Badminton racket purchase FAQ

Badminton Racket Buying FAQ What kind of badminton brands are there to choose from?

YONEX is the number one ranked badminton supplies brand, there are; Kason (Kason), victory (Victor), Sotx (Sotx), Wilson (Wlson), Flylix (Finnex) …… better-known brands there are Gosen and so on. It is worth mentioning that China has become a manufacturing kingdom in the past few years, with China’s Taiwan’s feather net supplies manufacturers in particular, the production line will be transferred to the Pearl River Delta Yangtze River Delta, they also bring the relevant knowledge and technology are brought to the mainland, and now badminton industry chain of almost all the links in the country. It can be said that China is not only the largest market for badminton, but also the largest production volume and best quality of badminton products are also in China. However, compared to the international brands such as Wilson, Yonex (whose sponsorship has almost monopolised the national teams of all badminton powerhouses), the brand awareness of domestic producers is still improving.

Seasoned players are able to identify the right racket and find a good one for less money. For general amateur players, with the use of badminton racket materials and production processes gradually obtained, domestic brands (including Taiwan brands) have produced a large number of first-class quality rackets, fully meet the requirements of the use of professional and amateur players, the price is quite high. The same performance and material of a racket, some of the so-called well-known brands of rackets may be several times more expensive than the general brand, which certainly has a huge advertising and marketing costs, but also to take advantage of the beginner’s consumers “cheap no good” shopping psychology. So learn more about badminton racket knowledge, clear requirements of their own racket, sometimes you can really find a good racket at a good price for yourself! JianZhiLe badminton network to provide a lot of related knowledge to everyone’s reference.

What suits you is the best, go and choose one!

 

How to choose the right racket according to its performance parameters?

The general principle is to choose a racket with a soft shaft, i.e. a lower score and a lighter weight for players with less power, and a hard, heavier shaft for offensive players. The higher the control score, the better. The higher the score, the stiffer the shaft, the better the control and the easier it is to hit powerful shots.

What does the 2UG3 sticker on the handle of a racket mean? The xU in front indicates the empty racket weight: U-95~100g, 2U-90~94g, 3U-85~89g, 4U-80~84g, the common weight of yonex racket is 2U, 3U, 4U. Gx Indicates the thickness of the handle: G1 is the thickest and G5 is the thinnest.

Why do some rackets have a row of numbers on the handle? There are two kinds of numbers on the handle: 1: there is only a larger Arabic number which indicates the sales region of the racket, I now know only 4-Hong Kong Southeast Asia, 3-North America, 5-Mainland China. 2: in addition to the larger number there is a series of small numbers and letters of the alphabet, this racket is yonex. This kind of feather racket is yonex provided to the national team, in front of the large numbers still represent the region, small numbers for the feather racket number each different, the last letters of the alphabet on behalf of the country, such as: CH – China (CN, CP for the sponsorship of the Chinese national team’s racket), CD – Canada.

 

What does it mean that some racket models have long and swing power logos on the back of the racket?

The meanings of these logos are as follows: long – Longer rackets are 10mm longer than normal rackets, which helps players to expand their range of return, increase aggressiveness, send out diao drills, and hit powerful high-angle kills. power – Power rackets are designed using the Strengthened Power Point Concept (SPT), and are heavier at the top of the racket, allowing them to hit high attacking returns with less power. The lightweight racket is generally 3U in weight, and with the lightweight design, the racket can be swung faster than a traditional racket but with less power, making it more suitable for defence. slim – The frame is only 9mm wide and 5.5mm thick, and is 25% thinner than a traditional frame in cross-section, making it the world’s most powerful racket. 25% slimmer than traditional racket frames, the slimmest racket frame in the world; it can reduce wind resistance by 10% and increase hitting speed by 5%. tour-Tour rackets are made of better materials than the same type of racket, and have better performance. Swing Power-(Introduction) uses different elasticity, different weights, and different balance points. VF-“vario-frame” racket frame, the top of the frame adopts AR design, which reduces air resistance and improves hitting power; the bottom of the frame adopts CAB design, which reduces hitting torque and enhances control, MF-yonex Co. MF – yonex’s new 2000 technology “Mega-Frame” large racket face, the frame is larger in width and length than normal rackets, greatly increasing the hitting sweet spot. MPF – “muscle power frame” muscle shaped frame design, used in Ti-10 and other new rackets.

