How to select the best Badminton racquet for your style

Which is the best badminton racquet for you?
The search for the best badminton racquet, can be a bit daunting as you have to choose from a vast array of racquets, that have flooded the market.
The selection should start, with a little self analysis.

Self Analysis:Just assess your own game.Do you consider yourself a beginner,intermediate or an advanced player?Ask a friend,for his/her opinion of your game as well.
Also,ask yourself if you are a better aggressive smash oriented player or you are more of a control player who prefers accurate placements around the court.Again ask your friend for an opinion of you, to remove any self bias.
If you are an advanced, smash oriented player lets call you a Warrior and if you are a control based player lets call you a ControlFreak.
Once you have analysed your style of play,the selection is relatively easy.
We wont go into minute details in this article,as the scope of this article is limited.Please email zen@zensports.com.au for any additional questions ,regarding racquet selection.
Racquet selection can be made, depending on the various qualities of the racquet:
1.Racquet material:If you are relatively new to the game and are not sure how long you would be playing, invest in a cheaper graphite alloy racquet.Do not use racquets that dont have any graphite in them, as you might end up hurting yourself.
ControlFreaks and Warriors have a wide range of racquets to choose from.There are various grades of graphite ranging from
A.Graphite Aluminium Alloys
B. Graphite Carbon[ZenUchi10,Saya77]
C.High Modulus Graphite[Attack522,StingTi6000]
D.Nanocarbon [Entire Zen Katana Nano Range]
There is no one answer on what is good for you.It can only come from trying out and experimenting different grades of racquets.

2.Weight:Racquets have become incredibly light these days,ranging from as low as 79gms, to 92gms.Anything heavier than that might be hard to play with and might result in injuries.Generally, ConrolFreaks might benefit from a lighter racquet[80-85gms] and Warriors from a heavier racquet[85-90gms].

3.Balance:If you are a Warrior you might prefer a head heavy racquet[balance 280-290mm][Zen Katana791,KatanaType98,Attack522] and if you are a ControlFreak you might be better off with a balance of 295-300mm[ZenKatanaTypeXO,Zen Sting]

4.Flex:Racquets can be Highly Flexible[Zen Sting]or Highly stiff[Katana791].ControlFreaks would be better off, with a highly flexible racquet and Warriors can get more out of a highly stiff racquet.

5.String thickness and String tension:Generally thicker strings, 0.75mm to 0.85mm strung at 24lbs-26lbs are preferred for ControlFreaks and thinner strings 0.65mm to 0.73 mm strung at 20lbs -23lbsare preferred for Warriors.Higher the tension,better the control and lesser the tension better the smashes.Warriors though might benefit from using thin strings and stringing them at high tensions.This is a very broad generalisation and there are a lot more variations to this depending on the style of play.

6.Grips:Grips have become smaller and lighter with the latest to hit the market being G5.Consider replacing the original factory grip with a replacement grip as this gives much better traction and control.If you have big hands,or like a thick grip put one or two overgrips on top of the repalcement grip.The replacement grip goes directly on the wood part of the racquet.

If you consider these 6 points during racquet selection the rest is relatively easy.The important part is knowing your own game and making the right choice accordingly.