Strings

Now that you know more about the racket, it's time to know about the strings! By the way, it's not those strings that is use to sew the clothes.

Strings can be classified into few category, which is

• Natural Gut
• Sheep Gut
• Multi-filament
• Bios Root (from plant)

All these strings come in different durability, thickness, colour and of course, price.

Durability

Referring to the string whether it is able to withstand the force during the impact. Different thickness and string tension affect the durability.


Thickness
The thickness comes in 0.63mm to 0.75mm.

The thicker the string, the more they are able to withstand the force but they suffer some repulsion loss. On the other hand the thinner string are not able to withstand the force if it is been hit hard but the repulsion is far greater than those thicker string.

So if you are a hard hitter (Able to whack very hard) it is best to choose those thicker string as thinner string may break easily and you might need to restring often!

What happen if I'm not hard hitter (like me!), can i still use thicker string?

My answer to you is, YES. For the string, it is a matter of your own preferences. Whichever string you are playing with and is satisfy, just stick with it.


Colour

Yes, you read that right. String comes in different type of colour as well. But due to the coating of the colour, it somehow affects the durability of the string. Not to be afraid though, the difference in the durability is hardly noticeable.


Price

The price of the string ranges from $12 to $30. Sometimes it is better to go for those thicker string.

Why? If you break string often, that means you have to keep restringing for the racket and that means your pocket going to have a big hole soon.

Just my 2 cent.

• The type of string is your preferences, some people will tend to prefer thicker strings than thinner strings.
  

• Performance is depend on your choices of string as well as your stroking technique

That's all for today. Thanks for reading!

Racket (Continue)

I will be covering the different type of length, grip size, frame and balance point of a racket on this post.


Length

A badminton racket has various length ranging from 665mm to 680mm. In competition, the racket length limit at 680mm. Standard length of a racket would be 675mm.

Shorter racket tends to have better maneuverability than longer racket. Longer racket tends to reach the shuttle at it's highest contact point while shorter racket can't.

Different length of racket will more or less affect your swing, contact point as well as timing of the shot. Best to find the racket length that suits your style of playing.

I actually prefer standard length racket which is 675mm as it feels right for me.


Grip Size

It is referring to the size of the racket grip. Be it small palm or big palm, you should be using smaller grip and bigger grip respectively. If going by Yonex grip chart, the smallest grip available would be G6 while the biggest grip would be G3. Grip size G4 and G5 are design for asian use (smaller in size) while G3 are more for eurasian use (bigger in size).

Some other racket company go by opposite of Yonex grip chart, such as G2 being the smallest grip and G4 being the biggest grip. Get the right grip size for your hand!


Frame

There are 2 types of frame available for badminton racket which is

• Oval head
  
• Isometric head

Oval head

Oval head racket are much older than isometric head racket and some people swear by it. It's

• sweet spot is much smaller than isometric head
• harder to use compare to isometric head
  
• the shot produced are much more powerful than isometric head racket.
  

Below is the image of an oval head frame.



(Click on the image to enlarge)


Isometric head

Isometric head are much more popular than oval head, as

• sweet spot is much larger than oval head
  
• more easier to use compare to oval head
• the shot produced are not as strong as oval head.

Below is the image of an isometric head frame.



(Click on the image to enlarge)

Personally i prefer to use isometric head racket since it is more easier to use than oval racket.


Balance point

Mainly it is to determine whether the racket is head light balance, even balance or head heavy balance. All the balance point are measured from the butt cap to the shaft where it is evenly balance.

Here are the characteristic for each of the balance type.

Head light balance:

• 275mm and below
• Easier to perform defensive shot
• Less power produce

Even balance:

• 276mm to 289mm
• Moderate speed and power produce

Head heavy balance:

• 290mm onwards
• able to produce power shot
  
• harder to perform defensive shot

Many people prefer head heavy racket for it's power (powerful smash) but at a expense of weaker defense.

I prefer even balance as it don't really suffer much on power or maneuver. If you are curious about my racket balance point, I am really to share with you all. Most of my racket balance point are around 282mm to 285mm which falls under even balance.

That's the update for this week. Thanks for viewing.

Racket

Come to a important equipment in badminton and that is badminton racket. Without a racket, don't even think about getting the game start!

Racket itself has different type of

• stiffness
• length
• grip size
• frame
• balance point

For this week, i will cover on the stiffness of the racket.

Stiffness

Stiffness of racket is mean by how stiff the shaft is. There are a few types of stiffness available for a badminton racket and they are

• Flexible
• Medium
• Stiff
• Extra Stiff

For most starters or beginner, it is better off to start with flexible racket as it is more gentle on your elbow and shoulder joints. Flexible racket allows user who has weak arm to easily generate a powerful shot. As time goes by, if you feel that you are much stronger then you can use a more stiffer racket.

Flexible

As mention earlier, due to its flexibility, this allows weak arm player to generation powerful shots. But if a strong arm user uses racket this type of flexibility, it will make their powerful shots LESS POWERFUL. Another thing to take note is that the control of the racket may not be as good as other racket with higher stiffness.

Medium

Just one level stiffer than flexible. Allow user to generate decent shots as well as control. Some of the beginner uses this stiffness to start off playing the game. Most of them can easily adapt to the stiffness as well as more forgiving. However the risk are still there. If the user cannot take the stiffness, most likely will cause the shoulder joint sore after ending your session.

Stiff

Most low intermediates to high intermediates like to use this level of stiffness. Most 'arm' and 'wristy' player prefer to use this stiffness. Due to the stiffness of the shaft, when player 'flex' the shaft it allows players to maximize the power and control of the racket with fast swing. After you 'flex' it, the shaft will quickly return to its original position faster than flexible racket. This the reason why it was able to produce more power shot than using flexible racket.

Extra Stiff

Most demanding and stiffest of them all. Require user to have strong arm as well as wrist to 'flex' this racket. Once it 'flex' successfully, the power and control are much more powerful then using the stiff racket. Most professional player like to use extra stiff racket for this purpose.

If you can't really understand the stiffness concept, it is no surprise. To understand the concept well, what you need is to see strong player to 'flex' the racket infront of you. (Don't come look for me to demostrate for you, i'm still a beginner. haha)

Alright, that's all folks! Check out my update soon!