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Thank you Cyrus, I am glad you liked it. Unfortunately my experiences with Head, or Carlton has been elementary to say the least hence would not be able to do justice by recommending something.

That said, i think they also follow similar product lines as Yonex and you could read my opening post regarding racket selection for different styles of play and choose something that more suits your style of play.

Ideally my response should come below yours, but would wanna stay away form any more infractions. In that case any Head light racket would suite you something equivalent of Nanospeed series in Yonex. I have tried Carlton already one of my mates brings it every day but didn't suite me hence never decided to give it a serious look, maybe i tried the wrong racket and need to try some more. Just saw that you are in UK, when i am there i usually buy racket or some equipment from this store http://www.sweatband.com/ found them to be good and they have a try area as well where you could go a try the racket.

Im not a power player. I prefer playing front and/or mid court. I Love precession playing though, thats why I love plying in the front! :D

That said, lots of people have been advising Carlton. They dont feel good in the hand though, on the other hand, Head does feel very nice in the hand strangely. Their grips are also excellent. I strongly advice you try it :D

Working on efficient usage of available stamina and what to fix if you are running out of energy.


Ok so here we go, for this last section which i have been thinking in my head before typing it out. There are a few things to be kept in mind before starting this experiment.

• Lets not have any doubts on this, "Badminton as a game needs stamina", so you have to work on your stamina overall
• I am assuming that you are able to all play basic strokes correctly except maybe your backhand from baseline dont always hit opposite court baseline, and you are not able to do a jump smash, other than that all you strokes like normal smashes, netplay, hitting baseline in all corners and center.
• Court coverage has a big-big impact, so i am assuming you are moving decently well on the court
• All i am going to talk about is how do you use your available stamina efficiently and at the same time streatch your opponent
• Every player has his weakness, it all depends on your ability to spot one and capatilize on it. Every body has limitations whatever be a age, hence when stretched to the limit the younger player will also give up.
• I am only documenting my experiences of being able to beat players close 10/12 years younger to me consistently, these players were much better when it comes to physical aspects of the game, they were faster than me and had more agility
• This is going against the law of nature "Survival of the fittest" hence it is difficult but not impossible
• All this is much-much easier to type and read than it was to implement on the court, so be prepared to be beaten when you are trying things out multiple times untill you get it spot on and from then on you can pull the game.

Before we go further a few lines on spotting your opponents style of play and adjust your style of play. I am assuming opponent is better (in pysical aspects), His/Her smashes are powerful and generally is able to cerate better angles from baseline and mid court, is generally faster mover on the court and has more stamina.

Now what do you do in such a senerio, If one goes head-to-head one will get tired faster and the opponent will easily take the game away, before dwelling on that one needs to understand a few things first

• When you get tired, your body and mind try to make things more easier or efficient for itself, Not recoling to the center and trying to anticipate the opponents move are few indicators of this
• Its much easier to return any smash if its done from baseline housoever good the smasher is as compared to smashes from mid-court or close to the net, as you get much more time to think and move.
• Any return high and to the baseline will slow the game down as it gives time for you to move to your desired position (The center of the court), and any return flat will speed the game up and will give lesser time to you and your opponent.
• Some players are better at smashing from the center line at baseline and some are better at doing the same from corners. By better i mean they are able to generate pace and angles such that it is difficult for you to pick up those smashes and return them. Try both and figure this out. Generally folks have difficult time creating difficult angles to smashes form the center baseline area.
• Howsoever good or fast a player is he would spend much more energy when smashing and recoiling. As when you smash you loose balance a little bit, and if smashes are returnes as placing on the net it beacomes even more difficult as after smashing you have very less time to come to the center and then again to the net to return a placing.

So the younger (or lets call him faster) opponent of yours will always try to play a faster game (more smashes), and you should try to slow down the pace of the game. A pace that more suits you than him and speed up when you find an opportunity.

