How are shuttlecocks made?

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shuttlecocks production of badminton birdies

The shuttlecock is arguably the most important part of badminton. If they are not made correctly it changes the whole game. Could you imagine if every shuttle you picked up flew differently? Or if the shuttle wouldn’t fly cork first?

It would be chaos!

That is why a lot of effort goes into manufacturing near identical shuttles. China is the number one producer of shuttlecocks globally, which makes sense as they account for 76% of the world’s goose and duck meat. This gives them plenty of supply of feathers and cheap labor!

In addition, the manufacturing process is automated with human quality control. This allows shuttlecock manufacturers to produce shuttles with great consistency in quality and performance.

Elsewhere, in India for example, several manufacturers mostly rely on producing badminton birdies almost entirely by hand. See this article about handmade shuttles.

We already know from our previous articles in the shuttle series that feather shuttles comprise a feather skirt and cork base. This is the most basic component. How do you keep the feathers in the cork? How do they make sure the shuttle flies correctly? What is the testing process like?

Luckily Design Insider was allowed inside a shuttle factory to show us how it’s done.