The most fundamental thing you can focus on as a beginner badminton player is keeping your games fun.
Before you develop hyper-focused and detailed workouts. Before you start thinking about entering national tournaments. Before you know your preferred playing style.
Before all that, you need a racket that matches your level and helps you improve as a player.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to find the best badminton rackets for beginners by looking at a few dominating performance factors that make it easy to find a badminton racket (anywhere) that matches your beginner level – in a matter of minutes.
Let me show you how.
6 of the best badminton rackets for beginners
- Best for assisting technique: Yonex Nanoray 10F
- Best for all-around/balance: Yonex Nanoflare Drive
- Best for defensive and mixed play: Yonex Nanoflare 100
- Best for easy offensive play: Victor Thruster K 11E
- Best for raw power: Babolat Prime Blast
- Best for players breaking into Intermediate: Li Ning Turbo Force 1000
How do you find a good badminton racket for beginners?
If you’re new to the sport, buying a badminton racket raises a few concerns about the different models and makers.
To add to the confusion, the world’s producers of badminton rackets have less than ideal information about their products. Beginners enter a jungle of styles, brands, and designs, but generally, you want to find a racket that’s rewarding when you do well and (only) moderately punishing when you mess up.
It should be a racket that gives you an extra edge and not something you might find in a shed at a beach house with the precision of a drunk driver and the weight of a sledgehammer.
To cut through the brush of this jungle and find that balance of a good beginner badminton racket that’s fun to play with and nudges you to get better, you need to consider the following:
- Technique
- Racket difficulty
- Your assumption of being able to exploit intricate design differences in top-quality rackets (hint: you won’t)
- A few important racket factors
Let’s get something straight. All beginners lack technique (in all areas).
Yes, you included.
I’m not saying this to get you down. It’s just to say you need to keep in mind that there is no substitute for training if you want to get better – no racket will ever change that for you.
However, a racket that fits your level can make things a lot more fun, and this is where you can really start to narrow your options down.
Two massive influences on racket difficulty
Right away, you should eliminate 80% of rackets — they are a waste of your time because they’re out of your league (like that person on reddit).
I have a simple method to trim it down that you can use anywhere, and it works whether you shop online or go down to your local badminton store.
I use two factors to narrow it down.
Racket flexibility and racket balance.
My best advice is to stay away from stiff rackets and stay away from rackets that are overly balanced in either direction of head-heavy or head-light.
The problem beginners have with rackets that aren’t very flexible is that they make it much harder to generate power.
At the same time, stiffer rackets focus more on the control aspect of the game (you’ll want to focus on this when you get better), and they generally require a higher skill level and consistent technique to strike good shuttles.
On the other hand, more flexible rackets offer you a power boost to strike fast shuttles even when you don’t hit them with the optimal angle and timing.
As a beginner, your technique simply won’t be good enough to manage stiffer rackets or tap into the control benefits they offer.
The second thing is balance – the weight distribution which impacts the preferred playing style of a racket.
You want to stay closer to an evenly balanced racket and not something too extreme in either direction.
Extremely head-heavy rackets have a strong focus on offense and attacking shots and can be difficult to maneuver if you’re not used to it.
Extremely head-light rackets are very sensitive to finesse and can be hard to control.
Since you won’t know your preferred style yet, going extreme here could make a lot of rallies awkward if you don’t know how to adjust your technique.
The big takeaway is that you’ll be fighting an uphill battle with little success in your game if your racket is too advanced.
By pairing these two factors, we can create a racket matrix that makes it easy to see where beginner rackets rank.
The highlighted area is where you’ll find a good beginner badminton racket.
You’ll notice how this instantly eliminates all rackets above medium flexibility, as well as any that are too pronounced in either direction of power or control.
This is helpful for two reasons.
1. It makes it easy to only focus on beginner rackets.
2. Most producers will rank their rackets on a similar scale of flexibility and balance, so you can easily set these criteria online or in a local store.
You might not realize it now, but this saves you a lot of time (and potentially money) when deciding on a racket.
This area of the matrix also very much reflects a beginner’s skill level.
As you can see, they definitely have their moments, but most of their faults come down to technique.
Besides, more experienced players can’t even detect huge differences once you get into the nitty-gritty details of some of the highly expensive and advanced rackets.
Alright, now that we have a simple method that narrows down your choices significantly, you can take a closer look at racket factors like flexibility and balance within the beginner area and add string tension, weight, and grip size to your consideration.
A quick word on badminton brands and Yonex badminton rackets for beginners
You’ve probably already seen a ton of badminton brands: Carlton, Babolat, FZ Forza, Wilson, Apacs, and Ashaway are a few of them.
