Breakthrough in badminton. Goodbye to feather shuttlecocks, the Federation is experimenting with synthetic ones

For the purists of badmintonsport con 240 million practitioners in the world, it is almost an offense: in international competitions i shuttlecocks made of goose or duck feathers they could be supplanted by those synthetic. The World Federationthe BWFauthorized the experimentation in light of the problems in find the feathers for these balls with wings.

The causes range fromavian flu upon the return of the pig nei Chinese menus which reduced the poultry farms in the country that is the leading producer of flywheels. Plus there’s the crescent popularity of badminton at an international level, which has caused the demand and costs.

For now the use of synthetic shuttlecocks will be limited to youth tournaments and to those of the lowest level but in the future it could be extended to all competitions. The experimentation involves a collection of data on the various manufacturing companies and a collection of opinions from players, technicians e organizers.

How the flywheel is made

The flywheel is a cone composed of 16 feathers strung around a base of hemispherical corkin turn covered by a thin layer of leather. Its shape makes it very aerodynamically stable.

Differences between natural and synthetic shuttlecocks

The feathersespecially if naturalI am fragile and they break easily, therefore in one high level match it is normal to replace the flywheel more frequently. THE shuttlecocks with synthetic feathers (usually of nylon) last longer, but have a less feel and control compared to natural ones and for this reason they were not used professional level.