Fast, fit and fun. (Badminton - General)

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	Badminton - General
Date:	22/03/09 (456 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Get fit, hand eye co-ordination.

Disadvantages: Hard work.

I do not often write 'general' reviews so for me this is a little different and hopefully, I will do it justice.

I first began playing badminton about 10 years ago, maybe once a fortnight, with a colleague from work. She was, in retrospect, not as good as I thought she was, but was much better than I was at the time, invariably we played singles. This is important, as I will explain later as singles is a very different game from doubles, which I play now.

I am not going to go into the history of badminton, nor get all technical about the rules, suffice to say, each game is up to 21 points, with the points now being won whether you have served or not, this is a major rule change introduced a few years ago when the game used to be to 15 points and points could only be won by the server....enough!

You may be astounded to know that badminton (especially doubles) is the fastest court game in the world, with some rallies forcing the shuttle to reach speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour (if you want a list of references and sources, just message me). yep, faster than squash, tennis etc. This is due mainly to the close proximity of the players in some exchanges.

Needless to say, this game will get you, and keep you fit. With the latest guidelines on exercise that one should do 30 minutes, 5 times per week, basically two or three games of badminton, a few times per week is plenty. Personally I play twice per week for two hours and on a sunday I get two hours coaching which also includes playing games of course. Each game can last anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes and my heart rate reaches 160+.

Always take a water based drink to badminton, you can drink up to a litre per hour easily. I have come back from a hectic night 3 pounds lighter than when I went out!!

Not only will you get physically fitter, you will improve your reaction times, hand eye coordination and startegic thinking, ward off alzheimers with badminton I reckon.

Okay, singles, as it sounds is simply two players pitted against each other trying to ensure that the opponent either fails to return the shuttle over the net, or hits the shuttle outside of the court lines, thus ensuring a point won. Without going into too much detail, the court markings for singles are slightly longer (on serve) and thinner (in play) than doubles, and the best tip for a beginner is always try to stay centre court.

Doubles is an alltogether different game, and different if you are playing same sex or as male/female teams. Same sex teams try (basically) to play 'side to side' or half a court each, though this differs on the serve shot or if someone is 'stuck at the net'. In mixed doubles, generally (again, not always) the female plays the front of the court more.

Communication and court position are far more important than power. If you are in the right place you can play the game like chess, you are thinking a couple of moves ahead. bear in mind though, as an extremely fast game, a couple of moves ahead may be less than two seconds away!

The key to playing doubles is knowing where your partner is/will be, you do not have to run for everything as you do in singles, in fact, if you do, you will get yourself out of optimum position and then your partner will get out of position trying to cover you and it all goes pear shaped.

There are a couple of basic rules to remember, 'serve short, stay short' which means if you serve a short shot, it is likely that the opponent will attempt either a net drop shot, so you need to stay at the net to counter that, or they will hit it high and long, so your partner, who is covering behind you will get that (hoepfully)....once te serve has played out, the next golden rule is to try and get your court position(s) sorted out, quick smart.

You will need some basic equipment to play badminton and it need not be too expensive (though it can be):

A Raquet (racket) which you can get for as little as a tenner, though many decent racquets cost nearer £100.

Decent, non slip court shoes, Yonex make great shoes for around £30.

Shorts and a top, I see some people play in tracksuit bottoms, but I get really sweaty and that would not do for me.

Think about whether or not you have knee, wrist, elbow, shoulder or back problems before you play and whether or not badminton will help or aggravate those problems. I wear a knee brace. Also, as someone wit diabetes I take some fruit as my blood sugar can drop dramatically after a couple of games.

You do not need to be that fit to start with, but you will need to be fitter (and you will get fitter believe me) if you are playing regularly and/or at a club level.

Join a club, it is great for socialising, improving your game (play better players all the time if you can at first), getting fit, and for coaching. There will be details of local clubs on the internet, they are usually happy for new members to join and in my experience really helpful folk.

I have played a couple of times in the league ('B' team) and from next season will be organising (as team captain) a 'C' team which will consist of a mixture of teenagers and oldies (like me) which will play in Sheffield area league (a low division) and wil serve as a 'feeder' to bring the young 'uns through to the higher teams and give us all something to aim for...my goal is to be a regular in te B team and for my C team to beat the B team at least once!

Badminton is a fast, strenuous game, that is fun and exciting, good luck.

Summary: Badminton.