An Overview of Victor Badminton Shuttlecocks

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Welcome to my overview of Victor badminton shuttlecocks. As you may know, Victor is one of the biggest badminton brands in the world, which I listed as #2 in The Ultimate List of Badminton Brands. The purpose of this post is to give an introduction of what shuttlecocks are available from Victor and a brief description of each of them. I wrote other posts on shuttlecocks too, take a look at them below.

Shuttlecock BrandPost
YonexFeathered | Synthetic
VictorLink
Li-NingLink

I’ll admit that I’m not a big Victor user as I have mainly used Yonex products in the past, but I want to look more into other brands to give you, the readers, as much information as I can. When doing research here, it was quite surprising how difficult it was to get information regarding Victor shuttlecocks. Just getting a list of what was available was a headache!

Anyways, I hope this list helps you understand what Victor shuttlecocks there are to help you decide what is best for you. If you would like to do more research into how these compare to Yonex, take a look at The Complete Guide to Yonex Badminton Shuttlecocks (Feathered) and The Complete Guide to Yonex Badminton Shuttlecocks (Synthetic).

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Feather Types

Before I get into the actual shuttlecocks, you’ll want to understand how they’re categorized as each type comes with different properties and can affect your gameplay and experience.

Victor sells 4 different types of badminton shuttlecocks:

  1. Goose Feather
  2. Duck Feather
  3. Synthetic
  4. Carbon Foam

Goose Feather shuttlecocks are the international standard in tournaments. All serious badminton tournaments use the highest grade shuttlecocks which are all goose feather (as of 2021). Goose feathers are considered the best quality because of its flight and durability attributes. In general, goose feather shuttlecocks fly with a nice and natural curve and is more durable than duck feathers. Of course, there will be different grades and quality differences among the many goose feather shuttlecocks.

Duck Feather shuttlecocks have similar flight properties as goose feather shuttlecocks but tend to not be as durable. Because of the lower durability, duck feather shuttlecocks are seen as lower quality and are typically used for training purposes.

Synthetic shuttlecocks, also known as nylon shuttlecocks, are not made with feathers from a bird but are rather made from plastic. Since these shuttlecocks are made from plastic, they are much more durable than feather shuttlecocks and are therefore usually more cost effective. However, synthetic shuttlecocks do not fly the same as feathered shuttlecocks as they tend to not fall as sharply. The post Which Shuttlecock is Better: Feathered or Synthetic (Plastic)? goes over all the differences in trajectory to help you decide which one is right for you. In general, beginners and high school level badminton tournaments use synthetic shuttlecocks as the durability helps keep their budgets low.

Carbon Foam shuttlecocks are the newest type of shuttlecocks to the market which Victor has revolutionized. These shuttlecocks are made out of foam feathers and ultralight carbon. It is neither the same as feathered shuttlecocks nor synthetic ones, but rather in its own category. These shuttlecocks are still very new and not widely used, so make sure to send your feedback to Victor so that they can improve on them!

Now, here’s a quick overview of the Victor shuttlecocks in each of these categories. They’re roughly listed from best to worst quality. We’ll dive deeper into each one afterwards.

Goose Feather

  1. Master Ace
  2. Gold Champion
  3. Master No 1
  4. Master No 2
  5. Master No 3
  6. Master No 4
  7. Master No 5
  8. Master No 6
  9. Master No 7
  10. Service

Duck Feather

  1. Champion No 1
  2. Champion No 3
  3. Champion No 5
  4. Champion No 7
  5. Gold Maxima
  6. Queen
  7. Special
  8. Pro Court
  9. Gold No 1
  10. Gold

Synthetic

  1. Nylon Shuttle 3000
  2. Nylon Shuttle 2000 GOLD
  3. Nylon Shuttle 1000 SILVER
  4. Nylon Shuttle 500 BRONZE
  5. Nylon Shuttle 400
  6. AirShuttle 1
  7. AirShuttle 2

Carbon Foam

  1. Carbonsonic 1
  2. Carbonsonic 2

Other

I couldn’t find a conclusive answer whether these shuttlecocks used goose or duck feathers as different sites said different things and these aren’t listed on Victor’s official site. From what I can tell, these are older shuttlecocks that aren’t widely used anymore.

