Contrary to popular belief, Yonex pre-strung badminton racquets are NOT pre-strung with Yonex BG65.
Virtually all of Yonex’ pre-strung badminton racquets are pre-strung with something called Yonex Demo Gut — a low-cost, extruded nylon monofilament that is nothing at all like Yonex BG65 multifilament.
Yonex Demo Gut is not intended for long-term adult use. It is a temporary string put in racquets to help them keep their shape and to help large sporting good stores sell racquets.
Yonex Demo Gut is not intended to function as badminton string in any serious way.
You will not find serious players at the professional or recreational level stringing their racquets with Yonex Demo Gut.
In fact, Yonex does not even sell Yonex Demo Gut.
The name tells you all you need to know. Demo Gut was created as a demo string. Essentially, it is a prop. It is a substitute for the real thing.
So when you buy a pre-strung Yonex racquet, you should plan to replace the strings in very short order.
What you replace it with is up to you. It will depend on the racquet you are stringing, the shuttles you are using, and what you need the string to do.
Yonex has an large selection of excellent badminton strings to choose from. Regardless of who you are or how you play, we will be able to help you choose a suitable replacement when you are ready.
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.
Victor VBS-70 is equivalent to Yonex BG65 but costs about 15% less.
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.
The Astrox 88 comes in two versions. The Astrox 88D and the Astrox 88S. The models are identical with one exception, the 88S is about a centimeter shorter than the 88D. This is because the 88S is designed for players who play mostly from mid-court to front court while the 88D is for players who play mid- to back-court. Given the marketing for this racquet, stringers should expect that the Astrox 88D will be used by smashers and drivers while the 88S will be used primarily for drops, lifts and clears.
How to String the Astrox 88D
If you are stringing for advanced to elite level men using feather shuttles, we recommend using one of these strings.
Nylon shuttles, of course, are much harder on strings than feather shuttles. So some men may break strings more often than they like using string from the group above. In that case, it may be advisable to switch to something more durable.
How to String the Astrox 88S
As this is a shorter racquet intended for front court usage, it is most likely to be used by shorter and lighter players (ladies, for example) than the 88D. Our advice, therefore, it to string it with thinner, less durable strings.
Our string suggestions for players using feather shuttles includes this group of string options…
As always, these suggestions are just starting points. Players who are having particular issues are advised to come into the store and discuss options with our experts.
The Yonex Nanoflare 700 badminton racquet is a medium flex frame designed for defensive players at the recreational level.
As a medium flex racquet it is unlikely to be used by big strong guys who are heavy smashers. Players of that ilk are more likely to play with stiff or extra stiff frames such as the Nanoflare 370 Speed or something from the Astrox family of smashing racquets.
If you are stringing your Nanoray 700 for the players for whom it is intended, you should not have to use a thick, durable string. In fact, if these are the players who are using it and if they are using nylon shuttles, you are probably best to go with one of these …
Remember — none of the strings above are for exceptionally hard hitters or frequent string breakers because that is not who this racquet is intended for. So if you string with one of the strings above and you find they are breaking too often, you will have to go back to the drawing board and pick something for frequent string breakers (Badminton String for Frequent String Breakers using Nylon Shuttles).
