Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players singles or two opposing pairs doubles, who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents half of the court. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the ground, and the shuttlecock may only be struck once by each side before it passes over the net.The shuttlecock is a feathered projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently from the balls used in most racquet sports in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball. Because shuttlecock flight is stubbornly affected by wind, competitive badminton is always played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game.Since , badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events mens and womens singles, mens and womens doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair is a man and a woman. At high levels of play, the sport demands excellent fitness players require aerobic stamina, agility, strength, speed, and precision. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated racquet skills.History and developmentBattledore and Shuttlecock. , from the John Leech ArchiveBattledore and Shuttlecock. , from the John Leech ArchiveBadminton was known in ancient times an early form of the sport was played in ancient Greece. In Japan, the related game Hanetsuki was played as early as the th century. In the west, badminton came from a game called battledore and shuttlecock, in which two or more players keep a feathered shuttlecock in the air with small racquets. The game was called Poona in India during the th century, and British Army officers stationed there took a competitive Indian version back to England in the s, where it was played at country houses as an upper class amusement. Isaac Spratt, a London toy dealer, published a booklet, Badminton Battledore a new game in , but unfortunately no copy has survived.The new sport was definitively launched in at the Badminton House, Gloucestershire, owned by the Duke of Beaufort. During that time, the game was referred to as The Game of Badminton, and the games official name became Badminton.Until the sport was played in England under the rules that prevailed in India. The Bath Badminton Club standardized the rules and made the game applicable to English ideas. The basic regulations were drawn up in . In , the Badminton Association of England published the first set of rules according to these regulations, similar to todays rules, and officially launched badminton in a house called Dunbar at Waverley Grove, Portsmouth, England on September of that year. They also started the All England Open Badminton Championships, the first badminton competition in the world, in .
The International Badminton Federation IBF now known as Badminton World Federation was established in with Canada, Denmark, England, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales as its founding members. India joined as an affiliate in . The BWF now governs international badminton and develops the sport globally.While originated in England, international badminton has traditionally been dominated by a few Asian countries, plus Denmark from Europe. China, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia are among the nations that have consistently produced worldclass players in the past few decades and dominated competitions on the international level, with China being the most dominant in recent years.edit Laws of the gameThe following information is a simplified summary of the Laws, not a complete reproduction. The definitive source of the Laws is the IBF Laws publication, although the digital distribution of the Laws contains poor reproductions of the diagrams.edit Playing court dimensionsBadminton court, isometric viewBadminton court, isometric viewThe court is rectangular and divided into halves by a net. Courts are almost always marked for both singles and doubles play, although the laws permit a court to be marked for singles only. The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but both are the same length. The exception, which often cause confusion to newer players is the doubles court has a shorter servelength dimension.The full width of the court is . metres ft, and in singles this width is reduced to . metres ft. The full length of the court is . metres ft. The service courts are marked by a centre line dividing the width of the court, by a short service line at a distance of . metres . ft from the net, and by the outer side and back boundaries. In doubles, the service court is also marked by a long service line, which is . metres ft inch from the back boundary.The net is . metres ft inch high at the edges and . metres ft high in the centre. The net posts are placed over the doubles side lines, even when singles is played.There is no mention in the Laws of badminton, of a minimum height for the ceiling above the court. Nonetheless, a badminton court will not be suitable if the ceiling is likely to be hit on a high serve.edit Equipment lawsThe Laws specify which equipment may be used. In particular, the Laws restrict the design and size of racquets and shuttlecocks. The Laws also provide for testing a shuttlecock for the correct speed To test a shuttlecock, use a full underhand stroke which makes contact with the shuttlecock over the back boundary line. The shuttlecock shall be hit at an upward angle and in a direction parallel to the side lines. A shuttlecock of the correct speed will land not less than mm and not more than mm short of the other back boundary line.
