Badminton rackets can be fashioned from different materials such as steel, carbon fibre, graphite reinforced steel and so on and generally they weigh no more than 100 grams. Previously badminton rackets were made from light metals like aluminium and before that, from wood. While players might find a lot of variety in the designs of badminton rackets, the overall shape, size, and weight are always in accordance to the law. But changes are always taking place, for example, the oval head of the racket is now gradually being replaced by an isometric one and so on.
Badminton was earlier played with rackets which were known as battledores and the game seems to have originated in ancient Greece and Egypt. In Japan, a precursor of the badminton game was played in the 1500s and was known as Hanetsuki in which tiny rackets were used to keep a light feathery object in the air as long as possible. In India, the game was known as “Poona” in the 1700s and British officers of the East India Company took it back to England where it provided much amusement to the upper class. It was later, towards the end of the 1800s, that the modern version of battledore was created in Gloucestershire by the Duke of Beaufort in his Badminton House. It was earlier known as the “Game of Badminton” which later became merely badminton, giving the game its official, modern name.
The strings on a badminton racket are usually no thicker than 0.73 mm and some professionals prefer a higher string tension at about 160N because it improves control over the shuttlecock, whereas others prefer a lower string tension because it seems to help improve the power over a stroke. This is a subjective preference and newer theories keep evolving on this subject. Players might feel that a lower tension string provides more bounce and therefore more power to a shuttlecock but a newer theory says that power comes from the speed of the racket and from the accuracy of a shot.
The grip of a badminton racket allows a player to increase the thickness of the handle according to their palm size and professionals like to add several layers on the grip to increase comfort. These are known as replacement grips which are available in different materials like towelling grips made from PU synthetic materials and so on. Sometimes, a drying agent is applied to the grip to absorb sweat. Overgrips, which have an adhesive coating, are used as the last and final layer.
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