Which type of plastic shuttlecock is the best? This is one of the most discussed and widely argued questions in badminton club halls throughout the UK. And the answer is.......feathers :)
We know, we know, they are the answer but not the answer to this particular question.

Now all club players will know that feathers are the best to play with, however not all clubs can afford feathers, our club on one evening of playing with feathers saw us not only go through two full tubes like a very very hot knife through butter but made the hall look like a horror scene depicting the death of an entire flock of geese!

There are a number of practicals reasons why feathers are not viable unless you are a big enough club that money isn't too much of an issue, the first is cost, the second is durability. A slight dink to a feather shuttle and the flight is quickly affected.

And so we have plastic shuttles for us lesser mortals, but this brings with it a number of issues in itself and these don't lie with the clubs but with the manufacturers. Just in Yonex's Mavis range there are four different types, these being 10's, 300's, 370's and 2000's and if we are to believe Yonex all brilliant and all exactly the same.....just read each type and see how they differentiate them at Yonex Shuttles

So how do you know which is the best and which fly closest to a feather, well you just have to go and buy each of them and have a go.....the two most popular on the club scene certainly in our league and from a few we've spoken to like our good friends at Tavyside, Aycliffe and Pittsville are the 300 and the 2000.

So which is best?
The 2000's are the clear winner, not only do they fly far more like a feather than a 300 (of which the 370 also does a better job of doing than the 300), but their durability and therefore economy is far superior. And it comes down to simple design.

We've produced this comparison picture to highlight the key areas and also added in a feather shuttle so you can see our point even more.
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​The first difference is in the framework, on a 300 the single thin bars highlighted in the circle on the picture on the left break very easy and as soon as they do you have a shuttle with a spin. On the 2000's you can see the design uses a much broader support and so far they haven't broke once yet on a single shuttle.
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The second difference is the fringe, this is indicated by the arrows, this makes a big difference to the flight of the shuttle especially when dropping, compare the two against the feather shuttle, notice how the tops of the feather end in a distinct point as does the 2000 but NOT on the 300. We have found that as the skirt on the 300 snags and wears it catches on the ends to its left or right and again quickly affects the flight.

Now we are not saying the 2000's last forever, but they last a considerable length of time longer than a 300 and we mean considerable. Using 2000's won't mean that stepping up to shuttles is a comfortable transition but you will certainly be far more familiar with its flight trajectory than if you only played with 300's. And your club will have saved a few quid to.

Being part of a badminton club, making new friends and getting some good old fashioned exercise is the core for any badminton player....or is it?

Improving your skill level brings new challenges and potential, it delivers new goals and provides a focus for your play on each club night. In doing so it provides new opportunities, like representing your club in the local league competitions, which in turn allows you to play against new players and compare your skill and abilities in match play further providing development possibilities.

So how do you go about developing these skills, how do you strive to challenge the likes of Adcock & Adcock or Mills & Langridge? You get a coach!

Last year as a club we decided to see what coaching options were available in our area and we were pleased to find Lee Clapham an England Senior Men's Player and fully qualified coach. Based in Derby, a relatively short 30min drive to our base and with Lee happy to travel to our club, we had our first session with Lee sharing his skills & knowledge.

Just a single one hour coaching session had a big impact on everyone that took part, some players attempting to try and master everything Lee demonstrated and others focusing on one thing, such as changing their serve. But all taking on board what was delivered and demonstrating a level of enthusiasm perhaps above and beyond what they expected.

Since then we have put in place a regular monthly session with Lee, to allow the club to develop everything from the very basics and tactical play through to the occasional rather snazzy trick shot........we had our own before but they were called frame shots :) 

Another side effect of players increasing their skill levels is they then want to get better rackets or new shoes all to aid in their development, which in turn helps the life blood of the sport. So if you play for a club or possibly run a club and have never considered introducing a coach, why not try it, we can highly recommend it.

If you have a club in the Derbyshire/Staffordshire area and you're interested in contacting Lee you can visit his website here: Lee Clapham Badminton Coaching

How many players at local club level really understand the difference in racket types, how many people honestly just say (depending on their budget) "Oh the new Yonex racket is out, I'll buy it". Understanding the differences in head weight, flexibility of shaft, grip size and string tension are not key considerations of the average player. Yet all these factors can have a huge impact on our play, no matter what your playing style, whether it be defensive or attacking, singles or doubles.

However even the best suppliers only allow you to hold a racket (and top end rackets don't have strings in them), trying a racket in real time only ever achieved if a friend of yours has a racket you might be interested in and can let you try it out, but how do you know which is the right one for you? Just because it feels nice in the hand and you seem to be able to clear it well, might be just because it already matches your existing playing style, if your weakness is net play then surely a racket that lends strength to this area so you can improve your overall game is a far better investment than just improving or remaining the same level with your existing game.

Well Victor have solved this problem by introducing the Victor Ambassador programme, it's aim is to raise awareness of the Victor brand with the key focus on grass root clubs. The unique feature in the Victor programme is the introduction of demo events and on Tuesday our club was fortunate enough to take part in one such demo event.

Stuart Preston a qualified coach and Victor Ambassador visited our club from 7.30 - 9.30pm, he brought with him the entire Victor racket range, including all the very latest rackets which had literally just become available, alongside this he brought a broad range of the Victor badminton shoes and some of the Victor racket bags. After introducing Stuart to the club and guests from other clubs, each player could ask questions about the rackets and then try them out, using Victors own feather shuttlecock ranges. Initially each player hit shuttles back and forth between partners getting a feel for what they preferred and from Stuart's recommendations, he added grips to rackets for players who are used to a slightly thicker grip than the standard one that comes on new rackets.

Players also looked at and tried on the various shoe ranges, whilst stuart explained the ups and downside of different string tensions and type of strings.

I should mention at this point that you can't buy the rackets from the ambassadors, there is no hard sell, just merely the opportunity to understand the Victor range and see first hand the benefit of their product range both on quality and price. We were fortunate however that Stuart had been given special permission from Victor UK for that evening to sell the Victor shoe range, should anyone find their size and colour in the selection displayed and at a reduced rate to online retailers.

Once our members had tried the full range, they could then narrow down their preferences and use their selected rackets in actual game play, the big surprise here was that most players ended up liking rackets they initially discarded. 

If you want to then purchase a Victor racket there are plenty of online retailers available, being completely confident in your choice being the right one, having fully tested it.

The evening was a huge hit with everyone that took part and the buzz from it carried on till our next club night, I would highly recommend a Victor demo evening for every club, it helps revive the passion for the sport, shine light on areas of the sport that most club players have not experienced before or have any knowledge of and above all delivers a fun evening doing what we all love….playing badminton.

You can contact Victor Sport UK about demo evenings by visiting the Victor Sport website here.