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8:32 pm
February 15, 2011
Offline
Matthew
Yes the flex is determined by the bend in the shaft. Sadly there is no international standard to cmpare one brand from another, only the brand own range of racquets. As you can imagine, it makes reviewing different brands challenging.
Paul
4:47 pm
March 2, 2011
Offline Excuse me if this is a stupid question, but how does the flexibility of the shaft as well as the tightness of the strings affect overall performance?
6:40 pm
VIP Coaching Program Members
August 12, 2010
Offline It is certainly not a stupid question.
In general, every player will probably find that a certain racket just feels “right” for them. Although there are many factors that influence this, the “flex” is usually going to be one of them. A “stiff” racket, will not bend much when swung, compared to a “flexible” racket that will bend more. In general, a stiffer racket favours players with a very “short” or “compact” hitting style, often found at higher levels of play. A “flexible” racket favours someone with a slightly “longer” swing (that takes more time). Thus, a certain type of “flex” is going to mean that the racket “complements” your existing style/skills. This can lead to more power or control of ones shots.
The strings are a different matter. In general, having tighter strings will lead to more control at the expense of some power. However, that is a gross oversimplification of a potentially complex subject. However, in general, this conecept is reasonably accurate. Professional players, who have plenty of power due to their excellent technique, will normally use much tighter strings than a regular club player like you or me, thus giving them a little more control (which is crucial at their level) without feeling they have lost much in terms of raw power. Once again, string tension is a personal thing, that will take into account your standard of play, whether you play with plastic or feather shuttles, how much natural power you have, and most importantly how you like the shuttle to “feel” against your racket when you hit the shuttle.
Both things are very much a case of how it “feels” for a player – it either feels natural and gives consistently pleasing results, or it takes a little getting used to.
I hope that answered your question.
Matt
10:38 pm
February 15, 2011
Offline Good response Matthew.
Yet again, it all boils down to personal taste. Some players prefer a flexible shaft because they feel it gives them that bit more feel and power.
There are a lot of players that do not experiement with different strings and tensions. It’s a shame really because they would learn so much about the properties of strings, feel of strings and eventually find their preferences.
Paul
9:33 am
March 2, 2011
Offline I see, so that as well is a question of feel.
It is a feeling you can't really describe other than that it just feels right to you.
I'm just going to write a little of my own experiences with buying a racket.
At my university, when there is a tournement being held, there is always a yonex vendor who allows you to test out every one of his rackets.
That is how I got my voltric 70, I tried out like 10 rackets from an nanospeed 6600 to an arcsaber 10. Some felt nice but once I tried the voltric I was amazed by just how right the racket felt to me.
Stiff shafts give me the feeling that I can't quite get all my power out of the racket, whereas extremely flexible shafts give me the idea that I”m playing with a rubber racket. The medium flex voltric was just exactly right for me.
I'm amazed by the amount of people who just go to a regular sports megastore and just buy an overpriced badminton racket which they couldn't get to try out and think they got it right. There are even some that think it is natural that their rackets feel uncomfortable!
So from my experience, the best way to go about buying a racket is going to a tournement and speak to a vendor there and try out as much rackets as you can until you try out a racket that just feels right to you.
I think I'm going to wait with experimenting with string tighness until I've got some more badminton experience under my belt.
8:35 pm
February 15, 2011
Offline Most players do not get the opportunity to test more than one racquet at a time and this makes comparing even harder. Most players have to borrow a racquet from a fellow team member and therefore get very little exposure to the racquet.
You are indeed fortunate to test so many racquets, and find the right racquet for you relatively quickly. Enjoy your VT70 – it’s a superb racquet.
Paul
6:39 pm
March 2, 2011
Offline Yes, I also think that the voltric lines, the voltric 70 especially, could be a racket for just about anyone disregarding the price tag.
The voltric 70 strengthens everything in your arsenal: Clears are effortless, smashes become more powerful, netshots and drops become more accurate. And that while it still is a very light racket so you barely lose any finesse in front of the net.
As an agressive player power is everything, however if you can't recover fast enough from a smash you will lose points. The Voltric 70 supports my playstyle; more power without dragging defensive capabilities down.
Other than people who absolutely loathe medium flex rackets and really need a stiff or extra stiff shaft, I can advice the Voltric 70 to just about anyone. It just is thàt great a racket!
This racket made badminton so much more fun than it already was, it was worth every cent!
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