The best badminton rackets for beginners are not the ones your favourite player uses. They are the ones with a shaft soft enough to bend for a slow swing, a frame light enough to swing a hundred times without your shoulder complaining, and a price low enough that you won’t mind when it clashes with your partner’s racket in a doubles scramble. That rules out most of the rackets on the shop’s top shelf, and it rules in a handful of sensible models from Yonex, Li-Ning and Victor that cost between about 55 and 100 US dollars.
The three specs that matter for a first racket
Spend thirty seconds on the box and you’ll know more than most buyers.
Shaft flex: flexible or medium. This is the big one. A flexible shaft bends on the backswing and springs forward through the shuttle, which gives you free power when your technique can’t yet generate racket-head speed. Stiff and extra-stiff shafts don’t bend for a slow swing, so the shuttle comes off the strings short and flat. Players who buy a stiff racket too early blame their clears, when the racket is doing exactly what it was built to do for somebody else.
Weight: 4U, or 5U if you are lighter or younger. The U number is the frame’s weight class. 3U (85–89 g) is for strong players; 4U (80–84 g) is the sensible default for most adults; 5U and 6U are lighter still and suit juniors, smaller adults and anyone coming back from an arm injury. Lighter frames are easier to swing but carry less momentum, so clears take a little more effort. For a beginner the trade is worth it.
Balance: don’t overthink it. Head-heavy frames help you reach the back of the court; head-light frames are quicker at the net. Our head-heavy vs head-light guide covers the difference. For a first racket, a mild head-heavy or even balance is fine. What you want to avoid is an extreme at either end.
Everything else on the spec sheet, from the frame material names to the string pattern, matters far less at this stage than those three lines.
What to avoid
Steel or aluminium rackets. The 15-dollar rackets in a two-pack with a tube of plastic shuttles are heavy, dead and often badly balanced. A full-graphite racket from a real brand starts at around 55 dollars and is a different sport.
Anything described as “extra-stiff” or “for pro players”. The Astrox 99 Pro and Astrox 100ZZ are superb rackets. In a beginner’s hands they are planks. Head-heavy plus extra-stiff is the hardest combination in badminton to use well.
3U frames, if you are new to racket sports. Heavier frames hold more momentum, but you’ll feel it in your shoulder after an hour, and the extra mass slows down the reaction shots you are trying to learn.
Rackets strung at high tension. Most entry rackets come pre-strung at around 20–22 lbs. Leave them there. High tension shrinks the sweet spot and punishes off-centre hits, which is exactly where most beginner contacts land. Our string tension guide explains why.
Five rackets from our database that make sense
These are current models we track in the racket database. Prices are approximate US street prices and vary by region.
| Racket | Balance | Flex | Weights | Approx. price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yonex Astrox 10 | Head-heavy | Medium | 4U | $55 | Cheapest full-graphite starter |
| Yonex Astrox 01 Feel | Head-heavy | Flexible | 4U | $65 | Easiest clears for a slow swing |
| Li-Ning Axforce 20 (R) | Head-heavy | Flexible | 4U | $65 | Learning an attacking game |
| Li-Ning Axforce Cannon | Head-heavy | Flexible | 4U, 5U | $60 | Juniors and lighter players |
| Victor Auraspeed 2800 | Head-light | Medium | 4U | $100 | Fast doubles, net play |
Yonex Astrox 10
Yonex’s cheapest full-graphite Astrox, sold strung and in several colours. Medium shaft, mild head weight, 4U. It is not exciting, and that is the point: it is forgiving enough to learn clears and smashes on, and solid enough that you can keep it as a spare for years. If you have 55 dollars and no idea what you like, buy this.
Yonex Astrox 01 Feel
A step up in softness. The 01 Feel has a flexible shaft and a slim profile, and it comes pre-strung. The soft shaft does a lot of the work on full-length clears, which is why coaches point new adult players at it. You will outgrow its mushy feel once your swing speeds up, usually within a year or two of regular play. That’s fine. By then you’ll know what you want next.
Li-Ning Axforce 20 (R)
Li-Ning’s entry Axforce has a flexible high-carbon shaft and a head-heavy balance in a box-wing frame. It leans more towards attack than the Yonex pair, so if you already know you like hitting hard from the back, this is the one. Max tension 27 lbs, which is more than enough.
Li-Ning Axforce Cannon
The Cannon comes in 4U and a light 5U, with a 7.0 mm shaft that is soft and hard to break. That makes it the pick for juniors, smaller adults and anyone whose arm tires quickly. It trades precision for forgiveness and durability, which is exactly the right trade for a first racket. Max tension 29 lbs, though you won’t be going near that.
Victor Auraspeed 2800
The one head-light option on the list, and the most expensive. The Auraspeed 2800 has a thicker 7.0 mm shaft and a head-light balance, so it moves fast and feels easy at the net and in defence. If your club plays mostly doubles and you find yourself at the front a lot, this suits you better than any of the head-heavy frames above. Clears take a bit more effort.
Two to consider if your budget stretches
The Li-Ning Axforce 50 at around 110 dollars keeps a soft 6.8 mm shaft but in a frame you won’t outgrow as quickly. The Victor Thruster Light Fighter 30 is a 6U head-heavy frame at 75 dollars for lighter players who want something even lighter than the Cannon. Neither is a mistake, but neither is necessary.
Pre-strung or unstrung?
Entry rackets usually come strung from the factory, which is what you want. The factory string is a durable mid-gauge nylon at a modest tension, which is exactly right for a first year, and it saves you the 15 to 25 dollars a stringing job costs. Mid-range and top-end frames are often sold unstrung, so if a shop quotes you a tempting price on a 150-dollar racket, check whether you still have to pay for strings.
One more trap: the “strung” price on a cheap racket sometimes includes a string job at a tension chosen by whoever was on the machine that day. If the strings move around in the bed and the racket sounds dull on the first hit, it may be strung very loose. That is still fine for learning; just know that the racket will feel noticeably livelier once it is restrung properly.
Buy one, not two
New players sometimes buy a pair of identical rackets, because that is what advanced players do. Don’t. Your second racket should be bought a year from now, when you know what you want to change about the first one. If you need a spare for a tournament, borrow one.
Grip size and strings
Almost every racket above comes in G5, the standard grip for Yonex and Victor; the Axforce Cannon lists G5 too, while some Li-Ning models use G6 or their own S-sizing. If a handle feels thin, add an overgrip rather than hunting for a different size. Our grip guide covers how thick to go.
Leave the factory string on until it breaks. When it does, ask for a durable 0.70 mm string such as Yonex BG65 at 20–22 lbs. It is cheap and it lasts.
How to decide in two minutes
- If you have no idea what you like: Astrox 10 or Astrox 01 Feel.
- If you already love smashing: Axforce 20.
- If you are a junior, lighter adult or have a tired arm: Axforce Cannon in 5U.
- If your club is all doubles and you live at the net: Auraspeed 2800.
Run the racket finder with “beginner” and “flexible” or “medium” selected to see the full list, or put two of these side by side in the compare tool.
