DriveSports Badminton
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GENESIS GS50 Feather Shuttle
It is very difficult to find a premium shuttle designed specifically for Calgary, Alberta. With an elevation of 1,000+ meters and extremely dry climate, shuttles used in Vancouver, Toronto, Hong Kong, and Shanghai do not play well in Alberta - they are too fast and too brittle. Our club uses thousands of shuttles every year, and in our quest to find the ideal shuttle, we commissioned Genesis Sports to design the GS50 exclusively for Alberta. What is an ideal feather shuttle at DS? We demand a shuttle that is durable, plays well at a proper speed that doesn't need to be "tipped" and wobble free. We want a Yonex AS50 or Victor Master 1 quality shuttle, but we want to pay much less and we want a warranty against defect. YES I SAID WARRANTY?!!? And that is what we got, a premium shuttle tested in Calgary and backed by a guarantee that if the GS50 doesn't fly right, it will be replaced.
SPIRAL
First thing I do when assessing a shuttle is to look at how the feathers overlap on the inside and outside. Does one feather overlap the other and go to the bone of the next feather? If the spirals are not uniform, on the inside you can bet the flight will be inconsistent. If the spirals are not uniform on the outside, the bird will wobble causing the player to clip the shuttle which causes it to break faster. Spirals on the GS50 are almost identical to Yonex AS50 and Victor Master 1 while the Chopai Red shuttle is not as uniform. To achieve a uniform spiral, inside and out, the manufacturer needs to use outer wing span feathers from geese or outer-lower wing span from ducks (almost no shuttles are produced using full goose feather inspite of labeling on package). With the right input, machines cut / stamp the feathers to shape.
AS50
Master 1
GS50
Chopai
Chopai
FEATHER QUALITY
Genesis GS50 uses a blend of goose and premium duck feather. In photo below, shuttles are arranged based on the width of the feather, from skinniest (Chopai), Yonex AS50 (wide), Genesis GS50 (wider) to widest (Victor Master 1). I was surprised to discover the Yonex AS50 had narrower feathers then the GS50 and Master 1 (after comparing several birds) . . . I might need another batch of AS50 to test again. Not in photo below, I found that the RSL Ultimums had the best quality feather unfortunately it was also very expensive and didn't fly right in Calgary.
Chopai
narrow
AS50
GS50
Master 1
widest
Chopai
narrow
AS50
GS50
Master 1
widest
CORK & GLUE JOB
We dissected the Genesis GS50, Victor Master 1, Yonex AS50, and Chopai Red, and discovered some cork differences. The GS50 uses a composite sandwich cork which I personally do not like but the manufacturer explained that is the the only way to make a 74 speed bird without compromising the cut on the feathers. The Yonex AS50 (speed 0) has a less dense and more pale 100% cork while the Chopai and Victor Master #1 uses a denser, darker 100% cork (per photo). As far as hitting sound and feel, testers all said these premium shuttles sounded and felt nice.
CONCLUSION: BEAT UP TEST
We used FIVE models of brand new shuttles and tested 4 shuttles from each model to see how it would hold up under smashing before the shuttle becomes unplayable. It is subjective as we don't have access to a stress test machine and different shuttles respond differently to steaming times but it gives you an idea based on a typical doubles game (assuming no mis-hits)":
$31 GENESIS GS50 (74) 23-25 smashes 18-20 points then slows down dramatically (need change)
$38 Victor Master #1 (75) 20-24 smashes 16-17 points then significant flight deterioration (big variance within tube)
$30 Chopai Red (75) 20-22 smashes 16-17 points then destroyed
$42 Yonex AS50 (speed 0) 16-18 smashes 14-15 points then destroyed (not durable)
$30 Victor Champion #1 (75) 14-15 smashes 11-12 points before clipping / breaking
In conclusion, the Genesis GS50 is the most durable shuttle. Our reviewers found the flight of the Genesis GS50 to rival that of the Yonex AS50. During the doubles test, the GS50 lasted the longest but had to be changed as it slows down too much - this is likely the result of a speed 74 bird which require no or minimal tipping.
AS50