Scoring system and service
See also Scoring System Development of Badmintonedit The basicsEach game is played up to points, with players scoring a point whenever they win a rally this differs from the old system, where players could only win a point on their serve. A match is the best of three games.At the start of the rally, the server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts see court dimensions. The server hits the shuttlecock so that it would land in the receivers service court. This is similar to tennis, except that a badminton serve must be hit from below the waist in underhand form upwards, the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce, and in tennis the players stand outside their service courts.When the serving side loses a rally, the serve passes to their opponents unlike the old system, there is no second serve.In singles, the server stands in his right service court when his score is even, and in his left service court when his score is odd.In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally, the same player continues to serve, but he changes service courts so that he serves to each opponent in turn. If the opponents win the rally and their new score is even, the player in the right service court serves if odd, the player in the left service court serves. The players service courts are determined by their positions at the start of the previous rally, not by where they were standing at the end of the rally. A consequence of this system is that, each time a side regains the service, the server will be the player who did not serve last time.dit DetailsWhen the server serves, the shuttlecock must pass over the short service line on the opponents court or it will count as a fault.If the score reaches all, then the game continues until one side gains a two point lead such as , up to a maximum of points is a winning score.At the start of a match a coin is tossed. The winners of the coin toss may choose whether to serve or receive first, or they may choose which end of the court they wish to occupy. Their opponents make the remaining choice. In less formal settings, the coin toss is often replaced by hitting a shuttlecock into the air whichever side the corked end points will be the side that serves first.In subsequent games, the winners of the previous game serve first. This can also be called rubbers. If one team wins a game they play once more and if they win again they win that match but if they lose they play one more match to find the winning team. For the first rally of any doubles game, the serving pair may decide who serves and the receiving pair may decide who receives. The players change ends at the start of the second game if the match reaches a third game, they change ends both at the start of the game and when the leading pairs score reaches points.The server and receiver must remain within their service courts, without touching the boundary lines, until the server strikes the shuttlecock. The other two players may stand wherever they wish, so long as they do not unsight the opposing server or receiver.edit FaultsPlayers win a rally by striking the shuttlecock over the net and onto the floor within the boundaries of their opponents court. Players also win a rally if their opponents commit a fault. The most common fault in badminton is when the players fail to return the shuttlecock so that it passes over the net and lands inside their opponents court, but there are also other ways that players may be faulted. The following information lists some of the more common faults.
Several faults pertain specifically to service. A serving player shall be faulted if the shuttlecock is above his waist defined as his lowest rib at point of contact, or if his rackets head is not pointing downwards at the moment of impact. This particular law was modified in previously, the servers racket had to be pointing downwards to the extent that the racket head was below the hand holding the racket and now, any angle below the horizontal is acceptable.Neither the server nor the receiver may lift a foot until the shuttlecock has been struck by the server. The server must also initially hit the base cork of the shuttlecock, although he may afterwards also hit the feathers as part of the same stroke. This law was introduced to ban an extremely effective service style known as the Sserve or Sidek serve, which allowed the server to make the shuttlecock spin chaotically in flight.Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes back over the net but during a single stroke movement, a player may contact a shuttlecock twice this happens in some sliced shots. A player may not, however, hit the shuttlecock once and then hit it with a new movement, nor may he carry and sling the shuttlecock on his racket.It is a fault if the shuttlecock hits the ceiling.edit LetsIf a let is called, the rally is stopped and replayed with no change to the score. Lets may occur due to some unexpected disturbance such as a shuttlecock landing on court having been hit there by players on an adjacent court or in small halls the shuttle may touch an overhead rail which can be classed as a let.If the receiver is not ready when the service is delivered, a let shall be called yet if the receiver makes any attempt to return the shuttlecock, he shall be judged to ave been ready.There is no let if the shuttlecock hits the tape even on service.edit EquipmentBadminton racquetsBadminton racquetsedit RacquetsBadminton racquets are light, with top quality racquets weighing between and grams including the strings. They are composed of many different materials ranging from carbon fibre composite graphite reinforced plastic to solid steel, which may be augmented by a variety of materials. Carbon fibre has an excellent strength to weight ratio, is stiff, and gives excellent kinetic energy transfer. Before the adoption of carbon fibre composite, racquets were made of light metals such as aluminium. Earlier still, racquets were made of wood. Cheap racquets are still often made of metal, but wooden racquets are no longer manufactured for the ordinary market, due to their excessive mass and cost.There is a wide variety of racquet designs, although the racquet size and shape are limited by the Laws. Different racquets have playing characteristics that appeal to different players. The traditional oval head shape is still available, but an isometric head shape is increasingly common in new racquets.
