[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

and there is another one that is going to start,

Details pls

As for me,I have been blown over by a particular Li-Ning racquet model 3G TI POWERTEC.My smashes and returns seem to suddenly feel better and I am hitting the sweet spots more regularly than I do with my Yonexes.

Also got myself a yonex Ultima SC 5.The picture is at this link Yonex Ultima SC 5 PRO Shoes

Lovely grip and enable easy movement oncourt.Bought it from the Sunrise Pro Yonex shop and cost me around INR 2400.

Overall things looking good at the moment,except that its been quite a while since any tourneys have happened

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Details pls
As for me,I have been blown over by a particular Li-Ning racquet model 3G TI POWERTEC.

It was going to be one in my company, still getting delayed, plans are being made and remade. Will update once it starts.

I agree with Li Ning, i have also found them to be slightly better. Especially the 84 (+/-) 3gms weight is what i am fond off. Its lighter then my 3U 8DX weight (85-90gms) and not as light as 4U AT 900P (80-85gms). The smashes sound too good and most of the time they come of the sweet spot which is wonderful.

[mayankjha1806]

@ranjitp1, please go ahead and post a complete review of the new Li Ning accusation and your impressions of it, along with some good pictures .

Today while discussing badminton with my brother i came across another brand of racquets called Thwack. It is developed by champion Gaobao who was known as backhand king and won many championships. He hails from China. The racquet has a strange grip shape, probably patented.

For more details on the racquets go here Thwack

Strangely i see an Indian connection with this brand, called One Group, which is based out of Mumbai.

[ranjitp1]

Yes Thwack is a Singapore based company and they are keeping their baby feet in India via the One group.They have launched two of their racquets in India and very very expensive,in the range of INR 6K & INR 10K plus.(expensive for the amateurs and people who are not sponsored!).Their racquets are custom made for backhand play since they have a groove in the grip which lets your index finger and thumb hold them the right way to do a backhand drop.I am not sure how that is permitted though since its altering the rules.ANywys.Thwack recently conducted a big time tourney in Mumbai and was a huge success and they are now doing a similar tourney in Delhi as well.I got an invite for the Delhi one from a friend whose playing the sport.However Delhi is way too far for non-sponsored guys like me to go!!!!

Lin-Ning is coming in a big way into India and thankfully they have good products and whats better is that they are very very liberal with sponsoring tourneys and sponsoring players.If you want to do a tourney all that you need to do is to write to them.They have been conducting tourneys in some of the real small towns like Shimoga,Madurai etc.Their strategy is clear,they want their product taken to the grassroot levels.Their master franchisee is a distributor in Chennai called :::Sports Life Traders - All kinds ofsports goods under one roof - Chennai - INDIA:::

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Today while discussing badminton with my brother i came across another brand of racquets called Thwack. It is developed by champion Gaobao who was known as backhand king and won many championships. He hails from China. The racquet has a strange grip shape, probably patented.

The creator's name is Xiong Guobao. And yes, the grip shape is patented.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

They have launched two of their racquets in India and very very expensive,in the range of INR 6K & INR 10K plus.(expensive for the amateurs and people who are not sponsored!).Their racquets are custom made for backhand play since they have a groove in the grip which lets your index finger and thumb hold them the right way to do a backhand drop.I am not sure how that is permitted though since its altering the rules.

Not really correct. I've been speaking to some sales guys in Thwack for sometime, who've helpfully sent across a detailed product brochure and a price list. The only thing preventing me from picking up a racket is that they don't have a distributor in East India, and I don't want to order something without getting a touch-n-feel of the product. Now for some facts:

1. Contrary to what the website says, Thwack actually has 7 rackets on sale. SFX and JFX are the flagship rackets which cost around 8-10K and come with that Guobao grip. There are 5 more rackets which encompass a wide variety of playing styles, including a super-heavy training racket and a head light, lightweight racket of the Nanospeed genre. These have normal grips. Thwack also have a full range of badminton products like shuttles, bags etc. I'm enclosing a product brochure they sent me.

2. The rackets are not made for backhand. In fact, the SFX grip has 2 grooves which allows players to quickly switch the thumb position - kinda like what advanced players do by reflex.

3. I am also enclosing a price list they sent.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

The creator's name is Xiong Guobao. And yes, the grip shape is patented.



Not really correct. I've been speaking to some sales guys in Thwack for sometime, who've helpfully sent across a detailed product brochure and a price list. The only thing preventing me from picking up a racket is that they don't have a distributor in East India, and I don't want to order something without getting a touch-n-feel of the product. Now for some facts:

1. Contrary to what the website says, Thwack actually has 7 rackets on sale. SFX and JFX are the flagship rackets which cost around 8-10K and come with that Guobao grip. There are 5 more rackets which encompass a wide variety of playing styles, including a super-heavy training racket and a head light, lightweight racket of the Nanospeed genre. These have normal grips. Thwack also have a full range of badminton products like shuttles, bags etc. I'm enclosing a product brochure they sent me.

2. The rackets are not made for backhand. In fact, the SFX grip has 2 grooves which allows players to quickly switch the thumb position - kinda like what advanced players do by reflex.

3. I am also enclosing a price list they sent.

Thanks a ton for the details.Wonder how are they managing their sales in the rest of the country.They too seem to be pumping in a lot of money by holding the inter clubs and open tourneys.

