Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played usingracquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net.Although it may be played with largerteams, the most common forms of thegame are "singles" (with one player perside) and "doubles" (with two players perside). Badminton is often played as acasual outdoor activity in a yard or on abeach; formal games are played on arectangular indoor court. Points are scoredby striking the shuttlecock with the

racquet and landing it within the opposingside's half of the court.

Badminton

Two Chinese teams compete in the MixedDoubles Final of the 2012 Olympics

Highestgoverning body

Badminton WorldFederation

First played 19th century

Characteristics

Contact None

Team members Singles or doubles

Type Racquet sport

Equipment Shuttlecock, racquet

Presence

Olympic 1992–present

Each side may only strike the shuttlecockonce before it passes over the net. Playends once the shuttlecock has struck thefloor or if a fault has been called by theumpire, service judge, or (in their absence)the opposing side.[1]

The shuttlecock is a feathered or (ininformal matches) plastic projectile whichflies differently from the balls used inmany other sports. In particular, thefeathers create much higher drag, causingthe shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly.Shuttlecocks also have a high top speed

World Games 1981

compared to the balls in other racquetsports. The flight of the shuttlecock givesthe sport its distinctive nature.

The game developed in British India fromthe earlier game of battledore andshuttlecock. European play came to bedominated by Denmark but the game hasbecome very popular in Asia, with recentcompetitions dominated by China. Since1992, badminton has been a SummerOlympic sport with four events: men'ssingles, women's singles, men's doubles,and women's doubles,[2] with mixeddoubles added four years later. At highlevels of play, the sport demands excellent

fitness: players require aerobic stamina,agility, strength, speed, and precision. It isalso a technical sport, requiring goodmotor coordination and the developmentof sophisticated racquet movements.[3]

History

An 1804 depiction of battledore and shuttlecock

Games employing shuttlecocks have beenplayed for centuries across Eurasia,[a] butthe modern game of badminton developedin the mid-19th century among the Britishas a variant of the earlier game ofbattledore and shuttlecock. ("Battledore"was an older term for "racquet".)[4] Itsexact origin remains obscure. The namederives from the Duke of Beaufort's

An 1854 depiction of battledore and shuttlecock byJohn Leech

Badminton House in Gloucestershire,[5] butwhy or when remains unclear. As early as1860, a London toy dealer named IsaacSpratt published a booklet entitledBadminton Battledore – A New Game, butno copy is known to have survived.[6] An1863 article in The Cornhill Magazinedescribes badminton as "battledore andshuttlecock played with sides, across astring suspended some five feet from theground".[7]

The game may have originally developedamong expatriate officers in British India,[8]

where it was very popular by the 1870s.[6]

Ball badminton, a form of the game played

with a wool ball instead of a shuttlecock,was being played in Thanjavur as early asthe 1850s[9] and was at first playedinterchangeably with badminton by theBritish, the woollen ball being preferred inwindy or wet weather.

Early on, the game was also known asPoona or Poonah after the garrison townof Pune,[8][10] where it was particularlypopular and where the first rules for thegame were drawn up in 1873.[6][7][b] By1875, officers returning home had starteda badminton club in Folkestone. Initially,the sport was played with sides rangingfrom 1 to 4 players, but it was quickly

established that games between two orfour competitors worked the best.[4] Theshuttlecocks were coated with Indiarubber and, in outdoor play, sometimesweighted with lead.[4] Although the depthof the net was of no consequence, it waspreferred that it should reach the ground.[4]

The sport was played under the Pune rulesuntil 1887, when J. H. E. Hart of the BathBadminton Club drew up revisedregulations.[5] In 1890, Hart and BagnelWild again revised the rules.[6] TheBadminton Association of England (BAE)published these rules in 1893 and officiallylaunched the sport at a house called

"Dunbar"[c] in Portsmouth on 13September.[12] The BAE started the firstbadminton competition, the All EnglandOpen Badminton Championships forgentlemen's doubles, ladies' doubles, andmixed doubles, in 1899.[5] Singlescompetitions were added in 1900 and anEngland–Ireland championship matchappeared in 1904.[5]

England, Scotland, Wales, Canada,Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands,and New Zealand were the foundingmembers of the International BadmintonFederation in 1934, now known as theBadminton World Federation. India joined

as an affiliate in 1936. The BWF nowgoverns international badminton. Althoughinitiated in England, competitive men'sbadminton has traditionally beendominated in Europe by Denmark.Worldwide, Asian nations have becomedominant in international competition.China, Denmark, India, Indonesia,Malaysia, and South Korea are the nationswhich have consistently produced world-class players in the past few decades, withChina being the greatest force in men'sand women's competition recently.

The game has also become a popularbackyard sport in the United States.

