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Published: May 5, 2010

Badminton



Badminton, which some people call “the world’s fastest racket sport,” is played with shuttlecocks (lightweight conical objects with rounded noses) and rackets on a court divided by a net.

History


Researchers have found evidence of sports similar to badminton as early as the first century BCE in China, where ti jian zi (shuttlecock kicking) was popular. In ti jian zi players hit a shuttlecock with a foot or hand or occasionally a bat.The sport also was popular in India, Japan, and Siam (Thailand) and spread to Greece and Sumeria.
During the fourteenth century in England people played battledore shuttlecock with a racket or paddle and a shuttlecock. This sport used no nets or boundaries and was mainly a means of testing two players’ skill at keeping the shuttlecock in play as long as possible. Battledore shuttlecock by the late sixteenth century had become a popular children’s sport, the object of players still being to hit the shuttlecock to each other, or to oneself, and to keep it in the air as long as possible. The notions of using a net and of trying to prevent one’s opponent from returning the shuttlecock were still a century away.
The social status of battledore shuttlecock increased during the seventeenth century as British royalty and the leisured classes played the sport. Early English settlers in the American colonies also played battledore shuttlecock. During the 1800s the seventh duke of Beaufort and his family were keen players at his estate in Gloucester, called “Badminton House.” There the “new game” of badminton battledore, using a net and boundaries, evolved; thus, the term badminton. By 1867 English officers and their families in India were playing a formal version of badminton and had developed the first set of rules.

Evolution


Badminton evolved into a competitive indoor sport during the last three decades of the 1800s, and clubs were formed throughout the British Isles to promote competition. The first tournaments were held in England during the 1890s, and the first All-England Badminton Championships were held in 1899. Until the 1920s the major badminton titles were played for by the English, Scots, and Irish. Rules varied from place to place until about 1905, when the Badminton Association of England adopted uniform rules that are similar to the official rules of the International Badminton Federation (IBF), which players observe today.
During the 1920s badminton spread from England to northern Europe (it was especially popular in Scandinavia) and North America. It also spread from India throughout the rest of Asia.
The International Badminton Federation, which governs international competition, was formed in 1934 with nine member countries. More than 125 countries now belong to the IBF. After World War II several international competitions for teams and individual players were established, and by 1979 badminton had become professional. A year-around international grand prix circuit attracts the top players to a touring career similar to that of other professional athletes. The acceptance of badminton into the Olympic Games in 1985—and its debut at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain—solidified badminton’s position as an international sport.

Rules of Play


Two features distinguish badminton from other racket sports, all of which use a ball: (1) the use of a shuttlecock and (2) the fact that the shuttlecock must not touch the ground.These features make badminton a fast sport that requires strong conditioning and quick reflexes. Indeed, top athletes can deliver smashes of more than 320 kilometers per hour.
Although badminton may be played indoors or outdoors, all officially sanctioned competitions around the world are played indoors. Competitive badminton is played in five events: men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

Keeping Score


A badminton game consists of fifteen points, except for women’s singles, in which a game is eleven points. The best of three games constitutes a match. Only the serving side can score points. A game does not need to be won by two points. If the score becomes tied near the end of a game, the game may be lengthened by a procedure called “setting.” For example, when the score becomes tied at thirteen in a fifteen-point game, the side that reached thirteen first has the option of setting the game to five (a total of eighteen points), so that the side that scores five points first wins.The score may be set in the same manner at a fourteen-point tie for three points (a total of seventeen points). In women’s singles the eleven-point game may total twelve points by setting at nine-all for three points or at ten-all for two points. Only the side that reached the tied score first has the option of setting the score; if the side elects not to set, the conventional number of points completes the game.

Changing Sides


The two sides change ends at the beginning of the second game and at the beginning of the third if a third game is necessary. In a fifteen-point game sides change ends in the third game when the leading side reaches eight points; in an eleven-point third game, sides change ends when either side reaches six.The side that wins a game serves first in the next game.

Strategies


In singles play the goal is to move the opponent primarily up and back on the court, using deception and forcing errors by the opponent. In doubles play a team’s goal is to repeatedly hit the shuttlecock down to its opponents and force the opponents to hit defensive shots up in return. The offensive doubles formation is one player playing at the net and the other player smashing from the backcourt.The defensive doubles formation is both players playing back, each defending his or her side of the court.
In singles play a typical rally consists of a serve and repeated high, deep shots hit to the baseline (clears), interspersed with dropshots. If a short clear or other type of “set-up” is forced, a smash wins the point. More often than not, an error (in which the shuttlecock is hit out of bounds or into the net), rather than a positive winning play, ends a rally. A player who is patient and commits few or no outright errors often wins by simply waiting for the opponent to err.
Doubles play has fewer clears and more low serves, drives, and net play. Again, a smash often ends the point. As in singles, having patience and avoiding unforced errors are important in winning.

