If you are a badminton player, you’d know that the gutting process is a very important one and a one that you can not avoid.
Guts of a racquet are important as fuel is to a car; without it, it won’t work. Source.
The process of changing the strings of your badminton racket as the older ones are damaged or broken is called Gutting.
While giving your racquet for gutting there are a few factors to consider.
The weight and type of racquet you wish to gut, play an important role in deciding what guts to chose and how tight to gut it.
Guts are put at various tensions. Tension is the amount of force with which the strings are pulled during the process of gutting. This tension is measured in pounds (lbs).
Depending on what level player you are, you should get your racquet gutted accordingly.
- Beginners should get their racquets gutted at 20-23 pounds (lbs)
- Intermediate should get their racquets gutted at 24-27 pounds (lbs)
- Advance/Professional players get their racquets gutted from 28 to all the way 34 pounds (lbs)
There is a very strong reason for this. Contrary to what people believe, more the tension equals to LESS power. Yes, you read correctly.
The reason behind this is that, the lower you gut your racquet, the more is the repulsion. This means you will get more power and hence you will have a more impactful smash.
This is the reason why lower tension is always recommended for beginners. Beginners tend to not have much power, so lower tensions in their strings will help them hit shots with more power.
On the other hand, professionals and advanced players love to string their guts at a much higher tension as the repulsion is reduced which means the player gets more control over his/her shots.
The disadvantage in gutting your strings at a very high tension is that the power generated is reduced. But at the advanced levels, power is something all players tend to have.
The other disadvantage of high tension gutting is that the strings of a racquet tend to break faster and the frequency with one needs to change their guts increases. But once again the more advanced players are used to this.
When it comes to choosing guts, it is always advised to buy guts that are slightly thicker in nature. Source.
Thicker guts will last you longer than thinner guts. During any mis-hits or miss contacts of the shuttle, guts that are on the thinner side then to snap faster.
If your guts are thinner in nature, mishits and miss contacts of the shuttle tend not to be very forgiving.
The badminton company Yonex offers guts that are suitable to all level players.
Yonex guts are the more durable ones and are preferred over any other company. Source.
It is very important that you chose the right gutting which is suited to your game level and even style. If you are a hard hitter and a more attacking player, you should adjust your gut tension and size accordingly as to avoid changing the strings constantly which tends to be an expensive affair.
This video demonstrates the process of gutting a racquet:
Conclusion:
Gutting is an important process to understand if you want to take up badminton. Incorrect gutting can result in weaker play which may be discouraging to a player. This can be avoided if a well-informed decision is made.
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