The following information is a simplifiedsummary of badminton rules based on theBWF Statutes publication, Laws ofBadminton.[13]

Court

The court is rectangular and divided intohalves by a net. Courts are usually markedfor both singles and doubles play, although

Rules

Badminton court, isometric view

badminton rules permit a court to bemarked for singles only.[13] The doublescourt is wider than the singles court, butboth are of the same length. Theexception, which often causes confusionto newer players, is that the doubles courthas a shorter serve-length dimension.

The full width of the court is 6.1 metres(20 ft), and in singles this width is reducedto 5.18 metres (17 ft). The full length ofthe court is 13.4 metres (44 ft). Theservice courts are marked by a centre linedividing the width of the court, by a shortservice line at a distance of 1.98 metres(6 ft 6 inch) from the net, and by the outer

side and back boundaries. In doubles, theservice court is also marked by a longservice line, which is 0.76 metres (2 ft6 inch) from the back boundary.

The net is 1.55 metres (5 ft 1 inch) high atthe edges and 1.524 metres (5 ft) high inthe centre. The net posts are placed overthe doubles sidelines, even when singles isplayed.

The minimum height for the ceiling abovethe court is not mentioned in the Laws ofBadminton. Nonetheless, a badmintoncourt will not be suitable if the ceiling islikely to be hit on a high serve.

Serving

When the server serves, the shuttlecockmust pass over the short service line onthe opponents' court or it will count as afault.

The legal bounds of a badminton court during variousstages of a rally for singles and doubles games

At the start of the rally, the server andreceiver stand in diagonally oppositeservice courts (see court dimensions). Theserver hits the shuttlecock so that it wouldland in the receiver's service court. This issimilar to tennis, except that a badmintonserve must be hit below waist height andwith the racquet shaft pointingdownwards, the shuttlecock is not allowedto bounce and in badminton, the playersstand inside their service courts, unliketennis.

When the serving side loses a rally, theserver immediately passes to theiropponent(s) (this differs from the old

system where sometimes the servepasses to the doubles partner for what isknown as a "second serve").

In singles, the server stands in their rightservice court when their score is even, andin her/his left service court when her/hisscore is odd.

In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally,the same player continues to serve, buthe/she changes service courts so thatshe/he serves to a different opponenteach time. If the opponents win the rallyand their new score is even, the player inthe right service court serves; if odd, the

player in the left service court serves. Theplayers' service courts are determined bytheir positions at the start of the previousrally, not by where they were standing atthe end of the rally. A consequence of thissystem is that each time a side regains theservice, the server will be the player whodid not serve last time.

Scoring

Each game is played to 21 points, withplayers scoring a point whenever they wina rally regardless of whether theyserved[13] (this differs from the old systemwhere players could only win a point on

their serve and each game was played to15 points). A match is the best of threegames.

If the score reaches 20-all, then the gamecontinues until one side gains a two-pointlead (such as 24–22), except when there isa tie at 29-all, in which the game goes to agolden point. Whoever scores this pointwill win.

At the start of a match, the shuttlecock iscast and the side towards which theshuttlecock is pointing serves first.Alternatively, a coin may be tossed, withthe winners choosing whether to serve or

receive first, or choosing which end of thecourt to occupy first, and their opponentsmaking the leftover the remaining choice.

In subsequent games, the winners of theprevious game serve first. Matches arebest out of three: a player or pair must wintwo games (of 21 points each) to win thematch. For the first rally of any doublesgame, the serving pair may decide whoserves and the receiving pair may decidewho receives. The players change ends atthe start of the second game; if the matchreaches a third game, they change endsboth at the start of the game and when the

leading player's or pair's score reaches 11points.

The server and receiver must remainwithin their service courts, withouttouching the boundary lines, until theserver strikes the shuttlecock. The othertwo players may stand wherever they wish,so long as they do not block the vision ofthe server or receiver.

Lets

If a let is called, the rally is stopped andreplayed with no change to the score. Letsmay occur because of some unexpecteddisturbance such as a shuttlecock landing

on a court (having been hit there byplayers playing in adjacent court) or insmall halls the shuttle may touch anoverhead rail which can be classed as alet.

If the receiver is not ready when theservice is delivered, a let shall be called;yet, if the receiver attempts to return theshuttlecock, the receiver shall be judged tohave been ready.

Equipment

Badminton rules restrict the design andsize of racquets and shuttlecocks.

Racquets

Badminton racquets are lightweight, withtop quality racquets weighing between 70and 95 grams (2.5 and 3.4 ounces) notincluding grip or strings.[14][15] They arecomposed of many different materialsranging from carbon fibre composite(graphite reinforced plastic) to solid steel,which may be augmented by a variety ofmaterials. Carbon fibre has an excellent

Badminton racquets

strength to weight ratio, is stiff, and givesexcellent kinetic energy transfer. Beforethe adoption of carbon fibre composite,racquets were made of light metals suchas aluminium. Earlier still, racquets weremade of wood. Cheap racquets are stilloften made of metals such as steel, butwooden racquets are no longermanufactured for the ordinary market,because of their excessive mass and cost.Nowadays, nanomaterials such as carbonnanotubes and fullerene are added toracquets giving them greater durability.