 

Are full carbon rackets made in one piece?

Because of the jointless it is difficult to make the weight distribution of the racket reasonable and the torsion is poor, so it is seldom used as far as I know there are only low-grade carbonex 8000 used, while the frame and the shaft of the racket are manufactured separately and then connected with built-in T-joint (Built-in T-joint) technology racket its performance in all aspects are much better.

 

Is the more expensive the better?

Generally speaking, the price of a racket is related to the material, the workmanship and the brand. Newer models are usually more expensive, but usually the price goes down after a while. Generally speaking, expensive rackets are mainly for professionals, not necessarily for amateurs, and it is difficult for amateurs to feel the slight differences between different models. So the main thing is to pick the racket that you are most comfortable with and not just look at the price. Of course if you don’t consider the price factor much and you want shape and style, you might as well go after the latest.

 

Where are Yonex rackets made?

Yonex feather racket manufacturing place has two one is Japan mainland two is Taiwan, if it is made in Japan in the racket pole and the bottom of the racket handle will respectively have MADE IN JAPAN and JAPAN’s words and Taiwan’s manufacturing will only be affixed in the bag with MADE IN TAIWAN’s label. And if it is another non-Japanese Yonex racket, it will not be labelled as MADE IN JAPAN, but rather as DESIGNED BY YONEX JAPAN! or some other similar description. In Japan, where industry is particularly developed, this is done very well! In addition, counterfeit yonex rackets have the words MADE IN JAPAN and JAPAN on the bottom of the shaft and handle of each racket.

Some rackets sometimes have the word SP printed on the back of the shaft, which means that the racket is sold by yonex Singapore, and all rackets sold commercially are now from yonex Singapore. Only the rackets supplied to the national teams come from Japan, and some of them may come into the market for various reasons.

 

How to choose a badminton racket?

Any badminton enthusiast with more than 10 years of playing experience can look back at the badminton supplies and equipment over the years, which can be said to be changing rapidly. Nowadays, many badminton product manufacturers use high technology to design and manufacture badminton products, so that players can enjoy the fun of badminton and achieve better results. For example, the introduction of ISO square head racket, the application of space material titanium and so on, undoubtedly to make the players play more speed, more lethal ball. If you are now preparing to choose a new racket, then you may wish to listen to the advice here, because for a badminton enthusiast, a racket’s shape, weight, structure, material, hardness and correct stringing is obviously more important than its colour, packaging and price.

I. The shape of the racket and the sweet point

This is the geometric shape of the racket head. Now there are generally three kinds: a: the traditional ovoid b: the head of the square ISO racket shape c: the string surface is bigger increase ISO shape, there is a less common is WILSON products for the frame on the wide bottom of the small “big hammer” shape, this racket shape is transplanted from WILSON’s net racket is rare, the performance of the poor, here I I won’t introduce it here. Sweet spot: The optimal hitting area of the racket face. When you hit the ball in the sweet spot, it will give you enough power, ball control, little vibration, and you will feel very comfortable. The size of the sweet spot is very important to the player, it makes it easier for the player to hit quality shots. The most important factor in determining the size of the sweet spot is the shape of the frame, the ISO design makes the sweet spot of the racket larger than the traditional shape, 32% larger to be exact, and the sweet spot of the racket with the ISO-MF design is a little bit larger than the normal ISO, of course, it is not true that the bigger the head is the better, the bigger the head is, the bigger the head will bring the negative impact on the torque and the weight, the ISO head shape is further subdivided into two kinds of racket. One type of head has 8 holes and is commonly known as the “big square head”, such as the YONEX Ti-5, VICTOR LEADER, etc. The other type has 6 holes and is commonly known as the “big square head”.

The other type has 6 holes and is commonly known as a “small square head” with a slightly larger frame, such as the YONEX Ti-6, Ti-8, etc. They are different in appearance, but there is no difference in performance. In the case of the same tension string, the ISO head has a little more bounce, while the normal ovoid head feels tighter on the string, so you will find that the same string, the same tension in the ISO racket when the string life is longer. At the beginning I thought that the square head racket was not very good looking, but after I used it, I found that in defence and especially in catching kills, you will appreciate the advantages of the ISO racket, and in kills, it is a little bit worse than the traditional ovate head racket, but the overall performance is much higher, especially when the point of impact is not in the middle of the racket face, you can deeply appreciate the advantages of the ISO racket. That’s why more and more players are using ISO rackets, and it should be said that ISO rackets are the direction of development of badminton rackets. If you are buying a racket now, my opinion is to try to buy a product with ISO head shape.

