Badminton-A King among sports (Badminton in General)

Member Name: rishibave

Product:	Badminton in General
Date:	12/01/03 (6282 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fitness, fun

Disadvantages: none

Right, today I decided that I wanted to write the best, most informative and detailed op I have ever written! So let?s give it a go shall we. Today ladies and gentlemen I want to talk to you about badminton, my favourite sport! I am hoping that this op will help everyone from beginner to expert. I?m sure you?ve all heard of badminton before but just to remind you it?s the game which uses a shuttlecock, rackets and a net. I have been playing badminton for about 3 years and currently play for Yorkshire. I truly love the game and I hope to give you a better insight into the world of badminton.

**History**

Badminton originated in Greece, India and China and evolved from the game of ?battledore and shuttlecock?. The current day game was first played in 1873 at ?Badminton? in Gloucestershire. The Duke of Beaufort wanted to play a game inside and he couldn?t play tennis because he kept smashing his ornaments, so he resorted to using a racket and shuttlecock-hence badminton!

**Aim of the game**

The aim of badminton is to get the shuttle to hit the floor on your opponent?s side of the court (well I say hit the floor bus basically I mean prevent them from getting the shuttle back over the net in court) without going out (it can of course go out once it has made contact with the floor in court). The shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce and must travel over the net. In men?s singles you play, at a professional level, the best of 3 games to 15 points. This also applies for men?s doubles. In women?s singles you play the best of 3 games to 11 points. This also applies for women?s doubles and mixed doubles. Yes I know what you?re all screaming-?but they changed it to 5 games to 7!? Well yes the international badminton federation did change the scoring to best of 5 games to 7. However it has been changed back and for the forthcoming season will be best of 3 to 15 points. The best of 5 to 7 points was an attempt to make the game more watchable for
people at home and more full of action. Frankly everyone I know thought that 5 games to 7 was absolute crap and I agree with them 100 percent, and am glad that the international badminton federation finally came to their senses and reinstated the old scoring system.

**Laws of the game**

There are a number of laws in badminton so I will not bore you with them all. Some I have explained above but others I will do so now.

1. The lowest part of your hand (usually the thumb) must be above the highest point of the racket head

2. The shuttle must be struck below the waist (defined as your lowest rib)

3. I know this isn?t exactly a law but in badminton you serve to the part of the court that is diagonally opposite you!

4. Once you start you racket moving towards the shuttle (on a serve) you must complete the motion (e.g. you can?t swing your racket back and forth in order to confuse your opponent before hitting the shuttle)

5. In doubles, on the serve the shuttle must go past the first line (known as service line) but cannot land in the back tramlines or it is out. After the serve the whole court is ?in?.

6. In singles the side tramlines are out both on serve and after it. The shuttle must once again be struck past the service line (on the serve) but this time the back tramlines are in on the serve as well as the rest of the game!

7. When serving you must strike the cork of the shuttle (there was once a man who invented a serve where you hit the feathers but it was too hard to return as it spun so much- the only possible return was a lift- so therefore the serve was banned!)

8. When serving both your feet must remain in contact with the floor (I used to have big problems with this but I?ve sorted it now )

9. Unlike in tennis even if the shuttle hits the net on a serve and goes in, a let is not played!

10. If the shuttle touches you or part of your clothing th
e point goes to your opponent!

Ok I?m not going to bore you with anymore laws as there are positively hundreds of them. A lot refer to court size and things. As in many other sports there are numerous brands which can be bought! So who should I go for I hear you cry! Well that depends on what you want to purchase and your budget. I will now evaluate the main companies involved in making badminton equipment.

**Ashaway**

Ashaway are an American company. They make products for badminton, squash, badminton and racquetball. They do not really tend to make rackets. However their strings are top class! Simon Archer won the Yonex all England 2000 using Ashaway strings! However not all their strings are great. The top quality ones are pricey (£21 for a restring with their newest type in). They are also quite popular for making feather shuttles. They are used at many junior tournament events (frankly I believe because they are good value for money) and aren?t bad but aren?t the best!