There is a wide variety of racquet designs,although the laws limit the racquet size

and shape. Different racquets have playingcharacteristics that appeal to differentplayers. The traditional oval head shape isstill available, but an isometric head shapeis increasingly common in new racquets.

Strings

Badminton strings are thin, highperforming strings with thicknessesranging from about 0.62 to 0.73 mm.Thicker strings are more durable, but manyplayers prefer the feel of thinner strings.String tension is normally in the range of80 to 160 N (18 to 36 lbf). Recreationalplayers generally string at lower tensions

than professionals, typically between 80and 110 N (18 and 25 lbf). Professionalsstring between about 110 and 160 N (25and 36 lbf). Some string manufacturersmeasure the thickness of their stringsunder tension so they are actually thickerthan specified when slack. AshawayMicropower is actually 0.7mm but YonexBG-66 is about 0.72mm.

It is often argued that high string tensionsimprove control, whereas low stringtensions increase power.[16] Thearguments for this generally rely on crudemechanical reasoning, such as claimingthat a lower tension string bed is more

bouncy and therefore provides morepower. This is, in fact, incorrect, for ahigher string tension can cause the shuttleto slide off the racquet and hence make itharder to hit a shot accurately. Analternative view suggests that theoptimum tension for power depends onthe player:[14] the faster and moreaccurately a player can swing theirracquet, the higher the tension formaximum power. Neither view has beensubjected to a rigorous mechanicalanalysis, nor is there clear evidence infavour of one or the other. The mosteffective way for a player to find a goodstring tension is to experiment.

Grip

The choice of grip allows a player toincrease the thickness of their racquethandle and choose a comfortable surfaceto hold. A player may build up the handlewith one or several grips before applyingthe final layer.

Players may choose between a variety ofgrip materials. The most common choices

Badminton Undergrip Flat

are PU synthetic grips or towelling grips.Grip choice is a matter of personalpreference. Players often find that sweatbecomes a problem; in this case, a dryingagent may be applied to the grip or hands,sweatbands may be used, the player maychoose another grip material or changehis/her grip more frequently.

There are two main types of grip:replacement grips and overgrips.Replacement grips are thicker and areoften used to increase the size of thehandle. Overgrips are thinner (less than1 mm), and are often used as the finallayer. Many players, however, prefer to use

replacement grips as the final layer.Towelling grips are always replacementgrips. Replacement grips have an adhesivebacking, whereas overgrips have only asmall patch of adhesive at the start of thetape and must be applied under tension;overgrips are more convenient for playerswho change grips frequently, because theymay be removed more rapidly withoutdamaging the underlying material.

Shuttlecock

A shuttlecock (often abbreviated to shuttle;also called a birdie) is a high-dragprojectile, with an open conical shape: thecone is formed from sixteen overlappingfeathers embedded into a rounded corkbase. The cork is covered with thin leatheror synthetic material. Synthetic shuttles

A shuttlecock with a plastic skirt

Shuttlecocks with feathers

are often used by recreational players toreduce their costs as feathered shuttlesbreak easily. These nylon shuttles may beconstructed with either natural cork orsynthetic foam base and a plastic skirt.

Badminton rules also provide for testing ashuttlecock for the correct speed:

3.1: To test a shuttlecock, hit a

full underhand stroke which

makes contact with the

shuttlecock over the back

boundary line. The shuttlecock

shall be hit at an upward angle

Shoes

Badminton shoes are lightweight withsoles of rubber or similar high-grip, non-marking materials.

and in a direction parallel to the

sidelines.

3.2: A shuttlecock of the correct

speed will land not less than

530 mm and not more than

990 mm short of the other back

boundary line.

Compared to running shoes, badmintonshoes have little lateral support. Highlevels of lateral support are useful foractivities where lateral motion isundesirable and unexpected. Badminton,however, requires powerful lateralmovements. A highly built-up lateralsupport will not be able to protect the footin badminton; instead, it will encouragecatastrophic collapse at the point wherethe shoe's support fails, and the player'sankles are not ready for the suddenloading, which can cause sprains. For thisreason, players should choose badmintonshoes rather than general trainers orrunning shoes, because proper badminton

shoes will have a very thin sole, lower aperson's centre of gravity, and thereforeresult in fewer injuries. Players should alsoensure that they learn safe and properfootwork, with the knee and foot inalignment on all lunges. This is more thanjust a safety concern: proper footwork isalso critical in order to move effectivelyaround the court.

Technique

Strokes

Badminton offers a wide variety of basicstrokes, and players require a high level ofskill to perform all of them effectively. Allstrokes can be played either forehand orbackhand. A player's forehand side is thesame side as their playing hand: for aright-handed player, the forehand side is

A female player flies high in USA, 2006

their right side and the backhand side istheir left side. Forehand strokes are hitwith the front of the hand leading (likehitting with the palm), whereas backhandstrokes are hit with the back of the handleading (like hitting with the knuckles).Players frequently play certain strokes onthe forehand side with a backhand hittingaction, and vice versa.

