Finally had the chance to play with the King Kong 500 yesterday night. First of all I would like to point out I’m a beginner player and with the group of players I practice with, we just started playing with (cheap) feather shuttles only in January, so our experience with feather shuttle might not be strong and wide enough to be able to judge that one properly like some players would but eventually, I will try to give a little feedback of my experience with this shuttle.
I played 3 single matches and two of them pushed through a third set. We used 3 shuttles, 1 per match and they still flew without wobbling too much by the end of each match. I decided to change every match, even if in appearance the shuttle was still flying decently, as I’ve read several comments on the website of the shop I purchased the shuttles from, saying the shuttles would slow down a lot before before breaking and the players would only realize the shuttle had become too slow after changing for a new one. I’ll use the matches’ leftovers that are still flying straight for drills. I’m already happy with one shuttle per match after experiencing using 2 to 3 shuttles per set with low grade shuttles from Wilson, Babolat and Artengo (Decathlon).
So to sum it up:
Kawasaki King Kong 500 (hybrid) speed 77. Price: 13.50 euros the dozen.
Tested in the South of France in April. Temperature in the gymnasium is around 20 degrees at the moment so they could be a bit “slow” on the paper. We used speed 78 shuttles during winter but since warmer days are around the corner I got some speed 77 ones.
Flight quality is ok. Speed is a little bit on the fast side as when we speed tested them against some speed 78 shuttles they landed around 15 cms shorter only and I believe they should land around 30 centimeters apart between each speed grade. Trajectory is good with straight flight.
Feeling is good with netshots or when hitting the shuttle hard. The shuttle does not feel too heavy and the sound was just the one of a regular feather’s shuttle sound.
Durability is what made me purchase this shuttle and I believe with 3 sets and still flying straight it is above average. Few tips of some feathers broke or started to fray after 3 sets and one of the three shuttle started to wobble at the middle of the third set but we still finished the set with it without it being too noticeable for us.
In conclusion I liked playing with these shuttles and it is the best value I found for my needs which are the ones of a beginner wanting a cheap feather shuttle for practice and drills. I cannot comment further on the shuttles as I do not feel like my playing experience allow me to and we only played 3 shuttles but overall I would simply recommend players from my level to consider it over plastic (not that expensive if cost is shared between two players for single games and 4 for doubles) for a much higher game experience and players from a higher level to simply give it a try and see for themselves if it fills or not their expectations.
The three shuttles after three matches of 2 or 3 sets. (1 shuttle per match)