**Carlton**

I don?t really have too much to say about this company as I do not particularly favour them and haven?t had much hands on experience with them, however I will give you the facts. They are an established company and have been making badminton products for over 50 years. They manufacture shuttles, rackets, bags and accessories. I personally believe their rackets to be no so good, although they are good value for money (well some of them as the more expensive ones can be £100). However don?t just take my word for it because there are numerous players who do use their rackets so it?s up to personal preference (my own brother uses carlton rackets) but I don?t like them one bit! Carlton make feather and plastic (synthetic) shuttles but are more renowned for the plastic ones. I believe both types of their shuttle are a load of rubbish. Their synthetics ones break easily and come in a disgusting shade of bright yellow (a nightmare when playing) so
I therefore never use them. Their feathered shuttles also now come in a bright yellow (can be bought in white though)! I have only used Carlton feathers once and to be quite honest I hated them. The flight was nothing like what it should have been and they damaged very easily! Carlton shuttles are not used in major tournaments or anything like that, they are more for the budget club or school.

**Yonex**

This is the mother of all badminton companies and clearly the most successful (as sales figures indicate). Yonex make equipment for golf, tennis and badminton! Yonex was founded in 1946, by Minoru Yoneyama. In 1961 they produced their first badminton racket! I am going to go into the most detail with this company as they are easily the most popular and in my opinion the best. Nowadays every badminton player will have heard of Yonex. They sponsor the huge tournament in England every year- ?Yonex All England?. I personally love this company. You are always guaranteed quality with them. They make rackets, bags, shuttles, strings, clothing and shoes. Now as I said you always get quality products but quality comes at a price, quite a large one! Their bags are extremely spacious (enough to fit your rackets, shoes, drinks and spare clothes) and are thermal, however for a good bag you would probably be paying at least £44.99. Yonex shuttles are fantastic. They are probably the greatest shuttles ever made. I usually play with feathers and hate plastic shuttles but I can just about tolerate Yonex plastics because they are so good. They will not rip or tear easily and their flight is great for a plastic. You can get a tube for about £9.99. Their feather shuttles are the real prize though! They are second to none. They are used in all major tournaments. Their flight is superb but during tough rallies you can get through many shuttles, but as feathers go they last quite a long time and retain quality flight. A tube of 12 can be bought for £10.75 (that?s for the
aerosensa 40s- most common ones. The number after aerosensa for yonex shuttles refers to the speed with aerosensa 10s being the slowest and aerosensa 50s being the fastest). Overall their shuttles are fantastic!

Now onto Yonex strings. They are indeed quite remarkable! Now what strings do you want in your racket? Well I will review a few of the Yonex strings!

Firstly the BG65 Ti. This is now standard for most new Yonex rackets. The string is a tough one. It is intended for the hard hitter and the control player. The string has a 0.70mm 20 gauge. This string is extremely durable but also incorporates playability. I had this in my racket when I bought it and found it fantastic. After about 4 months I broke a string though. To have your racket strung in this it would cost somewhere in the region of £10-£12.

Secondly the Yonex BG68 Ti. This is slightly more expensive than the B65 Ti. This string is intended more for playability than durability and you will be more likely to break a string sooner with this string than the BG65 Ti. This is for the power player but does provide surprising good control. The string is slightly thinner than the BG5Ti. It has a 0.68mm 22 gauge. I tried this string and took a little time to adjust but found it very good in the end. However I snapped a string 1 month after having it put in. To have your racket string in this it would cost somewhere in the region of £16-£20.

The final string I am going to review is not a Yonex one but since I am reviewing strings I am going to put it here. I am going to tell you about the ashaway microlegend strings. They are the only real contenders to Yonex strings. These strings use something called micro-tech to create durability, playability and control. They are indeed fine strings. I have only tried this using my friend?s racket. It provided superb control and power. I really enjoyed using the string and was the only one that I feel rivals the Yonex strings. To have you
r racket string in this it would cost about £18.

Above I have written about how long it was before I broke a string and that is just for your benefit because with every player it will vary how often you break strings. It depends on the kind of player you are and the tension to which you get your rackets strung. You may break strings quicker, or later than me. However I feel the guidelines which I provided about durability ( proportional to the other strings) will apply to most players.