In the forecourt and midcourt, moststrokes can be played equally effectivelyon either the forehand or backhand side;but in the rear court, players will attempt toplay as many strokes as possible on theirforehands, often preferring to play a round-

the-head forehand overhead (a forehand"on the backhand side") rather thanattempt a backhand overhead. Playing abackhand overhead has two maindisadvantages. First, the player must turntheir back to their opponents, restrictingtheir view of them and the court. Second,backhand overheads cannot be hit with asmuch power as forehands: the hittingaction is limited by the shoulder joint,which permits a much greater range ofmovement for a forehand overhead thanfor a backhand. The backhand clear isconsidered by most players and coachesto be the most difficult basic stroke in thegame, since the precise technique is

needed in order to muster enough powerfor the shuttlecock to travel the full lengthof the court. For the same reason,backhand smashes tend to be weak.

Position of the shuttlecock andreceiving player

The choice of stroke depends on how nearthe shuttlecock is to the net, whether it is

A player does a forehand service, 2009, Philadelphia

above net height, and where an opponentis currently positioned: players have muchbetter attacking options if they can reachthe shuttlecock well above net height,especially if it is also close to the net. Inthe forecourt, a high shuttlecock will bemet with a net kill, hitting it steeplydownwards and attempting to win the rallyimmediately. This is why it is best to dropthe shuttlecock just over the net in thissituation. In the midcourt, a highshuttlecock will usually be met with apowerful smash, also hitting downwardsand hoping for an outright winner or aweak reply. Athletic jump smashes, whereplayers jump upwards for a steeper smash

angle, are a common and spectacularelement of elite men's doubles play. In therearcourt, players strive to hit theshuttlecock while it is still above them,rather than allowing it to drop lower. Thisoverhead hitting allows them to playsmashes, clears (hitting the shuttlecockhigh and to the back of the opponents'court), and drop shots (hitting theshuttlecock softly so that it falls sharplydownwards into the opponents' forecourt).If the shuttlecock has dropped lower, thena smash is impossible and a full-length,high clear is difficult.

Vertical position of the shuttlecock

When the shuttlecock is well below netheight, players have no choice but to hitupwards. Lifts, where the shuttlecock is hitupwards to the back of the opponents'court, can be played from all parts of thecourt. If a player does not lift, his onlyremaining option is to push theshuttlecock softly back to the net: in theforecourt, this is called a net shot; in the

A player prepares for a vertical jump smash

midcourt or rear court, it is often called apush or block.

When the shuttlecock is near to netheight, players can hit drives, which travelflat and rapidly over the net into theopponents' rear midcourt and rear court.Pushes may also be hit flatter, placing theshuttlecock into the front midcourt. Drivesand pushes may be played from themidcourt or forecourt, and are most oftenused in doubles: they are an attempt toregain the attack, rather than choosing tolift the shuttlecock and defend againstsmashes. After a successful drive or push,

the opponents will often be forced to liftthe shuttlecock.

Spin

Balls may be spun to alter their bounce(for example, topspin and backspin intennis) or trajectory, and players may slicethe ball (strike it with an angled racquetface) to produce such spin. Theshuttlecock is not allowed to bounce, butslicing the shuttlecock does haveapplications in badminton. (See Basicstrokes for an explanation of technicalterms.)

Slicing the shuttlecock from the sidemay cause it to travel in a differentdirection from the direction suggestedby the player's racquet or bodymovement. This is used to deceiveopponents.

Slicing the shuttlecock from the sidemay cause it to follow a slightly curvedpath (as seen from above), and thedeceleration imparted by the spincauses sliced strokes to slow downmore suddenly towards the end of theirflight path. This can be used to createdrop shots and smashes that dip moresteeply after they pass the net.

When playing a net shot, slicingunderneath the shuttlecock may cause itto turn over itself (tumble) several timesas it passes the net. This is called aspinning net shot or tumbling net shot.The opponent will be unwilling toaddress the shuttlecock until it hascorrected its orientation.

Due to the way that its feathers overlap, ashuttlecock also has a slight natural spinabout its axis of rotational symmetry. Thespin is in a counter-clockwise direction asseen from above when dropping ashuttlecock. This natural spin affectscertain strokes: a tumbling net shot is

more effective if the slicing action is fromright to left, rather than from left toright.[17]

Biomechanics

Badminton biomechanics have not beenthe subject of extensive scientific study,but some studies confirm the minor role ofthe wrist in power generation and indicatethat the major contributions to powercome from internal and external rotationsof the upper and lower arm.[18] Recentguides to the sport thus emphasizeforearm rotation rather than wristmovements.[19]

The feathers impart substantial drag,causing the shuttlecock to decelerategreatly over distance. The shuttlecock isalso extremely aerodynamically stable:regardless of initial orientation, it will turnto fly cork-first and remain in the cork-firstorientation.

