I Played with the Air Shuttle! Check out the results

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by Borkya, May 7, 2020.

  1. Borkya

    Borkya Regular Member

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    So I got the AirShuttle and I brought it to the beach along with a feather shuttle and a normal plastic shuttle for comparison. And then I filmed it for my youtube channel 'natch. :p Here is what it was like!

     
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  2. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    Haha. In the beginning, you were talking about going to buy the shuttle and Azhi is behind you waving and looking behind, it's like he is waving "no, we're not" and also checking to see that no one sees you two heading out to buy this monstrosity.

    The owner at the shop was probably like, "yes, we got some suckers in the off load this".

    I guess the beach is the torture test scenario for the shuttle. It probably would fair better in some courtyard, street or area not completely wide open.

    Though, you have a lot of truth in your video. We haven't seen the shuttle demonstrated longer than 1-2 hits on all the promo videos. All promo videos I've seen show quick cuts only.

    If you can, provide a verbal update later of how it is in less open area? Like is it better than the beach test or if it's the same...

    Either way, thanks for the review and it did look like you two had fun, even if it was mostly chasing an un-hittable shuttle.
     
  3. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    You mentioned about the unpredictability of the shuttle off the racket. The design of the shuttle is flared out considerably, maybe you two were not focused on pointing the cork facing the racket right from the start of serve? Could some of the mis-hits be due to hitting the flared end of the plastic during the initial serve? Hard to see in the video. Just a thought.
     
  4. Borkya

    Borkya Regular Member

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    Actually, that kinda happened, haha. We were asking him about it and he was all shrugging his shoulders like "I dunno." I'm not a snob with much in the badminton world, I'll play with any brand racket and my clothes/shoes are small no name brands, but I am a shuttle snob, and I think I get that from the badminton community in general. Every group, even the most basic beginner groups, play with a high standard of feather shuttles, and any plastic shuttle is basically laughable. The guys at the Victor shop are very high level players and basically wouldn't lower themselves to play with plastic, even if it is their companies product, lol.

    As for the flair, maybe? With each shuttle, after we hit it a few times, we would adjust our speed and direction based on how it was reacting in the wind. With the air shuttle it was a bit harder because sometimes it cut through the wind so easily and other times it would catch the wind and double back. But it wasn't the wind changing, as by the water the wind was pretty consistent in the same direction, it was more an unknowable factor which we couldn't adjust for. But in general we got to hit it 2-3 times in a row which the other shuttles we couldn't.
     
  5. mater

    mater Regular Member

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    2-3 hit rally is still a disappointment to me. You and Azhi weren't trying to win points, just rally between of you. I'm hoping for close to double digits for a successful outdoor design, otherwise I think it's back to the drawing board for BWF.
     
  6. RichF

    RichF Regular Member

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    No wonder they held off for so long, it doesn't really deliver what was promised.
     
  7. Giordano B

    Giordano B New Member

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    Becky video shows how disappointing the airshuttle performs but my greatest disappointment is the BWF who proposed a terrible product with no real study. Did you know when I supply feather shuttle for an international tournament, BWF guidelines is that 3 speeds are supplied. Why? Because of HUMIDITY VARIATION. In a hall from morning to evening the humidity changes due to players sweating and public...less humidity the shuttle travels fast so need 76 speed...evening higher humidity shuttle slower so need heavier shuttle 77/78 speed !!! These are the absolute rules for playing OUTDOORS where there is WIND VARIATION... instead of 3 speeds you need much more...The Airshuttle has only 1 weight 8.5g and cannot adjust to crosswind variables. The structure is hard plastic so it's bad for feel, bad for net shots and tumbles not great. As it's heavy you breal easy thin, high tension string so best use kids rackets about 9-10Kg tension.
    My experience go back to 2016 when I invented the EZYSHUTTLE WIDE shuttle....a wider yellow skirt so it travels less distance and can carry more weight for better stability. A tube of 5 shuttles has 7 different speeds so if your wind increase/decreases you change to another weight to continue play. This is the only way you can beat wind variation...from my point it makes sense.
    Our customers will use both the Airshuttle and Ezyshuttle but be sure they feel more confident on the latter
     

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  8. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    That's an interesting product you invented, no doubt. I have a question, isn't a larger skirt prone to more dragging, especially when the wind rises?

    Also I'm sure you know but the air shuttle is meant to play within the air badminton rules (with the river in the middle of the court) so no tumbling or net play is allowed neither really possible.
     
