Another Badminton Racket Experiment
I have been messing around with my badminton rackets recently, in particular i have been testing different tensions and different amounts of lead tape and the effect it has on my singles and doubles play. What i have done is have two different string tensions in two of my carlton airblade badminton rackets, one for singles and one for doubles. I have also added different amounts of lead tape to these rackets.
The singles racket has a lower string tension, about 24-25lbs, and has more lead tape added to it. The doubles racket has higher tension, about 27-28lbs and less lead tape added. My reasoning is this..
In singles you are playing an all court game and you are hitting more shots overhead, and more shots from the back corners when you get in trouble, which happens all the time in singles. If you want to succeed at singles then you need to be able to get out of trouble because no matter how good you move around court, you will at some point, get put into the extreme points of the court.
To get out of this trouble you need your racket to help you out. By lowering the string tension it helps you get a bit more power, it makes it easier to hit a more powerful shot. By adding the lead tape it also makes it easier to get some power from your badminton racket. These two factors combined help you. The trade off is control. Lower string tension gives less shuttle control.
Using these two factors i find it easier to hit the shuttle. I have mentioned this in previous posts when i did the first experiment with the lead tape. It worked for me, and i have used lead tape ever since, and will continue to do so becuase it costs hardly anything but you gain so much. I find i can get a good length on my shots from baseline to baseline, and also when i end up in the deep corners, both forehand and backhand corners from below net level.
It takes good technique and timing to hit the shuttle out of the corners and get a good length. What i have found is that for the same amount of effort the shuttle is going about a metre further. This extra metre has come from the lower string tension and the lead tape. And this extra power gives you more choices. I will explain..
If your opponent puts you into the corners and you hit out to the baseline then your opponent has to cover for this. This means they have to move further back in court, back to their base position. If you cannot hit out of the corners to a length, then your opponent will just sit closer to the net and be able to move their base further up the court. They will be able to take a chance because they can anticipate your short return, and will know they have time to move back. This will put you in even more trouble, and you will be shuttle chasing. If you play a reply to the net, no matter how tight it is, your opponent will be there early, and you will be shuttle chasing some more.
That extra metre i now have will keep my opponent guessing, and i now have the choice of being able to play to the net because my opponent is not sitting on top of it, or hitting to the baseline. This makes a big difference in singles i can tell you. This is what i have been noticing for the past few weeks with this racket combination.
The trade off is the lack of control, especially on net shots. The lower string tension does not help control, but it is a case of getting used to the different feel from the racket. It takes a few games, but i can accept this becuase i feel the benefit of the extra power is more valuable in singles for me.
As far as doubles goes, i have been playing with high tension a nd less lead tape. My reasoning is that in doubles i play a lot more reaction shots, such as smash returns, net kills and drives. The extra tension gives me more control, and the shuttle comes off the racket faster, it feels more responsive. I also get more control at the net for playing spinning net shots, and also, most importantly, i get more control on my serve.
The trade off with this combination is less power overhead on smashes. I cannot hit the shuttle as hard as i can with the lower string tension and more lead tape, unless i put more effort in. This extra effort takes it toll after a while because it is now not as easy to hit hard. However, i feel that, for me, it is better to be able to play more accurate shots in doubles than it is to have raw power from the rear court. The difference is not that much, but it is certainly noticeable. I have less lead tape because i need the badminton racket to be more reactive and faster to move. It is all a question of getting the right balance, and this is why i have been experimenting, to find the right combination for me.
What i now have is two identical rackets, they are both carlton airblade tours, but they have totally different playing characteristics. I didn't need to go out and buy myself a new racket, i just modified what i already had. I guess what i am trying to get across is that you should take the opportunity to experiment before you rush off and buy a new badminton racket.
On a different note now, is it just me or have RSL shuttles gone downhill recently? I am a big fan of RSL, but i am growing more and more dissappointed with them every time i play with them. RSL have based their reputation on providing durable shuttles over the years, but this hard won rep is going down the pan very quickly for me. Someone needs to tell them to get their act together, so i am doing just that. The recent batches are not up to standard, so please sort this out RSL. The prices have gone up and the quality has gone down, not a good combination if you ask me, this is the fastest way to lose customers, which would be a shame because this is their life blood.
On another note, i have sent an e-mail to Forza UK to get some badminton rackets to test. The reply said that they had some demo rackets, but they were all out at the moment with customers. They said i should e-mail Forza Direct. The problem here is that Forza Direct do not sell or stock badminton rackets, it is just a company website, so how on earth am i supposed to get rackets from someone who does not sell them? I will e-mail them anyway just to see what happens.
On yet another note. If you have a badminton related site or blog, then please let me know about it, and i will link to you. There must be loads of you with an interest in badminton and badminton rackets. If you enjoy this blog and would like to link to it, then feel free to do so, just link with the text of "badminton racket" to help this blog get a bit more exposure, and then i can hold all these badminton companies to ransom, and force them to let me test more rackets, which would help us all out in the long run. Hope this random post helps you out a little.