Basic Shots


Strokes and striking techniques vary greatly from relatively slow shots to quick and deceptive shots. Basic shots consist of underhand strokes (serve, underhand clear, underhand dropshot), overhead strokes (clear, dropshot, smash), a sidearm stroke (drive), and the hairpin drop at the net.
Unlike a player serving in tennis, a player serving in badminton has only one attempt to put the shuttlecock into play. In doubles both players on a side have a turn at serving before the serve passes to the other side. A serve that hits the top of the net and goes into the correct service court is legal and in play.
In addition, the serve in badminton is a defensive shot: It must be underhand.The racket shaft must point downward at the point of contact, so that the entire racket head is below the server’s hand and fingers.

Faults


Faults are violations of the rules in serving, receiving, or playing. If the receiving side faults, the serving side scores a point. If the serving side faults, no point is scored, and the serve passes to the next appropriate server.

Equipment


All major badminton competitions use the traditional feathered shuttlecock. It must weigh between 4.74 and 5.5 grams and have fourteen to sixteen feathers fixed in a cork base covered with a layer of leather or similar material. Shuttlecocks are humidified to prevent drying and becoming brittle. They are produced at different “speed” levels and weights to suit all playing environments. One shuttlecock usually lasts for only two games.
The badminton net is 1.524 meters high at the center of the court and 1.55 meters high at each end post. The badminton court measures 5.2 meters by 13.4 meters for singles play and 6.1 meters by 13.4 meters for doubles play. Badminton rackets were made of wood until the 1950s. Today’s rackets are made of blends of boron, aluminum, carbon, and steel. They are light (around 98 grams) and can be strung tightly with natural gut or synthetic string. Dimensions cannot exceed 69 centimeters by 23 centimeters, and the head length cannot exceed 33 centimeters.

Competition at the Top


Major international competitions include the Olympic Games, the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup, the World Badminton Championships, and the Sudirman Cup.

OLYMPICS


Although badminton was a demonstration sport at the Olympics in Munich, Germany, in 1972 and an exhibition sport at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988, its Olympic debut as a full-medal sport did not come until 1992 in Barcelona, Spain. Four events were played: men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, and women’s doubles. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia mixed doubles were added.

THOMAS CUP AND UBER CUP


The Thomas Cup is the men’s world team championship, similar to the Davis Cup in tennis.The competition began in 1949 and was held every three years until 1984, after which it has been held every even year. The Uber Cup is the women’s world team championship, held with the Thomas Cup.The event began in 1957.
In the competitions for the Thomas and Uber Cups, each tie between two countries consists of five matches —three singles and two doubles. Regional playoffs are held in several locations around the world, and the winners of these playoffs, along with the defending champion nations, gather in one location for the final rounds.

WORLD BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS


TheWorld Badminton Championships were begun in 1977 to provide individual championships to complement the previously described team competitions. The World Badminton Championships are held every oddnumbered year. Prior to 1977 the prestigious All-England Badminton Championships were considered the unofficial individual world championships. The All- England Badminton Championships were founded in 1899 and are still staged annually. Since 1992World Junior Badminton Championships have also been staged.

SUDIRMAN CUP


The Sudirman Cup, begun in 1989, is the world mixed team championship. Held in conjunction with the World Badminton Championships in odd-numbered years, the Sudirman Cup provides competition between teams consisting of men and women. In this competition each tie between two countries consists of five matches—one men’s singles, one women’s singles, one men’s doubles, one women’s doubles, and one mixed doubles.
Today China is at the top in international badminton competition. Chinese players won four medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia; South Korea and Malaysia won four and two, respectively. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, China won the most medals: three gold, one silver, and one bronze. Gold medalists in badminton were: men’s singles,Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia; men’s doubles, Tae Kwon Ha and Dong Moon Kim of North Korea; women’s singles, Ning Zhang of China; women’s doubles,Wei Yang and Jiewen Zhang of China; and mixed doubles, Jun Zhang and Ling Gao of China.
The International Badminton Federation’s top world rankings in late 2004 were: men’s singles, Dan Lin of China; women’s singles, Ning Zhang of China; men’s doubles, Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen of Denmark; women’s doubles, Wei Yang and Jiewen Zhang of China; and mixed doubles, Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England.

Popularity


In most countries of Southeast Asia and northern Europe badminton is a major sport and virtually the national sport in Indonesia and several other countries. England, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany lead Europe in their interest. The five nations with the most registered players, according to the IBF, are Denmark (180,977); Germany (142,253); Japan (115,682); China (110,550); and the Netherlands (94,815).
The International Badminton Federation lists the number of players registered with national badminton associations around the world at 1.4 million. The IBF estimates, however, that ten times that many people play badminton.
Kathleen M. Spence
Categories: Sports-Racket
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