Aerodynamics of badminton shuttlecock

The aerodynamic characteristics of badminton shuttlecocks are significantly different from balls used in other racquet sports. Being a bluff body, the shuttlecock generates significant aerodynamic drag and complex flight trajectory. Although aerodynamic behaviour of spherical and ellipsoidal balls is well known, scant knowledge is available in the public domain about the aerodynamics of shuttlecocks. The primary objectives of this study were to measure aerodynamic drag of a series of feather and synthetic shuttlecocks under a range of wind speeds, and compare the results of synthetic shuttlecocks with feather shuttlecocks.