  9. Giordano B

    Giordano B New Member

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  10. Giordano B

    Giordano B New Member

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    Hi LM, thanks your asking a valid question.
    The Ezyshuttle was invented to have a nylon shuttle which could travel from 8m - 13m, be more stable for outdoor play and multifunctional at the same time. Why only 8m? Our project was to overcome problems in junior schools and outdoor play. Here in Italy our junior schools are volleyball/basketball sizes 24x12m. In schools rackets easily break but here once broken there's no money for new. Also it's madness to make 6-10 yr olds badminton (the second most stressful game) on adult courts. Ofcourse here in Italy we have so much outdoor area but wind is problem. So the only way forward was to use mini courts. 8x4m Mini courts in schools could get 24 kids playing. Same criteria to use mini courts outdoors max length 11m. Why? Thats why we use a multifunctional shuttlecock with weights 5/7/7.5/8,5/9/9.5,11g.
    To return to your question, without doubt more skirt can have more side drag than the semi empty airshuttle but please note we have 2 stabilizing systems 1) to travel the same distance our ezyshuttle weights 2-3g more and we have a built-in through hole to create a vortex stabalizing in the inner skirt...see photo. Indeed, the net dead zone kills net play and finese... it's obvious the BWF have copied somewhat Speedbadminton play for 16m long court needing long low smashes and high lobs (broken strings and catching wind overhead)
    I personally would have gone for smaller courts so all ages can play 6-99yrs. In out tube we have in-built led light shuttle for night play introducing led light courts....best time to play at night near a beach because limited or no wind!!!
     

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  11. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    Well, thank you for your explanations! I see you developed the Ezyshuttle with a dedicated purpose in mind.
     
  12. surge

    surge Regular Member

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    As an alternative when there is no courts available just to hit a few shots with kids for fun i think its ok. at the beach with wind that sends your pants flapping like a flag...i think its abit extreme!:D
     
  13. ckyew

    ckyew Regular Member

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    Hi Becky, I watched your video when you initially posted it but didnt realise you're on BC too!

    Airshuttle.one sent me some of their airshuttles and I've just done an unboxing video with them and to spread some badminton love, I AM GIVING SOME AWAY!!
    Video here


    I had some hits over the weekend for an hour with it and they were definitely easier to play with in comparison to normal feather/plastic shuttles. I defo wasn't as adventurous as you and Azhi to be playing on the beach :p:p Full review video coming soon!

    I am quite keen to compare them with Victor's although from pictures, I see no difference so hopefully I can get my hands on some soon!
     
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  14. thyrif

    thyrif Regular Member

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    I tried one last night. It was too windy for a regular shuttle, but this one flew a bit better. So, for that, with some kids it's fine.

    The feeling isn't great, but you can sort of place the shuttle. It's not enough for me personally to play a 'match' of any kind.

    It also sounds horrible, I thought my string broke every time I hit it. :p
     
  15. ckyew

    ckyew Regular Member

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    Yep, I think it was designed to be played in conditions under 7.5mph of wind which its almost non existent in Europe I guess :D.
    Over the weekend, it was around 10-15mph wind but there were often pockets where we could play ok.

    And yes, its mainly for fun and a tool to expand and grow badminton as a sport and not something you'd use as a competition shuttle at this stage.
     
  16. michael5098

    michael5098 Regular Member

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    The problem I have with Air badminton is it won't bring a significant amount of new players to indoor badminton and will just create a new branch of players and sport. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the goal of BWF was to create a similar flight pattern to feathers but can be used outside to bring more players to badminton. If this was successful then yes these new players could transition between the sports. But having used the air shuttle, the two sports play completely differently and require different equipment. I don't see a situtation where air badminton players would transition to indoor if they enjoy playing outside.
     
  17. ckyew

    ckyew Regular Member

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    Review finally up!!!


    Thoughts?
     
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  18. ckyew

    ckyew Regular Member

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    I think it's quite unfair to compare an outdoor shuttle to an indoor shuttle. It's like comparing winter tyres to normal summer tyres and saying summer tyres dont provide a good grip during winter. They're both tyres but serve different purposes as they were designed specifically for specific conditions.

    It's definitely designed for some outdoor fun, I'd like to test it to compare indoors when the indoor courts open up again!!:D
     
  19. Borkya

    Borkya Regular Member

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    I was gonna play with it indoors, but after hearing about everyone's experience (and seeing some other videos) I am WAY too scared to try. I realize now how lucky I was to not break my strings, much less my racket, the first time around and I think it's only because we could hit it so rarely in the wind at the beach. Indoor conditions with such a heavy shuttle?! I think I'd break something within a few minutes and it's not worth it for me to try (even just for "fun." I love my racket and would be gutted if it broke!)

    I think that's it for me and the airshuttle. My little tube of "a quarter dozen" (as the package advertises, lol) is now gathering dust on my shelf.
     
  20. ckyew

    ckyew Regular Member

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    i might actually try to play indoors (living life on the edge) once indoor courts reopen to us
     

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