Strings
Badminton strings are thin, high performing strings in the range of about . to . millimeters thickness. Thicker strings are more durable, but many players prefer the feel of thinner strings. String tension is normally in the range of to newtons to lbf. Recreational players generally string at lower tensions than professionals, typically between and lbf N. Professionals string between about and lbf N.It is often argued that high string tensions improve control, whereas low string tensions increase power. The arguments for this generally rely on crude mechanical reasoning, such as claiming that a lower tension string bed is more bouncy and therefore provides more power. This is in fact incorrect, for a higher string tension can cause the shuttle to slide off the racquet and hence make it harder to hit a shot accurately. An alternative view suggests that the optimum tension for power depends on the player the faster and more accurately a player can swing their racquet, the higher the tension for maximum power. Neither view has been subjected to a rigorous mechanical analysis, nor is there clear evidence in favour of one or the other. The most effective way for a player to find a good string tension is to experiment.edit GripThe choice of grip allows a player to increase the thickness of his racquet handle and choose a comfortable surface to hold. A player may build up the handle with one or several grips before applying the final layer.Players may choose between a variety of grip materials. The most common choices are PU synthetic grips or toweling grips. Grip choice is a matter of personal preference. Players often find that sweat becomes a problem in this case, a drying agent may be applied to the grip or hands, or sweatbands may be used, or the player may choose another grip material or change his grip more frequently.There are two main types of grip replacement grips and overgrips. Replacement grips are thicker, and are often used to increase the size of the handle. Overgrips are thinner less than mm, and are often used as the final layer. Many players, however, prefer to use replacement grips as the final layer. Toweling grips are always replacement grips. Replacement grips have an adhesive backing, whereas overgrips have only a small patch of adhesive at the start of the tape and must be applied under tension overgrips are more convenient for players who change grips frequently, because they may be removed more rapidly without damaging the underlying material.Shuttlecocks with feathersShuttlecocks with feathersA shuttlecock with a plastic skirtA shuttlecock with a plastic skirtedit Shuttlecock Main article ShuttlecockA shuttlecock often abbreviated to shuttle and also known as a bird is a highdrag projectile, with an open conical shape the cone is formed from sixteen overlapping goose feathers embedded into a rounded cork base. The cork is covered with thin leather or synthetic material.
Shuttles with a plastic or nylon skirt are often used by recreational players to reduce their costs as feathered shuttles break easily. These nylon shuttles may be produced with a cork made of a hard sponge instead of natural cork.Additionally, nylon shuttlecocks come in three varieties, each variety for a different range of temperatures. These three varieties are known as green slow speed, blue middle speed, and red fast speed. The colors, and therefore speeds, are indicated by colored strips fastened around the cork. In colder temperatures, a slower shuttle is used, and in hotter climates, a faster one is chosen.edit ShoesBadminton shoes are lightweight with soles of rubber or similar highgrip, nonmarking materials.Compared to running shoes, badminton shoes have little lateral support. High levels of lateral support are useful for activities where lateral motion is undesirable and unexpected. Badminton, however, requires powerful lateral movements. A highly builtup lateral support will not be able to protect the foot in badminton instead, it will encourage catastrophic collapse at the point where the shoes support fails, and the players ankles are not ready for the sudden loading, which can cause sprains. For this reason, players should choose badminton shoes rather than general trainers or running shoes, because proper badminton shoes will have a very thin sole, lower a persons centre of gravity, and therefore result in fewer injuries. Players should also ensure that they learn safe and proper footwork, with the knee and foot in alignment on all lunges. This is not only a safety concern, as proper footwork is critical in order to effectively move around the court.edit Badminton strokesFrancesca Setiadi, Canada, flies high at the Golden Gate Badminton Club GGBC in Menlo Park, Francesca Setiadi, Canada, flies high at the Golden Gate Badminton Club GGBC in Menlo Park, Badminton offers a wide variety of basic strokes, and players require a high level of skill to perform all of them effectively. All strokes can be played either forehand or backhand. A players forehand side is the same side as his playing hand for a righthanded player, the forehand side is his right side and the backhand side is his left side. Forehand strokes are hit with the front of the hand leading like hitting with the palm, whereas backhand strokes are hit with the back of the hand leading like hitting with the knuckles. Players frequently play certain strokes on the forehand side with a backhand hitting action, and viceversa.In the forecourt and midcourt, most strokes can be played equally effectively on either the forehand or backhand side but in the rearcourt, players will attempt to play as many strokes as possible on their forehands, often preferring to play a roundthehead forehand overhead a forehand on the backhand side rather than attempt a backhand overhead. Playing a backhand overhead has two main disadvantages. First, the player must turn his back to his opponents, restricting his view of them and the court. Second, backhand overheads cannot be hit with as much power as forehands the hitting action is limited by the shoulder joint, which permits a much greater range of movement for a forehand overhead than for a backhand. The backhand clear is considered by most players and coaches to be the most difficult basic stroke in the game, since precise technique is needed in order to muster enough power for the shuttlecock to travel the full length of the court. For the same reason, backhand smashes tend to be weak.
