Hi all, I'm sure you get these questions often but I haven't played badminton since high school (14 years ago now) and I'm so lost with choosing a racquet. Problem is I have to order one online because there are no stores in my area. Since I consider myself a beginner, and I'm female, with a weak arm, I thought perhaps I should go with an isometric head (since I haven't quite mastered hitting on a focused sweet spot), flexible body and light tension string (I'm not a powerful hitter), and possible head light or even balanced, so that I can swing faster. Do those sound like good decisions for me? Also, how do I gauge things like maneuverability, control, stability? I have no idea what is meant by those terms. I'm worried about foregoing those things with the racquet choices I'm making. Another question is, will I be able to choose the string when I buy the racquet? Otherwise, do I have to restring it myself? And finally, knowing my needs, what specific brands/models do you suggest? Thanks so much for your help in advance! Mary
maybe something like a nanospeed 100. A head power helix/metallix 4000 would be good if you can find one. have a look here: http://www.badmintonalley.com/category_s/154.htm
so.. how much money are you willingly to spend? if you want Yonex, I would go for arcsaber 001, arcsaber 002 or Nanoray 20 (all of them are flexible rackets) some online shops do offer stringing service, and for physical store, I am sure they have stringing service as well I would go for string such as zymax 67 or BG 66UM (ultimax) string it at 18-20 lbs (you choose, I suggest 18 or 19 lbs) for the grip, go for karakal super pu grip (replacement grip) actually, you do not need think too much about it, as long as it is graphite (and light weight) you can enjoy the game most of female players that I met have weak shots, that's pretty normal for beginner
A good piece of information to leave would be your budget. But considering you bought some Yonex F1's, I'm going to assume it's pretty high In terms of things like power, stability and maneuverability. In all honesty and with no offense, none of those things will really matter to you as you are still a beginner. Technique comes first! As for strings, most of the lower end (less expensive) rackets will come factory strung so you won't need to worry about it. However, the higher end rackets will not come with strings and you will need to select a string to use. Generally, the shop takes care of the stringing. I would suggest durability strings such as bg65, bg70 pro or nbg95 at around 18-21 pounds to start things off. And now rackets...I would suggest anything that is flexible and headlight.
I feel like a beginner compared to some of the players in my club, but I'm probably more of an intermediate. I played in high school on a varsity team but haven't played since then. The racket I have is ancient... I bought it in 1998 but at that time it was around $200, it was a Pointfore but I don't know what model it is. It doesn't say on it. In other words, I've played enough to know my racket is too old and doesn't feel right anymore. Maybe it just needs to be restrung but I don't know how to do that. In addition, It's an oval, not isometric head. Since I was a teenager at the time, I didn't know to ask about racket features, I just bought what my coach told me to. Now, I would like to try the difference between headlight/heavy, flexible/stiff, but there are no stores around me. I also don't know anyone well enough yet to ask them to try their rackets. I feel bad about doing that. Finally, I don't have money growing on trees by any means, but considering that a racket and shoes was all I needed, and I play 4 times a week, $200 didn't seem like much, which is what a top end racket costs.
how about, try flexible racket first, and if you don't like it, go for medium shaft? buy their 2 mid end instead of 1 high end or opt for Victor and you can get cheaper high end (cheaper but as good as Yonex)
I know nothing about you so my blind Yonex recommendation is the Arc 10. Med flex, even balanced fairly vanilla racquet that anyone can play reasonably well with. If you want something with more flex the Arc 7 is also pretty good all round. On the Victor side, I've found the BraveSword 10 to be one of the all round better racquets. I don't think you'll go to far wrong with any one of those 3.
18-20 lbs of string tension will be too little :X I'd recommend BG65 at 23lbs or even 24lbs, since it will stretch to be about 21-22 lb.
