What is it with Plastic Shuttles that causes an increased rate of injury?

[VeritasC&E]

I read a post about hybrid shuttles and wondered whether they could behave a bit like hybrid shuttles in terms of causing more injuries vs playing with regular feathers, which led me to ask myself why it is that plastic shuttles cause an increased rate of injury?

What contributes to it and what are the mechanisms involved?

 

[Fidget]

Could you please provide the source that shows that plastic shuttles cause more injuries?

Thanks. ​

 

[VeritasC&E]

Could you please provide the source that shows that plastic shuttles cause more injuries?

Thanks. ​

I don't know it fore sure and I'm interested to have more information about it and understanding better why, but it's a commonly accepted fact (/ myth?) in the badminton world. A quick search on google will return you many results that mention this, the first result is the following article: https://badminton-coach.co.uk/4813/plastic-shuttles-versus-feather-shuttles-let-the-debate-begin/

 

[llrr]

If this is the case, and I'm not saying it is because I don't actually know, then I have to imagine it's because plastic shuttles are too light. If people don't use lower tensions playing plastics the result is trying extra hard to hit the shuttle, which it course could cause a number of injuries on the arm/shoulder. Then again though, I've never had any issues with plastics. It just feels not very good.

 

[latecomer]

People that playing with plastic usually are the ones that don't want to spend money on feather. Majority of them don't have proper training. That's not to say people playing with feather don't get injuries. It's only logic that to assume people playing with plastic have a higher rate of injuring themselves than people playing with feather.

 

[Cheung]

Without hard data, it really is impossible to say if plastics contribute to more injuries.

 

[Fidget]

If the premise is true, then @latecomer statement is probably correct.
i.e. That plastic player = less-trained player = poor technique. And poor technique leads to shoulder injuries, knee injuries, etc. And less trained players also get more clashes and collisions with their partners.

One could make the opposite argument: Feather players are more dedicated and play a lot more — which might give them better technique — but all those extra hours increase the risk of over-use and repetitive strain injuries.

Either way, I suspect most of the association between plastic birds and injury has less to do with the bird characteristics and more to do with who is using them. But would like to here other opinions.

 

[Cheung]

Plastic shuttles are quite common in Canada. Any thoughts whether in general, people get injured more there?

 

[visor]

There's a saying about shuttles. You punch through a plastic, but you whip at a feather.

Imho it's the structure of the shuttle skirt that makes all the difference...in both how you hit and consequently how you can get injured.

With plastic, the skirt is soft and collapses on strike, so most of the energy transfer is only through the cork, thus leading to a harsh impact.

With feathers, on the other hand, the skirt is solid and rigid and helps contribute more to impact than plastic skirt. Thus the impact is spread out between the skirt and the cork, instead of being concentrated only on the cork as with plastics. Having a solid skirt also contributes to the sharper sound and more exquisite feel on impact.



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[swsh]

Without hard data, it really is impossible to say if plastics contribute to more injuries.

Honestly, same. As much as I'd like to jump on the issue, people with tendonitis bands etc. tend to be ones with the wrong hitting technique.

There's no way I wouldn't have experienced at least *something* playing at the mental tensions I do with plastics.

 

[VeritasC&E]

There's a saying about shuttles. You punch through a plastic, but you whip at a feather.

Imho it's the structure of the shuttle skirt that makes all the difference...in both how you hit and consequently how you can get injured.

With plastic, the skirt is soft and collapses on strike, so most of the energy transfer is only through the cork, thus leading to a harsh impact.

With feathers, on the other hand, the skirt is solid and rigid and helps contribute more to impact than plastic skirt. Thus the impact is spread out between the skirt and the cork, instead of being concentrated only on the cork as with plastics. Having a solid skirt also contributes to the sharper sound and more exquisite feel on impact.



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That's a smart answer: It might mean that the energy is transfered faster to plastics than to feathers. The same amount of energy transfered faster means there's much higher force involved, thus more strain on tendons.

