home, a bad miss hit could end my evening. I did not see I've read that having your racket strung tighter then you can handle(ability) would cause that problem, so Im not sure if my strings are too tight, and that's whats putting pressure on my arm.. Or they have loosened too much, and that's whats causing it.. they feel completely dead, as if there is some serious energy sapping going on, and they are vibrating like crazy which is killing my arm. I am an intermediate level player, I play 2-3 times a week, and have no problem blowing the shuttle right out the back of the court on a clear, but it takes a tremendous amount of power/energy to do so. We play mostly with plastic shuttles. The problem seems to be getting worse. I have tons of power to spare, and will gladly give up "power and repulsion" for "control and accuracy" I could really use some advice on what strings to put on, and whether I should decrease my tension, or keep it the same. I was looking at bg98's as they are nice thin strings, with great repulsion and control.. My ideal strings would be the bg66 ultimax's, but their durability is questionable and would not suit my play style. The bg 99s are my other option, as much as I'd like the thinner strings of the 98's for control, I can help but think the 99's would be more durable and keep their tension longer. So 98's or 99s? Think or thick? Do I go for the control/accuracy of the thin strings, or let the 99's "bite" handle the control and get my self better durability. And most importantly.. Do I drop my tension from 22lbs to maybe 20lbs take the heat off my arm, or will the extra repulsion going from bg65's to 98/99's handle that for me. If anything Id actually rather increase my tension for better control maybe 24bls, as I've always had power to spare, but Im not willing to kill my arm in the process.. thoughts?
off the bat, a few things... thin strings at higher tension with plastic birds is going to kill your arm more and your wallet as you'll break strings more often in the same breath you say you're intermediate and you have power to spare blowing shuttles out the baseline but then you say you need a tremendous amount of power to do so... to the point of causing your elbow to hurt? your bg65 is probably dropped to 19 lbs by now, so don't bother stringing at 20 lbs. to me, it sounds like it's your technique... what racket are you using now?
Apacs Tantrum 300.. I may not have made my point clearly, I have power to spare, and have no problem clearing, but it seems to be taking more power to do it then it used to, and more importantly when I use that power, its absolutely thrashing my arm in the process! I have no doubt my technique could use work, hell it could always be better, but it seems unlikely my technique has taken a sudden and pronounced dive over the last 5 months.
oh right... T300 was in your OP... sorry, missed it... few things again... most important, don't go to that stringer ever again!... he doesn't sound like he's good. you should ask around your playing friends to see who's good and who they would recommend zymax 65 and 67 is good for plastic birds, good feel and quite repulsive, and most importantly excellent tension retention... unlike bg65 which is on the other end of the spectrum! so find a good stringer and try 22-23 lbs first and go from there
first you probably need a new set of strings since they are 8 months old. then i would suggest you play in a way that your arm doesn't hurt, while having the same setup as before. after you have played with a style that won't hurt your arm, then maybe you can share what you lack in the style of play, and maybe we can help you figure out what you need. i personally believe that it's best to do as much research as possible first before spending money...but in this particular case, your string is quite old so you might as well as "start over".
here are a few comment: - first thing is always to find out the right string tension range for you. this can be done by borrowing your friends racket and do high clears, drives, play one game, etc., to see how you play and feel. Then, take the racket that has the "most" suitable tension, and ask your stringer to match it's tension and add about 1-2 lbs higher (to anticipate tension loss over time). NOTE: since 22 lbs from different stringer (even the same string and same racket) can result in different final result, it's important for you to test as much as you can, and as close to your racket as you can (like another Apacs Tantrum 300). also, pick the right stringer and stick to him/her. this is also very important, as I have seen HUGE variation of ending results from different stringers, when you say 22 lbs! - With that starting point, try different strings. Your stringer should know whether you should increase or decrease tension when you switch from one string to another. If not, this stringer is not good enough. for example, if you go from BG65 yo BG 80, normally you want to lower the tension by around 10%. - One last, if your arm / elbow is hurting by playing, something is wrong. often time, it's related to the following factors: tension too high, wrong technique, old injury, not warmed up properly, tried way too hard, too much "red bull" or "5-hr energy" cool, etc.. You need to look into those as well and make sure playing badminton is a fun thing to do. otherwise, we will loss another player on the court. Have fun playing, and enjoy it!
you can never have too much redbull now can you?! just recently found out that redbull was founded in thailand, interesting!!!
that's right! even Lin Dan is promoting Redbull in China. well, I have never tried those energy drinks myself. a few of my friends did, and I didn't see much of any difference in their performance anyway.
Hey all I am new to stringing and would like to know why you would drop 10% tension from bg65 to bg80?? I thought thinner strings loses tension faster, and that is why you put higher tension on thinner strings to compensate?? Thank you all very much
Well, in Malaysia, REDBULL is well-known to enhance performance in BEDminton ... doesn't the name give a BIG HINT ? You never wonder why it is called "RED" and "BULL" .... ?
