Guide: How to choose your new badminton racket

We know it can be a jungle to find your way around in the big selection of various badminton rackets. You may have looked in the webshop under our selection of rackets, and are left wondering, what should i choose?

There are various factors you need to be aware of when choosing a new badminton racket. The most important are: the weight balance, flexibility in the shaft and stringing, as well as quality and price.

Below you will find a guide to help you choose the right racket, whether you are a beginner, elite player or in between.

Balance

Closely tied to racquet weight is balance, or more specifically, how weight distributes throughout a badminton racket. The balance in the badminton raquet can help shape you as a player and at the same time it is very important in relation to your player characteristics. The balance is very important for which style of play you want. There are three types :.

•    Head light
•    Even balance
•    Head heavy

The head light racket

The head light racket allows you to add a lot of speed to your game. It is especially in the defensive and the flat play, that you get the most benefit from this weight distribution. You have the opportunity to hit the ball back quickly and at the same time you have good control. Since the head of the racket is light weight, you have to add more power yourself, but with the fast-paced game of badminton, you see more and more of these lighter models!

Who chooses the head light badminton racket?

Often it is the mix and double players who choose these badminton rackets, as the game is incredibly fast nowadays and just gets faster and faster as the years go by. In the double disciplines, the play is very flat typically, and it is more important to react quickly rather than being able to return power shots all the time.

This being said, we see a lot of especially male players with other rackets than head-lights. If you are a defensive player, and often shoot a forehand overhead clear, it can be an advantage to play with a different type of racket, which generate more power.
Youth players often choose these badminton head-light rackets. When the badminton rackets are head-light, you also often get the feeling that the weight is low, but most rackets weigh more or less the same.

The even balance racket 

In the even balance rackets, the weight is distributed throughout the racket, and these are a mix of the head light and head heavy. This weight distrubution will give you both a bit of power and control and is a good badminton racket to a wide range of players.

If you are the patient and waiting badminton player who wants to come in and play against the opponent’s shots, the even balance racket is right for you. This type of racket is typically the best-selling for badminton.

It is a safe choice and anyone can play with this type of racket. It is more often the head light or head heavy rackets, that people may have very different preferences for.

Who chooses the even balance badminton racket?

The even balance badminton racket can be played by anyone, and it fits all types of players regardless of age, level or discipline. If in doubt, go with a even balance model. It just works. It has a bit of everything and is sensible in flat play, has OK power and touch – a stable good racket!

The head heavy badminton racket.

The head heavy model is perfect for the player who wants to play with a lot of power in his offensive play. Here, the balance point has been moved towards the head, and the badminton racket will feel heavier, and helps to add power to the blows. Head-heavy rackets are often a little heavier to play with, but provides you with extremely power in your offensive shots.

Who chooses the head-heavy badminton racket?

Many singles players prefer this model with lots of power. In single play you have more time to make your strokes, and with a head heavy racket you can make hard shots at your opponent, if you use a racket with a lot of power

Who wouldn’t want to settle the balls on a hop-smash that just goes straight through the opponent’s defense? That option is optimized with a head-heavy racket.

As previously mentioned, there are many doubles players who choose these types if they are backfield players and have a good and fast partner.

Weight of a racket – Does it matter?

When you talk about weight distribution, you can also talk about the actual weight of the rackets. They range from 70-90 grams. The lighter a racket is, the faster it is to play with, and at the same time a heavier racket provides more power.

The most regular weight class is around the 83-87 grams, here you get both good power and control in your play. If they are lighter than this, you get really fast racket movement, especially close to the net and on the defensive, while a heavy racket provides power in your offensive shots. There are descriptions on all badminton rackets, and you can easily read about the difference.

Now we got well around the weight distribution on a badminton racket – let’s jump to the next thing you need to consider. 

The flexibility of the shaft

Another important factor when choosing a new racket is the flexibility of the shaft. The basic rule is: the more practiced badminton player you are and the faster swing you have, the stiffer shaft you should choose. Therefore, there are 4 different stiffnesses and it is important to find out what needs you have and what current level you are at.