  1. Tourney 
  2. Tourney 2

Metrics

I found 2 diagrams by Victor about some of the shuttlecocks’ stability and durability. They took some “model” shuttlecocks to compare them with their shuttlecocks but it’s not clear what they were. In any case, they seem to think that the stability and durability of their shuttlecocks are pretty good. Keep in mind that they’re probably biased. Take a look down below.

Victor Goose Feather Shuttlecocks

1. Master Ace

Victor Master Ace Shuttlecocks
Victor Master Ace Shuttlecocks

The Master Ace is Victor’s highest quality goose feather shuttlecock. It’s among the approved shuttlecocks for international competition by BWF and is the shuttlecock that is used at most Victor sponsored tournaments, which have included the Victor Korean Open, Danisa Denmark Open, and China Open.

2. Gold Champion

Victor Gold Champion

The Gold Champion is also currently on BWF’s list of approved shuttlecocks for international competition. It is the official shuttlecock in Germany and uses a full, premium cork for its base.

3. Master No 1

Victor Master No. 1

The Master No 1 is the best shuttlecock in the Victor Master series after the Master Ace. Along with the 2 above shuttlecocks (the Master Ace and Gold Champion), it is approved by BWF for international competition. It also uses a full, premium cork and is the official shuttlecock for the Badminton Asia Confederation. The Master shuttlecocks decrease in quality as the numbers increase from 1 to 5.

4. Master No 2

Victor Master No. 2
Victor Master No. 2

The Master No 2 is second in line in the Victor Master series, which consists of 5 different levels. While all of the shuttlecocks in the Master series uses goose feather, the Master No 2 is the last one in the series to feature a full, premium cork. Master No 3, 4, and 5 which are described below all use composite corks, which means that it isn’t completely made out of a single material and is not as durable. 

5. Master No 3

Victor Master No. 3

As we go down the Victor Master series, the Master No 3 is right in the middle of the pack. It is the first in the series to use a composite cork and is therefore not as durable. This isn’t that big of an issue for those who don’t hit the shuttlecocks hard, such as beginners.

6. Master No 4

Victor Master No. 4

The Master No 4 uses the same materials as the Master No 3 (goose feathers, composite cork) but with slightly worse quality. You’d probably want to use them with beginners or for training purposes.

7. Master No 5

Victor Master No. 5
Victor Master No. 5

The Master No 5 is made of goose feathers and should be used for training purposes.

8. Master No 6

Victor Master No 6
Victor Master No 6

The Master No 6 is also made of goose feathers and should be used for training purposes.

9. Master No 7

Victor Master No 7
Victor Master No 7

The Master No 7 is the last shuttlecock in the Victor Master series and is considered the lowest quality of them. They should only be used for training purposes.

10. Service

Victor Service
Victor Service

Victor claims the Service to be a best seller in Europe for decades. I don’t live there so I can’t really comment on it. Players say that they are similar to Yonex’s Aerosensa 30 shuttlecock, which I have fully tested and written a review about. I have yet to test the Service but stay tuned for an update.

Victor Duck Feather Shuttlecocks

1. Champion No 1

Victor Champion No 1
Victor Champion No. 1

Victor’s Champion No 1 shuttlecock is the only duck feather shuttlecock by Victor that is approved by BWF. That tells you that the shuttlecock has been through a rigorous testing process and is virtually on par with other goose feather shuttlecocks! Interestingly, it does use a composite cork instead of being made entirely of cork but still passes BWF’s tests. It probably still isn’t as durable as some of the higher end goose feather shuttlecocks but is probably cheaper. It would certainly be a good shuttlecock to play with even at tournaments if you want to get good value for your money.

2. Champion No 3

Victor Champion No. 3

The Champion No 3 is the 2nd shuttlecock in Victor’s Champion series. For some reason Victor skips even numbers here – I’m not really sure why. As the numbers get bigger in the series, the quality and durability goes down. The other attributes are generally the same.

3. Champion No 5

Victor Champion No. 5

The Champion No 5 is the 3rd shuttlecock in Victor’s Champion series. It also uses a composite cork and duck feathers.

4. Champion No 7

Victor Champion No. 7

The Champion No 7 is the 4th and final shuttlecock in Victor’s Champion series. It’s the cheapest and lowest quality of the series. It’d be best to use these with beginners or training purposes only.

