Babolat 1

Was visiting Northern Malaysia recently and saw the Babolat 1 for sale in some shops at RM89-90. We have tried the Babolat 2 before and was naturally curious about it's higher rank sibling. Hence bought some to try.

As our weekly session was later in the week (after 30Oct), I could not wait to test this new shuttle and brought a sample to test at a less intensive session earlier in the week. Will update after testing in our regular weekly session.

The following pix(s) is the shuttle tested after about "1.5 sets" - basically lasted a set and a half from a non-intensive session. One of the feathers has split from the stem but still hanging on (not really visible in the pix).

Initial impression during the non-intensive session are - speed-77 rating is more alike the Yonex as faster than RSL shuttles, retains the "play" speed thru-out the 1st set (as I did not participate in the 2nd set) and does not slow much after a few hard smashes unlike the RSL Supreme (Ultimate is the exception); much more durable than the RSL Gold No1.

Will update on how the Babolat 1 compares to our defacto standard once utilise in our regular session. The reason is because our shuttle usage is quite consistant week after week. For instance, a tube of RSL Supreme will only last for about 40min with game(s) on 2-courts while a tube of AS30 lasts roughly 1.5hr(s) in the same environment. Our de facto standard lasts about 1hr in the same scenario,

Babolat 1 logo

Babolat 1 with 3-layer cock structure