Keepro brand shuttles

Was informed of this newish shuttlecock brand and had written an email to the distributor in Malaysia, requesting for samples (email from their website).

No receive any reply(s) yet.

Ling-Mei Green

Found this sample in one of the halls I frequent.

Not tried before but have been told this shuttle is quite lasting.

Ling-Mei Green found in one of the halls I frequent

Ling-Mei Green with 3-layer cork structure

Shuttlecock without cork attached

Found this in one of the badminton halls I frequent, am now wondering how often this occurs eg cork cames-off during play?

Personally I have only came across (not caused by myself) such a phenomenon on only a few occasions over many years of playing badminton. 

Usually caused by a extremely hard mis-hit when the edge of the racquet just happens to hit the corner end of the shuttlecock - from during a smash. 

Anyone else seen this resultant from a different stroke??

Cork came off during game

RCL E280

One of the groups I frequent started using the RCL E280 shuttlecocks for their session.

RCL E280 tube from the internet

Pix of shuttle from session

Initial impressions was good with good flight characteristics and nice feedback upon hitting the shuttle. Shuttle weight is about average - not light but not heavy either. We did notice that 3 in a tube of 12 were brittle and was easily damaged with a single broken feather. The rest were good for a casual game, only necessary to change the shuttle around 75-80% of a set of 21-points.

In summary;-

Cost: Unknown, as the shuttles were purchased on behalf of the organiser by a committee member when in Malaysia. Will update once I have the information

Performance: Good flight characteristics which lasts for a reasonable time. You will definitely see the degradation prompting the need for replacement

Durability: Single shuttle can last about 75-80% of a casual game with moderate smashing (not hard smashes). Hence reasonable durability.


In summary, the shuttle is more than adequate for any casual games. Durability and performance wise, I personally prefer the E280 to the likes of many of the popular shuttles available in Singapore. It may not be super durable or the best performer, but it's definitely a good balance of all the required characteristics vs what's available in the SG market.

Shuttlecocks sold in a sundry shop

Could not believe my eyes when I saw the below with a price tag of $2.90😮 in a shop - looked like they put together some very used shuttles for sale!!!

One possible reason why the RSL Supreme is popular?

Not sure if any players noticed the wide-spread usage of the RSL Supreme shuttlecocks on the courts in Singapore.

I am aware of one possible reason for this "popularity" among the various organisers. The feathers do not break as easily as the other brand/model(s) but the RSL Supreme shuttles tend to slow down quite a bit if used in a more than average game pace.

For instance, the sample below. It looks ok (even when in real life!) but upon usage, the shuttle slows down too much for a decent game among above average intermediate players. The slowdown effect is as if a Speed-77 shuttle has turned itself to a Speed-76 or 75!!!

Rear view of the RSL Supreme

A long time organiser informed the recent RSL Supreme stock has degraded in the past few years, after RSL introduced the Ultimate model.

Update on rest of Babolat 1 shuttles after usage

(continuation from Babolat 1 post)

Here is the pix of the remaining 11 shuttles after usage on our next regular session.

Resultant after usage of the remaining 11 shuttles

Most of the feedback from my regulars were not favourable to 👎👎. It seems the Babolat 1 has a tendency to "shake in flight" after experiencing 2 or 3 above average smashes. This is due to the ribcage structure not being rigid enough which  could be due to the type of glue used and/or feathers not position deep enough into the cork structure.

In summary:-

DURABILITY: The Babolat 1 lasts for roughly about the same duration as per Babolat 2 for us. 

Many of the shuttles developed an annoying "shake" during flight after a few above average smashes. This "shake" motion in the flight was caused by a minor "lob-side-ing" of the ribcage structure.

Looking back at the Babolat 2 review, the "shake"s seem to be characteristic for this brand of shuttlecocks.

PERFORMANCE: Initially quite fast. Speed lowers a bit after a few hits and the speed remains quite consistent afterwards.  Initially a nice crisp feel upon usage but then the feeling disappears after a few points. 

COST:  In Malaysian, the Babolat 1 sells for RM89-90 per tube - that's roughly in the Yonex AS40&AS50 territory. Hence this is VERY expensive for what it offers.

To be honest, I would consider the Babolat 2 better value for money, if you intend to buy Babolat shuttlecocks.

In general the Babolat 1 is an average shuttle and VERY expensive "for what you get". 

Cosmetic wise, feather(s) on several shuttles were not bleached properly (see pix(s) below) but this does not impact performance in any manner or form

Improperly bleached feather on 1st shuttle

Improperly bleached feather on shuttle#2

Improperly bleach feather on shuttle#3

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