[kunaljha_BHP]

Great thread! This is the first thread I came to after recently joining T-BHP and this is as comprehensive a badminton discussion as I've ever come across. Thanks!

[mayankjha1806]

^^^ Welcome . I know you (there goes my two smileys). Welcome to the thread, we will benefit a lot from your experiences on badminton, the equipment that you use and intend to use.

Do post your experiences and learning's for the benefit of me and others. BTW it will be good to post some review on the new Nanospeed.

[kunaljha_BHP]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

^^^ Welcome . I know you (there goes my two smileys). Welcome to the thread, we will benefit a lot from your experiences on badminton, the equipment that you use and intend to use.

Do post your experiences and learning's for the benefit of me and others. BTW it will be good to post some review on the new Nanospeed.

Thanks, its great to be here. This thread has explored almost the entire badminton territory but I agree that every new point of view adds valuable perspective. My profile as a player and my 2 cents to follow:

Player Type: Intermediate, Non Professional, Self Taught
Playing Since: 3 Years
Specialize In: Singles
Lose In: Doubles
Arsenal: Yonex MP 29 Light, Yonex AS 7, Yonex NS 5500 on the way
Most Overrated Aspect of Badminton: The Racquet
Most Underrated Aspect(s) of Badminton: The Warm Up, The Cool Down and the Grip

Top Tips that have helped me personally:

- Stay Low (maintain bent knees and don't lock them out by standing tall all the time) whenever possible to allow for generation of explosive force from the legs
- Maintain a stance that exudes aggression, limp arms hanging by your sides will give your opponent confidence whereas a locked receiving stance will get him/her to think
- Badminton is only 60% physical, the remaining 40% is in the mind. Exploit the open areas of the court and don't shy away from aiming for the lines or going for the net kill, fortune favors the brave
- Shadow drills are the number 1 way of learning how to move on the court. Do them like no one's watching!
- Practice, there's no substitute for it

I will post pictures and a review of the NS 5500 once I lay my hands on it. Feedback from other members who have used this racquet before would be priceless. Again, its great to be here. Cheers.

[ranjitp1]

Just to add to what Kunal said,in the doubles games,try to stay crouched as low as possible with legs stretched on both sides with the toes pointing straight at the opponent(not pointing to the sidelines) when you are the service non-receiver and see the drastic improvement in your returns.You return of smashes would almost be up from a 60-70 when you are standing straight to a 90-95% when you are crouched.The reason for this is that the distance for the hand to travel to the ground to retrieve the shuttle is that much lesser when compared to the distance to travel if one stands upright.In addition to the return of smashes,it also helps you lob or drop the shuttle with far more precision.

[mayankjha1806]

@Kunal, doubles is not a patience game, its a fast quick finish-off game. Its the KILL everything game, anything tossed up needs to be killed. So doing some practice of continuous smashing in quick succession helps.

Apart from that in doubles the return to the smashes need to be lifted up and not dropped closer to the net as the opponent gets a opportunity to kill it closer to the net. I have seen some folks having difficulty with this as they need to swing the racquet to generate enough force to get the shuttle up and back. One needs to practice this with just wrists as most of the times you do not get an opportunity to swing the racquet.

[kunaljha_BHP]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

@Kunal, doubles is not a patience game, its a fast quick finish-off game. Its the KILL everything game, anything tossed up needs to be killed. So doing some practice of continuous smashing in quick succession helps.

Apart from that in doubles the return to the smashes need to be lifted up and not dropped closer to the net as the opponent gets a opportunity to kill it closer to the net. I have seen some folks having difficulty with this as they need to swing the racquet to generate enough force to get the shuttle up and back. One needs to practice this with just wrists as most of the times you do not get an opportunity to swing the racquet.

Definitely. I agree completely with the "Kill anything tossed up to end the rally and return smashes to the opponent's back lobby to buy time" philosophy. Speaking of doubles, I believe another great shot to add to your repertoire is the Stick Smash. Up close at the net, the ability to execute a near-full force smash without bringing the shoulders into play is priceless in pressure situations. A full bodied smash which requires significant build-up time is just not practical and I've seen the properly executed Stick Smash win many a rally in the games I've played.

[kunaljha_BHP]

Another discussion I have been wanting to have is about footwork. In general, the rule I have heard (and follow) is always toes first except when you're lunging, in which case it should be heel first. I've seen differing opinions on the lunging rule but there are multiple experts who've quoted that the 'Heel First' technique is the safest, making your joints least susceptible to damage. Using this heel-to-toe contact is like gradually stepping on the brake pedal of a car and it absorbs a surprising amount of force while acting like a braking mechanism. If you land flat-footed instead, guess where that extra force is going? That’s right: into your joints! Comments welcome.

[mayankjha1806]

@Kunal

This video answers all your questions about how to land the feet and how to get started. Its in Chinese but there is English translation that keeps running as text at the lower part of the video. In this she talks about the start push which needs to be explosive.

07-2 Complete Badminton Training - Build Explosive Speed into Your Badminton Footwork - YouTube

Another Video from a Danish Coach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSMs-7xulqE

[mayankjha1806]

Long awaited racquet map of Li Ning, i use 201B, which happens to be in Mega power range. There seems to be no replacement to this racquet especially in Weight W2 (81-84gms).

Source : :::::Li-Ning Badminton Sports Series:::::