 

[Arradon]

People that playing with plastic usually are the ones that don't want to spend money on feather. Majority of them don't have proper training. That's not to say people playing with feather don't get injuries. It's only logic that to assume people playing with plastic have a higher rate of injuring themselves than people playing with feather.

Bullshit.

Without hard data, it really is impossible to say if plastics contribute to more injuries.

Bullshit.

If the premise is true, then @latecomer statement is probably correct.
i.e. That plastic player = less-trained player = poor technique. And poor technique leads to shoulder injuries, knee injuries, etc. And less trained players also get more clashes and collisions with their partners.

Bullshit.


You guys even do not understand the problem...

I play badminton for many many years, I'm not a professional player, but I have very good technique. The problem about getting injures playing with plastic shuttles is for players with good technique who plays normally with feather shuttles. That's my case. I play many basics tournaments. For 6 years I play only fearther shuttles, but sometimes I have an opponent who want to play with plastic and I can not refuse (stupid tournament regles for basic players...). I had few situations that I got injures after playing only one match with plastic shuttle because I wasn't used to. Few smashes or clears is enough to get pain in your elbow or shoulder that stayed few months after. So now, I do not play with plastic never more, that's too dangerous. And have no idea why it make injures. I assume because of more power needed to make good quality smash or clear.

 

[Cheung]

You guys even do not understand the problem...

I played mostly with plastic before, played in league matches and competitions. Didn't have a problem. In England, they use both. I remember switching from feather to plastic because of the league rules.

Without proper data and statistical analysis, it cannot be proven that injuries are more common with plastic.

You must be unaware of the concept of "confounding factors".

 

[latecomer]

Bullshit.



Bullshit.



Bullshit.


You guys even do not understand the problem...

I play badminton for many many years, I'm not a professional player, but I have very good technique. The problem about getting injures playing with plastic shuttles is for players with good technique who plays normally with feather shuttles. That's my case. I play many basics tournaments. For 6 years I play only fearther shuttles, but sometimes I have an opponent who want to play with plastic and I can not refuse (stupid tournament regles for basic players...). I had few situations that I got injures after playing only one match with plastic shuttle because I wasn't used to. Few smashes or clears is enough to get pain in your elbow or shoulder that stayed few months after. So now, I do not play with plastic never more, that's too dangerous. And have no idea why it make injures. I assume because of more power needed to make good quality smash or clear.

Trying to digest what you wants to say. Good technique +plastic = injuries? Is that what you mean?

 

[visor]

O

Bullshit.



Bullshit.



Bullshit.


You guys even do not understand the problem...

I play badminton for many many years, I'm not a professional player, but I have very good technique. The problem about getting injures playing with plastic shuttles is for players with good technique who plays normally with feather shuttles. That's my case. I play many basics tournaments. For 6 years I play only fearther shuttles, but sometimes I have an opponent who want to play with plastic and I can not refuse (stupid tournament regles for basic players...). I had few situations that I got injures after playing only one match with plastic shuttle because I wasn't used to. Few smashes or clears is enough to get pain in your elbow or shoulder that stayed few months after. So now, I do not play with plastic never more, that's too dangerous. And have no idea why it make injures. I assume because of more power needed to make good quality smash or clear.

Just checking... do you use less tension when playing plastic as compared to feather? Because if you don't, you'll need to use a lot more power to clear and smash plastic. And that will lead to injuries.

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[AdrianBraganza]

Well I can say for sure with my experience of playing with feathers 4 days a week and Nylons 2 days a week because people at the divisional center seem to hate feather shuttles and are on an extreme budget..Nylons cause more injuries overall due to the way the shuttle plays..To verify this, do a simple shuttle test and see where a feather lands and where a nylon one lands..Another thing to note is the way people who use nylon shuttles use the damn thing till the base (cork) is so soft that the strings leave dents in it to make the moon craters look bad..And when a nylon shuttle is used to that extent its better to call it a day if people are not willing to pull out a fresh new shuttle at the very least..
To push a fresh shuttle and to push a dead/abused shuttle also feels worlds apart being that the fresh one will move more easily because of a good base and the abused one needs a shitload of effort to get it to move decently..And this pushing of a dead/abused nylon shuttle is the main factor of injury for people using only nylons..

