I tried steaming my AS20 shuttles for the first time last weekend and it really made a difference to the shuttle durability. One shuttle actually lasted 2 doubles games (although social games not club). I'm not sure how steaming affects the consistency of the shuttles though. I've got some RSL tourney 3 (78) steamed for play tonight so I'll see how I get on with the faster speed shuttle. I expect that I will be hitting it long, since I've been doing that at a club that I've joined recently but I'm sure that I can refine my lifts and clears to fix that eventually
Personally, I hate RSL shuttles. I find that they fall apart ridiculously easily. In terms of speed, I don't really have any problems with Yonex shuttles but they've got the same problem as RSL ones to me, except they fall apart at a slower rate. If you ask me, I'd say Ashaway or surprisngly, Wilson feather shuttles are good
I've used Wilson before and I agree they aren't bad. I haven't tried Ashaway yet though so might give Ashaway 450 a go Also, just to get back on topic I've gotten used to using faster shuttles (78/79) and it wasn't too hard to adjust after figuring it out!
FWIW, since this topic is 'timeless', I`d just add that I have been observing the shuttles used in BE-sanctioned tournaments in England and it appears that most if not all, at least during the English spring/summer, seem to use Babolat 1 or Babolat 1+, speed rating 77.
I provide low cost coaching as a service to the community and normally use Bird 2 shuttles rather than feathers. These are pretty good, although I'd recommend the faster speed for most UK halls. Incidentally, Bird 3 was supposed to be an improvement over Bird 2 but experience has shown these to be considerably less robust.
