How to Choose a Racket Bag: 2-Racket, 6-Racket, Backpack or Kit Bag

The number of rackets a bag is rated for tells you less than you would think. For most badminton players the right bag comes down to two practical questions: how do you get to the court, and what do you carry once you are there. Sort those out and the format chooses itself.

Start with how you get to the court

If you walk, cycle or take the bus or train, a backpack wins almost every time. It keeps your hands free, sits close to your back and is easy to wear through a busy station or on a bike. If you drive to a club or coach several sessions a week, a longer holdall-style bag is less of a burden, because you are only carrying it from the car to the hall.

So before counting racket slots, picture your usual trip to play. That single habit points most people straight at the right format.

The two-racket backpack: the everyday club option

For club and social players who carry one or two rackets, a few shuttles, a grip and a water bottle, a two-racket backpack is usually all you need. The Babolat Pure Wimbledon 2-Racket Backpack is a good example at £39.99: room for up to two rackets plus your kit, in a shape that is easy to live with on public transport.

The honest case for this format is that plenty of players rarely fill anything bigger. If you turn up, play for a couple of hours and go home, the extra compartments on a large bag mostly carry air.

Stepping up to a three or four racket backpack

The next size up still wears like a rucksack but adds space for a change of clothes, a towel and, on some models, a separate shoe compartment so your court shoes do not sit against your kit. The Yonex badminton backpack with a shoe compartment is built for exactly this: three rackets, a dedicated shoe section, and enough room for the rest of your gear without moving to a full holdall.

This is the sweet spot for anyone who comes to badminton straight from work, or plays back to back sessions and needs to keep clean and sweaty kit apart.

Six-racket bags: for coaches, car travel and frequent restringing

A six-racket bag is a different shape entirely: a long holdall with one or more full-length compartments. It suits coaches, county and league players who carry spares at different tensions, and anyone who restrings often and likes to keep several frames ready. The Babolat Wimbledon Pure 6-Racket Bag is a typical example of the format.

These bags are happiest when you drive to play. Carried any distance on one shoulder, a loaded holdall gets heavy quickly, which is why even owners of a big bag often keep a small backpack for lighter sessions.

What a six-racket bag really holds, and the thermal question

Treat racket counts as a guide to the bag's size, not a promise. A bag rated for six rackets assumes rackets and little else. Once you add shoes, a change of clothes, towels, tubes of shuttles and the usual odds and ends, you will comfortably fit fewer frames than the label suggests. That is normal and worth planning for: buy for the kit you carry, not just the rackets you own.

Some larger kit bags on the market include an insulated main compartment, sometimes called a thermal compartment. It is worth understanding what that does. Insulation slows down how quickly the contents change temperature; it does not keep them cool on its own. Synthetic strings gradually lose tension anyway, and extremes of heat or cold can speed that along, so the insulation earns its keep mainly if you leave your bag in a hot or freezing car boot. For a bag that travels from home to an indoor hall and back, it makes very little difference.

A quick way to choose

If you carry one or two rackets and travel light, a two-racket backpack like the Babolat Pure Wimbledon is plenty. If you bring shoes and a change of clothes, step up to a larger backpack with a shoe compartment. If you coach, carry spares at several tensions or drive to play, a six-racket holdall makes sense, with a small backpack kept back for casual sessions. Whatever you pick, match the bag to how you travel and what you actually carry, and you will not overpay for space you never use.

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Shop it at Setra Sports. You can buy the Babolat Pure Wimbledon 2-Racket Backpack for £39.99 with fast UK delivery from Setra Sports. Browse the full Bags range.

Related reading: Victor BR2003 Badminton Backpack Review: Double-Shoulder Racket Bag