•    Flexible
•    Medium stiff
•    Stiff
•    Extra stiff

The flexible shaft

Is for beginners or the player who does not have much experience yet. By choosing a flexible shaft, you get a lot of help to get power added to the blows but also a better control. The cheaper rackets are often flexible, and are therefore easy to play with!

The youth players in particular benefit from this shaft, as they often struggle to get the shuttlecock to the back line, and when you swing the racket, the shaft flexes more and helps to give some length.

The medium stiff shaft

Suitable for the experienced or slightly experienced player, who can be both youth and senior players, as well as regular exerciser. If you have a quick swing and want a little power added to your strokes, the medium stiff shaft is exactly what you are looking for, as there is still a good trampoline effect in the strings.

This is where most badminton players fit in, as this type hits really wide and will suit most people. Therefore, the majority of the racket models we have are in this category. It’s always nice with a little help for some extra power.

Det stiff shaft

Fits primarily the experienced and tournament players. If you have a quick swing and at the same time want control rather than power, then the stiff shaft is a good option for you. You get increased precision, but at the same time some experience is  required from the player, as the sweetspot becomes smaller and you therefore have to hit the ball in the middle most times to get good shots..

This category also sells a lot of rackets, and maybe too many – There should be more players buying medium stiff rackets, but this is probably because the pros play with these rackets and therefore players like to have the same one.  

It’s just not always fit for them, if you ask us badminton professionals. If you want a specific brand, we can easily find exactly the flex that fits you, if you are in doubt, we are always available!

The extra stiff shaft 

Is for the elite player or the top player who wants a lot of control. Victor Axelsen and many other top players, plays with an extra stiff shaft! What characterizes the extra stiff shaft is little power, as you can generate this yourself, but at the same time extra control is added. If you are the controlling top player, the extra stiff shaft will be an obvious chioce. You just have to hit the shuttlecock in the middle, right in the sweetspot, otherwise there is no help get from this racket.

Stringing upon purchase of a new badminton racket

When you buy a new racket, it usually comes with a factory string. When buying a new racket from us, we recommend a new professional string from the beginning!

Stringing in the Badminton-Shop is one of our biggest passions!  You can be absolutely sure of the same good service no matter what level or racket we have to string. We are ready with all the advice you need! 

We’re putting a logo in your new racket along with the new string and with over 12,000 rackets strung each year, we’ll probably call ourselves badminton stringing experts!

But why not play with the factory string, they can play just as well you’ll think?

It’s true that these strings can play, but the quality of the string is often poor, as the different brands make many of each model. This means that it is very crucial for the brands which string they use, and what usually happens is they’ll choose a cheap and often thicker string to keep costs down. A thicker string last better, but does not have very good qualities!

At the same time, the stringing has often been made many month ago, it can easily take half or a whole year from the stringning is made before the racket is sold to the consumer. O

The last argument for getting a fresh stringing when buying a new badminton racket, is once you have bought a new racket, it also deserves a good string and the correct tension, which you choose yourself.

String Tension and Sweet Spot

The tension of players strings is very different and idivudual. If you are a youth player, easier practiced or exercise player, it is important that your string tension isn’t too high. If it is, it will give you big difficulties, whereas if it is lower tension it gives you more flexibility and better control. Rackets with LOWER string tension have bigger sweet spot. This means it’s easier to hit the sweet spot with lower tension rackets. For the mentioned target group we would recommend a string of around 10-10.5 kg!

If you want a higher tenision and are a experienced badminton player who plays tournaments or team matches on the weekends, it requires a bit more of you technically. As string tension increases, the sweet spot on the string bed becomes smaller. This makes it more difficult to make contact with the sweet spot. For the mentioned target group, we recommend a hardness of around 11.5 kg!

If you are an elite player, you can get a higher tension stringing than the 11.5 kg. A harder string gives you a more precise and hard hit (control and precision), but only if you hit the ball in the sweetspot, otherwise you’ll get “dead” blows.