One consequence of the shuttlecock'sdrag is that it requires considerable powerto hit it the full length of the court, which isnot the case for most racquet sports. Thedrag also influences the flight path of alifted (lobbed) shuttlecock: the parabola ofits flight is heavily skewed so that it falls ata steeper angle than it rises. With very high

serves, the shuttlecock may even fallvertically.

Other factors

When defending against a smash, playershave three basic options: lift, block, ordrive. In singles, a block to the net is themost common reply. In doubles, a lift is thesafest option but it usually allows theopponents to continue smashing; blocksand drives are counter-attacking strokesbut may be intercepted by the smasher'spartner. Many players use a backhandhitting action for returning smashes onboth the forehand and backhand sides

because backhands are more effectivethan forehands at covering smashesdirected to the body. Hard shots directedtowards the body are difficult to defend.

The service is restricted by the Laws andpresents its own array of stroke choices.Unlike in tennis, the server's racquet mustbe pointing in a downward direction todeliver the serve so normally the shuttlemust be hit upwards to pass over the net.The server can choose a low serve into theforecourt (like a push), or a lift to the backof 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 thecourt, or flick serves, where theshuttlecock is lifted to a lesser height butfalls sooner.

Deception

Once players have mastered these basicstrokes, they can hit the shuttlecock fromand to any part of the court, powerfullyand softly as required. Beyond the basics,however, badminton offers rich potentialfor advanced stroke skills that provide acompetitive advantage. Becausebadminton players have to cover a shortdistance as quickly as possible, the

purpose of many advanced strokes is todeceive the opponent, so that either he istricked into believing that a different strokeis being played, or he is forced to delay hismovement until he actually sees theshuttle's direction. "Deception" inbadminton is often used in both of thesesenses. When a player is genuinelydeceived, he will often lose the pointimmediately because he cannot changehis direction quickly enough to reach theshuttlecock. Experienced players will beaware of the trick and cautious not tomove too early, but the attempteddeception is still useful because it forcesthe opponent to delay his movement

slightly. Against weaker players whoseintended strokes are obvious, anexperienced player may move before theshuttlecock has been hit, anticipating thestroke to gain an advantage.

Slicing and using a shortened hitting actionare the two main technical devices thatfacilitate deception. Slicing involves hittingthe shuttlecock with an angled racquetface, causing it to travel in a differentdirection than suggested by the body orarm movement. Slicing also causes theshuttlecock to travel more slowly than thearm movement suggests. For example, agood crosscourt sliced drop shot will use a

hitting action that suggests a straight clearor a smash, deceiving the opponent aboutboth the power and direction of theshuttlecock. A more sophisticated slicingaction involves brushing the stringsaround the shuttlecock during the hit, inorder to make the shuttlecock spin. Thiscan be used to improve the shuttle'strajectory, by making it dip more rapidly asit passes the net; for example, a sliced lowserve can travel slightly faster than anormal low serve, yet land on the samespot. Spinning the shuttlecock is also usedto create spinning net shots (also calledtumbling net shots), in which theshuttlecock turns over itself several times

(tumbles) before stabilizing; sometimesthe shuttlecock remains inverted insteadof tumbling. The main advantage of aspinning net shot is that the opponent willbe unwilling to address the shuttlecockuntil it has stopped tumbling, since hittingthe feathers will result in an unpredictablestroke. Spinning net shots are especiallyimportant for high-level singles players.

The lightness of modern racquets allowsplayers to use a very short hitting actionfor many strokes, thereby maintaining theoption to hit a powerful or a soft strokeuntil the last possible moment. Forexample, a singles player may hold his

racquet ready for a net shot, but then flickthe shuttlecock to the back instead with ashallow lift when she or he notices theopponent has moved before the actualshot was played. A shallow lift takes lesstime to reach the ground and asmentioned above a rally is over when theshuttlecock touches the ground. Thismakes the opponent's task of covering thewhole court much more difficult than if thelift was hit higher and with a bigger,obvious swing. A short hitting action is notonly useful for deception: it also allows theplayer to hit powerful strokes when he hasno time for a big arm swing. A big armswing is also usually not advised in

badminton because bigger swings make itmore difficult to recover for the next shotin fast exchanges. The use of griptightening is crucial to these techniques,and is often described as finger power.Elite players develop finger power to theextent that they can hit some powerstrokes, such as net kills, with less than a10 centimetres (4 inches) racquet swing.

It is also possible to reverse this style ofdeception, by suggesting a powerfulstroke before slowing down the hittingaction to play a soft stroke. In general, thislatter style of deception is more commonin the rear court (for example, drop shots

disguised as smashes), whereas theformer style is more common in theforecourt and midcourt (for example, liftsdisguised as net shots).