II. The relationship between stiffness, torque and ball control Stiffness

The ball remains on the racket for only four to six thousandths of a second when it is struck. During the pre-stroke swing and when the racket hits the ball, there is a bending and recovery process and the ball flies off the face of the racket before the racket has returned to its original position. With the same player power, the softer the shaft, the easier it bends during the pre-stroke swing, and the greater the bend, which drives the racket head to move at a greater angular velocity, generating a greater hitting power. The stiffer the shaft, the less power is transmitted to the ball, but the more vibration is transmitted to the ball. For the frame, the stiffer the frame, the less likely it is to deform and twist when it contacts the ball, the more power it can transmit to the ball, and the less vibration it transmits.

Torsion: Torsion refers to the amount of twisting of the racket surface when the racket hits the ball. The lower the torsion, the better the control of the ball.

The relationship between stiffness and ball control

  1. Directional control: When the racket hits the ball, the ball can be hit back according to the direction or angle of the shot. The stiffer the shaft and frame, the more stable the directional control and the stiffer the racket, the less torque when the ball is not hit in the sweet spot of the racket face.
  2. Control of Depth: This refers to the control of the distance (landing point) of the ball being hit back. Depth control is related to the player’s own strength, and the softer the shaft, the better the depth control for the same amount of strength. Regular rackets have some indication of the hardness of the shaft, e.g. VICTOR will mark flex-18 or 17, 18 is softer and 17 is not marked, YONEX marks half of the shaft in the brochure and none on the racket body, the way is a 5-point system, the higher the score, the harder the shaft (yy racket classification list). If it’s not marked, you can get a rough estimate from the material, High Modulus Graphite is stiffer than Graphite/Carbon. When selecting a racket, you can also bend the shaft by hand to try the hardness, and note the point at which the shaft bends, so that the closer it is to the handle, the better. You can also grab the handle and the head of the frame and rotate the racket in reverse (like wringing out a towel) to try the torque of the racket, and note that you have to exert yourself to appreciate it. In general, now the racket shaft has a tendency to become softer while the racket frame has a tendency to become harder, YONEX now produces racket shaft hardness than a few years ago to be much softer. I think the softer shafts are more suitable for amateurs.

III. Weight, Balance Point and Length

Each racket should be marked with its weight, generally the common marking method for U, 2U, 3U, some manufacturers use their own marking, such as: Victory (VICTOR) rackets, its weight is marked as W1, W2, etc. Corresponding to the 2U, 3U, but the most common is still the former. Most full carbon rackets are 2U (90-94g) or 3U (85-89g), while aluminium framed rackets are generally above U (95-99g), but there are a few full carbon rackets with weights as low as 80g, such as the SR and SA models of the YONEX ISO-SWING-POWER-500, which weigh only 81g. Heavier racquets are suitable for players with good power and an attacking game, while lighter racquets are more suitable for players with a defensive game. If you are more of an attacker, a 2U racket is better, but if you use a 3U racket, you will feel that the racket floats a bit when you hit the ball, and you won’t be able to kill the ball with enough power.

The same weight racket will feel very different in your hand because of the different balance point of the racket. If the balance point of the racket is closer to the head, it is called [head heavy]; if the balance point of the racket is closer to the handle, it is called [head light]. The balance point is generally measured from the bottom of the racket upwards in centimetres and inches. According to the principle of mechanics, the weight is proportional to the feeling of swinging the racket, while the balance point is square proportional to the feeling of swinging the racket. Head-heavy rackets, due to greater inertia of the racket head, can hit the ball more powerfully, but the flexibility of swinging the racket is a little less, which is more suitable for attacking and at the same time, it is also the choice of those who are not strong enough to choose the racket, because head-heavy rackets, although it reduces the speed of your stroke, but it can make it easier for you to hit the ball to the back of the court. The lighter head racquets are more flexible, but hit the ball with less power, and the vibration transmitted by the racquet will be larger, not for players who hit the ball hard, more suitable for defensive control players and players who pursue speed, because the speed of continuous swing of this kind of racquet will be much faster. Of course, if you have the power of a professional, you can use a head-heavy racket for power and speed, which is why we find that the same type of professional racket is heavier than the one we buy for commercial use! In order to accurately control the balance point, a high-quality racket in the shape of the racket handle will be installed in the balance of the weight, the bottom of the handle of the plastic bottom handle removed, you will see the lower part of the wooden handle to say that 1/3 of the length of the handle for the hollow cylinder, inlaid with a plastic stick mounted, its purpose is to adjust the centre of gravity of the racket, so that the same type of racket has the same balance point.