5. Gold Maxima

Victor Gold Maxima
Victor Gold Maxima

The Gold Maxima is a category A shuttlecock in the Netherlands where it is used for tournaments. Victor claims that it’s a great cost-effective shuttlecock due to its robust quills.

6. Queen

Victor Queen
Victor Queen

Victor claims that Queen is a well known shuttlecock around the world for its durability. I personally haven’t heard of it until researching more about Victor and I’ve been playing badminton for 15 years in the USA! I’ll certainly test these out in person at some point to see if its durability truly holds up to expectations, so come back for an update in the future!

7. Special

Victor Special

The Special shuttlecock is Austria’s official shuttlecock. It’s great for recreational play and training.

8. Pro Court

Victor Pro Court
Victor Pro Court

Victor’s Pro Court was designed for training purposes. It’s cheap but not durable, so don’t expect much from it if you try playing games with it.

9. Gold No 1

Victor Gold No. 1

The Gold No 1 is produced with composite cork and duck feathers. It seems to be an older brand of Victor’s since it’s not advertised in Victor’s ` catalog.

10. Gold

Victor Gold

There isn’t much information of Victor’s Gold shuttlecocks anywhere so it doesn’t seem to be used much anymore. It is also not advertised in Victor’s newest catalog.

Victor Synthetic Shuttlecocks

1. Nylon Shuttle 3000

Victor Nylon Shuttle 3000

The Nylon Shuttle 3000 uses 100% natural Portugese cork for its base and flies similarly to a feathered shuttlecock. It is Victor’s highest grade synthetic shuttlecock (the higher the number, the better in this case). It has excellent durability and can be used in tournaments.

2. Nylon Shuttle 2000 GOLD

Nylon Shuttle 2000 GOLD

The Nylon Shuttle 2000 GOLD was made for tournament use and was also designed for durability. It uses 100% natural cork and premium materials for its nylon skirt.

3. Nylon Shuttle 1000 SILVER

Nylon Shuttle 1000 SILVER

The Nylon Shuttle 1000 SILVER no longer uses 100% cork unlike the Nylon Shuttle 2000 GOLD, which is the next level up. Instead, it uses a composite cork made with polyurethane, which makes it less durable than a base made of 100% cork. This is because the composite cork can be squished more easily after many hard hits while cork itself retains its shape.

4. Nylon Shuttle 500 BRONZE

Victor Nylon Shuttle 500 Bronze
Victor Nylon Shuttle 500 Bronze

The Nylon Shuttle 500 BRONZE was made for training and low level play. It uses a composite cork like the Nylon Shuttle 1000 SILVER and is quite cost effective for beginners.

5. Nylon Shuttle 400

Victor Nylon Shuttle 400
Victor Nylon Shuttle 400

The Nylon Shuttle 400 is the most cost-effective shuttlecock for recreational players due to its durability and low price.

6. AirShuttle 2

Victor Airshuttle 2

The AirShuttle 2 is Victor’s second iteration of its outdoor shuttlecock used for AirBadminton. The AirShuttle 2 improves upon the AirShuttle 1 to give you better wind resistance, durability, and stability.

7. AirShuttle 1

AirShuttles and AirShuttle Case Standing
Victor Airshuttle 1

The AirShuttle 1 isn’t really a shuttlecock for badminton so I cheated a little bit here. Rather, it’s a shuttlecock designed for AirBadminton, which is a badminton-like game that is played outdoors. The AirShuttle 1 is Victor’s first iteration of the patented shuttlecock that was tested alongside many other prototypes and was deemed the best design for wind resistance, durability, and stability. Use AirShuttles when playing outdoors instead of regular badminton shuttlecocks.

Carbon Foam

1. Carbonsonic 1

Victor Carbonsonic 1

The Carbonsonic 1 is Victor’s first Carbon Foam shuttlecock. Victor claims that they are stable, resilient, and durable while producing a nice bounce effect when you strike it with your racket. The Carbonsonic 1 uses 100% real cork while the Carbonsonic 2 uses synthetic cork.

2. Carbonsonic 2

Victor Carbonsonic 2

The Carbonsonic 2 is Victor’s second Carbon Foam shuttlecock. It is similar to the Carbonsonic 1 but uses synthetic cork rather than real cork, which makes it less durable but usually cheaper.


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