At the divisional center people use Mavis 350 till there is absolutely no life left in it and use rubbish techniques to play (Basically one shot only, SMASH the **** to hell)..I personally prefer the Mavis 600 over the Mavis 350 when at the divisional center and keep a tube in my kit bag because its a better shuttle overall compared to Mavis 350..

Little joke..If I pull out a feather to play at the divisional center, first people cannot adjust to it at all, second it doesn't last a full 5 points as the shuttle is virtually destroyed..

So to sum up IMHO, plastics cause more injuries because it doesn't have the dynamics of a feather and also people using it till the base goes absolutely soft causing even more effort required to even push it where you want it to go as if the shuttle is new which never happens..

Also I use a VT5 at 24lbs for nylons and a ZF2 at 26lbs for feather both with BG80P..

 

[Voltricfankido]

Well I can say for sure with my experience of playing with feathers 4 days a

At the divisional center people use Mavis 350 till there is absolutely no life left in it and use rubbish techniques to play (Basically one shot only, SMASH the **** to hell)..I personally prefer the Mavis 600 over the Mavis 350 when at the divisional center and keep a tube in my kit bag because its a better shuttle overall compared to Mavis 350..

Little joke..If I pull out a feather to play at the divisional center, first people cannot adjust to it at all, second it doesn't last a full 5 points as the shuttle is virtually destroyed..

So to sum up IMHO, plastics cause more injuries because it doesn't have the dynamics of a feather and also people using it till the base goes absolutely soft causing even more effort required to even push it where you want it to go as if the shuttle is new which never happens..

Also I use a VT5 at 24lbs for nylons and a ZF2 at 26lbs for feather both with BG80P..

It can be very dangerous as I had seen multible times where the cork of the Nylon shuttle be so used and worn down so much that it starts becoming loose with the cork spinning around. Waiting for a heavy smash, the cork would literally blowup and pop when stuck hard enough. This has happened during a game match when we went to another school and the Cork flew at high speeds across the gym. Talking about danger if someone stood in the middle of that path.

I can also Testify the experience with plastic players. I play for school team which uses crap shuttles, Mavis 350s, and every time I or another friend (feather user) wips out feather, players would be excited to play with it. A heavy smasher would miss hit and explode feathers that I never knew was possible before. I turn around for a moment with our school players with a brand new shuttle and it gets recked when I turn my head back. Other plastic players, that keep miss hitting, hilariously complains how "Bad", "Strange", and "Undurable" it is. They are so good at cutting though the feather strands Lol. The team has recked though like one tube of shuttles I bought in which is a nice aeroplane black one. Lesson learned? Don't bring Nice shuttles for people using Cheapo ones.

School team starts back this month and I was wondering if head heavy rackets play better in plastics for transferring energy + power? Thicker strings better for durability and Handling? Will play more with my VT80 sitting around then. Also, I found that better hold rackets or slightly looser string tension helps out with touch which compensates the lack of feel in Plastics.

 

[scamp]

Plastic shuttles are often rubbish, especially those being used month after month. You have to hit them overly hard to smash and clear, risking arm/elbow strain. Correct play in badminton does not mean having to hit the absolute hell out of a shuttle just to clear it but that is the case with a lot of plastics. Some players use a low string tension for plastics so they don't have to use ridiculous arm power to clear.

 

[Baddyman#1]

Imo, plastic is heavier and like dead weight. Feather is nimble and aerodynamically better.

I think with plastic, it doesn't accelerate off the string bed as fast as feather, often more strenuous force is needed to hit thru the plastic to get the desire power/shot. But once adequate force is applied the plastic flies very fast and maintain it's trajectory and speed is more constant. Whereas feather will easily shoot off the string bed but decelerate quickly. I believe plastic is prone to injury is due to combination of excessive force and the harsh vibration feedback you get especially when using high tension and often can be very straining vs feather. Also, the numb feeling exacerbated with miss hits.