How do I choose a badminton racket for beginners?
Okay so you’re here because:
- You’re about to choose your first racket
- You’re about to choose your next racket
- You don’t want to choose the wrong racket
Just for a bit of background, if you don’t know the difference between Head Light Badminton Rackets,Head Heavy Badminton Rackets andEven Balance Badminton Rackets make sure you watch this video first - or check out this article on badminton racquet balance points.
As a quick recap of the general differences, a head light badminton racket is often better for speed and easier to manoeuvre but doesn’t generate as much power. A head heavy badminton racket is usually better for power but is a bit slower and harder to manoeuvre. And an even balanced badminton racket is somewhere in between and is often referred to as an 'all-rounder' badminton racket.
So, let’s get started:
There aretwo key considerationsto follow when selecting a racket: SKILL LEVEL & PLAYER TYPE.
Let’s start with skill level. What skill level would you put yourself into? Make sure you’re being honest!
If you’re already intermediate or higher, you can check out this video... but you can watch this one too if you’re interested!
If you’re a newbie, keep watching!
While there are a number of additional factors to take into consideration when buying a racquet….
Total weight of the racquet, Stiffness, Shape of the Frame, Grip Size, Stringing pattern, stringing tension, Singles/Doubles players geared, attacking/rally/defending playing style, formation on court, how it looks)… let’s keep it simple for you!
For beginners or newbies, we would generally recommend a 4U, G5 head-light or even-balanced racket that has a flexible shaft. Let’s break that down a bit…
Unless you're an angry guy/girl, we would avoid head heavy rackets because as beginners or newbies, it’s likely that your swinging technique isn’t perfect. Using incorrect technique often means that you’ll be more prone to injury especially if you’re carrying that extra weight in a head-heavy racket.
Compared to this, a head-light or even-balanced racket would be much easier to manoeuvre and swing as you begin improving your skills, developing your game and understanding what your strengths and weaknesses are.
Racket Weight
4U is the weight of the racket (roughly 82g give or take) and is the most commonly used badminton racket weight for everyday players. For comparison, many of the professional badminton players out there tend to use 3U (roughly 87g).
Grip Size
G5 means the grip size (show other grip sizes on screen). This is fairly standard and is relatively small, allowing you to layer on if you have a preference for bigger grip sizes later. To be honest, we always use G5 grips because it’s just easier that way.
Shaft Flexibility
Finally, a flexible shaft helps compensate for most beginners who generally can’t generate enough swing speed. A low swing speed means low racket flex and less power.
Rackets that are too stiff also can be quite unforgiving, meaning that they’re harder to use if you aren’t able to strike the shuttle in the centre of the racket head each time.