Don't ever return flat from baseline as it is much easier for the opponent to intercept it in between the shuttle flight path and drop it close to the net or hit it back to the baseline.

Making your opponent change his/her direction of run is much more tiring than making him/her run the longest distance.

Use wrist in deceiving, and don't get deceived yourself (meaning don't move your body before the shuttle has been hit) wait until the opponent hit the shuttle and then move, in single long leaps (Not running).

If you find yourself running that means you are tired and not recoiling to the center. Running faster will not fix this, recoiling to center will.

Today while playing doubles with someone who was stil getting better at it. He decides to ask me post game and hence the post.

How shall we position ourselves and move on the court in doubles. Shold position front-back or side-by-side.

So here was my response.

Front and back is an attacking position and side-by-side is a defensive position. Sould yu prefer one over the other, no you shouldnt it depends on the situation in the game.

One should always remember rule "Lift-Split". As soon as you or your parther lift the shuttle to either mid court or baseline you should split up and take control of both sies of the court. Incase yu oppontnt chooses to smash this position gives you and yu partner higher chances of retuening the smash.

Other thing one should remember is to watch the partners moves and move yourself arould to balance the court. So for example if partner moves closer to net you move back. If the partner moves to the edge of the court leaving the full court empty you should move to the center.

Nice work!!!

Just an addition. The Backhand grip does not necessarily work when you try doing a backhand defensive lob where the shuttle has crossed you or gone behind you. Anyway, it is too early to talk about those stuff. I presume you shall come to it later.

Does it work for you "if yes" that's great, unfortunately it hasn't worked for me, my elbows pain if i let the shuttle pass as i have to exert even more power (I did try this over last week before responding).

The rules that i follow are

1. Don't ever let the shuttle cross you Forehand or backhand.
2. On the grip some players recommend change of grip (i.e. placing the thumb differently) and some others don't. So i guess this is where i can say it works for WhiteKnight but not for me. Both techniques may be right (In the tutorials i have seen they recommend change of grip including Peter, but i do see material on the net where some trainers don't recommend change in grip)

So as a player what do you do, well this looks like one area where you can pick what suits you and if it works for you continue using it. If it doesn't then you will have to change the thumb position. This also means you will have to return backhand clear slightly from your side (Top of shoulder) rather than right on top of your head.

I see the point WhiteKnight is trying to make, if you are going to return right from top of your head then you cannot change the grip as if you do you will have to twist your wrist further (or bend your elbow) reducing any chances of generating power.

Yesterday i had broken my Z-Slash's strings and had to give it for restringing. Hence this morning for my daily play i decided to use my Wife's Armortec 900T which is a 4U racket and is much lighter than mine.

I usually play European style i.e. i do not convert backhands to around-the-head forehands and i can hit baseline-to-baseline with my backhand. So played as usual this morning with this lighter racket and a few backhands hit the metal rather than the strings of the racket.

Instantly i could feel a lot of elbow pain because shocks were transferred from the metal hits to the elbow. Also being a lighter racket it was transferring more shocks and jerks to the hand. Had to come back home and put ice pack. This has happened almost alter a year of not having elbow pain at all.

Moral of the story, a lighter racket may not suit you. So don't just buy the lightest racket available sometimes a slightly heavier racket is better for your elbow. Just to add this varies from player to player. So my wife finds the 4U better.

Overgrip or Replacement Grip

What happened today morning was a culmination of what was happening for the last two weeks and hence the post.

One of my baddy mates with whom i play regularly was complaining of elbow pain, and his pain would start after playing 2-3 games and not before. I had checked his racket and he was using a 3U racket (Which should be fine as far as weight was concerned), and the tension on the string wasn't too tight which is also good. So i asked him to do some elbow strengthening exercises with weights and rubber stretch and that wasn't helping for last two weeks.