The choice of stroke depends
The choice of stroke depends on how near the shuttlecock is to the net, whether it is above net height, and where an opponent is currently positioned players have much better attacking options if they can reach the shuttlecock well above net height, especially if it is also close to the net. In the forecourt, a high shuttlecock will be met with a net kill, hitting it steeply downwards and attempting to win the rally immediately. This is why it is best just to drop the shuttlecock over the net in this situation. In the midcourt, a high shuttlecock will usually be met with a powerful smash, also hitting downwards and hoping for an outright winner or a weak reply. Athletic jump smashes, where players jump upwards for a steeper smash angle, are a common and spectacular element of elite mens doubles play. In the rearcourt, players strive to hit the shuttlecock while it is still above them, rather than allowing it to drop lower. This overhead hitting allows them to play smashes, clears hitting the shuttlecock high and to the back of the opponents court, and dropshots hitting the shuttlecock so that it falls softly downwards into the opponents forecourt. If the shuttlecock has dropped lower, then a smash is impossible and a fulllength, high clear is difficult.When the shuttlecock is well below net height, players have no choice but to hit upwards. Lifts, where the shuttlecock is hit upwards to the back of the opponents court, can be played from all parts of the court. If a player does not lift, his only remaining option is to push the shuttlecock softly back to the net in the forecourt this is called a netshot in the midcourt or rearcourt, it is often called a push or block.When the shuttlecock is near to net height, players can hit drives, which travel flat and rapidly over the net into the opponents rear midcourt and rearcourt. Pushes may also be hit flatter, placing the shuttlecock into the front midcourt. Drives and pushes may be played from the midcourt or forecourt, and are most often used in doubles they are an attempt to regain the attack, rather than choosing to lift the shuttlecock and defend against smashes. After a successful drive or push, the opponents will often be forced to lift the shuttlecock.When defending against a smash, players have three basic options lift, block, or drive. In singles, a block to the net is the most common reply. In doubles, a lift is the safest option but it usually allows the opponents to continue smashing blocks and drives are counterattacking strokes, but may be intercepted by the smashers partner. Many players use a backhand hitting action for returning smashes on both the forehand and backhand sides, because backhands are more effective than forehands at covering smashes directed to the body.The service presents its own array of stroke choices. Unlike in tennis, the serve is restricted by the Laws so that it must be hit upwards. The server can choose a low serve into the forecourt like a push, or a lift to the back of the service court, or a flat drive serve. Lifted serves may be either high serves, where the shuttlecock is lifted so high that it falls almost vertically at the back of the court, or flick serves, where the shuttlecock is lifted to a lesser height but falls sooner.
Once players have mastered these basic strokes, they can hit the shuttlecock from and to any part of the court, powerfully and softly as required. Beyond the basics, however, badminton offers rich potential for advanced stroke skills that provide a competitive advantage. Because badminton players have to cover a short distance as quickly as possible, the purpose of many advanced strokes is to deceive the opponent, so that either he is tricked into believing that a different stroke is being played, or he is forced to delay his movement until he actually sees the shuttles direction. Deception in badminton is often used in both of these senses. When a player is genuinely deceived, he will often lose the point immediately because he cannot change his direction quickly enough to reach the shuttlecock. Experienced players will be aware of the trick and cautious not to move too early, but the attempted deception is still useful because it forces the opponent to delay his movement slightly. Against weaker players whose intended strokes are obvious, an experienced player will move before the shuttlecock has been hit, anticipating the stroke to gain an advantage.Slicing and using a shortened hitting action are the two main technical devices that facilitate deception. Slicing involves hitting the shuttlecock with an angled racquet face, causing it to travel in a different direction than suggested by the body or arm movement. Slicing also causes the shuttlecock to travel much slower than the arm movement suggests. For example, a good crosscourt sliced dropshot will use a hitting action that suggests a straight clear or smash, deceiving the opponent about both the power and direction of the shuttlecock. A more sophisticated slicing action involves brushing the strings around the shuttlecock during the hit, in order to make the shuttlecock spin. This can be used to improve the shuttles trajectory, by making it dip more rapidly as it passes the net for example, a sliced low serve can travel slightly faster than a normal low serve, yet land on the same spot. Spinning the shuttlecock is also used to create spinning netshots also called tumbling netshots, in which the shuttlecock turns over itself several times tumbles before stabilizing sometimes the shuttlecock remains inverted instead of tumbling. The main advantage of a spinning netshot is that the opponent will be unwilling to address the shuttlecock until it has stopped tumbling, since hitting the feathers will result in an unpredictable stroke. Spinning netshots are especially important for high level singles players.The lightness of modern racquets allows players to use a very short hitting action for many strokes, thereby maintaining the option to hit a powerful or a soft stroke until the last possible moment. For example, a singles player may hold his racquet ready for a netshot, but then flick the shuttlecock to the back instead with a shallow lift. This makes the opponents task of covering the whole court much more difficult than if the lift was hit with a bigger, obvious swing. A short hitting action is not only useful for deception it also allows the player to hit powerful strokes when he has no time for a big arm swing. The use of grip tightening is crucial to these techniques, and is often described as finger power. Elite players develop finger power to the extent that they can hit some power strokes, such as net kills, with less than a cm racquet swing.It is also possible to reverse this style of deception, by suggesting a powerful stroke before slowing down the hitting action to play a soft stroke. In general, this latter style of deception is more common in the rearcourt for example, dropshots disguised as smashes, whereas the former style is more common in the forecourt and midcourt for example, lifts disguised as netshots.Deception is not limited to slicing and short hitting actions. Players may also use double motion, where they make an initial racquet movement in one direction before withdrawing the racquet to hit in another direction. This is typically used to suggest a crosscourt angle but then play the stroke straight, or viceversa. Triple motion is also possible, but this is very rare in actual play. An alternative to double motion is to use a racquet head fake, where the initial motion is continued but the racquet is turned during the hit. This produces a smaller change in direction, but does not require as much time.
