Types of badminton shuttlecock

Badminton shuttlecocks, like any other piece of equipment, exist in a variety of sorts. However, knowing these types isn’t enough; in this post, I’ll also explain which shuttle is perfect for you, so keep reading this guide on badminton shuttlecock types.

Types of shuttles in badminton

• Nylon Shuttles
• Feather Shuttles
• Air Shuttles

Nylon Shuttles

These are manufactured of nylon (plastic) and are highly popular among recreational players, as the name implies.

Some features of nylon shuttles

Durability: These shuttles are undeniably more durable than feather shuttles; a single shuttle may generally last for an entire match (3 sets) of furious rallies.

Even if these are more robust, their skirt portion is not as hard as their counterpart, which means that if you apply too much pressure to that portion, it is likely to be damaged.

Always grip the cork part of the shuttle instead of the nylon part when handling it.

Price: This is one of the reasons why these shuttles are used by even the most accomplished players on a budget.

Flight: The consistency of a shuttle’s flight can be used to assess its quality.

These shuttles’ flight is less consistent than feather shuttles, which is one of the reasons why feather shuttles are utilised in international matches.

Feather Shuttles

As the name implies, these are constructed of feathers from either a goose or a duck.

Types of Feather shuttles

• Duck feather shuttles
• Goose feather shuttles

Duck Feather shuttles

These are manufactured with duck feathers, and all of the feathers are removed from the duck’s left wing to ensure consistent feather quality.

Where these companies get such a vast number of feathers is still a mystery.

Let’s have a look at some of these feathers’ characteristics.

Appearance: These are usually white in hue.

Price: Duck feather shuttles are less expensive than goose feather shuttles because duck feathers are less durable.

Durability: These feathers are more delicate than goose feathers; nevertheless, you must understand that I am referring to the shaft (stick to which the feather is attached) breaking, not the feathers themselves.

Duck feathers are less resilient than goose feathers because they are more likely to break from the shaft.

Flight: It’s the same for all of the shuttles.

Goose Feather Shuttles

These are fashioned of goose feathers, which are plucked from the same wing as their compatriots to maintain quality.

Before I go into detail about this, it’s important to note that the fact that duck feather is inferior to goose feather is not a hard and fast rule.

As a result, the quality of a shuttle is determined not only by the feathers themselves, but also by how they are treated.

Let’s look at some features of goose feathers shuttles

Price: As I indicated earlier today, several companies sell similar shuttles for less money, but the quality isn’t as good; in general, goose feather shuttles are more expensive due to production quality.

Durability: Due to the architecture of these feathers, they are substantially more durable than duck feathers.

As previously said, the shaft of a duck feather is weaker and more prone to breaking after a series of intense rallies, whereas the shaft of a goose feather is more solid, making it more robust.

After utilising both of these shuttles, I discovered that just the shuttle’s (goose) feathers were falling, and on rare occasions, the feather shaft would break.

Flight: Similarly, when compared to the duck feathers shuttle, the consistency it delivers in-flight is excellent.

In Olympic and other international tournaments, what shuttles are used?

Well, it depends on whose company sponsored the tournament, and these firms provide the best shuttles for that tournament.

For example, if Yonex sponsors an international competition, AS 50 will be used.

Companies create special edition shuttles just for the Olympics in order to deliver a high-quality shuttle with constant flight.

Air shuttle

At a global launch ceremony outside the Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China, on May 13, 2019, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and HSBC jointly announced the concept Air Badminton and a new outdoor shuttlecock, the AirShuttle.

This is basically the outdoor version of badminton, a project to make badminton more accessible.

As you can see, it differs significantly from traditional shuttles.