Ok now onto Yonex clothing. Their clothing is extremely expensive. The T-shirts are about £25-30 and it costs about £80 for a full tracksuit! Admittedly this is pricey, however it is certainly worth every penny. Yonex use high quality fabrics which are lightweight and breathable. Air is let through which doesn?t make sweat ruin the game. Your body doesn?t become too hot or too cold. I used to get back ache when the sweat cooled on it, but with Yonex shirts I don?t have this problem. Not only this, but the comfort of the shirts is second to none. Sometimes you don?t even know your wearing it. The shirts are made with the player in mind. Scientific research is used to determine how the player twists, moves and jumps during a game, and the shirts are made with all this in mind. One final thing about Yonex shirts/tracksuits is that they are wonderfully stylish! All the shirts/tracksuits have smart, dashing designs. Overall if you can afford it I highly recommend using Yonex shirts.

Now onto Yonex shoes. These are easily the best of the bunch! Yonex shoes are phenomenal. They seriously cannot be beaten, however the newer ones are quite expensive. The current top Yonex shoe is the SHB95. It, like many Yonex shoes, incorporates ergoshape technology. This means that Yonex provide scientific contouring of different parts of the foot (heel, to, forefoot etc.). This gives the player maximum comfort and the shoe almost mould to your foot. When I first bought these shoes
they were extremely uncomfortable! However after a week or two I had worn them in, ergoshape had kicked in and they were the comfiest pair of shoes I had ever had. Not only this, but the shoes have a power cushion to absorb the shock when landing, and gives a rebound force so you move to the next shuttle quicker. You can drop an egg from a height of one metre onto the power cushion and the egg will rebound and not crack. This shoe costs in the region of £54-60. I know this is expensive but you can purchase the SHB55Lt or the SHB62 for about £36 which is excellent value. Both these also implement ergoshape and the power cushion technology. All in all there is no substitute for a quality pair of Yonex badminton shoes.

Finally Yonex rackets. I am only going to review 3 of their rackets. I could do the whole series but in my opinion these are the current top three.

**Yonex muscle power 100**

This is the racket which I play with. It is designed for the power player. It weighs about 90g. Many top players use it. The racket provided good control and excellent power. The racket is a metallic red colour. It keeps the strings at the desired tension for longer (as you play your strings naturally slacken). The racket is extra stiff and doesn?t provide a lot of flex. It has an isometric head and is made of Ultra HM/Graphite/Ti. The racket feels lovely to play with. You can feel yourself hitting through every shot. It is a pleasure to use. The Overall the racket is in a class of its own, but it comes with a £110 price tag.

**Yonex Ti 10**

This is the best racket in the Ti series in my opinion. It is about 90g. It has more flex than the muscle power 100. Although I?ve read that it is 90g it does feel slightly lighter than the muscle power 100. It provides slightly better control than the musclepower 100 but not as much power. It is a delight to play with. When you play with it you feel that it is attached to you. I personally prefer th
e musclepower but many players do like this. It depends whether you want more power or more control. This racket is one of Yonex?s best creations and would cost you about £90. However Yonex have stopped making the racket now, so if you want one grab them while you can!

**Yonex musclepower 99**

Ahh the ?mustard racket? as many badminton players have nicknamed it due to its yellow colour. I haven?t played as much with this racket as the other two but I will give you my best analysis. This racket is a mere 85g! It costs £99.99. From myself playing with the racket I really liked it. Its light and provides amazing power and control. I found that at first I was hitting everything out because it was so powerful. The control was fabulous. It feels like heaven to play with this racket. I personally prefer it to the musclepower 100. Once you get used to the power this becomes a dream racket. I would definitely recommend this. Yonex have truly outdone themselves with this one.