Strategy
To win in badminton, players need to employ a wide variety of strokes in the right situations. These range from powerful jumping smashes to delicate tumbling net returns. Often rallies finish with a smash, but setting up the smash requires subtler strokes. For example, a netshot can force the opponent to lift the shuttlecock, which gives an opportunity to smash. If the netshot is tight and tumbling, then the opponents lift will not reach the back of the court, which makes the subsequent smash much harder to return.Deception is also important. Expert players make the preparation for many different strokes look identical, and use slicing to deceive their opponents about the speed or direction of the stroke. If an opponent tries to anticipate the stroke, he may move in the wrong direction and may be unable to change his body momentum in time to reach the shuttlecock.edit DoublesBoth pairs will try to gain and maintain the attack, smashing downwards when possible. Whenever possible, a pair will adopt an ideal attacking formation with one player hitting down from the rearcourt, and his partner in the midcourt intercepting all smash returns except the lift. If the rearcourt attacker plays a dropshot, his partner will move into the forecourt to threaten the net reply. If a pair cannot hit downwards, they will use flat strokes in an attempt to gain the attack. If a pair is forced to lift or clear the shuttlecock, then they must defend they will adopt a sidebyside position in the rear midcourt, to cover the full width of their court against the opponents smashes.At high levels of play, the backhand serve has become popular to the extent that forehand serves almost never appear in professional games. The straight low serve is used most frequently, in an attempt to prevent the opponents gaining the attack immediately. Flick serves are used to prevent the opponent from anticipating the low serve and attacking it decisively.At high levels of play, doubles rallies are extremely fast. Mens doubles is the most aggressive form of badminton, with a high proportion of powerful jump smashes.A mixed doubles game Scottish Schools under s tournament, Tranent, May A mixed doubles game Scottish Schools under s tournament, Tranent, May edit SinglesThe singles court is narrower than the doubles court, but the same length, with the exception that a serve in the single can reach the end of the court while a serve in the doubles could not. Since one person needs to cover the entire court, singles tactics are based on forcing the opponent to move as much as possible this means that singles strokes are normally directed to the corners of the court. Players exploit the length of the court by combining lifts and clears with dropshots and netshots. Smashing is less prominent in singles than in doubles because players are rarely in the ideal position to execute a smash, and smashing often leaves the smasher vulnerable if the smash is returned.In singles, players will often start the rally with a forehand high serve. Low serves are also used frequently, either forehand or backhand. Flick serves are less common, and drive serves are rare.At high levels of play, singles demands extraordinary fitness. Singles is a game of patient positional maneuvering, unlike the allout aggression of doubles.
Mixed doublesIn mixed doubles, both pairs try to maintain an attacking formation with the woman at the front and the man at the back. This is because the male players are substantially stronger, and can therefore produce more powerful smashes. As a result, mixed doubles requires greater tactical awareness and subtler positional play. Clever opponents will try to reverse the ideal position, by forcing the woman towards the back or the man towards the front. In order to protect against this danger, mixed players must be careful and systematic in their shot selection.At high levels of play, the formations will generally be more flexible the top women players are capable of playing powerfully from the rearcourt, and will happily do so if required. When the opportunity arises, however, the pair will switch back to the standard mixed attacking position, with the woman in front.edit Governing bodiesThe Badminton World Federation BWF is the internationally recognized governing body of the sport. Five regional confederations are associated with the BWF Asia Badminton Asia Confederation BAC Africa Badminton Confederation of Africa BCA Americas Badminton Pan Am North America and South America belong to the same confederation BPA Europe Badminton Europe BE Oceania Badminton Oceania BOedit CompetitionsA mens doubles match. The blue lines are those for the badminton court. The other coloured lines denote uses for other sports such complexity being common in multiuse sports halls.A mens doubles match. The blue lines are those for the badminton court. The other coloured lines denote uses for other sports such complexity being common in multiuse sports halls.The BWF organizes several international competitions, including the Thomas Cup, the premier mens event, and the Uber Cup, the womens equivalent. The competitions take place once every two years. More than national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within continental confederations for a place in the finals. The final tournament involves teams, following an increase from eight teams in .The Sudirman Cup, a mixed team event held once every two years, began in . It is divided into seven groups based on the performance of each country. To win the tournament, a country must perform well across all five disciplines mens doubles and singles, womens doubles and singles, and mixed doubles. Like soccer, it features a promotion and relegation system in every group.Individual competition in badminton was a demonstration event in the and Summer Olympics. It became a Summer Olympics sport at the Barcelona Olympics in . The highest ranked badminton players in the world participate in the competition, and each country submitting three players to take part. In the BWF World Championships, only the highest ranked players in the world, and a maximum of three from each country, can participate in any category.All these tournaments, along with the BWF World Junior Championships, are level one tournaments.At the start of , the BWF also introduce a new tournament structure the BWF Super Series. This level two tournament will stage twelve open tournaments around the world with players half the previous limit. The players collect points that determine whether they can play in Super Series Final held at the year end.Level three tournaments will consist of Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix event. Top players can collect the world ranking points and enable them to play in the BWF Super Series open tournaments. These include the regional competitions in Asia Badminton Asia Championships and Europe European Badminton Championships, which produce the worlds best players as well as the Pan America Badminton Championships.The level four tournaments, known as International Challenge, International Series and Future Series, encourages participation by junior players.
