Yonex Voltric Z - Force II Badminton Racquet, Black BG 66 Ultimax Victor JETSPEED s10 Yonex Nanoray z-speed Yonex Duora 10 Nanoray 800 What STRING and TENSION does Lin Dan & Lee Chong Wei use ? What string and tension does Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan use? This is a big question on the minds of many badminton players and followers of this game. Before I get into that, let me tell you some basics of how different strings behave. You might have a very good racket like the Z Force 2, but without a good string its completely useless. Also I will be focusing on Yonex strings here as most of the professional players use them. Li Ning NS strings are also pretty good (Durability is their downside). Yonex produces 3 types of strings : Soft, Medium and Hard feeling. The difference between them is like night and day. Let me put it this way, hard feeling strings give you more accuracy than soft feeling strings, shots are a lot crispy. So with a hard string, your net shot becomes much more better and accurate. However the disadvantage of a hard string is that its not as durable as the soft one. With this info, you can now surely tell that most of the top level players use the medium and hard feeling strings. The extremely popular BG 65 is a soft string while BG 80 is a hard string. YONEX BG 66 Ultimax – Most popular among top players and personal favourite. Yonex BG 80, Yonex BG 65 Ti. These are the 3 most commonly used strings in top level badminton. BG 65 is also used, but only a few players. The other strings from Yonex like the nanogy or aerosonic are just another marketing strategy as of now. Here is the complete list of information that we have in our hands Lee Chong Wei – Yonex BG 66 Force (Previously BG 66 Ultimax for many years), 30 lbs. Buy with discount here ! Lin Dan – Yonex BG 80, Mains(Up down) 32 lbs, Cross/sideways 31lbs. Buy it here ! Viktor Axelsen – Yonex BG AB, 34 lbs (AEROBITE) Buy it here ! Ratchanok Intanon – Yonex BG 65, 30 lbs Hans Kristian Vittinghus – Yonex BG 80, 29 Lbs with 25% pre stretching PV Sindhu – Yonex BG 80, 30 lbs Chris Adcock – Yonex BG 66 Ultimax, 31 lbs Buy one here ! Akane Yamaguchi – BG 66 Ultimax, 27lbs Praveen Jordan – BG 65 Ti, 31 lbs Rajeev Ouseph – BG 65 Ti, 29 lbs Saina Nehwal – BG 65 Tan Boon Heong – BG 65 Ti, 31 lbs Greysia Polli – Yonex BG 80, 29 lbs Anthony Ginting – Yonex BG 66 Ultimax, 31 lbs Kenichi Tago – 34 lbs Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen – BG 66 Ultimax How to choose a Badminton String and String Tension POSTED BY TOMMY LI · MAY 16, 2015 Before you choose a badminton string, here are some basic facts and terminology you should familiarize yourself with: All strings stretch, like elastic, and therefore your strings will begin to lose tension (known as "tension creep") starting from the day it is strung. Every racket has a “sweet spot.” This is an area on the string bed which will give you the most power. Beginners lack the technique and is more likely to mis-hit the shuttle on the wrong part of the string bed, therefore it is recommended that they use a lower tension because the lower the tension, the bigger the sweet spot. A higher tension will provide more power and control only if you can consistently hit the sweet spot. The downside is that the strings will break more easily if a mis-hit occurs because of how tight the strings are being stretched. As a player becomes more consistent and has good technique, they will benefit more from a higher tension because the shuttle will travel off the string bed faster, giving them control of the shuttle. String tension relating to power and control Much of the power in a badminton shot comes from the string. Thus, it is very important to know how string tension can affect your game. By adjusting the string tension, you can adjust the amount of power or control that you get from any string, thick or thin. Playing with a lower tension (18-23lb) A lower tension means: -a softer (looser) string bed and thus less feeling of the shuttle which results in less control and placement -the racket will have a softer string bed which means that there is more "bounce/repulsion" from the strings and therefore the player can easily get power from the racket without using much strength -a larger sweet spot that is more forgiving and requires less accurate strokes to generate power -the strings are more durable and less prone to breakage from off-center miss hits at the sides of the string bed Conclusion: Lower tensions are more suited for beginners who do not have good hitting technique and require more power in their game. Playing with a higher tension (24-30lb) A higher tension means: -a harder (tighter) string bed and thus more feeling of the shuttle which allows for more control and placement -the player will need to be more accurate and consistent with their strokes in order to generate power due to the smaller sweet spot -the racket will also have a harder (tighter) string bed which means that there is less "bounce/repulsion" from the strings and therefore the player will need to input more strength to generate power -the strings are less durable and more prone to breakage from off-center miss-hits at the sides of the string bed Conclusion: Higher tensions are more suited for advanced players who have good hitting technique and require more control in their game. Here is a table that summarizes the main points: String tension Power Control Durability Feel Vibration Low Easy Decrease Increase Decrease Decrease High Hard Increase Decrease Increase Increase As you may have noticed, there is a recommended string tension on every racket. They usually have a few different ranges depending on the racket itself, 17-22, 2027, etc... This recommendation is there to ensure that the racket does not break when stringing. People who choose to go over the limit may subject their racket to damage under the immense pressure from the high tension of the strings. Professional players often string way outside the recommendation at 30lbs+ . These players are sponsored and do not have to pay for their rackets if it breaks so unless you are sponsored, I would not recommend stringing outside the recommended tension and to do so at your own discretion. The recommended tension is also there for warranty purposes. Stringing outside the range will void the warranty. A common mistake most people make is to string at too high of a tension because of their ego. Since it is harder to generate power at high tensions, the player will often use excessive force in order to generate power and may result in an injury to the shoulder or they may develop tennis elbow. Here is a suggestion for string tension for different levels of players: Beginner : 17lbs-20lbs Intermediate: 20lbs-24lbs Advanced: 24lbs-27lbs Professional/International: 27lbs – 30lbs+ For those that play with plastic shuttles, it is recommended to lower your tension by 1-2lbs. A plastic shuttle generally requires more effort to clear to the baseline because they are heavier and fly differently compared to feather shuttles. Lowering the string tension will give you the extra power that you need to help you with clears. Here is our list of strings that are most often requested by customers with the top of the list being most popular: Strings for Power BG80 BG66 Ultimax BG80 Power NBG98 BG Aerosonic Strings for Durability BG65 (Great for beginners) BG65 Titanium NBG95 Strings for Control NBG99 BG Aerobite It is recommended for beginners to use thicker strings since thinner strings are easier to break from mis-hits. To choose a badminton string, you should take note of your playing style as different strings will help with certain aspects of the game. If you found this useful, read our post on How to Choose a Badminton Racket Different strings are made with different materials that give them their unique characteristics. Here are the string technologies/material and their description: Cup-Stack Carbon Nanotube: Advanced construction minimizes notching of the string at intersections for greater durability and high repulsion power. Vectran The Vectran high-strength and high-elasticity spiral winding prolongs durability and racket stringing tension. Hydro Titanium Compound titanium hydride coating provides not only a sharp feel at impact but increased durability. MultiFilament YONEX MultiFilament featuers a super-fine diameter for high durability and a soft feel on impact.
