Best badminton racket brand

Badminton is a very popular sport worldwide, especially in Asia. And there is definitely some equipment needed, if you want to play it right. First of all, you need a good badminton racket. And at best a useful badminton bag to transport your rackets and other stuff.  Shoes specifically designed for Badminton are highly recommended. A nice badminton outfit doesn`t hurt, either. That`s of course not necessary,  but don`t you want to look good while flying over the court?

No wonder that many companies have focussed on selling Badminton equipment. And some of them have become really famous Badminton brands. One of them clearly stands out as number one with many high-quality lines of product but also corresponding prices. While a few other brands have established themselves in the second row with pretty good quality products and competetive prices. When you think about buying a badminton racket, you will of course try to find out which badminton racket brand is the best.

Top 10 Badminton racket brands

Yonex

Probably the best badminton racket brand in the world. Yonex was founded in 1946 and produces equipment for Tennis, Gold and Badminton. The company is not the market leader in Tennis, but has very prominent names as brand ambassadors like Stand Wawrinka, Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber. In Badminton on the contrary Yonex is THE number 1 company for equipment like rackets, clothing, shoes, bags, strings etc. Around 80% of professional badminton players rely upon Yonex products. Among them are many prominent players like the best mens doubles pair Marcus Gideon / Kevin Sukamuljo or Indian female players Pusarla V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.

Company website: yonex.com

Best Yonex badminton racket: Check out the Top 10 Best Badminton Rackets

Rackets

Yonex Astrox Series – The “Attacking series” among the Yonex portfolio. They are head-heavy.

Yonex Nanoray Series – A series of head-light badminton rackets.

Yonex Nanoflare Series – The successor series of the Nanoray rackets. Also head-light.

Yonex Arcsaber Series – The Racket series for all purposes. Suitable for Singles and Doubles. Even balanced, therefore good for all-court players. Works for defense and offense as well. I myself play the Yonex Arcsaber 11 for Singles and I love it. Also the former racket of Taufik Hidayat!

Yonex Duora Series – The successor of the Arcsaber series. The Duora rackets have a very interesting feat: A specific forehand and backhand side! So you have to make sure to always carry the racket on the right side.

Yonex Voltric Series –  The Voltric series is quite popular among professional players. Head-heavy rackets that work very well for smashes and drives. So they are suitable for very agressive players.

Yonex Carbonex Series –  Quite heavy steel rackets. Definitely not for league or pro players. They are designed for use in schools.

Yonex Muscle Power Series –  A few years ago they were rackets in the low price range for recreational players and low league players. Nowadays the Musce Power series is produced only for use in junior badminton.

Yonex Isometric Series –  The Isometric rackets are not for normal play. They are only for training purposes, since they are way too heavy for normal match play.

Check out the Yonex Racket Matrix for more information.

Shuttlecocks

Nylon shuttles: Mavis Series
Check out Yonex Mavis 2000 Nylon Badminton Shuttlecock on Amazon

Feather shuttles: Aerosensa 10 -50
The numbers indicate the quality of the shuttles in terms of endurance and flight characteristics.
Check out Yonex Aerosensa 40 on Amazon

Shoes

Yonex Badminton Shoes are not cheap, but always of the highest quality. Given the importance of your shoes, you should not save money at the wrong end. You can play with a cheap racket, but the choice of shoes concern your health, since they should provide stability for your movement. So the Yonex brand is the best choice here.

Yonex Power Cushion Series
Check out Yonex Power Cushion SHB 65 R2 on Amazon

Bags

Yonex sells several lines of Badminton bags, that are great for tournaments. 3 compartments, lots of space for your Badminton equipment and good looking as well.

Pro Series: Check on Amazon

Active Series: Check on Amazon

Team Series: Check on Amazon

Strings

Have a look at this posting for information about the best Yonex strings for badminton rackets: Best badminton strings

And also check out the Yonex Badminton String Matrix

Grips

Yonex Super Grap Overgrip: Check on Amazon

Outfits

Yonex offers some pretty cool outfits. Quality is good as well. I prefer Victor in case of shirts, though.

Li Ning

Li Ning is a quite young company, founded in 1989. Very huge in China, but also abroad. They equipp various teams worldwide like the Argentine basketball teams and also some NBAS teams. In Badminton they of course have a cooperation with team China. If you have a look at what badminton rackets the pros use, most Chinese players rely on Li-Ning. I would say they stand for high quality, but also high prices. Keep reading for information about the Lining best badminton rackets.

Company website: en.lining.com

Rackets

Li-Ning has a rather complicated system to define the different racket series and their characteristics.

First of all there are 3 racket series with different frame types:

Li-ning Turbo Charging Series – For fast reactions

Li-Ning 3D Calibar Series – For maximum power

Li-Ning Aeronaut Series – For strong control

Each racket notation comes with 2-4 digits and a letter at the end.