Deception is not limited to slicing andshort hitting actions. Players may also usedouble motion, where they make an initialracquet movement in one direction beforewithdrawing the racquet to hit in anotherdirection. Players will often do this to sendopponents in the wrong direction. Theracquet movement is typically used tosuggest a straight angle but then play thestroke crosscourt, or vice versa. Triplemotion is also possible, but this is very rare

in actual play. An alternative to doublemotion is to use a racquet head fake,where the initial motion is continued butthe racquet is turned during the hit. Thisproduces a smaller change in direction butdoes not require as much time.

To win in badminton, players need toemploy a wide variety of strokes in theright situations. These range frompowerful jumping smashes to delicatetumbling net returns. Often rallies finishwith a smash, but setting up the smashrequires subtler strokes. For example, a

Strategy

net shot can force the opponent to lift theshuttlecock, which gives an opportunity tosmash. If the net shot is tight andtumbling, then the opponent's lift will notreach the back of the court, which makesthe subsequent smash much harder toreturn.

Deception is also important. Expertplayers prepare for many different strokesthat look identical and use slicing todeceive their opponents about the speedor direction of the stroke. If an opponenttries to anticipate the stroke, he may movein the wrong direction and may be unable

to change his body momentum in time toreach the shuttlecock.

Singles

Since one person needs to cover the entirecourt, singles tactics are based on forcingthe opponent to move as much aspossible; this means that singles strokesare normally directed to the corners of thecourt. Players exploit the length of thecourt by combining lifts and clears withdrop shots and net shots. Smashing tendsto be less prominent in singles than indoubles because the smasher has nopartner to follow up his effort and is thus

vulnerable to a skillfully placed return.Moreover, frequent smashing can beexhausting in singles where theconservation of a player's energy is at apremium. However, players with strongsmashes will sometimes use the shot tocreate openings, and players commonlysmash weak returns to try to end rallies.

In singles, players will often start the rallywith a forehand high serve or with a flickserve. Low serves are also used frequently,either forehand or backhand. Drive servesare rare.

At high levels of play, singles demandextraordinary fitness. Singles is a game ofpatient positional manoeuvring, unlike theall-out aggression of doubles.[20]

Doubles

Both pairs will try to gain and maintain theattack, smashing downwards when theopportunity arises. Whenever possible, apair will adopt an ideal attacking formationwith one player hitting down from the rearcourt, and his partner in the midcourtintercepting all smash returns except thelift. If the rear court attacker plays a dropshot, his partner will move into the

forecourt to threaten the net reply. If a paircannot hit downwards, they will use flatstrokes in an attempt to gain the attack. Ifa pair is forced to lift or clear theshuttlecock, then they must defend: theywill adopt a side-by-side position in therear midcourt, to cover the full width oftheir court against the opponents'smashes. In doubles, players generallysmash to the middle ground between twoplayers in order to take advantage ofconfusion and clashes.

At high levels of play, the backhand servehas become popular to the extent thatforehand serves have become fairly rare at

a high level of play. The straight low serveis used most frequently, in an attempt toprevent the opponents gaining the attackimmediately. Flick serves are used toprevent the opponent from anticipating thelow serve and attacking it decisively.

At high levels of play, doubles rallies areextremely fast. Men's doubles are themost aggressive form of badminton, witha high proportion of powerful jumpsmashes and very quick reflex exchanges.Because of this, spectator interest issometimes greater for men's doubles thanfor singles.

Mixed doubles

In mixed doubles, both pairs typically try tomaintain an attacking formation with thewoman at the front and the man at theback. This is because the male players areusually substantially stronger, and can,therefore, produce smashes that are morepowerful. As a result, mixed doublesrequire greater tactical awareness and

A mixed doubles game – Scottish Schools under 12stournament, Tranent, May 2002

subtler positional play. Clever opponentswill try to reverse the ideal position, byforcing the woman towards the back orthe man towards the front. In order toprotect against this danger, mixed playersmust be careful and systematic in theirshot selection.[21]

At high levels of play, the formations willgenerally be more flexible: the top womenplayers are capable of playing powerfullyfrom the back-court, and will happily do soif required. When the opportunity arises,however, the pair will switch back to thestandard mixed attacking position, withthe woman in front and men in the back.

Governing bodies

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) isthe internationally recognized governingbody of the sport responsible forconduction of tournaments andapproaching fair play. Five regionalconfederations are associated with theBWF:

Asia: Badminton Asia Confederation(BAC)

Africa: Badminton Confederation ofAfrica (BCA)

Organization

Americas: Badminton Pan Am (NorthAmerica and South America belong tothe same confederation; BPA)

Europe: Badminton Europe (BE)

Oceania: Badminton Oceania (BO)

Competitions

A men's doubles match. The blue lines are those forthe badminton court. The other coloured lines denoteuses for other sports – such complexity beingcommon in multi-use sports halls.

