100% agreed to this. The difference in flight and feel(!!) between current high level plastic and feather shuttles is still too big. If there was something in between with a reasonable price/durability ratio, I can seriously imagine adding those to my bag for use in normal practise or club nights. The basic idea of the CS is good and apparently, it's the closest thing to feather shuttles you can currently get, but Victor Europe plain and simple killed them with the bold pricing. There are still some German online shops who carry them, but I haven't seen one of them in real life yet anywhere. Apparently, Victor marketing has highly overrated the interest and demand in the european market instead of recognizing that they have to go the other way round to promote this new product with a overly fair pricing in the beginning.
I was quite happy playing with only plastic for the first 20 or so years of my badminton career until the local tournaments switched to feather, which totally threw my game off for a while. I do prefer the play of feather now that I'm used to it but I'd be fine sticking with plastic if the tournaments went back to it.
Been playing with the Carbonsonic for a little bit and mostly positive reviews from our club. Noticed it is same weight as regular feathers but the weight distribution is more towards the front cork. So it appears to be "heavy" when struck. The sound and play takes a bit to adjust to, especially when playing net shots and tumbles, the CS1 wobbles a little as it quickly orients to cork down position due to weight distribution I mentioned earlier. A lot of people were fine and would play with the CS1 in casual games. I'd say 75% ok with it, 25% rest would quickly dismiss it and go back for their favorite shuttlecocks. Aside for bringing it out during less serious game play, I have to say I really like it for training and drills, much better than regular plastics and last much longer over feathers. The carbon fiber stem won't break and that's always where the cheaper and even better feathers fail. I plan on using these as well as used/worn higher tier goose feather shuttles for drills and training. If Victor can redistribute the weight somehow and come out with a improved revision, I think it can open more eyes as replacement for plastics.
You can purchase these carbonsonic shuttlecocks (CS1 or CS2) on Chines Taobao.com for less than $10. I bought Kawasaki hybrid K-700, but have not received yet. I am interested in comparison of them with 350 plastic.
Tried the CS2 and there seems to be a very weird metallic feeling, not very pleasant. Durability doesn't seem that much better than good feathers and the price, at least in the UK is way too high. It's a bust for me I'm afraid. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
If they can lower the pricing of the CS1 then it would definitely be a game changer. But as it stands, a good quality feather shuttle is still the best way to go
@Xiaoyu Li, should be better than any of the Yonex, including the 2000, which was my favorite in the plastics side. @darrengsaw, agree, the feel is definitely something different. I got used to it quickly and don't mind it. The biggest drawback is the net shot tumble which the CS would immediately reorient in cork down position due to the "head" weight. Even with that, I don't mind playing it in social games because I don't have to pull out my higher grade birds. @xZhongCheng, agree also. Depending on where one gets these, it can be grossly overpriced.
I came across them (CS 2) last week, because one of our kids won a tube at a tournament. That way, I got the chance to try them... This, and I honestly do think that they are really are slightly more heavy than regular shuttles, but I've come across some heavier feather shuttles before (can't remember the brand at the moment). What's worse than this weight and balance difference is that they're soft. They feel like made from very very thin feathers, almost like plastics, if I remember correctly (I don't normally play with plastics). Or kids tried them for drills and all of them went back to used feathers (in pretty bad condition) instead after a little while, because they felt better. If you use plastics, these are too expensive. If you use feathers and play at a decent level, stay away from them. That's my opinion. I do like the idea of a vegan shuttlecock (I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan), I don't like the idea of more plastic that has to be dealt with after disposal. What about a biodegradable shuttlecock?
Carbonsonic no.1 First one lasted 80mins training without noticable wear. Second one on hard hitters game lasted 40mins. Then one of the carbon sticks was broken and it was useless. I prefer these on junior training. With worn real shuttles juniors keep hitting too hard instead of soft technical strokes.
The service rules were updated in 2018. Not a fault unless shuttle contact is over 1.15m from the ground or they played with the old rules.
I don’t like the carbonsonic, neither do others from my club. We had hope, that this is a nice solution to avoid excessive cost for feather shuttles. But the carbonsonics can break as well. One Broken carbon Shaft, and you can dispose it already. And the foam wings degrade as well. It does not save and expenses versus feather shuttles. And well, yes, compared to nylons you have the whow-effect, they can be played more easy, with less effort. But not good for net play, and neither for high clears. The flight curve is strange. The special behavior of a feather shuttle: at the beginning very fast, but it slows down quickly, thus providing this special flight curve, very different from a parabolic curve, as used with heavy objects as stones etc. The feathers ascend as a stone (more or less), and then fall down nearly vertically. A nylon shuttle flies along a parabolic curve (more or less, at least more similar to such a curve). And carbonsonic ... like a rabbit fleeing from the fox. At the moment of the transition this crazy shuttle hits a hook, kind of an offset of 20-40 cm while falling down. That makes it more unpredictable, or you have to get used to this special flight curve. Difficult to mix with real feathers. We stopped the experiments with both types or carbonsonic. Our club members mostly disliked these shuttles. Very often we use the new hybrid Kawasaki Kingkong 500. I will post a comment to this kind of shuttle later.