A different view of things: Re-string your current racket with a thin & repulsive string at 20lbs to 22lbs. E.g. Yonex BG66
arc10 is stiff.... not suitable for a beginner.... plus it's a bit head heavy... remember she said: Since I consider myself a beginner, and I'm female, with a weak arm, I thought perhaps I should go with an isometric head (since I haven't quite mastered hitting on a focused sweet spot), flexible body and light tension string (I'm not a powerful hitter), and possible head light or even balanced, so that I can swing faster. same goes to BS10, a stiff racket, not for a beginner or a weak arm people.... arc7 maybe ok for her....
Actually i completely disagree with this: Buying a flexible racquet thats head light would be detrimental to the player's development. As having a flexible racquet and being head light would actually slow down the strengthening of the said required muscles. Or possibly even create an environment where a bad swing or posture would work as the equipment would mask the symptoms to the player themselves. A good analogy would be pan handling vs the correct grip. If you start pan handling you'll find that you have more power than the correct grip, until you've actually built up the muscles for using the correct grip. I've always teached people using oval heads, cause it forces them to find the sweet spot.
While I agree that a flexible shaft is most likely the right feature, I disagree regarding balance: From experience I can say that a head-light racket is suitable for those who got the technique and strength to easily perform powershots. They benefit from better maneuvrability of head-light rackets. But if you don't have so much power, you would adapt to the head-light racket by trying to put more power into your shots, which results in more stress especially to your shoulder, finally leading to shoulder pain. That is what happened to me - and when I changed to a balanced racket, the shoulder pain went away, plus, at a recreational level, your opponents usually don't smash so hard that you'd need the better maneuvrability of a head-light racket. For these reasons, better go for a balanced or maybe even head-heavy racket, it's better for your health, and chances are better that you can play a decent base-to-base clear. Maybe one day, when you feel that you can play such clears without effort really, and with the right technique, you can try a head-light racket. And with respect to shaft flexibility: This depends on how fast you can swing the racket. Rackets with flexible shafts are more suitable for players with a slower swing, whereas rackets with a stiff shaft are better for players with a faster swing. As your swing may not be so fast at the beginning, go for a racket with a flexible shaft first. As with the balance of the racket, a wrong choice regarding shaft flexibility may lead to pain or even injuries as you may stress your arm or parts of it too much. Don't listen to those who argue like "get used to what the professionals use to reach a better level" or "professionals choose this or that, and they must know, so choose the same" - this threatens your health, and health comes first (not to mention that your shots wouldn't be better but rather worse)! Everybody should choose what fits him/her best. For a professional with powerful shots and fast racket swing, a head-light stiff racket may be the best choice (however, they often choose head-heavy rackets), but if you feel that base-to-base clears are not effortless, and the racket swing is not so fast, go for a head-heavy or balanced flexible racket.
There are some points mentioned, everyone should be considered. 1) Stiff shaft, hard string and high tension - more feedback, easier to get the right feeling and develop proper technique. There isn't much of a "filter" character with such a setup and you'll know in an instant whether you've hit it right. 2) Headlight rackets that need a decent swing speed might cause arm stress, due to the fact that the users tend to put more effort in wrong executed strokes. Therefore something more powerful should be used that has some flex and doesn't need a high swing speed for power. If I would be in that situation I would choose: very weak arm: Yonex Nanoray 700FX weak - normal arm: Yonex ArcSaber 9fl, ArcSaber 7, Voltric 70 4U Problem is, some amount of swing speed is still needed. If this should be the issue I would go for Voltric 80 4U. Really big sweet spot, solid feel... but might be too head heavy. In terms of strings I would go for something with repulsion. NBG98 would be my normal suggestion here but the NBG 98 is slippery and something like BG80 would suit better because it offers more touch, control and feedback. String tension is something quite difficult to say. For VT80 I would go for BG80 @25-26 lbs, whereas BG80 @23-24lbs would be my choice for the others. .... Something from real life at my town. I coach some teens (U17-U19) and most of them are female. Level : more intermediate than beginner. I let one girl lend one racket of mine because she hasn't the money for a decent one. I use 2 Arc10PG and 2 VT ZF 4U. She prefers the VF... so it's really hard to tell. I would visit some bigger clubs and ask the players for some strokes with their rackets. Everything else will only work on the paper and is guessing.