The singles racket has a lower string tension, about 24-25lbs, and has more lead tape added to it. The doubles racket has higher tension, about 27-28lbs and less lead tape added. My reasoning is this..
In singles you are playing an all court game and you are hitting more shots overhead, and more shots from the back corners when you get in trouble, which happens all the time in singles. If you want to succeed at singles then you need to be able to get out of trouble because no matter how good you move around court, you will at some point, get put into the extreme points of the court.
To get out of this trouble you need your racket to help you out. By lowering the string tension it helps you get a bit more power, it makes it easier to hit a more powerful shot. By adding the lead tape it also makes it easier to get some power from your badminton racket. These two factors combined help you. The trade off is control. Lower string tension gives less shuttle control.
Using these two factors i find it easier to hit the shuttle. I have mentioned this in previous posts when i did the first experiment with the lead tape. It worked for me, and i have used lead tape ever since, and will continue to do so becuase it costs hardly anything but you gain so much. I find i can get a good length on my shots from baseline to baseline, and also when i end up in the deep corners, both forehand and backhand corners from below net level.
It takes good technique and timing to hit the shuttle out of the corners and get a good length. What i have found is that for the same amount of effort the shuttle is going about a metre further. This extra metre has come from the lower string tension and the lead tape. And this extra power gives you more choices. I will explain..
If your opponent puts you into the corners and you hit out to the baseline then your opponent has to cover for this. This means they have to move further back in court, back to their base position. If you cannot hit out of the corners to a length, then your opponent will just sit closer to the net and be able to move their base further up the court. They will be able to take a chance because they can anticipate your short return, and will know they have time to move back. This will put you in even more trouble, and you will be shuttle chasing. If you play a reply to the net, no matter how tight it is, your opponent will be there early, and you will be shuttle chasing some more.
That extra metre i now have will keep my opponent guessing, and i now have the choice of being able to play to the net because my opponent is not sitting on top of it, or hitting to the baseline. This makes a big difference in singles i can tell you. This is what i have been noticing for the past few weeks with this racket combination.
The trade off is the lack of control, especially on net shots. The lower string tension does not help control, but it is a case of getting used to the different feel from the racket. It takes a few games, but i can accept this becuase i feel the benefit of the extra power is more valuable in singles for me.
As far as doubles goes, i have been playing with high tension a nd less lead tape. My reasoning is that in doubles i play a lot more reaction shots, such as smash returns, net kills and drives. The extra tension gives me more control, and the shuttle comes off the racket faster, it feels more responsive. I also get more control at the net for playing spinning net shots, and also, most importantly, i get more control on my serve.
The trade off with this combination is less power overhead on smashes. I cannot hit the shuttle as hard as i can with the lower string tension and more lead tape, unless i put more effort in. This extra effort takes it toll after a while because it is now not as easy to hit hard. However, i feel that, for me, it is better to be able to play more accurate shots in doubles than it is to have raw power from the rear court. The difference is not that much, but it is certainly noticeable. I have less lead tape because i need the badminton racket to be more reactive and faster to move. It is all a question of getting the right balance, and this is why i have been experimenting, to find the right combination for me.
What i now have is two identical rackets, they are both carlton airblade tours, but they have totally different playing characteristics. I didn't need to go out and buy myself a new racket, i just modified what i already had. I guess what i am trying to get across is that you should take the opportunity to experiment before you rush off and buy a new badminton racket.
On a different note now, is it just me or have RSL shuttles gone downhill recently? I am a big fan of RSL, but i am growing more and more dissappointed with them every time i play with them. RSL have based their reputation on providing durable shuttles over the years, but this hard won rep is going down the pan very quickly for me. Someone needs to tell them to get their act together, so i am doing just that. The recent batches are not up to standard, so please sort this out RSL. The prices have gone up and the quality has gone down, not a good combination if you ask me, this is the fastest way to lose customers, which would be a shame because this is their life blood.
On another note, i have sent an e-mail to Forza UK to get some badminton rackets to test. The reply said that they had some demo rackets, but they were all out at the moment with customers. They said i should e-mail Forza Direct. The problem here is that Forza Direct do not sell or stock badminton rackets, it is just a company website, so how on earth am i supposed to get rackets from someone who does not sell them? I will e-mail them anyway just to see what happens.
On yet another note. If you have a badminton related site or blog, then please let me know about it, and i will link to you. There must be loads of you with an interest in badminton and badminton rackets. If you enjoy this blog and would like to link to it, then feel free to do so, just link with the text of "badminton racket" to help this blog get a bit more exposure, and then i can hold all these badminton companies to ransom, and force them to let me test more rackets, which would help us all out in the long run. Hope this random post helps you out a little.
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