**Yehlex**

Yehlex (UK) were founded in 1985 by Ian Little. Yehlex also manufacture goods under the more well known name ?Fleet?. They produce rackets, bags, shoes and clothing. Their rackets tend to be ?cheaper versions of Yonex rackets. Yonex do all the research and Fleet seem to copy the rackets and sell them cheaper. For example Yonex have the musclepower fleet have the top power and the rackets look pretty similar too! If you are just getting into badminton or even if you play regularly and want a good racket a low price fleet are the way to go. The top power is only £57 compared to £110 for the Yonex musclepower. Also if you don?t want to fork out too much for shoes, fleet make a good standard of shoe at a low price (about £18). Admittedly Fleet are not as good, in my opinion, as Yonex but they are the next best thing for an extremely good price. Their bags aren?t that good though and I wouldn?t recommend them. They are cramped and expensive for what you get. That
aside, Fleet are a quality company and I started out using them myself! Overall they are a company who make good products for low prices.

Ok that was my evaluation of the main companies who produce badminton equipment and I hope I have given you a better insight into them. I am now going to explain some more aspects of badminton.

**Shuttles**

In badminton there are generally two types of shuttle. Plastics and feathers. Feathers are made from goose feathers and each shuttle has 16 feathers. Plastics are synthetic. The main difference is that the feathers will lose flight and deteriorate much quicker than plastic shuttles. Therefore it is cheaper to use plastics as you can through 3 or 4 feathers in a single game! However feathers have a better flight to begin with and are used in most tournaments and junior coaching programs. Feathers can be chopped and sliced much more easily than plastics. In my personal opinion feathers are far superior simply due to flight. However not all clubs can afford to keep a constant supply of feathers so plastics may have to be used, and Yonex plastics aren?t that bad. I said generally two types of shuttle because there is currently development going on of a new shuttle which is meant to simulate the flight of a feather but have the durability of a plastic. I hope that helped to give you a clearer idea of the different types of shuttles used in badminton.

I now want to talk to you about some of the basic shots in badminton. So here goes.

**Smash**

This is played when the shuttle is above net height (generally quite high in the air) and isn?t right at the back of court. The actually shot involves hitting the shuttle at a steep angle downwards with a lot of pace. This shot can prove very effective but should not be played all the time and should be aimed carefully. It should generally be hit off a weak return. Another form of this is when the player jumps to meet the shuttle in the ai
r in order to hit it earlier and gain a steeper angle. That shot is known as a ?jump-smash? and requires strong legs. On both jump-smash and normal smash the player should follow through with the racket and the legs in order to obtain maximum power and balance.

**Serve**

The most important shot in the game because if you can?t serve you can?t win points. You only gain a point if you are serving. If you opponent is serving and you win the point, you gain the serve. In singles, at junior level, players tend to hit the shuttle forehand, long (should land in the back tramlines) and high in order to push the opponent onto the back foot. However at pro level they tend to serve backhand, low and short in order not to lift to the opponent and allow them to hit down.

**Dropshot**

This is hit again when the shuttle is high and long. This, unlike a smash, can be hit from as far back as you like without it being a weak shot. This shot is best played with deception (maybe look as if you are going to smash). The idea is to get the shuttle going down at a fairly steep angle but not as fast as a smash and should land before the front service line. The shuttle can be sliced and you play fast and slow drops, but I am not going to go into that. The main idea of the shot is to draw your opponent to the front of the court. Dropshots should travel low over the net to avoid giving your opponent an easy winner (i.e. if it is his high your opponent can easily tap the shuttle down steeply and with pace onto your side of the court). This can be a very effective shot when used properly.

**Drive**

This is can a fantastic shot in doubles and singles play. It is when you ?drive? the shuttle hard, flat and fast. It is most effective when ?driven? to the corners. It is extremely difficult to return. This shot requires great wrist and forearm strength.

**Tap shot**

This shot is most important doubles. It involves a short wrist a
ction (the racket is often held quite high up for this shot). The action is a rebound action and the shot is generally struck from about mid-court. The shuttle is hit hard and either flat or downwards. There can be long tapshot rallies and doubles games are won and lost with this shot.

Now I?m just going to inform you of a few more things about badminton and what I think about it, I hope I?m not boring you!

