Hey, everyone on badminton central, i have a qusetion about head light racquets versus light head racquets for the smash. I heard from people that head heavy produces a more powerful smash because the weight on the head adds power such as Armortech 800 of, Armor tech 700. But i also heard some people say that head light racquets are better for smashing because you can swing them faster such as Nanospeed 9000,8000, 7000, etc. If you want the most smash power, should the racquet be head heavy or head light. Thank you in Advance.
You are absolutely correct about this. Head-heavy racquets produce more power compared to head-light racquets when attack, however, one this you need to remember is that the speed of birdes is directly correlated with racquet swing speed. Therefore, you can produce faster smashes if you can swing a head-light racquet faster than a head-heavy racquet. Thus buying a head-heavy racquet will not improve your smashing speed and power dramatically if you can not get it to swing fast enough. Which is always a problem to play a head-heavy racquet.
if your strong enough to flex the shaft on a head light racquet its much better since the defense is better as well, its easier to flex the shaft on a head heavy racquet so its easier to get power, you still need strong wrists for both though, just stronger if you wanna get power out of a headlight.
Head heavy flexible shaft (with modest string tensions) racquets generate peak power with less effort required from the player. The same (or even a lot more) power could be gererated from a stiff racquet which is head light and tight but the shot would require more effort (or technique).
There's no universal answer for this question, as it's all down to preference. Even the pros have different selections, some use NS7000 (head light), while others using AT700 or the original Ti-10 (head heavy). I doubt the strength issue could be a problem for anyone of them. It's more down to their own feeling and style of playing. Demo the rackets, and let your own hand tell you about your own answer.
I agree with lazybuddy. though I think there is a general rule, but it is VERY vague: ÍF you can swing a head-heavy racket just as fast as a ehadlight racket, the head-heavy gives mroe power. but since this almsot never happens there is a sort of happy medium for every individual between swinging as fast as you can with the heaviest racket you can swing that fast with. is that complicated enough?
For maximum power, you want a very heavy (though not heavy enough to interfere with your play) racket that is very head light. The head must be quite heavy and yet the racket must remain very head-light. If yor can untangle this riddle, you will find a real gem and everything will become clear. Alternatively, type momemtum into google.
Generally, a head-heavy racket has greater potential for powerful smashes. But smash power really depends on many factors including but not limited to: string type, string tension, racket stiffness, aerodynamics of the racket, your own strength, and your own style. For example, my friend uses an NS7000 (3U) which is generally regarded as a stiff, head-light racket. My current racket of choice is an AT700 (also 3U) which is generally regarded as a head-heavy racket with medium stiffness (I know Yonex lists it as "Extra-stiff" but it has been my own experience as well as the general consensus on BC that the AT700 is closer to medium stiffness). When I use my AT700, I can smash about as hard my friend can. One day we switched rackets just for fun and neither of us could smash as hard. It would seem that smash power really varies depending upon other factors besides head-heaviness/head-lightness. I think it can be said that a good smashing racket for one person may not necessarily be a good smashing racket for another. If you want a good smashing racket, I would just try as many rackets as you can and see what works best for you. Cheers.
Stroke,technique aside.... If one have the strength to handle a head heavy racquet well,a head heavy racquet provides the harder hit compared to the light headed racquet. Lets have a comparision... Strong Guy A uses a head heavy racquet to execute a smash with swing speed same as Strong Guy B below. Strong Guy B uses head light racquet with same swing speed smash as Strong Guy A.Theorically,Strong Guy A will produce a harder hit because the head will provide some weight and force to the bird after hit. My 5cents worth of comment.Hope it helps. All still goes down to preference if that little amount of extra power from the heavy head is not needed. I guess heavy headed racquet will be good for the agressive doubles player and the light headed good for the agressive kind of a singles player who smashes often and still want to control the game.
Nice input by AMraider, nice story. and I agree with Gak_12. and just want to add somethign I noticed yesterday betwene racketchoice and technique. some very very wristy-players (elbow movement = 0, shoulder barely moves, etc) use lighter, healdight rackets (3x ns8k, 1x ti-7, maybe a ns7k) others that are less wristy use a flexy, head-heavy racket, like an mp-88 (2x) then there're the majority of the players that use their arm more (I'm one of them) and most popular one's are the at800def/off, at700(mány), at500 and my own woven 11, most of these players smash a lot as well, but so do all the above-mentioned players. the level fo the players above range from top-national (Big Boss) division, to 3th national division... so It's really rather personal..
Right ,I watched Muhd Hafiz plays with the less popular NS7000 in Singapore Open 2006, his smashes were insane deadly powerful, amazed, one of the most powerful I've seen live.... so ,it's up to their own preference... & certainly the pros uses his right kind of racket for optimal performance..
Well, I can explain that Kido or Fu with maximised momentum would be superior to Kido or Fu not maximised with momentum.
ok, physics time... you already mentioned momentum, or mass X velocity. now, before we start your train analogy. let's for convenience mention One of Newtons laws 'mass is slow' given the fact badmintonplayers don't have an infinite amount of time to swing a racket to reach maximum velocity a certain slowness is in order. so lighter racket need less time to gain maximum velocity. so to conclude: if you're a slow/big swinger a heavy racket could be best (if all you're afteris power...if..) if you have a fats, shorter swing lighter racket would be beneficial...