If you are in possession of a good technique, you get a nice control and good power by a hard string. Here you could use a tension between 11.5 and 13 kg. To put it in perspective, a world star like Viktor Axelsen plays with 14.5 kg!

If in doubt on which badminton string you should choose, as well as which tension should be used your new racket? Do not hesitate to contact our skilled staff. We have many years of experience with stringing rackets for all sports and we will help you find the right stringing – it is important to mention that a stringing is almost 50% of the experience with a new racket!

Quality, technologies and price

It can be difficult choosing a new racket especially when there are so many options and they may all look alike in the pictures. But it is certain that price and quality are related. Prices start from around 15 EUR and ends all the way at the expensive models at 200 EUR. Many people choose a racket in the middle if they want something proper, but if you are a beginner, you can find many solid rackets from 15 EUR and up to about 65 EUR.

If you go a step further, maybe you’ve played badminton for a number of years, as either a youth player or exerciser, you’ll find really solid rackets in the price range fra 65 EUR kroner and 140 EUR. There are a lot of good rackets with various stiffness and balances. 

Above 140 EUR is what we call the top, top rackets. Here you will find rackets from the big brands as Victor and Yonex. They have been developing rackets for many years and know what they are doing, here you’ll get the top notch rackets!

At the Badminton-shop, we have developed our own brand ZERV. We have become our own supplier and therefore we can make a top racket for well under 140 EUR, even though the quality should be at that level. 

At the Badminton-shop we always have the latest models and we get them before everyone else. You can always get the latest technologies and trends at our online shop! 

Which brand should I choose?

At the Badminton-shop we have a wide selection of various models from Forza, Yonex, Victor, Adidas, RSL and last but not least our own brand ZERV. All brands have all kinds of rackets. So whether you are looking for the right weight distribution and flexibility, this is something that all brands can offer!

ZERV badminton racket
ZERV is the Badminton shop’s own brand and by choosing a ZERV racket you really get “Value for Money”. We are responsible for producing the rackets and with the ZERV products we have gathered all the best from other brands and used that knowledge to develop our own rackets in all price ranges.

Forza badminton racket
Forza is a Danish brand wellknown for high quality at a fair price. Forza has a stylish design and is competitive..

The characteristic of Forza racket is the higher number of holes for stringing, which helps provide better control. Forza was founded upon the idea that there should be a Danish quality product at a fair price, which should be an alternative to the Asian brands. In 1993, Forza was the second largest badminton brand in Denmark and they are to this day!

Yonex badminton racket
Yonex is clearly the most well-known brand on the market in badminton. Yonex is known for producing products for all players and has been doing so for over 70 years.

Therefore, they have a wide range of rackets with an extremely high quality. At the Badminton-shop, we have many Yonex rackets in all price ranges and levels! Read about the difference between the popular Yonex Astrox 100 ZZ and Yonex Astrox 100 ZX right here!

RSL badminton racket 
RSL are especially known for their badminton shuttlecocks, but their rackets are also high quality. They produce rackets for all ages. They are especially known for being a little different and making rackets in cool colors and with different technologies that many players think is really cool!

Victor badminton racket 
Victor is originally from Taiwan and is currently the main sponsor of the Danish national team. Victor is a giant badminton brand that makes a wide range of equipment for badminton. Victor produces rackets in all price ranges and you get real value for money. At the badminton-shop you will find Victor rackets at the best price on the market! 

Badmintonshoppen – Testcenter

I Badmintonshoppen er mange ansatte selv aktive badmintonspillere og vi kan derfor give dig råd og vejledning til valg af ny ketsjer, hvis denne guide ikke gav dig svar nok. Vi sidder klar til at hjælpe på både mail og telefon. Derudover er det også muligt at prøve en ny ketcher inden et evt. køb i vores testcenter i Odense! Kig gerne forbi – vi står klar til at spille en kamp imod dig!

We hope you have become wiser about which racket to choose! 

See our entire large selection of badminton rackets right here: