How to Look After Your Badminton Racket and Make It Last
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A racket rarely gives up in one dramatic moment. It fades. A grip goes slick and never gets changed, strings sit tight through a cold winter in the boot of the car, a hairline crack from a doubles clash goes unnoticed until the frame lets go mid rally. Almost all of it is avoidable with a few minutes of habit, and none of it costs much.
Wipe it down before it goes in the bag
Sweat is the quiet killer. It soaks into the grip, works into the joint where the handle meets the shaft, and sits on the strings as a sticky film that grabs dust. Give the frame and shaft a quick wipe with a dry cloth after every session, and let a damp grip air for a few minutes before you zip the racket away. Two minutes now saves you a grip that smells and strings that feel gummy later.
Look after the strings between restrings
Badminton strings begin losing tension from the day they go on, quickly at first and then slowly, whether or not you play. That is normal and nothing to worry about. What you can control is the avoidable damage: grit worked into the string bed, a sharp crease from a knock, and big swings in temperature. Keep the racket somewhere close to room temperature. A freezing shed leaves thin strings feeling stiff and lifeless until they warm up, so give a cold racket a few minutes to come back to room temperature before you hit with it.
If a string does snap, cut the rest out fairly soon rather than playing on with half a bed. Leaving one side under full tension and the other slack stresses the head unevenly, which is not something worth repeating often over a frame's life. When a restring is due, a dependable all rounder like the Yonex BG-65 Ti at £7.29 for a 10m set is an easy pick for club play. For working out when that point has arrived, we set out the signs in our guide to restringing.
Change the grip on feel, not on the calendar
There is no single schedule that suits everyone, because it depends on how much you sweat and how often you play. Change an overgrip once it stops drying your hand, feels slippery through a long rally, or the edges start to lift and unravel. A player training several times a week might refresh one every couple of weeks; someone playing the odd social game will go far longer. Overgrips are cheap and quick to fit, so there is little reason to persist with a tired one. A fresh multi pack such as these HEAD overgrips keeps a spare ready in the bag. If you are weighing an overgrip against a full replacement grip, we compared the two here.
Store it so nothing warps
Heat and damp are the two things to build your storage around. Keep the racket out of direct sun and away from radiators, and never leave it in a car on a warm day, where the inside can climb hot enough to affect the frame and its finish. Damp is just as unkind: a racket zipped into a bag still wet with sweat grows a musty smell and leaves the grip damp and unpleasant for the next session. Let everything dry before it goes away, and keep the racket in a cover or a padded bag so the frame is not knocked against hard edges or crushed under a pile of kit.
Know the signs of a tired or damaged frame
Frames give plenty of warning if you look for it. Run your eye and a fingertip around the head and, above all, the T joint where the shaft meets the head, since that is where the stress concentrates. The signs to watch for are a fine crack or a line in the paint that opens up when you flex the frame gently, paint flaking in one spot, or a dull buzz instead of a clean note when you tap the head. Cracked or missing grommets are worth sorting too, because a bare hole lets the string saw against the frame. A head that no longer sits true after a hard clash with a partner's racket is telling you something. If you suspect a crack, stop playing with it: a cracked frame under string tension can give way without warning and take the strings with it.
A one minute check that pays off
Make it a habit at the end of a session. Wipe the frame, feel the grip, glance along the string bed for fraying near the grommets, and run a thumb around the T joint for anything gone soft or loose. Most rackets that die young were sending signals for weeks. Notice them early and a good racket will see out season after season.
Shop it at Setra Sports. Browse the full Grips range for the gear in this guide, with fast UK delivery.