However, with the advancement of technology, many new rackets can have the same balance point (within the permissible error range) without the use of the balancer, which is the basic requirement of a good quality racket, through the precise control of the production process.

It should be noted that the above weight and balance point descriptions are for a brand new racket, without stringing and without additional skins or other additions.

The length of a standard racket is 664 mm, while an extension is generally 674 mm.

The main part of the extension is the shaft and the handle, and in some models the frame is also slightly extended. The biggest advantage of an extended racket is that it increases the point of impact and the flick of the shaft. The biggest advantage of the extended racket is that it raises the point of impact, which enables the racket to hit the ball at a greater angle of attack and accelerates the speed of the ball, and to a certain extent increases the aggressiveness and expands the catching area, so if you like to kill the ball, the extended racket is indeed a good choice. At the same time, it should be noted that longer rackets are more likely to cause wrist and arm injuries than ordinary rackets, and the flexibility of the racket is also reduced, especially for the handling of close ball will give you a little trouble. Overall, however, it seems that badminton development is now mainly about attack, so there are now more and more extended rackets!

IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF CLAP FRAME SECTION AND JOINTS The section of a clap frame has the following three basic forms

Semi-circular section, multi-faceted section and parallel section.

The MP series of rackets introduced by YONEX is based on these three types of cross-section with an improved design of the grooves – see MusclePower technology for more details. The box section is an earlier design, which has the advantage of excellent ball control, but has a higher aerodynamic resistance to swinging the racket. Wing section is a later and most common design, its advantage is that the air resistance is small, swing faster and easy to hit fast, fierce back to the ball, due to the thin section of the ball control is slightly insufficient, however, modern badminton technology is more in pursuit of fast, fierce so this design is more favoured. The third semi-circular cross-section design is mainly seen in YONEX CARBONEX early and low-end products such as: CARBONEX 6 models and CARBONEX 8300, 8200, 8000, etc., it should be said that this design is the badminton racket from the aluminium frame to the full-carbon transition is the design of the cross-section shape and the cross-section of aluminium-framed racket is basically the same, the process of production is relatively easy. However, at a later stage, YONEX reduced the cross-section and used it for its SLIM rackets, such as the ISO-SLIM10 racket, which has the following characteristics: the frame is only 9mm wide and 5.5mm thick, and from the cross-section point of view, it is 25% slimmer than the traditional racket frames, which can reduce the wind resistance and increase the hitting speed. The downside is that the strength and torsional properties of the frame are reduced. My personal feeling is that the SLIM10 is better suited for singles and not so good for doubles. In the actual racket, in addition to a single frame cross-section design is often used in a combination of frame design, such as: CARLTON’s several models using a variable width design, that is, the frame are used in the wing design but the head part of the frame is about 20% wider than the lower part of the frame, used to increase the racket’s attack power. PRO-KENNEX LEGENDARY DESTINY model YONEX’s VF series has a box section at the lower part of the frame and a wing section at the upper part of the frame to improve the overall performance of the racket.

YONEX’s MPF adopts a muscular (or wavy) design at the stringing grooves of the racket, which changes the stress distribution of the frame and the strings to improve the performance of the racket.

There are T-shaped and Y-shaped joints, and there are built-in and external joints.

Before introducing these joints, I would like to make a clear idea, nowadays the full carbon badminton rackets are all in one piece from the appearance, in fact, most of the high-quality rackets are using the built-in joints, and only a very few of the rackets are using the jointless-less process, such as the YONEX CARBONEX-8000 my feeling is that the racket’s torsion is poor. As badminton requires a high degree of accuracy in hitting the ball, the frame and shaft are made separately and then connected by joints to better control the quality, weight and balance of the racket. The appearance of external joints originated from the emergence of aluminium-framed rackets. External joints are good in terms of strength and torsion, but they are heavy and have concentrated stresses at the joint and the frame, making them the most prone to breakage in aluminium-framed rackets. Although it is mostly used in aluminium framed rackets, there are also examples of it being used in full carbon rackets: VICTOR’s APOLLO model is a full carbon racket with external T-joints, which was a transitional solution to VICTOR’s immature technology of producing built-in T-joints at that time. The built-in head is made of high-strength carbon fibre, and is integrated from the shaft and frame, which overcomes the drawbacks of the external head, but requires a higher level of craftsmanship.

