Sunday, June 23, 2013

How to prevent a broken badminton racket handle

Every badminton player has a favourite badminton racket. Some of them may stick to use the same racket for as long as they can. Some for over 20 years! As long as the head frame and shaft is in good condition, there's no reason you should retire your racket, unless the worst thing happens. Broken racket handle that is.

Badminton racket frame and shaft may be made from the best graphite material, and technology has driven in to improve the performance of every racket there is. Frame and shaft may last a lifetime, but racket handles don't. 

There are some people who would go all the way to fix and repair the handle. Some wood crafting experience is definitely needed there. Then there are a couple of websites that has wooden racket handles available for sale in different shaft diameters available.

Badminton racket handles are generally made from wood. The quality of wood has never been a question to anyone especially players. Quality of wood used would in fact affect the weight of a racket, the better the quality, the heavier it could be. Weight is something that can also affect the balance point and the feel of badminton rackets.

Wood absorbs sweat and could break the rackets easily when the wood is soft. Therefore, the wood surface should be sweat proof. How to achieve a dry racket handle surface?

Here are some tips to prolong the durability of your racket handles.

Before wrapping any grips over the racket handle, be it towel grips or overgrips, ensure that the wood racket handle is dry all the time. Make it sweat proof by first wrapping it with a layer of plastic cover. New rackets normally come with shrink wraps made from polymer plastic.

Another option is to use a layer of cellophane tape wrapped around the wooden badminton racket handle first. Change the cellophane tape at each change of grip if necessary.

A good racket is hard to find. It is very personal to you and you would not lend your favourite badminton racket to anyone, would you? Try this simple tip to care for your rackets to keep it safe and healthy! 

Please comment if you have any other tips on how to care for badminton racket handles!