• 2 digits: Turbo Charging Model
• 3 digits: 3D Calibar Model
• 4 digits: Aeronaut Model

The first digit in the racket name defines, for which level of play the racket is suitable.

• 1/2/3: Beginner Level
• 4/5/6: Intermediate Level
• 7/8/9: Advanved / Professional Level

The letter at the end will tell you about the strengths of the racket, which pretty much comes down to balance, weight and stiffness.

• D (Drive): For Speed – Translates to head-light balance
• C (Combat): For Power – Translates to head-heavy balance
• B (Boost): For Balance – Translates to even-balanced racket
• I (Instinct): For Light-weight Rackets

Shuttlecocks

I have no experience with Li Ning shuttlecocks, but will add them here as soon as I was able to test them myself. The same goes for the rest of Li Ning Badminton equipment with the exception of Li Ning strings. I will try to change that as soon as possible.

Shoes

Not yet tested.

Bags

Not yet tested.

Strings

The Li Ning No. 1 Badminton string is the one I use on my Yonex Astrox 88S and it works damn well.

Check Li Ning Number 1 Badminton String on Amazon

Grips

Not yet tested.

Outfits

Their Badminton outfits look pretty cool most of the time and are made of breathable material. Which is pretty helpful in a challenging sport like Badminton.

Li Ning T-Shirt Atletic Sports Tee: Check on Amazon

Victor

Victor started out as a producer of shuttlecocks, but quickly expanded their business to the whole range of badminton equipment. It is now official approved supplier for torunaments of the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Victor is official outfitter of the Danish and Malaysian national squads. Some famous players like world number one Tai Tzu Ying also rely on the best Victor badminton rackets.

Company website: www.victorsport.com

Rackets

Victor divides their rackets into three categories:

• Speed
• Power
• Allround

This pretty much translates into

• Head-light
• Head-heavy
• Even-balanced

Victor Auraspeed Series – For Speed and fast reactions

Victor Jetspeed Series – For Speed and fast reactions

Victor Brave Sword Series – For Speed and fast reactions

Victor Lightfighter Series – For speed and fast reactions

Victor Thruster Series – For power and attacking play

Victor Challenger Series – For power and attacking play

Victor Hypernano Series –  For control and precision play

Victor Wave Power Series – For control and precision play

Shuttlecocks

Good Victor Nylon Shuttlecocks
Victor Nylon Shuttle 2000: Check on Amazon

Good Victor Feather Shuttlecocks
Victor Gold Feather Shuttlecocks: Check on Amazon

Shoes

Behind Yonex, Badminton shoes by Victor would be my seconf choice. Also very good quality and a little less expensive.

Bags

Not much difference compared to Yonex here. Also enough space for everything a Badminton player needs and available in all colours.

Strings

Good quality strings available.

Grips

Again not much difference compared with other brands. I think, badminton grips are a matter of taste.

Outfits

I actually like Victor shirts the most. Lots of cool colours and they fit so well. Quite tight, but not in a bothering way. My favourite shirt by far is this one (also available as a polo shirt):

Victor Shirt Unisex Coral: Check on Amazon

The Victor Team Line 2018 looks amazing as well.

Head

Head is more of a tennis brand, but also offers great badminton equipment at a reasonable price. If you ask yourself, are head badminton rackets good, just try out a few. Choosing a badminton racket is a very personal matter. So if you buy head badminton racquets, you will still be allowed to enter badminton courts.

Adidas

Adidas is the New One among Badminton racket brands, but – as you probably now – very huge in other sports. World leader next to Nike actually in many sports. In Badminton however they still try to get their fair share and thats not easy with a top dog like Yonex in the market.

Badminton rackets Adidas:
Adidas Budget Badminton Racket: Check on Amazon

Mizuno

I have never heard of them until they signed my favourite mens doubles pair Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan. I also never touched any of their products. But given the performance of Setiawan /Ahsan this year, the Mizuno rackets can`t be too bad. Hendra even developed a deadly smash all of a sudden.

Badminton rackets brands list – The Rest

There are of course even more badminton racket companies. But with many of them I haven`t got any experience, because I pretty much stick with equipment from the Big 3: Yonex, Victor and Li Ning.

However, here is a badminton racket brands list with companies I haven`t mentioned before. These brands provide good value for money. So try them and leave a comment, if you have experience with these companies.

Good badminton racket brands

• Oliver
• Carlton
• Babolat
• Apacs
• Forza
• Karakal
• RSL
• Talbot-Torro
• Prince
• Fly (Now sponsoring Shin Baek Cheol and Ko Sung Hyun)

So this was my overview of the best badminton racket companies. If I forgot something important in the badminton racket brands list, feel free to leave a comment! Tell me what you think are good badminton racket brands.

Have a look at The Best Badminton Rackets in 2020.