Badminton

Badminton and the Shuttlecock

With two players on opposite sides of a net, badminton is a racket type sport that is played in singles and doubles formats. The court on which it is played is a rectangle. The players hit the shuttlecock with the rackets in their hands and ensure that it passes over the net to the opponent’s half of the court. Each individual point ends when the shuttlecock hits the ground. This makes each point a volley type of point. Unlike volleyball though there can only be one hit per side before the shuttlecock is supposed to pass back over the net again. Players will receive a point if the shuttlecock does indeed land with the marked area on the opponent’s side of the net.

A rally is what begins every point in the game of badminton. Matches that take place for this sport typically will consist of three games. A person or a team will win the game each time they receive 21 points. There are many different types of matches which include men and women singles, men and women doubles, and mixed doubles. The most powerful shot that takes place in this sport is effectively referred to as a smash hit. What this stroke is takes place when a player hits the shuttlecock straight down from over their head to their opponent’s side of the net. The world record for the hardest smash was set at 206mph.

The sport of badminton draws constant comparisons to the sport of tennis, which is understandable considering they are both racket sports. However, the two are very different indeed. In a game of tennis, the ball is allowed to bounce before a player hits it whereas in a game of badminton, the point is over if this happens. Also, in this game a player is only allowed one attempt at a serve and in tennis, it is up to two attempts. Also, a tennis court is much larger, almost twice the size, as the standard badminton court.

This is a game that can trace its origins all they way back to Ancient Greece. Once it was created there, badminton spread quickly to civilizations in India, China, Japan, and what is now Thailand. In 1877 the first ever club devoted solely to this sport was created and known as the Bath Badminton Club. This club was also famous for being the first to write down the rules of the game as well. Originally the games were played first to 15 points. Recently this was amended stating the winner must win by two, meaning that if the score was 14-14, then the minimal winning score must be 16-14. Using this method made the ending a little more interesting, meaning there was more to play for in the game of badminton then.