Guideline for buying badminton rackets

It is one of the significant parts of your game to choose a badminton racket. One often makes mistakes while buying a badminton racket, they end up buying a wrong racket which doesn’t suit their style and thus get unsatisfied. Whether you are buying a new racket or modifying the one you already have, you should be aware of the important factors involved to choose a perfect badminton racket for yourself. Selecting a badminton racket suited to your style of play is important to improve your skills in the game.

Read the Sportsorion badminton racket guide to get a small idea on the types of badminton rackets and find the right choice for you.

Choose the badminton rackets according to your playing frequency

Occasional Player: If you don’t play regularly, then you need a racket which has an isometric head. These rackets will have a larger surface area and will be more compensative. These rackets will help you to compensate your strokes, when your strokes are slightly off Center and will make your first games easier.

Regular Players: For a regular player for his best game, he needs a racket which has power. Head-heavy rackets are more powerful than head-light racket. But they are offset by the slower racket head speed. Most players would use head-heavy rackets for singles, and head-light or even-balance rackets for doubles.

Intensive Players: If you are an intensive player, your main priority will be the control of the racket. A racket with balance point at the handle will meet the expectations of your game giving you immense confidence in playing a stroke and excellent reactivity.

Different balance of badminton rackets

All Badminton racket can be categorized based on their balance or where the weight of the racket is largely located. Racket Balance or ‘Balance point’ refers to the weight distribution of the racket and is determined by where the center of balance lies in the racket, starting from the base of the handle. 

Head-Heavy Rackets: Players who like to play a powerful game from the back of the court is well suited with head-heavy balance rackets, providing them with extra mass in the head, which will increase the power of their clears and smashes. As these types of shots are integral to badminton rallies, players who are looking to ensure they can consistently produce lengthy clears should really go for a Head-Heavy balance racket.

Head-Light Rackets: The club players who play doubles far more than singles are well suited with these types of rackets. The advantage is that the head and frame have far less mass and are therefore much easier to manipulate and swing. This is crucial when defending against opposing smashes, as you will need to react as quickly as possible to return the smash. As of the same features, Head-Light rackets are also much more desirable when playing shots at the net, particularly if you look to finish off rallies at the front of the court.

Even Balance Rackets: Even-Balance rackets are designed to provide a middle ground between Head-Heavy and Head-Light rackets, and attempt to offer the advantages of both. This racket will give you enough power from the back, enough control and maneuverability at the front. This racket will be suitable for all types of shots.  If you have no preference between playing at the net and playing at the back, or are unsure, then an Even-Balance racket is the best choice.

Consider the weight of rackets

Choosing the weight of your badminton racket also depends on your individual technique and skill of play. The weight and balance of the racket changes when it is strung or a grip is applied. There mainly two types of badminton rackets according to their weight.

Light weight Rackets: Light weight rackets are rackets which weighs less than 85gm. These rackets helps player to be more maneuverable in the court and generate faster swing speed, hence preferred by many amateurs and advanced players.

Heavy Rackets: Heavy weight rackets are rackets which weighs more than 88gm. A heavy racket is considered as power racket as it gives more momentum and power but is also hard to control. If you want more power you can choose heavy badminton rackets.

The Unstrung weight of Badminton Rackets is usually in the given range;

Choose the shaft of rackets

Shaft of the racket maybe either stiff or flexible as both types have different characteristics, it should selected properly.

Stiff Shaft

A stiffer shaft will not bend and then unbend very quickly. These rackets require higher swing of bat and you should exert more power.

• No Repulsion: Little or none this means that the player should apply more power on the shot and also the holder of the badminton racket should apply a heavy swing to the shot.
• High placement accuracy: These badminton rackets do not bend, thus no vibrations and provide more accuracy. The shuttle immediately leaves the racket as there is no change in its path provided by the player.
• Suitable for attacking – Badminton is a game of speed, by using a stiff Shaft badminton racket you are sacrificing power for speed. Advanced badminton skills such as fast attacks (overhead smash) and deceptions require fast executions and are usually performed via a quick flick of your wrist. Many top badminton players today use stiff shaft rackets to inject pace and power into the shuttle. They return the shuttle so quickly that their opponents are usually not ready to defend those shots.
• Level: If you’re a beginner using a stiff badminton racket, you’ll find yourself concentrating on exerting sufficient strength into your swing, rather than concentrating on correct techniques. So it these type rackets are not well suited for beginners. Intermediate or advanced players who are very familiar with correct badminton techniques can consider switching to a stiff racket to try out more advanced skills.

Flexible Shaft

A flexible shaft will bend and unbend much more easily, ensuring that players will get the racket to bend and unbend to the required level. These rackets lack power, speed and accuracy

• Good repulsive force: This is because a flexible shaft bends slightly towards the back and stores energy during your swing motion thus you don’t need to apply more force to the shot.
• Less placement accuracy: Since the shaft is easily bent, it is slightly difficult to obtain a perfect placement from these kinds of badminton racket because the shuttle stays on the racket for some time thus affecting its projections.
• Suitable for defensive players: Flexible rackets are also good for defending smashes. When defending powerful badminton smashes, a soft touch with a flexible racket is able to return the shuttle to your opponent(due to the repulsive force).
• Level: Beginner, these are used for normal casual plays.

Select the material of frame

Entry level: These badminton rackets are made from aluminum or steel metals, they are of low performance and high weight, they are also less expensive and thus cost effective.These badminton rackets can be used to train before handling the advanced one.

Advanced: These badminton rackets are made from graphite or Carbon material, they are lightweight and easy to control, they are more durable and have high performance.

Choose the shape of frame

Isometric frame: Most rackets come with an ‘Isometric’ head shape that is with a wider top half of head, this square or Isometric shape gives an enlarged sweet spot to the players.

Conventional frame: Has a smaller sweet spot. However if the shuttle lands on the sweet spot, it would be a very high quality shot.Conventional frames are rarely present in the marketplace today because most people prefer isometric shaped rackets.

Choose the type of joint

T-joint badminton racket: Earlier rackets had such T joints (known as two piece frames). Usually this is to be the weak point of the racket. Such rackets were usually heavy and fragile at the Joint.

Single piece badminton racket: T joint means the racket which is joint less which means the racket will be of a single piece. The badminton head and the shaft are made of the same material. These rackets are much reliable compared to the others.

Following above mentioned guidelines would help you buy the perfect badminton racket you are looking for. You can buy the racket directly from sportsorion.com. What do you think about it? We want you to show some impacts of our guidelines in your life. Did you find this blog post helpful? If yes, share with your friends. What kinds of content would you like to see more on this blog? Let us know. We are always welcome to suggestions.