Dear All, As per our coach The most suitable tension for racquet is 23lbs if we are playing with plastic shuttlecock and if we put more than 23lbs tension with plastic shuttlecock then speed may reduce BUT for feathers shuttlecock the racquet tension can apply over 25lbs Please advice is it true?
There is no reason to quantify it with numbers. It's true that most people have a preference to play with a lower tension for plastic shuttles compared to what they would use for feathers. This isn't really a matter of power though in my opinion as I think that looser strings are nice on plastic because it makes the impact a bit easier to take on my arm compared to high tensions when playing with plastic. I've seen people use 18bls to play plastic and then turn around and use 30lbs on feathers so it's all preference.
Yes, your coach is correct. Plastic require slightly lower tension and thicker strings, or else you won't be able to clear baseline to baseline, and your hand will get numb from all the harsh impact vibration.