You’re absolutely right on every point.

I see some players test shuttles by hitting them as hard as possible. Then they wonder why the game is so hard. Maybe it’s because they truly lack real touch and therefore need an element of solid hitting to get any feel in their shots. Whatever the reason, it’s not badminton.

Thanks for your insights.

Paul

Today for example I had a couple of games with a shuttle that was very fast as the humidity and temperature were quite low in the hall but I never complained about it. I was just angry at myself I couldn’t lower enough the power or adjust the technique of my clear shots so that I could keep them on the court. On the contrary, when you have a shuttle way too slow (76/77 is a very good example) you usually mistime simple shots you are supposed to nail without a problem and this is much harder to overcome during serious games in my opinion.

Another thing that’s worth mentioning is the power used by “pro” players when measuring the shuttle speed. Maybe 90%+ of the cases they are measuring the shuttle speed they are using too much power (again a result of improper coaching). Ideal case you shouldn’t be using more power in the test shot than you ordinarily put in a high serve.

Stefan

I had a discussion with a fellow coach about shuttle speeds recently. He agreed with my comments about shuttle speeds. Then, when we were asked the question “what do you do if the speed is incorrect?” I responded that you should tip the shuttle to make it correct. He responded that the law states that you should not tamper with a shuttle. My interpretation on that is, if both sides agree in order to obtain the correct speed for the shuttle, then it’s OK. He disagreed.

Am I going daft here? What do you do in a siutation like this? If the shuttle is too slow and the club do not have alternate speed shuttles (which is rare), you either play outside the laws of the game with the shuttle being too slow, or break the law in order to then play within the law? I think common sense takes priority and you break the law in order to play the game within the law.

Paul

Both good and average players suffer from slow shuttles – good players for not being able to exercise proper defence techniques by getting used to reflect slow smashes, average players for not being able to exercise both their attack and defence techniques. I’m pretty sure this is one of the main reasons Europeans are being killed every time they go to an Asian tournament and having most of their successful games in Europe where such shuttles are massively used.

I’m an average player myself and I personally find speed 79 suitable for temperatures 12-30 degrees and medium to high humidity. Believe it or not every time I’ve pulled out a 79 speed shuttle from my tube against a better player in such conditions they’ve complained the shuttle is too fast and took measures. The few times they haven’t I’ve almost always managed to beat them without a problem due to the fact I can place accurate drop and deep clear shots. Also the amount of smashes they manage to reflect drops from 80% to 30% roughly. Not to mention it’s much easier to adapt your game to faster shuttles than to slower ones. It takes literally a couple of rallies while the opposite is virtually impossible to happen over a short term without considerable improvement of muscle power and technique.

I’ve decided to refuse playing with anything slower than 78 (and that’s only if the shuttles are exceptionally well flying which is true only for AS-50) when having the above-mentioned conditions as I’m not willing to risk my health every day so that people that haven’t been coached properly can feel comfortable at the court. I advise every player that feels robbed by such “speed experts” at the court to do the same thing.