**What are the benefits of badminton?**

There are numerous benefits of playing badminton. One is obviously the health benefits. Badminton keeps you fit and is good cardio vascular exercise. It trains the body for endurance. It is not only a physical game but it also a mental game. Another important one is the hand eye co-ordination that you build using it and the numerous positions that you have to twist into build a strong spine. One of the most important factors for me with badminton is the badminton community. I can honestly say that I have never met a group of nicer people who are all there for each other than the friends I met through badminton, and I hope that anyone who takes it up experiences the same joy that I did. Not only this but I love playing the game and if you love a game then that has to be a benefit.

**How to get involved with badminton?**

If you want to get involved with badminton I would suggest contacting your local leisure centre. (I currently go to a club at Rothwell sports centre). Alternatively, or if your leisure centre doesn?t have a club, you can also try these sites to help you locate a club:

www.baofe.co.uk

www.badders.com

**What it costs to get involved**

All you will probably have to pay is the cost of your badminton racket, the club subscription and any restrings or new rackets you need. Your club should provide you with shuttles. This means that badminton is relatively cheap to get involved with, unlike things like golf. I would say maybe a one off
cost of £99.99 for a top racket and then maybe £40-£80 a year subscription fees.

**What it takes to be a top badminton player**

I think that to be a good badminton player there a few main points:

1. Footwork- This is extremely important. Your footwork round court is crucial. You must be able to get round the court, quickly and efficiently while still maintaining good balance.

2. Stamina- You must have a very good stamina in order to keep going through tough long rallies.

3. Strokes and shots- These are of course vital in being a good player. You must have good technique in all your shots.

4. Leg strength- You must have strong legs, especially calf muscles in order to push of and get around the court quickly. Nowadays many badminton players are starting to skip in order to build the leg muscles. All of the Yorkshire squad have been told to start skipping regularly.

5. Mental strength- This is extremely important in all games. You must keep going in tough matches, not get down when you make a mistake and not relax if you think you?re winning easily. If you don?t have good mental strength you can?t go far in badminton.

6. Attitude- Finally you need a good attitude. You must be willing to work hard and enjoy everything.

**Badminton versus Tennis**

Some people say that tennis is far more strenuous than badminton and that?s why it gets more TV coverage. I would just like to present some statistics which I found in an article which compared badminton and tennis:

?The speed and the stamina required for badminton are far greater than for any other racket sport. At the 1985 All England (Tennis) Championships, Boris Becker defeated Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. At the 1985 World Badminton Championships in Calgary, Canada, Han Jian of China defeated Morten Frost of Denmark, 14-18, 15-10, 15-8.

The following is a statistical comparison of those matches.

Time:
Tennis, 3 hours and 18 minutes. Badminton, 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Ball/Shuttle in Play: Tennis, 18 minutes. Badminton, 37 minutes.
Match Intensity*: Tennis, 9 percent. Badminton, 48 percent.
Rallies: Tennis 299. Badminton, 146.
Shots: Tennis, 1,004. Badminton, 1,972.
Shots Per Rally: Tennis, 3.4. Badminton, 13.5.
Distance Covered: Tennis, 2 miles. Badminton, 4 miles.

Note that the badminton players competed for half the time, yet ran twice as far and hit nearly twice as many shots.

*The actual time the ball/shuttle was in flight, divided by the length of the match.?

I found that very interesting and would also like to add that in a game of badminton the body can twist into 360 different positions!

**Overall conclusion**

Overall I feel that badminton is one of the best sports around. I thoroughly enjoy playing it. As I?ve said I play for the county but my aim is to play for England. I would recommend the game to anybody. It is fun from beginner to pro. It is full of action, skill and speed. I think that more people should be aware of badminton and people who say it is just a ?weak sport? should play it for themselves and do the training that a pro does and see if they still think it?s a ?weak sport? then! I feel that badminton needs more recognition. I think another good thing about badminton is that it doesn?t matter how tall you are or how strong you are. I feel that badminton can be enjoyed by anyone. Personally I think that it does not get enough TV coverage. The game has given me so much and one day I hope to give something back. I have a passion for the game and have just tried to give you an insight into the world of badminton. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

ALL comments welcome.

By Rishi

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