Shuttlecocks Badminton Discount Tennis Gear

A shuttlecock is a cone-shaped projectile with a round base made of cork. The cone-shaped portion of the shuttlecock is traditionally formed of 16 overlapped goose feathers. The cork base is tightly covered with a small piece of thin leather. The design of the shuttlecock is meant to increase wind drag, thusly slowing its velocity after a hit. Shuttlecocks are soundly aerodynamic and, because of their specific design and the weight of the cork in the base, the shuttlecock will fly in a highly predictable manner and will always travel cork first. In layman’s terms, the shuttlecock is the “ball” of badminton.

 

Most people will shorten the term shuttlecock and make it shuttle. Many people also use the term birdie. Historically the term shuttlecock was derived from “shuttle” as in the shuttle of a loom and the back and forth motion with which they are associated, and “cock” for the resemblence the cone of goose feathers bears to a cockerel. The terms bird and birdie originated because of the flight of the shuttlecock and, of course, the feathers.