Badminton Shuttlecock

Badminton shuttlecocks (also called “badminton birdies” and incorrectly named badminton balls) are a sports equipment used for playing badminton. Badminton birdies are thrown on the opponent's half of the field using a badminton racket. Shuttlecocks consists of a head and a tail. The tail is formed by 16 overlapping feathers inserted into a head and secured with thread. The aspect in which badminton shuttlecocks vary the most is the construction materials—natural and synthetic.

Head material

Most heads of shuttles for badminton found on Alibaba.com are made of sandwich cork, PU cork, synthetic cork, natural cork, foamed plastic, and hard plastic. However, before choosing shuttlecocks, professional players and hobbyists tend to look more at the material of the feathers, which has a more decisive impact on the game style.

Tail material

Currently there are two types of shuttlecock: ones made of actual goose or duck feathers and others made of plastic. Most experienced and skillful players greatly prefer feathers, and serious tournaments or leagues are always played using feather shuttlecocks of the highest quality. However, for beginners and outdoor games, the optimal choice is synthetic shuttlecocks. The advantages of plastic shuttlecocks are that they are cheaper and have longer durability compared to olympic shuttlecocks made from feathers.

Speed differences

Plastics fly more slowly on initial impact, but there is a lower drop in speed towards the end of the flight. On the other hand, feather shuttlecocks have a higher initial speed but slow down faster as they drop. For this reason, badminton feather shuttlecocks make the game seem faster but also allow more time to play strokes. Shuttlecocks or their tubes usually have a mark that indicates "slow", "medium" or "fast" or the speed number of the shuttlecock.

Specifications

The weight of a standard shuttlecock ranges from 4.75 g to 5.50 g. It has 16 feathers of 62 mm to 70 mm in length each, and the diameter of the cork goes from 25 to 28 mm. The diameter made by the feathers varies between 58 and 68 mm.

Ensure you source a variety of badminton rackets and birdies on Alibaba.com in the materials and specifications that will better meet the needs of your customers, whether they be professional or amateur.