The BWF organizes several internationalcompetitions, including the Thomas Cup,the premier men's international team eventfirst held in 1948–1949, and the Uber Cup,the women's equivalent first held in 1956–1957. The competitions now take placeonce every two years. More than 50national teams compete in qualifyingtournaments within continentalconfederations for a place in the finals.The final tournament involves 12 teams,following an increase from eight teams in2004. It was further increased to 16 teamsin 2012.[22]

The Sudirman Cup, a gender-mixedinternational team event held once everytwo years, began in 1989. Teams aredivided into seven levels based on theperformance of each country. To win thetournament, a country must perform wellacross all five disciplines (men's doublesand singles, women's doubles and singles,and mixed doubles). Like associationfootball (soccer), it features a promotionand relegation system at every level.However, the system was last used in2009 and teams competing will now begrouped by world rankings.[23]

Badminton was a demonstration event atthe 1972 and 1988 Summer Olympics. Itbecame an official Summer Olympic sportat the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and itsgold medals now generally rate as thesport's most coveted prizes for individualplayers.

In the BWF World Championships, firstheld in 1977, currently only the highestranked 64 players in the world, and amaximum of four from each country canparticipate in any category. In both theOlympic and BWF World competitionsrestrictions on the number of participantsfrom any one country have caused some

controversy because they sometimesresult in excluding elite world level playersfrom the strongest badminton nations.The Thomas, Uber, and Sudirman Cups,the Olympics, and the BWF World (andWorld Junior Championships), are allcategorized as level one tournaments.

At the start of 2007, the BWF introduced anew tournament structure for the highestlevel tournaments aside from those inlevel one: the BWF Super Series. This leveltwo tournament series, a tour for theworld's elite players, stage twelve opentournaments around the world with 32players (half the previous limit). The

players collect points that determinewhether they can play in Super SeriesFinals held at the year-end. Among thetournaments in this series is the venerableAll-England Championships, first held in1900, which was once considered theunofficial world championships of thesport.[24]

Level three tournaments consist of GrandPrix Gold and Grand Prix event. Topplayers can collect the world rankingpoints and enable them to play in the BWFSuper Series open tournaments. Theseinclude the regional competitions in Asia(Badminton Asia Championships) and

Europe (European BadmintonChampionships), which produce theworld's best players as well as the PanAmerica Badminton Championships.

The level four tournaments, known asInternational Challenge, InternationalSeries, and Future Series, encourageparticipation by junior players.[25]

Badminton is frequently compared totennis. The following is a list of manifestdifferences:

Comparison with tennis

Scoring: In badminton, a match is playedbest 2 of 3 games, with each gameplayed up to 21 points. In tennis a matchis played best of 3 or 5 sets, each setconsisting of 6 games and each gameends when one player wins 4 points orwins two consecutive points at deucepoints. If both teams are tied at "gamepoint", they must play until one teamachieves a two-point advantage.However, at 29–all, whoever scores thegolden point will win. In tennis, if thescore is tied 6–6 in a set, a tiebreakerwill be played, which ends once a playerreaches 7 points or when one player hasa two-point advantage.

In tennis, the ball may bounce oncebefore the point ends; in badminton, therally ends once the shuttlecock touchesthe floor.

In tennis, the serve is dominant to theextent that the server is expected to winmost of his service games (at advancedlevel & onwards); a break of service,where the server loses the game, is ofmajor importance in a match. Inbadminton, a server has far less anadvantage and is unlikely to score anace (unreturnable serve).

In tennis, the server has two chances tohit a serve into the service box; in

badminton, the server is allowed onlyone attempt.

A tennis court is approximately twicethe length and width of a badmintoncourt.

Tennis racquets are about four times asheavy as badminton racquets, 10 to 12ounces (280 to 340 grams) versus 2 to 3ounces (57 to 85 grams).[26][27] Tennisballs are more than eleven times heavierthan shuttlecocks, 57 grams (2.0ounces) versus 5 grams (0.18ounces).[28][29]

The fastest recorded tennis stroke isSamuel Groth's 163.4 miles per hour

(263 kilometres per hour) serve,[30]

whereas the fastest badminton strokeduring gameplay was Lee Chong Wei's253 miles per hour (407 kilometres perhour) recorded smash at the 2015 HongKong Open.[31]

Statistics such as the smash speed,above, prompt badminton enthusiasts tomake other comparisons that are morecontentious. For example, it is oftenclaimed that badminton is the fastestracquet sport. Although badminton holdsthe record for the fastest initial speed of aracquet sports projectile, the shuttlecockdecelerates substantially faster than other

projectiles such as tennis balls. In turn,this qualification must be qualified byconsideration of the distance over whichthe shuttlecock travels: a smashedshuttlecock travels a shorter distance thana tennis ball during a serve.

While fans of badminton and tennis oftenclaim that their sport is the morephysically demanding, such comparisonsare difficult to make objectively because ofthe differing demands of the games. Noformal study currently exists evaluatingthe physical condition of the players ordemands during gameplay.

