The parts of a feather shuttlecock

A feather shuttlecock is a small object with few parts. Knowing them makes every reading easier to follow.

The parts

• Sixteen feathers. They are fixed into the base in a ring, each overlapping the next.
• The base. A rounded cork, usually covered in a thin white skin.
• The thread. Lines of thread tie the shafts together partway up and keep the ring in shape.
• The glue. It fixes the shafts in the base and seals the thread.

Parts of one feather

• The shaft. The stiff central spine. It carries the load on every hit.
• The vane. The flat, soft part on both sides of the shaft. This is where shape, whiteness and most defects are seen.
• The tip. The top edge of the vane, cut to a set shape.

The official measurements

The Laws of Badminton set these for a feather shuttle:

• 16 feathers fixed in the base.
• Feathers of uniform length, between 62 mm and 70 mm from the tip to the top of the base.
• Tips lying on a circle 58 mm to 68 mm across.
• A base 25 mm to 28 mm across, rounded on the bottom.
• A weight of 4.74 g to 5.50 g.

Source: Badminton World Federation, Laws of Badminton, Law 2.

Why the feathers matter most

The feathers decide how a shuttle looks to the eye and they are what a photo records. That is why a reading on this site is about the feathers, and says nothing about the inside of the cork.