The Badminton World Federation's decision to use the synthetic shuttlecock in the tournament has been making headlines in the last few years.

BWF has announced the use of the synthetic shuttlecock in Grade 3 and junior international tournaments earlier this year, in April, and this week, taking to X (formerly Twitter), former Indian coach Vimal Kumar shared a post explaining his opinion about the same.

Kumar urged the BWF to "take a hard look" at the synthetic shuttlecocks, which are being trialed in international tournaments. He reflected on the feedback received from the players while highlighting that players who have grown up playing with feather shuttlecocks would find the difference "significant."

"The flight, feel and overall response are simply not comparable to traditional feather shuttles," he wrote.

Kumar went on to explain about the "durability."

"In the ongoing trials, some synthetic shuttlecocks appear to deform or lose their shape after a few hard hits, raising serious questions about their reliability in elite competition," he added.

Moreover, he mentioned the price and said it was "close to a good-quality feather shuttle," and thus, the "expected financial advantage" is not evident.

He also highlighted that the synthetic skirt material is "extremely sharp" and can cause serious injuries.

Olympic Star PV Sindhu Opens Up on Synthetic Shuttlecocks

In an interview with Olympics.com, PV Sindhu opened up about the synthetic shuttlecocks in 2021. She said that it would be different from the normal ones, but she doesn't have complaints about playing with them.

"It's a bit different compared to the normal shuttlecocks we are using now. It keeps changing, so we have to get used to it. I don't have any complaints, like no, we don't want to play with them. But when it comes, I think we all have to experience it," she said.

Danish former professional badminton player Viktor Axelsen also talked about it in the same interview.

"I really like the idea of synthetic shuttlecocks. But it is going to be tough because of the way a normal shuttlecock flies. I think it's really, really hard to sort of remake that in a synthetic version," he said.

The BWF announced that only the products from Victor and Yonex are being used in trial phases. The trial will involve collecting data and reviews from players, technical officials, and others for future consideration about the same.

What do you think about synthetic shuttlecocks? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Ankita Yadav

Edited by

Ankita Yadav