The 16 feathers traditionally used to construct traditional shuttlecocks are normally organised in an overlapping spiral arrangement. As a result, the shuttlecock tends to whirl in flight, adding spin-stability to what would otherwise be a more haphazard trajectory. But raising the question, in which direction should it rotate? The Badminton World Federation (which oversees international […]
Tag: shuttlecocks
Shuttlecock aerodynamics: part 3
“The shuttlecock soars upward In a parabola of whiteness, Turns, And sinks to a perfect arc.” This extract, from one of the few eminent poems to prominently feature shuttlecocks, is by Amy Lawrence Lowell, (Men, Women and Ghosts, A Roxbury Garden,1916) and is quoted in the latest research regarding the aerodynamics of shuttlecocks. A study by […]
Shuttlecock Aerodynamics (Part 2)
[This part 2 of a series] The 2009 work of Firoz Alam, Harun Chowdhury, Chavaporn Theppadungporn, Aleksandar Subic, and M. M. K. Khan (on the aerodynamics of shuttlecocks) has been complemented by a new study from LadHyX*, Palaiseau, France. “We study experimentally shuttlecocks dynamics. In this part we show how the shuttlecock shape is optimized […]
Shuttlecocks – the aerodynamics of
For badminton players: “The centre piece of the game is no doubt a shuttlecock which is made of either natural feathers or synthetic rubber with an open conical shape.” But perhaps some are left wondering which is best from an aerodynamic point of view – a feathered ‘bird’ or a rubber one? “Although a series […]