Ahhh, ok thanks.. I have tried to open my mind somewhat to the options available (although wanting to stick with Yonex or Carlton)... From several reviews it appears the NanoSpeed series may not actually suit my game. I too wonder whether I really want a head-light racquet.. !?! I want power but I don't want to strain my shoulder... I also need control though and ability to quickly change racquet direction, meaning it has to be light and hence I thought head-light would be best... I suppose an evenly balanced racquet would be best.. !?! Are there any? I'll have a look at the Airblade superlight. I used to play pretty well with the SL80 but I am finding now that I aren't getting enough power from it without whacking the living daylights out of the bird. That could be down to timing!?! Or, could be due to the new strings.. I haven't played with the racquet since it was restrung and it seems really tight and almost sounds metallic "ping" whenever I strike the shuttle (wasn't like that before, only when I gave it a right good whack did it do that). I do sometimes struggle to move the head quickly though between shots with my shoulder, despite the SL80 being very light, I understand it isn't very aerodynamic and is head-heavy !?!
You get the metallic ping sound when your racket is strung at a high tension. A strong clear with such strings will require a well hit shot executed with good technique. To compensate, you could try cutting your strings and getting them re-strung at something like 20 lbs. Your clears will improve but your control shots, such as drop shots, may suffer. If you are suffering from tendonitis I would recommend staying away from high tensions
also, http://www.directsports-eshop.co.uk/ describe the balance of their rackets, ie whether head heavy, even etc
If you need something that's easy on your shoulder, try getting a flexible racket with lower string tension. This combination will give a lot of shock dampening. I am not a fan of light-wieght head-light rackets as it is fairly difficult to generate enough momentum to be able to do relatively effortless shots. With a light-weight head-light racket, you either have to swing faster or put in more force to make the shuttle fly. Both of these can aggravate any shoulder problem you have. Head heavy racket can be just as bad as you have to put in an extra effort just to move it around. I think you should try a balanced light-weight flex racket, or a heavier head-light flex racket, and see how these suit your play. In either case, I suggest lowish tension using a repulsive string.
AT800DEF is certiainly anything but powerless, i can pull out the same smashing power outta the AT800DEF and NS8k However u do notice AT800DEF is head heavy (quite obvious as compare to my other NS8k), u can either like it or hate it but one thing for sure is the 4U AT800DEF is without question more manouvreable then the 3U NS. One of hte reason my NS is sitting in bag 90% of the time cos i mostly play doubles. At the end, buy what u Believe its good for u, at the upper end racket market, different models usually doesn't play that MUCH different enough to affect your game greatly (given the same head light/heavy balance) . Play with a racket that gives you confidence would have a greater effect then the racket technologies gimmic itself.
in any case try to developt wrist-power. this can take stress away from your shoulder. you can always bet it safe and get an mp88. it's a flexible, slightely head-heavy hard-to-hate racket i hear..
Get a Carlton Airblade Superlite, it's by far the most manoeuverable racket I've tried, much more so than all the Yonexes, it feels incredibly light to hold and is very easy to generate swing speed with. Also power isn't sacrificed. The best thing about the racket is how easy everything seems especially shots around the midcourt area and defensive shots. Plus it is far cheaper than any decent Yonex racket such as those you mentioned. At the moment its £45 for 1 £80 for 2 and £111 for 3 on central sports (www.centralsports.co.uk) as i think they are bringing out a new colour version which i've seen and it doesn't look as good as the current one IMO. If you want one of these rackets then you should order it quickly before stocks run out
Many thanks for the responses.... Some good advice and much appreciated. I am going to try and get my SL80 restrung and request slightly less tension (I reckon it must be around 25lbs as it is much tighter than it was before and before it was about 22lbs). This should help me in the short-term and reduce strain on my shoulder... I am then going to contact my local club (South Hunsley, nr Brough) and see whether they are taking 'new' players. I can hopefully then get to hold/swing a few different racquets and decide what suits me.... I looked at the Carlton Airblade Elite 05, as used by Richard Vaughan.... It seems to offer a relatively light weight, aerodynamic shape (easy to move) and flexible shaft... This should offer the power I want and easy of movement, it may just mean I have to practice more on drop/net shots to firm up that side of my game that could suffer from the racquet choice? Or indeed, the Airblade Superlight 05 is a cheaper option, meaning I could spend the remainder on other items. How about the Carlton Powerblade Superlite 05, as used by Gail Emms? Would this also be suitable?
Momentum = Mass * Velocity More momentum means you can whack at the shuttle harder. If you have low Velocity, ie slow swing, then you need to increase Mass to comensate. A heavy head-light racket could well give you increased swing speed and power at the same time.
Hi CoolDoo6, You are really so scientific. You said "Momentum = Mass * Velocity". Assuming a smaller car and a larger truck both travelling at the same velocity, say 100 mph. Each of them hit a stationary shuttle with the front of their bonnets. Are you saying that the shuttle being hit by the larger truck will bounce off further than the other shuttle being hit by the smaller car?
Hi CoolDoo6, Reread your post. Thought about it again. Are you saying that you can swing a heavier tennis racket faster than you can swing a lighter badminton racket?
Yes the idea is that a bullet hitting you at 100mph will knock you down flat on your face. A car hitting you at 100mph will bounce you a couple of blocks down the road.
A head-light racket will swing faster than a non-head-light racket. A heavier racket will create greater momentum. Therefore a heavy head-light badminton racket increases swing speed and momentum at the same time. I am not sure where a tennis racket comes in into the equation.
