Shuttles - whose the daddy?

[Michael Banks]

We are looking to change our shuttles as the current ones are not good enough. There are now loads of different makes of shuttles on the market and lots of these are quite cheap at 6-7 pound a tube.

Yonex, RSL and Carlton charge quite a bit for theirs, many tubes over 10 pounds. Why do people still buy them when the cheaper ones are fine? If the cheaper ones are not fine, why do many good clubs play with cheap feathers?

How do people make a decision on what make of shuttle they use?

[jg]

Over the years we have tried a whole range of shuttles Yonex, RSL, Carlton, LFH, Carlton plus at least 3 others whos name escapes me

If any one result has come from all of these changes..it is that you get what you pay for.....generally, the more you pay..the better the shuttle, the truer the flight and the longer they last.

At the present we are playing with Yonex Aerosensa 30..we started by using the 40s but find virtually no diference by using the 30's

But there are many factors in choosing the shuttle that is right for your club....and cost is certainly an important one. The temperature and humidity levels within your hall will have an impact as will the way they have been stored...so whilst we find that Yonex suit us perfectly....they may not be right for you

Also give each type of shuttle a reasonable trial, don't just use one tube and discard that choice...you might have got a bad tube

[juniorbadmintonplayer]

hmm for me its easy- best shuttles=Yonez aerosensa 40

ashaway arent too bad either

sorted :)

rishi

[Tracy]

Yes, we play with Yonex Aerosensa 30s too.
We were playing with Alpha, which were cheaper, but we used so many tubes that it was actually cheaper to switch to Yonex shuttles!

[RogerStroud]

No matter which shuttles you use, what do you do when they're past their best? Why not establish links with a school and pass them on with - preferably - an offer from the club coach (with helpers) to set up a school/club link. Just get in touch with the PE Dept of a local secondary school/college or the PE Co-ordinator of a Primary and see if they may be inclined towards taking badminton further in their school. Chances are they'll respond positively, especially secondary schools since - I think I'm correct in saying - it is the most popular sport for GCSE PE. (Both boys and girls can play on more equal terms than almost any other sport). Certainly in the secondary school I coach in, badminton has been the most popular option in Year 11 for the last four years. The School/club link is now strong and getting stronger all the time and the school appreciates the shuttles! Clubs must reach out to youngsters if the game is going to thrive and supplying used shuttles -which are destined for the tip anyway - is one way to break the ice and get the ball rolling (sorry, shuttle flying!)

[Jonathan Phillips]

Has anyone completed a scientific study on shuttles to compare them?

I understand that many shuttles come off the same production line and are then given a little branding sticker inside and placed in a branded tube.

Maybe the sticker could be removed and the shuttles tested like for like?

It would then be interesting to compare the attributes of different types of shuttles to see how the 'darlings' of badminton - Yonex, Carlton et al compare with the more economical brands.

If anyone has done this it would be very interesting to see what the outcome was.

On another theme, I like Roger's suggestion that used shuttles are donated to local schools instead of binned at the end of a session. Maybe this is something that could be coordinated at league or even county level in order to achieve a critical mass.