Author: Racquet Network

Yonex BG65 is the top selling badminton string in the world. You can find it in virtually ever badminton pro shop and sporting goods store in the world. It is — almost literally — everywhere.

And because players can find it everywhere, they assume that it is meant for everyone.

This assumption, however, is incorrect. While everyone can use it, not everyone should. In fact, as I shall explain below, while BG65 works well for adult men using stiff, heavy men’s racquets, it is does not work as well for anyone else.

First, before I go any further, I should mention that BG65 is Yonex-brand badminton string. Its equivalency in Victor badminton string is VBS-70. These strings are both situated in the all-purpose badminton string category and are virtually identical in usage, if not in price. So everything I say about Yonex BG65 applies equally to Victor VBS-70.

Now that that’s out of the way …

To understand how BG65 became the top selling badminton string in the world, you must understand something about the sport of recreational badminton. Specifically, you must understand the basic demographics.

Regardless of where you are in the world, the majority of recreational badminton players will be men between the ages of 15 and 55. Yes, women, children and seniors all play badminton, but the vast majority of players in the rec-level badminton clubs are men.

Men as a group typically weigh more than women, children and/or seniors. They also tend to be stronger that women, children and/or seniors.

Yonex BG65 has become the top selling badminton string in the world because it looks after the needs of men between 15 and 55. It is thick enough to withstand their powerful off-center hits without breaking easily and powerful enough to allow them to hit the shuttle to all areas of the court.

Unfortunately, it does not serve most women, children and/or seniors equally well.

This group of players typically weighs less than men. They are also not typically as strong as men. So why would anybody imagine that they can use the same string as men?

The truth is, they can’t. Or rather, they shouldn’t. Women, children and seniors need more power to compensate for their relative lack of strength and lower body weights. So they need more powerful strings than men do.

And since they are not as strong as men and therefore don’t hit as hard, they don’t need the same durability from their string as men do. In fact, Yonex BG65 and Victor VBS-70 are both far more durable than most women, children and/or seniors will ever need.

So think about this the next time you bring your child’s racquet in for stringing service.

If your child was playing goal in hockey you wouldn’t equip him with adult men’s goalie pads because that would be ridiculous. A child wearing adult pads would have trouble moving around because his body is too small and his legs are too weak for such bulky equipment. So why would you put adult string in his badminton racquet?

Women, children and seniors are not men and they should not be playing with men’s badminton string.

Just as racquets for this group are softer and have shafts with more repulsion power, the stings in their racquets should be softer and have more repulsion power.

The truth is Yonex BG65 (or Victor VBS-70) is suitable for racquets with medium to extra stiff shafts, it is not the best string for high-flex or medium-stiff shafts. Similarly, while it is suitable for 3U frames and can be used at lower tensions in 4U frames, it is not the best choice for lighter frames, such as 5U or F.

In fact, if you are not a man in his physical prime, you probably don’t need to be using Yonex BG65 at all. It was never really designed for you so — beyond durability — it really isn’t adding anything to your game. In fact, if anything, it may be making the game harder for you to play.

Our expert stringers get a lot of questions about badminton string durability both in-store when they are stringing racquets for customers and at events where they are stringing racquets for top ranked players as part of the Yonex Stringing Team.

Many of the questions we get are based on confusion created by information players have read online.

For example, a common question is: “What is the most durable badminton string”? After which the person asking the question will often volunteer: “I’ve heard that it is Yonex BG65” or “I’ve read online that the most durable badminton string is BG65.”

So let’s look at Yonex BG65 first.

According to Yonex Canada’s annually published chart of badminton strings — currently entitled BADMINTON 2019 STRINGS — BG65 has a durability rating of 8. But what does 8 mean?

Most people assume that this means that it has a durability of 8 out of 10, or 80%. This is not correct.

Yonex durability ratings on this chart range from a low of 5 to a high of 8. In other words, their least durable strings are rated at 5 while their most durable strings are rated as 8.

To be completely honest, this is a misleading way to describe durability because most people assume that the ratings of 5, 6, 7, or 8 are out of 10. So they assume that 8 out of 10, which is 80% is significantly above an imaginary pass/fail line of 50%.

This is completely wrong. A much better way to look at Yonex’ badminton string durability rating system is as follows:

• Durability rating of 5 = extra low durability
• Durability rating of 6 = low durability
• Durability rating of 7 = moderate durability
• Durability rating of 8 = high durability

On the 2019 version of the chart, the only strings with a durability rating of 5 are Aerosonic and BG66, both of which are unusually thin and fragile strings. So I think we can safely label 5 as “exceptionally low” while the remaining strings can be sorted into the general categories of low, moderate and high durability.

Based on this hierarchy, which I will now call the Racquet Network Badminton String Rating System, Yonex strings are organized as a follows.

Racquet Network Badminton String Rating System

Extra Low Durability

Strings in this category are exceptionally thin and powerful, but may lack durability when used by strong, adult players. While strings in this category can be extremely beneficial for children, some ladies and some seniors — all of whom typically benefit from the increased power provided by thin strings — the materials in these strings can easily be overpowered by strong, athletic players (e.g. men) who frequently hit off center (e.g. recreational men).

• Aerosonic
• BG66

The typical player profile for these strings is ladies, seniors and children under 125 lbs using nylon shuttles who hit up more often than they hit down. Adult players using nylon shuttles who are frequently hitting down (smashing) with these strings should expect to break strings frequently. Strings in this category experience maximum durability when installed in racquets that are medium to high-flex.; they are typically not durable enough to be used in stiff or extra stiff racquets.

Low Durability

Strings in this category tend to provide a reasonable balance between power and durability when used by men with feather shuttles. They also offer good durability for weaker/lighter players (ladies, seniors, children) who are playing with nylon shuttles and need some power assistance from their string bed.

• Aerobite
• BG66 Force
• BG66 Ultramax
• BG68 Titanium
• BG80
• BG85

The typical player profile for these strings is men and/or competitive ladies/juniors/seniors who are using feather shuttles. Adult players using nylon shuttles who are frequently hitting down (smashing) with these strings should expect to break strings regularly. Strings in this category are sufficiently durable to be used in racquets with medium to stiff shafts in the 4U to 5U weight ranges.

Moderate Durability

Strings in this category tend to provide moderate durability when used by men who are playing with nylon shuttles. These strings should be avoided by weaker/lighter players (ladies, seniors, children) who are playing with nylon shuttles.

• Aerobite Boost
• BG65 Titanium
• BG80 Power
• BG70 Pro
• Nanogy 98
• Nanogy 99

The typical player profile for these strings is adult men who are using nylon and/or feather shuttles. Strings in this category are sufficiently durable to be used in racquets with medium to extra stiff shafts in the 3U and 4U weight ranges.

High Durability Strings

Strings in this category are exceptionally stiff and durable, but may lack power when used by ladies, seniors and children. While strings in the category can be extremely beneficial for adult men — who often hit so hard that they overpower the materials and break strings frequently — these strings lack power and can actually make the game harder to play for weaker players with lower body masses (under 150 lbs).

• Nanogy 95
• BG65

The typical player profile for these strings is athletic boys and adult men using nylon shuttles who hit down (smash) frequently. Strings in this category experience minimum playability when installed in racquets that are stiff and extra stiff. These strings should be reserved for stiff and extra stiff racquets that are in the 2U and 3U weight ranges.