Records
The most powerful stroke in badminton is the smash, which is hit steeply downwards into the opponents midcourt. The maximum speed of a smashed shuttlecock exceeds that of any other racquet sport projectile. The recordings of this speed measure the initial speed of the shuttlecock immediately after it has left the players racquet.Mens doubles player Fu Haifeng of China set the official world smash record of kmh mph on June , in the Sudirman Cup. The fastest smash recorded in the singles competition is kmh mph by Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.edit Comparisons with other racquet sportsadminton is frequently compared to tennis. The following is a list of uncontentious comparisons In tennis, the ball may bounce once before the player hits it in badminton, the rally ends once the shuttlecock touches the floor. In tennis, the serve is dominant to the extent that the server is expected to win most of his service games a break of service, where the server loses the game, is of major importance in a match. In badminton, however, the serving side and receiving side have approximately equal opportunity to win the rally. In tennis, the server is allowed two attempts to make a correct serve in badminton, the server is allowed only one attempt.In tennis, a let is played on service if the ball hits the net tape in badminton, there is no let on service. The tennis court is larger than the badminton court. Tennis racquets are about four times heavier than badminton racquets, ounces approximately grams versus grams. Tennis balls are more than eleven times heavier than shuttlecocks, grams versus grams. The fastest recorded tennis stroke is Andy Roddicks mph kmh serve the fastest recorded badminton stroke is Fu Haifengs mph kmh smash.edit Comparisons of speed and athletic requirementsStatistics such as the mph kmh smash speed, above, prompt badminton enthusiasts to make other comparisons that are more contentious. For example, it is often claimed that badminton is the fastest racket sport. Although badminton holds the record for the fastest initial speed of a racket sports projectile, the shuttlecock decelerates substantially faster than other projectiles such as tennis balls. In turn, this qualification must be qualified by consideration of the distance over which the shuttlecock travels a smashed shuttlecock travels a shorter distance than a tennis ball during a serve. Badmintons claim as the fastest racket sport might also be based on reaction time requirements, but arguably table tennis requires even faster reaction times.There is a strong case for arguing that badminton is more physically demanding than tennis, but such comparisons are difficult to make objectively due to the differing demands of the games. Some informal studies suggest that badminton players require much greater aerobic stamina than tennis players, but this has not been the subject of rigorous research.
A more balanced approach suggests the following comparisons, although these also are subject to dispute Badminton, especially singles, requires substantially greater aerobic stamina than tennis the level of aerobic stamina required by badminton singles is similar to squash singles, although squash may have slightly higher aerobic requirements. Tennis requires slightly greater upper body strength than badminton. Badminton requires much greater leg strength than tennis, and badminton mens doubles probably requires much greater leg strength than any other racket sport due to the demands of performing multiple consecutive jumping smashes. Badminton requires much greater explosive athleticism than tennis and somewhat greater than squash, with players required to jump for height or distance. Badminton requires significantly faster reaction times than either tennis or squash, although table tennis may require even faster reaction times. The fastest reactions in badminton are required in mens doubles, when returning a powerful smash.edit Comparisons of techniqueBadminton and tennis techniques differ substantially. The lightness of the shuttlecock and of badminton rackets allow badminton players to make use of the wrist and fingers much more than tennis players in tennis the wrist is normally held stable, and playing with a mobile wrist may lead to injury. For the same reasons, badminton players can generate power from a short racket swing for some strokes such as net kills, an elite players swing may be less than cm. For strokes that require more power, a longer swing will typically be used, but the badminton racket swing will rarely be as long as a typical tennis swing.It is often asserted that power in badminton strokes comes mainly from the wrist. This is a misconception and may be criticised for two reasons. First, it is strictly speaking a category error the wrist is a joint, not a muscle its movement is controlled by the forearm muscles. Second, wrist movements are weak when compared to forearm or upper arm movements. Badminton biomechanics have not been the subject of extensive scientific study, but some studies confirm the minor role of the wrist in power generation, and indicate that the major contributions to power come from internal and external rotations of the upper and lower arm. Modern coaching resources such as the Badminton England Technique DVD reflect these ideas by emphasising forearm rotation rather than wrist movements.edit Distinctive characteristics of the shuttlecockThe shuttlecock differs greatly from the balls used in most other racket sports.edit Aerodynamic drag and stabilityThe feathers impart substantial drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate greatly over distance. The shuttlecock is also extremely aerodynamically stable regardless of initial orientation, it will turn to fly corkfirst, and remain in the corkfirst orientation.One consequence of the shuttlecocks drag is that it requires considerable skill to hit it the full length of the court, which is not the case for most racket sports. The drag also influences the flight path of a lifted lobbed shuttlecock the parabola of its flight is heavily skewed so that it falls at a steeper angle than it rises. With very high serves, the shuttlecock may even fall vertically.