This morning as his grip was all dirty and wet with sweat he decided to change it and that is when i noticed he was using a overgrip. Now and overgrip not only increases the cushioning and thickness of the grip it also adds about 5gms of weight (Don't be surprised 5gms is a lot of weight and it gets amplified multi-fold as you swing racket at high speed). So i asked him to change to replacement grip.

In a replacement grip you have to remove the leather grip (The default one that comes with racket) and put a replacement grip. It feels thinner then overgrip and does not add any more weight to the racket. So after changing to replacement grip we started playing and Wow he did not feel any pain for today and we played 5 games in total, and i am quiet sure the problem has been solved.

On a different note : Did someone try the Voltric 70/80 and how did you find it. I went to my usual store to buy a Voltric 80 and found it to be costing approximately INR 8K. In UK it costs Pounds 161 (Close to INR 12K) and in US its close to $230 (Which should be INR 11-12K). I was expecting it to be costing more than that in India as its imported but to my surprise it was INR 8K. I did not buy it as i am little suspicious as it might be a fake. Anyone has any inputs?

Racquet Review - ArcSaber Z Slash

The Z Slash is a thin frame Racquet hence it moves through the air fast and helps in faster smashes. The head slightly smaller than other Racquet in the same range and hence if you are new and not used to smaller frames getting the shuttle to hit the sweet spot takes time.

Also because this Racquet is faster through the air a lot of times one ends up hitting on the frame or miss the timing.

Apart from all the goodness it offers in terms of speed, there is a weakness in the racket. The frame isn't very strong as compared to some other Racquet's. I have been using this for last 1.5 years and have had good experiences with it, but today this baby gave up. Here are some pictures. Time to move onto something else.



Notice how the frame has taken the beating from the shuttle. Eventually gave up, with the rest of the Racquet intact.



Quiet off place for the Nanotube to go bad, usually because of mistiming the Racquet's give up from the top section of the frame.

Have tried Voltric80 , bought it for close to 9K in Pune a few months back . To be honest I still am unable to see any noticable difference , except that Bling Bling factor . Have been using BG66Ti as usual .

I play a mix of 40/60 kinda play (defense/attack) respectively , based on the opponent.

However I still find playing with the ZSlash/MP99/Nanospeed a lot better compared to Voltric80.

I differ , this can happen to any racket the moment it hits the wrong spot a couple of times . I have a collection of almost 7-8 of such pieces some broken with clashes , others with the missed timing .

Any foolproof cost effective solution to get these repaired , I am not a miser , just that I would love to have a few of my loved ones back :)

And least to say , you have done a fabulous job out here providing tips and tricks .

Coming back to the Backhand shot which is a major challenge for most of the folks , I would say there are many options to play the same shot .

You can either use the wrist or the shoulder to play these .
The shoulder movement is easy to practise , for beginners , so here it goes .

Option 1 : Position yourself facing out towards the sidewall of the court (backhand side/ left side ) , make sure the head is not facing the wall behind you instead is facing the wall on the left . Use your shoulder to drive the shuttle as back as you can in a straight line .Your arm should move in astaright line and not upwards . Dont use your wrist to drive the shuttle from this posture .

Option2 : Position yourself facing out towards the sidewall of the court (backhand side/ left side ) , make sure the head is not facing the wall behind you instead is facing the wall on the left . Use your shoulder to drive the shuttle as back as you can in a Cross line . Your arm should move in a parabolic motion (trajectory) upwards not in a straight line .Its more like a loft to clear the front opponent .Use your wrist to drive the shuttle from this posture . This is the easiest and the safest shot to practise . Target hitting the cross corner of the court .

Option 3 : Position yourself facing out towards the sidewall of the court (backhand side/ left side ) , make sure the head is not facing the wall behind you instead is facing the wall on the left . Use your shoulder to drive the shuttle towards the opponent in a straight line .The power needs to be controlled with the intent of dropping it at the net , based on the opponent position .Your arm should move in a staright line not upwards and finally the shot played with a jerk block of the wrist (something like checking the complete lofted drive ) . Dont use your wrist to drive the shuttle from this posture instead use it only for placing (execution). The length / height of the shuttle is key in this shot . The shuttle should travel as flat as it can against the net .