However, none of these rival the three most popular brands of the sport: Yonex from Japan, Victor from Taiwan, and Li Ning from China.
These top brands all produce high-quality rackets, but their price sometimes reflects that they’re far better branded than any other producers, especially when you look at the more advanced rackets that professional players use.
To mention a few.
- Professional players that use Yonex badminton rackets: Viktor Axelsen, Anthony Ginting, and Carolina Marin.
- Professional players who use Victor badminton rackets: Tai Tzu Ying, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, Mohamad Ahsan.
- Professional players who use Li Ning badminton rackets: Chen Long, Praveen Jordan, Anders Skarup Rasmussen.
Should you worry about trying other brands?
You can’t really say that one brand is better than another.. Unless you ask the good folks on reddit.
The truth is, you just can’t know until you play.
If you have a specific racket in your sights, see if you know someone who plays with that brand or ask to borrow the racket. Play a set and see how it feels. That’s how you’ll know for sure.
Every brand constantly puts out new rackets with new designs that sound cool, and at the same time, no one knows what it means.
You’ll typically find descriptions that go something like this…
Built-in T-joints, revolutionary materials harvested from meteorites, and NASA-researched nanotechnology adapting the racket like you’re Doctor Octavius from Spider-Man.
Joking aside – no one has a clue how these new designs actually impact performance (I’ll let you be the judge of that).
With that in mind, I’ve only selected options based on the racket matrix with the factors we just went through since we know they impact performance.
6 of the best badminton rackets for beginners
Yonex Nanoray 10F
Pros
- Great all-around for beginners to explore different playing styles
- Quick balance and lightweight to help you catch shuttles, where you rely on wrist movement
Cons
- Hi-flex means you might have to compensate for shuttle accuracy by changing the strings
Refined light balance
Naturally, we’ll start with some Yonex badminton rackets for beginners.
The Nanoray 10F is a pretty balanced racket, except there’s a slight tilt towards a head-light preference which makes it a little easier to work with for defensive play and those shots where you lunge to catch a shuttle and flick it over the net.
It’s an overall lightweight racket, and as you can see on the matrix, it’s quite flexible too. This combination of flexible lightness should make it no problem for you to hit fast shuttles without tiring your arm and shoulder.
However, because it’s designed for speed and maneuverability, the Nanoray 10F will have better quality on the front court rather than hitting power shots from the back.
It also won’t have the same accuracy compared to other rackets with lower flexibility.
It’s a good all-around racket that’s forgiving of technical shortcomings, and you can still last in rallies where you play to your technical limit.
Specs overview:
Material – Graphite
Weight – 4U (83 grams)
Balance point – Head-light
Grip size – G5 (83 mm)
Flex scale – Hi-flex
String tension – 19-24 lbs
Playing style – All-around
Yonex Nanoflare Drive
Pros
- A flexible racket that won’t feel wobbly as you improve your skill towards an intermediate level
- An even balance between control and power is easy to adapt for any beginner
- Allows for higher string tension when your skill improves
Cons
- Not as forgiving as other more flexible rackets, so you need to keep a focus on technique in each rally
From baby steps to deadly shuttles
“It don’t mean a thing (if you ain’t got that swing)”…this racket is evenly balanced and flexible enough to, you guessed it, swing, swing, and swing, with a good balance of power and accuracy to drive, clear and smash shuttles at your opponent.
*Kapow!*
It’s on the lighter end of the 4U weight class, which makes it a good nimble racket for shots that require quick reactions.
It won’t feel as quick as the Nanoray 10F because of the balance point, and since it’s not towards the highly flexible end of the scale, it also won’t be as forgiving when you mistime shots or miss the sweet spot.
The big difference for the Nanoflare Drive is that it lends itself to more control and will push you to improve your technique to get the full performance out of it.
On top of that, it tolerates a much higher string tension than most beginner rackets (28 lbs).
This combination makes it a beginner racket you can keep using as you break into an intermediate level.
Specs overview:
Material – Graphite
Weight – 4U (82 grams)
Balance point – Evenly balanced
Grip size – G5 (83 mm)
Flex scale – Flexible
String tension – 19-28 lbs
Playing style – All-around
Yonex Nanoflare 100
Pros
- Very high maneuverability for doubles
- Excellent defense control
- Great for beginners and younger players who don’t have a lot of strength or power in their technique
Cons
- Doesn’t fit a playing style with powerful clears, smashes and drives
- Low maximum for string tension when you improve as a beginner
Quick and easy
While it’s on the heavier end of the 3U weight class, the dominant balance towards the handle makes this racket feel very speedy and light compared to its weight. You’ll benefit from rapid swing movement and reaction shots.