It is mainly used for full carbon rackets and aluminium frame and carbon shaft integrated rackets.

Y-shaped joint is the idea and patent of the American PRINCE company, and T-shaped joints compared to its joints due to the strings into the area of the short, theoretically, its stress distribution performance is better than the T-shaped head of the greater strength, the middle of the length of the main strings to increase the length of the elasticity of the better. 96-98 when the market using the Y-shaped joints of the racket is more often seen, and some of the domestic low-grade products are also used in the external Y-shaped joints, mainly to create a point of sale. The main purpose was to create a buying point. The only high-grade brand PRINCE Y-shaped connector, I tried to play a friend of a PRINCE racket did not have any special feeling, and friends have always regretted buying this racket, feel the feel of various aspects and YONEX racket gap.

In the purchase of feather racket according to your playing style, choose the right frame shape on your technical play is a certain role, generally speaking wing section is now the mainstream, for doubles and hit an offensive return more advantageous, while the box section can be better ball control. With the development of material technology, the thin box section is now more often found in the high-end models of rackets, the fight for faster hitting speed and better return control performance is the eternal direction of the development of rackets. For connectors, it is best to have in-built connectors, T or Y shaped connectors will not make much of a difference.

V. The relationship between materials and rackets

Before the 70’s racket materials were almost exclusively wood and steel tubes, in the 70’s aluminium alloys were used, nowadays it is a world of new materials such as carbon fibre, titanium alloy, high strength carbon fibre, etc. Because these materials are lighter, stronger and more durable, they also absorb more vibration and shock, and at the same time allow racket manufacturers to have more room for manoeuvre in designing racket stiffness, ball feel and stroke performance.

When shopping for a racket, it is best to first look at the racket is made of what materials, generally in the racket shaft and frame will be marked with its manufacturing materials, sometimes the same such as: YONEX ISO-800TOUR shaft has High Modulus Graphite (high strength carbon fibre) frame has the same label, while some racket shaft and frame materials are not the same, while the racket shaft and frame materials are not the same, and the racket frame materials are not the same. Some racket shaft and frame materials are different, such as: YONEX ISO-250LONG shaft for High Moudulus Graphite racket frame for Graphite (carbon fibre). There are also rackets with the same material for the shaft and frame that are only labelled All Graphite or All Graphite racket in one place of the frame or shaft. the labelling of the regular products is accurate and reliable, while the labelling of the fake products is printed randomly, which is generally made of poorer carbon fibre cloth, with a big difference in density, purity and the regular products, so the cost is very low. What material is used in the product is an important factor in determining its price, the following table can let you know the performance and approximate cost of several materials:

 

MaterialsDurometerIntensityShock AbsorptionApproximate Cost RMB¥/KG
High Modulus Graphite874157
Carbon fibre58445
Aluminum24115
Wood11104

 

When choosing a racket, you must be careful not to mistake a one-piece racket with an aluminium frame and carbon shaft for a full carbon racket. Generally pay attention to the label on the racket, should be able to distinguish, if not sure, I have three methods can be used, one is to use the hand to feel the frame due to the aluminium alloy thermal conductivity of the frame moulded on the cool while the carbon frame is warm. The first is to feel the frame by hand, because the aluminium frame has good thermal conductivity, the frame is cool while the carbon frame is warm. Thirdly, feel the weight, the head of the aluminium frame is obviously heavier. As a transition from aluminium to carbon, I feel that it is not a good choice because of its high price and low performance.

VI. Characteristics of each type of racquet:

Y Faster ball speed Bigger sweet spot Less torque More flexibility More vibration dampening Better directional control Better depth control

 Faster ball speedThe sweet spot is bigger.Less torquegreater flexibilityMore vibration dampingBetter directional controlBetter depth controllability
Square head Y  Y Y
wing sectionY Y   Y
box section    Y  
Built-in connectors  YYY  
Stiff shaft  Y YY 
Softer shaftY     Y
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