Spin
Balls may be spun to alter their bounce for example, topspin and backspin in tennis, and players may slice the ball strike it with an angled racket face to produce such spin but, since the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce, this does not apply to badminton.Slicing the shuttlecock so that it spins, however, does have applications, and some are peculiar to badminton. See Basic strokes for an explanation of technical terms.licing the shuttlecock from the side may cause it to travel in a different direction from the direction suggested by the players racket or body movement. This is used to deceive opponents.Slicing the shuttlecock from the side may cause it to follow a slightly curved path as seen from above, and the deceleration imparted by the spin causes sliced strokes to slow down more suddenly towards the end of their flight path. This can be used to create dropshots and smashes that dip more steeply after they pass the net. When playing a netshot, slicing underneath the shuttlecock may cause it to turn over itself tumble several times as it passes the net. This is called a spinning netshot or tumbling netshot. The opponent will be unwilling to address the shuttlecock until it has corrected its orientation.Due to the way that its feathers overlap, a shuttlecock also has a slight natural spin about its axis of rotational symmetry. The spin is in a counterclockwise direction as seen from above when dropping a shuttlecock. This natural spin affects certain strokes a tumbling netshot is more effective if the slicing action is from right to left, rather than from left to right.Historypeed badminton was invented by the Berliner Bill Brandes, who wanted to create an outdoor variant of badminton. Indeed, in classical badminton, the shuttlecock is too light and the wind can disturb the play.The game is outwardly similar to badminton, but the shuttlecock is heavier, and the game tempo is faster.The inventor first named his new sport shuttleball. In , the game was renamed speed badminton or speedminton.In , there were , active players in Germany . Despite the growing number of players, this sport is still unrecognized outside Germany and its neighbouring countries. A championship was however organised in Berlin in .edit Field and equipmentDrawing of a speed badminton fieldDrawing of a speed badminton fieldThe field consists of two squares measuring ,m ft on a side. The distance between the squares is ,m ft. It can be played on the half of a tennis court.The rackets are similar to the ones used in squash, and the shuttlecock is heavier than a conventional shuttlecock.
RulesquipmentEquipmentThe aim of the game is to reach the square of the opposite player with the shuttlecock. If the shuttlecock falls outside the opposite square, the other side gains a point. The game ends when one player has at least points and has at least points advantage over their adversary. Everytime a setround finishes, the players switch sides.dit Variants Doubles The doubles match is played on two adjacent courts. Speeder A faster game than speed badminton, with a heavier shuttlecock. Black lighting Speed badminton can be played by night with fluorescent equipment.Feathered vs. synthetic shuttlecocksThe feathers are brittle shuttlecocks break easily and often need to be replaced several times during a game. For this reason, synthetic shuttlecocks have been developed that replace the feathers with a plastic skirt. Players often refer to synthetic shuttlecocks as plastics and feathered shuttlecocks as feathers.The cost of good quality feathers is similar to that of good quality plastics, but plastics are far more durable, typically lasting many matches without any impairment to their flight. For this reason, many clubs prefer to play with plastics.The playing characteristics of plastics and feathers are substantially different. Plastics fly slower on initial impact but slow down less towards the end of their flight. Feather shuttles may come off the strings at speeds in excess of kmh mph but slow down faster as they drop. For this reason the feather shuttle makes the game seem faster but also allows more time to play strokes.Most experienced and skillful players greatly prefer feathers, and serious tournaments or leagues are almost always played using feather shuttlecocks. Experienced players generally prefer the feel of feathered shuttlecocks, and assert that they are better able to control the flight of feathers than of plastics. Because feather shuttles fly more quickly off the racquet face they also tend to cause less shoulder impact and injury. In Asia, where feather shuttlecocks are more affordable than in Europe and North America, plastic shuttlecocks are hardly used at all. All senior international tournaments use only feather shuttlecocks of the highest quality.edit SpaceShipOne designThe shuttlecocks aerodynamic behavior was consciously replicated in the design of the spacecraft SpaceShipOne. Its feathered flight mode is a very stable highdrag configuration used to make the flight insensitive to orientation during atmospheric reentry.edit SpecificationsA shuttlecock weighs around . . grams. It has feathers with each feather mm in length. The diameter of the cork is mm and the diameter of the circle that the feathers make is around mm.