Badminton and tennis techniques differsubstantially. The lightness of theshuttlecock and of badminton racquetsallow badminton players to make use ofthe wrist and fingers much more thantennis players; in tennis, the wrist isnormally held stable, and playing with amobile wrist may lead to injury. For thesame reasons, badminton players cangenerate power from a short racquetswing: for some strokes such as net kills,an elite player's swing may be less than 5centimetres (2 inches). For strokes thatrequire more power, a longer swing willtypically be used, but the badminton

racquet swing will rarely be as long as atypical tennis swing.

Ball badminton

Hanetsuki

List of racquet sports

Speed badminton

a. Other related sports include Hanetsuki,which originated in Japan.

b. Against this, Downey, Jake, et al claimthat the first rules were drawn up at Karachiin 1877.[11]

See also

Notes

c. 6 Waverley Grove, Portsmouth,England.[12]

1. Boga (2008).

2. "Olympic Badminton The OlympicJourney" . bwfbadminton.com. BadmintonWorld Federation. Retrieved 10 February2018.

3. Grice (2008).

4. EB (1878).

5. EB (1911).

6. Adams (1980).

7. "badminton, n.", Oxford English Dictionary

8. Guillain (2004), p. 47.

9. "About Game" , Ball BadmintonFederation of India, 2008, retrieved 7 July2011

10. Connors, et al. (1991), p. 195.

11. Downey, Jake et al. (1982), p. 13.

12. "The History of Badminton: Foundationof the BAE and Codification of the Rules" ,World Badminton

13. "Laws of Badminton" . Badminton WorldFederation.

14. Kwun (28 February 2005). "BadmintonCentral Guide to choosing BadmintonEquipment" . BadmintonCentral.com.Archived from the original on 11 March2007.

15. "SL-70" . Karakal. Archived from theoriginal on 16 October 2007.

16. "String tension relating to power andcontrol" . Prospeed. Archived from theoriginal on 28 October 2007.

17. "The Spin Doctor", Power & PrecisionMagazine, July 2006

18. Kim (2002).

19. "Badminton Technique" , BadmintonEngland "Archived copy" . Archived from theoriginal on 17 April 2008. Retrieved6 December 2015.

20. "Rules of Badminton" . Retrieved2017-06-13.

21. Kumekawa, Eugene. "BadmintonStrategies and Tactics for the Novice andRecreational Player" . BadmintonPlanet.Archived from the original on 26 January2007.

22. "Thomas and Uber Cups increased to 16teams" . sportskeeda.com. 11 June 2012.Retrieved 25 June 2017.

23. Sachetat, Raphaël. "Sudirman Cup toChange Format" . Badzine. Retrieved30 March 2017.

24. Associated Press (23 September 2006),"Badminton Federation Announces 12-eventSeries" , International Herald Tribune ,retrieved 25 October

2008https://web.archive.org/web/20150925045628/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/23/sports/EU_SPT_BAD_Super_Series.php

25. "New Tournament Structure" ,International Badminton Federation , 20July 2006, archived from the original on 29September 2007.

26. "What is the ideal weight for a tennisracquet?" . About.com. Retrieved2015-12-06.

27. "The contribution of technology onbadminton rackets" . Prospeed. Archivedfrom the original on 11 October 2007.

28. Azeez, Shefiu (2000). "Mass of a TennisBall" . Hypertextbook.

29. M. McCreary, Kathleen (5 May 2005). "AStudy of the Motion of a Free FallingShuttlecock" (PDF). The College of Wooster.Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June2007.http://physics.wooster.edu/JrIS/Files/McCreary.pdf

30. "Aussie smashes tennis serve speedrecord" . The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved 13 May 2012.

31. "smash-hit-lee-chong-wei-credited-fastest-badminton-shot-hong-kong" . SouthChina Morning Post. Retrieved28 November 2016.

Adams, Bernard (1980), The BadmintonStory , BBC Books, ISBN 0563164654

Boga, Steve (2008), Badminton, PawPrints, ISBN 1439504784

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911),"Badminton (game)", EncyclopædiaBritannica, 3 (11th ed.), CambridgeUniversity Press, p. 189

Connors, M.; Dupuis, D.L.; Morgan, B.(1991), The Olympics Factbook: ASpectator's Guide to the Winter andSummer Games, Visible Ink Press,ISBN 0-8103-9417-0.

References

Downey, Jake; Downey, Jason Charles(1982), Better Badminton for All, PelhamBooks, ISBN 978-0-7207-1438-8.

Grice, Tony (2008), Badminton: Steps toSuccess, Human Kinetics, ISBN 978-0-7360-7229-8

Guillain, Jean-Yves (2004), Badminton:An Illustrated History, Publibook, ISBN 2-7483-0572-8

 Jones, Henry (1878), "Badminton", inBaynes, T.S., Encyclopædia Britannica, 3(9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner'sSons, p. 228

Kim, Wangdo (2002), An Analysis of theBiomechanics of Arm Movement During a

Badminton Smash (PDF), NanyangTechnological University, Archived fromthe original on 2 October 2008.

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