badminton

History of the Game

The modern game of badminton began in India with a game known as poona, which was developed from a children’s game that was called battledore and shuttlecock. The object of the game was to see how long a group could volley the shuttlecock by hitting it with the battledore, or paddle. This cooperative game was played without a net. By the time British Army officers stationed in India learned of poona, it was a fast-paced competitive sport. These officers took the equipment for poona back to England in the early 1870’s.

The Duke of Beaufort officially introduced the game to England. In 1873, guests at a lawn party at his country estate, Badminton, played a game of poona. The game gained popularity among the British elite, and was soon referred to as “the Badminton game”. The original courts were hourglass shaped to allow for doors that opened inward on both sides of the court/room where the ends of the net attached. The official badminton court changed to a rectangular shape in 1901.

Badminton premiered as a full-medal Olympic sport at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles are all Olympic events.

Other facts/notes about the sport of badminton:

In badminton, the smash has been timed at over 200 mph in top international competition.

Badminton vs. Tennis... 1985 World Badminton Championships vs. 1985 All England Tennis Championship, statistics from the two matches:

*Time: Badminton = 1 hour and 16 minutes; Tennis = 3 hours and 18 minutes

Time in play: (shuttle vs. tennis ball) Shuttle = 37 minutes; Tennis ball = 18 minutes

Match intensity: (actual time ball/shuttle is in play divided by the length of the match) Badminton = 48%; Tennis = 9%

Rallies: Badminton = 146; Tennis = 299

*Shots: Badminton = 1,972; Tennis = 1,004

Shots per rally: Badminton = 13.5; Tennis = 3.4

*Distance covered in the match: Badminton = 4 miles; Tennis = 2 miles

*NOTE: The badminton players competed for half the time, yet ran twice as far and hit nearly twice as many shots.

Equipment

Shuttlecock: A shuttle must weigh between 4.74 to 5.5 grams and have 16 feathers fixed in a cork base.

In synthetic shuttles, the feathers are replaced with a manufactured “skirt”, but they must still meet the specifications of the feather shuttle.

Racket: The badminton racket cannot exceed 27” long by 9” wide, and the racket head cannot exceed 11 ½” long. Rackets today are constructed from various blends of carbon, graphite, boron, aluminum and steel, and weigh less than 3.5 ounces. Although very light, they can be strung much tighter than the original wooden rackets.

The Court/Net: The net is constructed so that it is 5’1” at the net poles, and 5’ in the center of the court.

The Court/Lines: Court lines are 1 ½” wide and are part of the playing court. (See illustration below for all court dimensions. Please note the differences in the singles sidelines vs. the doubles sidelines, as well as their respective long service lines.)

Badminton skills

Underhand strokes: Underhand strokes are those in which the contact point and the head of the racket are below the level of the hand.

• Short/low serve: this serve has a low trajectory that barely clears the net, and lands within 2’ of the opponent’s short service line.

• Deep/high serve: this serve has a high arcing trajectory that lands in or near the back alley of the opponent’s court.

• Underhand clear: this shot is generally used to gain time to recover to base position, by sending the shuttle deep in the opponent’s court and forcing them to backup.

• Underhand drop, net-drop or hairpin drop shot: this shot is very similar to the short serve and forces the opponent to run forward to the net or react quickly to the sidelines.

Overhead strokes

• Overhead clear: the most frequently used shot in badminton, this shot is sent high and deep to the opponent’s backcourt. The shuttle is contacted at 11 or 12 o’clock with an upward motion.

• Overhead drop shot: resembles the overhead clear at contact, however it is a slow shot that just drops over the net. The shuttle is contactedat 12 to 1 o’clock with a downward motion.

• Smash: a powerful overhead (attacking) shot that is intended to be the “point winner”. Contact point is t 1 o’clock moving quickly downward.

Sidearm strokes (Drives): When executed properly, the trajectory of the drive shot is parallel with the floor and high enough to just skim the top of the net. This shot is intended to be an attacking shot.

• Forehand drive: the forehand drive is played on the dominant side of the body and the shuttle is contacted at 3 o’clock or between shoulder and waist height with a forehand grip.

• Backhand drive: the backhand drive is played across the body on the non-dominant hand side of the body, with a backhand grip. This shuttle is contacted at the same height as the forehand drive.

NOTE: In the above illustration, for our class purpose, we did not differentiate between shot #1 and #2. It is only key that you recognize them both as “clears”. Also, #6 “Net-Drop”, is what we refer to as the “Hairpin drop shot”.