What a shuttle is: construction, weight and the speed test in the laws
Feathers, cork base and synthetic skirt, the official measurements and how a shuttle's speed is checked.
Why the shuttle is unusual
A shuttle is built to fly fast and then slow down quickly, which is what lets a rally last in a small court. Its shape and weight are therefore tightly defined. The laws accept natural and synthetic materials, as long as the flight is similar to that of a natural feathered shuttle with a cork base covered by a thin layer of leather (Law 2, BWF Laws of Badminton, edition in force 26 April 2025).
Feathered shuttle: the measurements
- 16 feathers fixed in the base.
- Feathers of uniform length between 62 and 70 mm, measured from the tip to the top of the base.
- The tips lie on a circle 58 to 68 mm in diameter.
- The base is 25 to 28 mm in diameter and rounded at the bottom.
- The whole shuttle weighs 4.74 to 5.50 g.
Outside the laws, general references say the feathers usually come from geese or ducks and that using feathers from one wing only in a given shuttle is preferable because left and right wing feathers are shaped differently (Wikipedia, Shuttlecock). Treat this as general information, not as a rule.
Synthetic shuttle
A skirt or imitation feathers replace natural feathers. The base is the same, and the dimensions and weight are the same, with a tolerance of up to 10 per cent because synthetic materials differ in density from feathers (Law 2.3).
The speed test
To test a shuttle, a player hits a full underhand stroke from the back boundary line, upwards and parallel to the side lines. A shuttle of the correct speed lands not less than 530 mm and not more than 990 mm short of the other back boundary line (Law 3).
Why speeds differ in practice
The laws allow a national federation to approve changes to the specification where altitude or climate make the standard shuttle unsuitable, provided the design, speed and flight stay the same (Law 2). General references add that humidity and altitude affect the flight of the shuttle and that feathers are brittle, whereas plastic shuttles last much longer (Wikipedia, Shuttlecock). The marking printed on a tube for speed is the maker's, and how to read it is explained in our lesson on speed markings.
Mistakes to avoid
- Believing that two shuttles with the same speed number from different makers fly identically.
- Judging a shuttle only by price, without checking whether it is the feathered or synthetic type and which speed.