“Momentum = Mass * Velocity” Hi CoolDoo6, This will be a long post to you. But this is not only for you, the information is for all “Lovers of Badminton”. I love badminton. That's why I became a professional badminton coach. And I have been for years. I am taking a break from coaching for just 3 weeks... just having a rest, after doing coaching for one of the nations participating in the Commonwealth Games here in Melbourne. Once I am back coaching, you might not hear from me again. Badminton Central Discussion Forums are really fantastic. Players give opinions, advices, news, information, etc... to all other players. It also allows discussions for different topics. I thought I would share some of my knowledge with you all. In my previous 2 posts to you, if I appeared to poke fun at you, I apologize. My 2 questions were designed to trigger everyones' process of thinking about the subject matter. So for each of the 2 questions, I will ask more related questions. I hope everyone will be able to find the correct answer. Re: Question 1 Will a soccer ball be kicked farther/faster if kicked by heavier soccer boots? Will a baseball be hit farther/faster if hit by a heavier baseball bat? Will a tennis ball be hit farther/faster if hit by a heavier tennis racket? Sports manufacturers are making all these lighter and lighter every year, and they are not trying to prevent players from hitting farther/faster. In fact, they actually want players to hit farther and faster. Re: Question 2 (For a particular person); Can a cricket bat be swung faster than a tennis racket? Can a tennis racket be swung faster than a squash racket? Can a squash racket be swung faster than a badminton racket? In fact, we are all so proud that our badminton is the fastest racket sport. As manufacturers make our rackets lighter, our racket sport will become even faster. Warning: There was one time I experimented with squash, and even tennis rackets in my coaching programs, hoping for players to develop more power in their muscles. And while players were smashing, the smashes from heavier rackets were so much slower. Please DO NOT ATTEMPT IT, for players were getting more wrist injuries instead of getting more powerful swing muscles. But why then do some players still prefer heavier rackets if they know that their swing is slower? Most Singles players prefer heavier rackets, while Doubles players prefer lighter rackets. Some of the answers are; (a) In Singles games the exchanges in the rally are slower, so the disadvantage of a slower swing with a heavier racket is not as marked. (b) Most Singles players want to feel the direction of their swing in their stroke. Swinging a very light racket does not give a surer sense of the feel of the direction of the swing. (c) In Doubles, players require to move their rackets as fast as possible to meet the quick exchanges in the rallies. Therefore, the lighter their racket, the faster their rackets can reach the shuttle. You stated ”More momentum means you can whack at the shuttle harder”. I think your interpretation of the subject matter arises from the fact that we feel it more painful when we are kicked by a heavier soccer boot, hit by heavier baseball bat or by a heavier tennis racket. Again, this is not to poke fun, as I mentioned before. If the shuttle can feel pain, it should feel more pain when hit by a heavier racket than when it is by a ligher one. But then, I am no doctor... not qualified to talk about the degree of pain.
some recreational badminton players swings a squash/tennis racket for training because they saw it from the pros but the danger is that they dont bother to find out the essence purpose of it. Monkey do what monkey see.
it is not a clear cut rule anymore. in men singles, there are almost equal number of pro players who use ns7000/8000 versus AT700. Some even like to use the old 2U cab20 if they really wanted to. Same goes for MD, WS, WD, and XD. There are advantages of these racquet extremes. It depends on how each player can exploit those advantages and still able to cover up the disadvantages. XXF can switch from using AT700 in 2004-2005 to her current NS8000 without any signs of withdrawal sympton. Peter gade went from slim10 to mp88 and now to even more head heavier AT700.
When I started out in badminton not long ago, I lacked both power and skills. Being impatient for these to develop over time, I began seeking a technical solution. I experimented with rackets, strings, tensions, balance points, and weights. After much ado, I arrived at a formula that worked best for me. I have no doubt the formula would work for others. Apart from getting the string and tension perfectly right on a good racket (good doesn't necessarily mean expensive or the latest), adding a bit of weight to the bottom of the racket handle produced immediately noticeable increase in racket power. Using my layman understanding of physics, I rationalise the power increase as follows: 1. The weight increased the racket head-lightness. Thereby allowing it to swing faster, achieving an overall VELOCITY increase for the playing surface. 2. The weight increased the MASS of the racket as a whole. Therefore: little increase in VELOCITY * little increase in MASS = substantial increase in MOMENTUM My above rationale could well be wrong. However that doesn't detract from the (call it subjective if you so wish) power increase I experienced. Compared to my stance prior to the technical solution, I no longer seek more power as I have too much of it to the extent that nearly 50% of the points I lost are from the shuttle overshooting the opposite base line.
I hope this is a typo... as for the momentum debat: A heavier racket will be more powerfull that a light racket assuming the playe rcan swing the heavy racket at teh same speed! if player A swing a X-grams heavy racket an Y-m/s the monentum will be XY. If the playern the picks teh heavier racket of X+5 grams, but can only swing it at Y-10 then momentum will be (X+5)(y-10) based on this I can only state there is an ideal weight-speed tradeoff wich is different from player to player...
Yes, there is a trade off. I don't believe the factory setting of the racket is optimum for everyone. My optimum happens to require some added weight. Of course the amount of additional weight needed depends on the individual. Imagine you have a 85g racket and you add 5g to the bottom of the handle. The additional weight will slow your ability to move the racket arround by a probaly un-noticeable amount, depending on your strength. However the weight would have shifted the balance point by maybe 10mm. This would have increased your racket head speed by quite a noticeable amount. If you subtract the head speed increase by the racket speed decrease, you would have a surplus of speed, and therefore the momentum of the racket head is increased by both the weight and speed.