Once practised/controlled Option 3 can be used for cross court drops with precision which can wrong foot toughest of the opponents .

Practise with the shoulder and when there's control the same can be easily played with just a flick of the wrist instead of using the shoulder .

That's a interesting piece of combination there mate. MP and Nanospeed are headlight Racquet's and if someone who finds these ones suitable with his/her playing style will find it difficult to move to Z Slash.

Voltric 80 is something on the lines of Armortec (Very head heavy suitable to extensive aggressive play).

The options on the table are

Armortec 900P

ArcSaber 10

Voltric 80


Out of these the Armortec and Voltric should be similar in behavior, and the ArcSaber should be slightly more balanced. My pick is the AS10, available in 2U and 3U variants, even balance, works well for offensive singles play, or Voltric 80 which is new so i am not really sure how it feels. Need to find someone who has one and try and see if that suits my style of play.

BTW: Good coverage on backhand, thanks for that. Only think i can add is if one is using shoulder it gets very predictable and there is no chance of deception which i am yet to cover. Folks would be surprised as to how much power the wrists can generate. I am consistently able to hit baseline-to-baseline backhand with just wrists (heck i have even seen folks who smash with backhand wrists).

Also in one of the previous posts it was asked if you can return a backhand when the shuttle has crossed you. Might have some tips soon have been trying that now for over a month and looks like finally i have solved the puzzle.

Absolutely true regarding the shoulder backhand being predictable , just that its a easier technique to implement for beginners/people who find it difficult to play that particular shot .

Luckily I am one of those who has a strong backhand , unlike many who have strong forehand and trust me I have had to develop it over the years , not in a day . Awaiting , the findings on playing the shuttle when it has crossed you on backhand . I can think of a couple of ways depending on the location of the opponent . Still the focus is on the wrists , flexible powerful wrists can place the shuttle anywhere across the court , probably from any location.

Awesome thread Mayank :) Rated it 5*s.

Though its not in the context of this thread, can you explain the ways by which we can increase our stamina. Jogging - yes, but other than that?

Thank you, i am glad that you liked it.

On the stamina thingy, why do you want to increase stamina :) (I can see surprised look on your face) but more importantly where will you use this stamina. So for example a cross country runner needs different type of stamina, vis-a-vis a sprinter, or a football player needs different level of stamina than a cricket player. Why do i say this?

I say this because i play with players who's stamina in general is much higher then mine, so if we ran on open road, or treadmill they would beat me hands down, but when it comes to badminton they get tired much before i do (well maybe they win one game and then i pull the rest of the games). How does this happen.

So if your intent is to increase stamina on badminton court there are a couple of things you can do.

• Do endurance runs, some of the treadmills have this. What happens in this it increases the speed to crazy levels for short duration then slows down and increases again. This sometimes does mimic what happens on the court, short and very fast sprints while on rally followed by cooling in between. This helps build the cardio strength which is needed in badminton.
• Cycle, as fast as you can and as long as you can, every time increasing the distance and speed. This helps building you leg muscles which are vital in badminton.
• Third is what i have found the most effective, is do dry runs (a.k.a Shadow practice) on the court for sometime. Start with 5 mins, increase to 10 and 15. Believe me this is more tiring than any of the above, and this is where a badminton player gets an edge over other players with huge stamina.

Hope this helps, just would like to add that this is not the only way i am sure there are other ways as well. What i have listed above is something that has worked for me.

Aha! A badminton thread! Sigh! I haven't touched a racket in nearly 10 years. Anyone who has seen me now wouldn't believe i was in the top 20 in the state and could play for more than 5hours at a stretch.

Good good, you've inspired me to put on my non marking shoes and restring my racket and hit the courts again.

I just have one tip: Badminton is a thinking game. You need to plan ahead.

All the best!