Yonex Voltric Z - Force II Badminton

Racquet, Black
BG 66 Ultimax
Victor JETSPEED s10
Yonex Nanoray z-speed
Yonex Duora 10
Nanoray 800

What STRING and TENSION does Lin

Dan & Lee Chong Wei use ?

What string and tension does Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan use? This is a big question on the
minds of many badminton players and followers of this game. Before I get into that, let me
tell you some basics of how different strings behave.

You might have a very good racket like the Z Force 2, but without a good string its
completely useless. Also I will be focusing on Yonex strings here as most of the professional
players use them. Li Ning NS strings are also pretty good (Durability is their downside).
Yonex produces 3 types of strings : Soft, Medium and Hard feeling. The difference between
them is like night and day. Let me put it this way, hard feeling strings give you more
accuracy than soft feeling strings, shots are a lot crispy. So with a hard string, your net shot
becomes much more better and accurate. However the disadvantage of a hard string is that
its not as durable as the soft one.

With this info, you can now surely tell that most of the top level players use the medium
and hard feeling strings. The extremely popular BG 65 is a soft string while BG 80 is a hard
string.

YONEX BG 66 Ultimax – Most popular among top players and personal favourite.

Yonex BG 80, Yonex BG 65 Ti. These are the 3 most commonly used strings in top level
badminton. BG 65 is also used, but only a few players. The other strings from Yonex like the
nanogy or aerosonic are just another marketing strategy as of now.

Here is the complete list of information that we have in our hands

 Lee Chong Wei – Yonex BG 66 Force (Previously BG 66 Ultimax for many years), 30
lbs. Buy with discount here !
 Lin Dan – Yonex BG 80, Mains(Up down) 32 lbs, Cross/sideways 31lbs. Buy it here !
 Viktor Axelsen – Yonex BG AB, 34 lbs (AEROBITE) Buy it here !
 Ratchanok Intanon – Yonex BG 65, 30 lbs
 Hans Kristian Vittinghus – Yonex BG 80, 29 Lbs with 25% pre stretching
 PV Sindhu – Yonex BG 80, 30 lbs
  Chris Adcock – Yonex BG 66 Ultimax, 31 lbs Buy one here !
 Akane Yamaguchi – BG 66 Ultimax, 27lbs
 Praveen Jordan – BG 65 Ti, 31 lbs
 Rajeev Ouseph – BG 65 Ti, 29 lbs
 Saina Nehwal – BG 65
 Tan Boon Heong – BG 65 Ti, 31 lbs
 Greysia Polli – Yonex BG 80, 29 lbs
 Anthony Ginting – Yonex BG 66 Ultimax, 31 lbs
 Kenichi Tago – 34 lbs
 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen – BG 66 Ultimax

How to choose a Badminton String

and String Tension
POSTED BY TOMMY LI · MAY 16, 2015

Before you choose a badminton string, here are some basic facts and
terminology you should familiarize yourself with:

 All strings stretch, like elastic, and therefore your strings will begin to lose
tension (known as "tension creep") starting from the day it is strung.

 Every racket has a “sweet spot.” This is an area on the string bed which will give
you the most power.

 Beginners lack the technique and is more likely to mis-hit the shuttle on the
wrong part of the string bed, therefore it is recommended that they use a lower
tension because the lower the tension, the bigger the sweet spot.

 A higher tension will provide more power and control only if you can consistently
hit the sweet spot. The downside is that the strings will break more easily if a
 mis-hit occurs because of how tight the strings are being stretched.

 As a player becomes more consistent and has good technique, they will benefit
more from a higher tension because the shuttle will travel off the string bed
faster, giving them control of the shuttle.

String tension relating to power and control

Much of the power in a badminton shot comes from the string. Thus, it is very
important to know how string tension can affect your game. By adjusting the string
tension, you can adjust the amount of power or control that you get from any string,
thick or thin.

Playing with a lower tension (18-23lb)

A lower tension means:

-a softer (looser) string bed and thus less feeling of the shuttle which results in less
control and placement

-the racket will have a softer string bed which means that there is more
"bounce/repulsion" from the strings and therefore the player can easily get power
from the racket without using much strength

-a larger sweet spot that is more forgiving and requires less accurate strokes to
generate power

-the strings are more durable and less prone to breakage from off-center miss hits at
the sides of the string bed

Conclusion: Lower tensions are more suited for beginners who do not have
good hitting technique and require more power in their game.

Playing with a higher tension (24-30lb)

A higher tension means:

-a harder (tighter) string bed and thus more feeling of the shuttle which allows for
more control and placement

-the player will need to be more accurate and consistent with their strokes in order to
generate power due to the smaller sweet spot

-the racket will also have a harder (tighter) string bed which means that there is less
"bounce/repulsion" from the strings and therefore the player will need to input more
strength to generate power
-the strings are less durable and more prone to breakage from off-center miss-hits at
the sides of the string bed

Conclusion: Higher tensions are more suited for advanced players who have
good hitting technique and require more control in their game.

Here is a table that summarizes the main points:

String tension Power Control Durability Feel Vibration

Low Easy Decrease Increase Decrease Decrease
High Hard Increase Decrease Increase Increase

As you may have noticed, there is a recommended string tension on every racket.
They usually have a few different ranges depending on the racket itself, 17-22, 20-
27, etc... This recommendation is there to ensure that the racket does not break
when stringing. People who choose to go over the limit may subject their racket to
damage under the immense pressure from the high tension of the strings.
Professional players often string way outside the recommendation at 30lbs+ .
These players are sponsored and do not have to pay for their rackets if it breaks so
unless you are sponsored, I would not recommend stringing outside the
recommended tension and to do so at your own discretion. The recommended
tension is also there for warranty purposes. Stringing outside the range will void the
warranty.

A common mistake most people make is to string at too high of a tension because of
their ego. Since it is harder to generate power at high tensions, the player will often
use excessive force in order to generate power and may result in an injury to the
shoulder or they may develop tennis elbow.

Here is a suggestion for string tension for different levels of players:

 Beginner : 17lbs-20lbs
 Intermediate: 20lbs-24lbs
 Advanced: 24lbs-27lbs
 Professional/International: 27lbs – 30lbs+

For those that play with plastic shuttles, it is recommended to lower your tension by
1-2lbs. A plastic shuttle generally requires more effort to clear to the baseline
because they are heavier and fly differently compared to feather shuttles. Lowering
the string tension will give you the extra power that you need to help you with clears.
Here is our list of strings that are most often requested by customers with the top of
the list being most popular:

Strings for Power

BG80
BG66 Ultimax
BG80 Power
NBG98
BG Aerosonic

Strings for Durability

BG65 (Great for beginners)
BG65 Titanium
NBG95

Strings for Control

NBG99
BG Aerobite

It is recommended for beginners to use thicker strings since thinner strings are
easier to break from mis-hits.

To choose a badminton string, you should take note of your playing style as different
strings will help with certain aspects of the game.

If you found this useful, read our post on How to Choose a Badminton Racket
 Different strings are made with different materials that give them their unique
characteristics.
Here are the string technologies/material and their description:

Cup-Stack Carbon Nanotube:

Advanced construction minimizes notching of the string at intersections for greater
durability and high repulsion power.

Vectran
The Vectran high-strength and high-elasticity spiral winding prolongs durability and
racket stringing tension.

Hydro Titanium
Compound titanium hydride coating provides not only a sharp feel at impact but
increased durability.

MultiFilament
YONEX MultiFilament featuers a super-fine diameter for high durability and a soft
feel on impact.