This is a highly control-focused racket in the beginner spectrum, although the string tension doesn’t go as high (20lbs max).
It can be a good option for players who mix between singles and doubles, and especially those who like to be more patient in their game (instead of offensive) will enjoy this more.
To get decent power out of this control-focused racket, you need better technique than some of the rackets with more forgiving flexibility.
It’s well suited for beginners and young players, but if you aim for more than casual play, you might outgrow it quickly.
Specs overview:
Material – Graphite
Weight – 3U (88 grams)
Balance point – Head-light
Grip size – G4 (86 mm)
Flex scale – Flexible/mid-flex
String tension – 16-20 lbs
Playing style – Defensive/Fast
Victor Thruster K 11E
Pros
- Good flexibility and balance for power shots
- Allows for intermediate level string tension
Cons
- Not as fast and maneuverable
- Might not feel super precise when your technique improves
A touch of aggression
Speaking of complicated names… Either way, the Thruster K from Victor is largely the reversed version of the Nanoray 10F. It has very similar flexibility but is instead slightly head-heavy.
That means you’ll have an almost perfect balance, but get that little extra fire and push if you love to attack your opponent with drives and smashes.
Surprisingly, this beginner racket also allows for pretty high string tensions, so you have the option to modify stringing as you improve.
If you have a slight preference for setting up your game from the back of the court, this might be the answer, and it’s still a well-balanced racket for any type of beginner.
Specs overview:
Material – Graphite
Weight – 4U (81 grams)
Balance point – Slightly head-heavy
Grip size – G5 (83 mm)
Flex scale – Hi-Flex
String tension – 20-28 lbs
Playing style – Attacking/Offensive
Babolat Prime Blast
Pros
- Excellent power to keep rallies short and intense
- A fun racket for players who love to take offensive initiative in every rally
Cons
- Might feel slower and harder to defend with
- String tension won’t be ideal when your skill gets better
Smash attack!
Similar in some ways to the Thruster K, this is the most attack-prone option I’ve included inside the beginner part of the matrix.
The difference is that the Babolat Prime Blast is much more head-heavy.
That lends itself to a very fun attacking game, and if you love to put your opponent under pressure by mixing up clears, smashes, and drives that drive them crazy, this is probably a fit for you.
It’s lightweight, but the flex and balance will give you the power to hit shuttles down at fast speeds.
The balance point might feel slower to maneuver and harder to flick your wrist with snappy reactions to defend yourself.
The string tension doesn’t go super high on this, so if you play long enough to reach an intermediate level, you might want to upgrade.
Specs overview:
Material – Graphite
Weight – 4U (83 grams)
Balance point – Head-heavy
Grip size – G4 (86 mm)
Flex scale – Flexible
String tension – 18-22 lbs
Playing style – Attacking
Li Ning Turbo Force 1000
Pros
- Powerful shots with accuracy
- Gives better shuttle control when striking with good technique
- High string tension available
Cons
- The medium flexibility might feel like a challenge to some beginners
- If you’re still developing basic technique, this will not be forgiving
Better beginners
This is something that will likely fit better for beginners who are on the cusp of becoming intermediate players.
If you have good enough technique, this can really put some power to your strikes while still retaining good accuracy when hitting the shuttle around the court.
Newer beginners might struggle to get the power and accuracy out of this racket, and if you’re only playing casually once a week, you could fatigue quickly in longer rallies.
Li Ning doesn’t seem to list a recommended string tension, but it goes up to 28 lbs, which leaves more than enough room for beginners to explore intermediate modifications once they get better.
Specs overview:
Material – Carbon Fiber
Weight – 3U (85-89 grams)
Balance point – Slightly Head-heavy
Grip size – G5 (83 mm)
Flex scale – Medium Flexibility
String tension – Max 28 lbs
Playing style – Attacking/Offensive
All beginner rackets
The best badminton rackets for beginners: where you place yourself on the matrix
You’ll develop a lot as a beginner, so my advice is to assess your strengths and weaknesses and think about what racket would be the most fun for you to play.
Fun is the keyword here because you might be in a completely different badminton mindset six months from now.
Maybe you’re good at hitting shuttles at your opponent that keep them on the defense and want some extra power to make your attacks even more deadly and successful.
Maybe you’re very patient and like to extend rallies, test out a variety of shots, and want something that can help you out when you need to react quickly or change the pace.
Either way, these are simply preferences you need to decide on your own, and as long as you stay within the beginner range of the matrix, you won’t go completely wrong.
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