Kick Shuttlecock Asian shuttlecock game
In Vietnam, and China there is a popular game by the name of Shuttlecock. In this game, teams of or use their feet to kick the shuttlecock over the net. This is very similar to badminton with the same scoring system. The game is Vietnams national sport and is played mostly in Hanoi, the capital.edit Brazilian Game Peteca ShuttlecockIn Brazil, mainly in some central areas of the country, the game is played with teams of or using their hands to put the shuttlecock peteca over the net no other part of the body can be used. This game is considered to be a preparatory training to volleyball classes, often taught to children in elementary school up to the th grade.Traditional SystemIn the traditional scoring system in badminton, games were played to points, except for womens singles which was played up to . A match was decided by the best of three games. Only the serving players were able to score a point. In doubles, both players of a pair would serve before the service returned to the other side in order to regain the service, the receiving pair had to win two rallies not necessarily consecutively.edit Scoring SystemIn , the BWF introduced new rules setting at all and all. This meant that if the players were tied at for mens singles or for womens singles, the player who had first reached that score could elect to set and play to for men or to for women. If the players were tied at for men or for women, the player could elect to set and play to for men or to for women. This last tie election rule was removed a few years later.edit Scoring System x In the BWF, concerned with the unpredictable and often lengthy time required for matches, decided to experiment with a different scoring system to improve the commercial and especially the broadcasting appeal of the sport. The new scoring system shortened games to points and decided matches by the best of games. When the score reached , the player who first reached could elect to set to points.edit Return to the original scoring systemYet the match time remained an issue, since the playing time for the two scoring systems was similar. This experiment was abandoned and replaced by a modified version of the traditional scoring system. The Commonwealth Games is the last event that used this scoring system.edit x rally point scoring systemIn December the BWF experimented again with the scoring system, intending both to regulate the playing time and to simplify the system for television viewers. The main change from the traditional system was to adopt rally point scoring, in which the winner of a rally scores a point regardless of who served games were lengthened to points. However, in the old system, competitors may not be able to score after many exchanges, since serving is often slightly more difficult than defending, especially in professional badminton. The new scoring system thus makes the game duration significantly shorter. The experiment ended in May , and the BWF ruled that the new scoring system would be adopted from August onwards.
Badminton House is a large country house in Gloucestershire, England and has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The architect William Kent renovated and extended the house in the Palladian style in the early 18th century, but many earlier elements remain.1 The sport of Badminton was re-introduced from India and popularised at the house, hence the sports name.2Queen Mary stayed at Badminton House for much of the Second World War. Her staff occupied most of the building, to the Duke and Duchess of Beauforts inconvenience.In the 21st century Badminton House is best known for the annual Badminton Horse Trials.Badminton House is also very strongly associated with fox hunting. Successive Dukes of Beaufort have been masters of the Beaufort Hunt, which is probably one of the two most famous hunts in the United Kingdom alongside the Quorn Hunt.Badminton was open to the public at one time, but is not at present (as of 2008).It has been the location for some scenes of the film The Remains of the Day.The Badminton Horse Trials is a three-day event, one of only six annual four star, CCI****, events as classified by the FEI.Badminton takes place in May each year in the park of Badminton House the seat of the Dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England. The event started in 1949. The current course designer and director is Hugh Thomas, who took over from one of the sports most famous faces Frank Weldon, (himself a previous winner) in 1989. Frank is arguably the man who developed the event into the pinnacle of Three Day Eventing today. However, Hugh Thomas has recently come under fire following 2007s events, where poor organisation, outdated facilities and dreadfully hard ground resulted in 22 withdrawals, including World Champion Zara Phillips. Many have now stated that they want Hugh Thomas to resign, and that the event can no longer rely on its status as the Worlds Most Important Horse Trials, while others around it improve. Speculation is that Sue Benson, herself a runner up who is designing the London 2012 Olympic Course, may also design at Badminton soon.The cross country day at Badminton attracts crowds of up to a quarter of a million, which are the largest for any paid-entry sport event in the United Kingdom.Together with the four-star rated Rolex Kentucky Three Day and the Burghley Horse Trials, Badminton forms the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. The remaining CCI* events are the Luhmühlen Horse Trials, the Adelaide Horse Trials and the Stars of Pau.
