Taufik Hidayat usually has his rackets strung at 32 lbs with bg-66. Peter Gade has his strung to 35 lbs with bg-65. A lot of these players like the very high tension because of the control they feel from higher tension, not power.
Yes, that does make the frame weaker. But pro's have so many spare ones! The NS8000 tends to break more easily, mainly because of its thinner frame, compared to Armortecs.
I was using this racquet between 1979-1983 in Hong Kong. I was using gut at that time stung at #26. It can take up to #28 because of the square rim construction ( not at all aerodynamic). The head is very heavy so make sure you adjust the balance point acording to you playing style. Putting the balance point too far back will defect the purpose of this offensive racquet. Balance point at 285-290 seems to be logical with this racquet. Other factors to consider: (1) brand and weight of the string you are going to use. For example, Gosen Pro-70 is heavier than GS-80; the balance point may move up by an inch. (2) Temperature and humidity of the location where you play. In Vancouver, Canada, I string Gosen GS-80 at #24/26 in summer and #20/22 in Winter; otherwise you will not get the loud popping sound as advertised. When the tension is over stung, you will not get the feel when you hit. In Hong Kong, I'd put it to #27/29. (3) Level of players. High level players are harder hitters and you need to use higher tension to reduce the residing time so as to get better control. (4) Size of the hall in which you play. You need more power in a larger hall (8 courts hall), that means lesser tension in bigger hall.
Standard tournaments are played in an 8 courts hall. A spacious hall will have stronger current affecting the flight of the shuttle to make it slower. If your practising hall is a small 4 courts hall, you will have to increase your power to produce the same distance or speed in a bigger hall. One way to adjust is to lower your usual tension by #2 during such tournament. If you adjust well in large hall in most of your training seesions, you will not be affected and you need not to decrease your usual string tension.
Your argument is confused Large halls may or may not have an air current that affects the shuttle. Well designed halls should not have such a current. If there is an air current, then it may or may not be directed towards your side of the court. If it is directed away from your side, then the air current will actually increase the speed of your strokes. This was a problem in the Athens Olympics, where the air conditioning "drift" caused many players to hit the shuttle long.
Your argument is still confused, even for what you call "general situations". Read carefully: Suppose that a large hall has air currents that consistently slow down the shuttle. These air currents must, therefore, be travelling (mostly) in a direction opposed to the shuttle flight. So if you play from the other end of the court, the air currents will be travelling (mostly) in the same direction as the shuttle flight. Therefore they will make the shuttle travel faster/further. There is no environment in which the air currents will consistently make the shuttle slower for players at both ends of the court.
Actually I don't want to argue with you because I'm not an architect and we are not talking badminton anymore. If you have doubt about this topic, please experiment it yourself or find a better person who can answer your question. To the best of my knowledge, most air conditioning ducts are on the floor. Air moves upward and hovering in the ceiling. Hot air moves upwards as well. It will hover in the ceiling too. When you are performing high clear, these currents (or better to call them layers of thicker air) will block the flight of the shuttle, making it harder to tavel 44 feet from rear court to rear court.
In an 8 courts hall, how high is the ceiling? You must be very good to reach half way. You bring up one good point though: larger hall is much actually cooler than a smaller hall. What goes up, must comes down. The cumulating layers of air in the ceiling will form a downward flow and there will be a constant pressure acting downward as well. Go for a 16 court tournament to experience yourself, then you'll know.
No, I don't have any doubt about this topic. I have played in 16 court halls and 1 court rooms. I have never observed a correlation between hall size and shuttle speed.
No, I don't have any doubt about this topic. I have played in 16 court halls and 1 court rooms. I have never observed a correlation between hall size and shuttle speed. Perhaps it is true for the particular hall(s) that you play in. Or maybe you just perform worse in tournaments, and want to blame it on the hall conditions. I think your claim is based entirely on subjective experience, with no honest reasoning or objective data to support it. When someone exposes a flaw in your argument, you deny what you previously said, and even make a new claim that contradicts the old one! For example: Here you claim that hot air rises, and slows down the shuttle. But then: Now you've contradicted your previous claims about air temperature and shuttle speed. And you've also complicated the issue with more baseless claims -- trying to hide the weakness of your argument in invented complexity. I'm sorry to be so harsh. I spent four years studying philosophy and mathematics, and it left me with a loathing for intellectual dishonesty. In other words, I can smell bullsh*t a mile away. The one thing you've said that I respect is this: That claim is fine. You're just saying what you've experienced. But don't invent a load of spurious nonsense to justify it.
It depends Kwun, I guss it depends on what racquets you use. I have a question and hopefully you can help me out on it: Do you know the maximum tension is best for the old Yonex Carbonex 15 & 20? I am told 20 lb is the max but is it true? Thanks, Keevin
The ideal tension is... ...between 18-32lbs. I know, *KICK!* ...OK, I'll craw back under my rock now, thanks I had fun playing.
Although I'm no "super-star" at badminton, having not been ever coached etc. I've attended few clubs and won my local School's badminton championship relatively easy (It's not a Very popular sport locally, anyway). I used a Slazenger Pro Carbon Ti @ 22lbs string tension for a year and a half, the racket later broke (my fault), and I got a Karakal SLTi-80 as a replacement, which I got strung at 22lbs also. Seems fine for me. I can smash "powerful-enough", while still having excellent 'control'. I've also played with many other racquets, several of which I still own, such as the Forza Asia Amour 20,000; this is 24lbs string tension, which was perfectly fine for me too, more powerful smash but seemed a little less control for me. The ideal tension changes person to person, and changes for each need IMO, but for all-round use, I'd say 22-24lbs.
Hi, I want to know what is the ideal tension for a player like me who have a lack of power, and who are an intermediate player (maybe between beginner and intermediate). My new racket will be a Yonex Nanospeed 8000. And before I will get it, I play with a Yonex TI-5, with 19 lbs string (BG-65TI). I don't want to loose power ( I don't have a good smash already), and I want a string with a good compromise between control and power for someone like me who don't have big strengh in his arm. Thanks.
I found that when I put the tension below #20, the dwelling time of the shuttle in the string bed is too long and much of the energy is absorbed and dissipated. My ideal tension (not yours) is 24 to 26 lb. on a 21GA (.70mm) string (Gosen Pro-70 @ #26M/27C on an oval shape is still OK in Winter) or 22 to 24 on a 0.66mm/0.68mm string (Gosen B505). I only use Gosen strings because they stick to their specifications, while a 0.70mm YY is actually 0.75mm and the 0.68mm is actually 0.72mm+. I also found that 0.66mm Gosen string works very well on YY racquets stung at #21M/23C that is within the recommended tension of most YY racquets. Many Naospeed racquets broke at the head of the racquet because of the extra dedicated holes (for main and cross strings) there. One way to check your ideal tension is to send a shuttle (with correct rating i.e. #78 in Canada, #77 in US, or #76 in Asia) from the base line to the opposite baseline, using an offecsive underarm clear shot. If the shuttle landed within the opposite single and doubles service lines, that racquet tension is probably probably right you. Good luck.
