Discussing Sporting Goods

Professional badminton is a real sport. The Danes are especially fond of watching pro-badminton players whack the daylights out of a shuttlecock. If you like this sport and if you have a talent for it, maybe you could get on the pro track too. The first step is selecting an excellent racket. Since there are dozens of badminton rackets, you should get to know more about them before you purchase one.

The Heavier the Racket, the Lower the Quality

Heavier rackets are typically made from denser, cheaper materials. This is why they are considered lower quality. You can tell that you have a lower quality racket by the weight designation on the racket. The manufacturers use 1U to 4U to designate weight and quality, with 1U being lower quality and 4U being the best quality racket. You want a high-quality racket that is very lightweight and easily spins in your hand.

Just as an example of quality, most backyard badminton sets have lower quality rackets in them. When you pick up your backyard badminton set, it probably feels quite a bit heavier than you expected. That would be the dense racket materials in the box. If you pick up a professional, 4U-designated racket, you can tell the difference right away.

String Type and Installation

A really good badminton racket should have tough strings made of nylon thread, not cheap plastic. Natural gut strings are even better, if you can afford it. The tension and installation of the strings should be close together and provide excellent rebound with the simplest touch. The gauge number of the string will tell you how thick the strings are, with the thickest strings having lower numbers and the thinner strings higher numbers. The ideal racket has a mid-grade string thickness number and a string tension of about 20-22 lbs.

Grip Designation

Grip designation is also used on many rackets. You should know what this means and not get it confused with the weight and quality designation. Grip numbers are almost always preceded with a "G" followed by a number (e.g., #2 through #5). The "G" is probably the easiest way to remember that this designates the grip, while the weight/quality designation begins with a number first and letter second. The grip designation does not determine quality, only the length of the grip for small to large hands. (Pro rackets give you an option for grip size, while backyard kits just select an average hand size and you have to work with it.)