Introduction to Badminton
History
It just wouldn't be appropriate to give you an introduction to badminton without a brief history of the sport. Like many modern sports, badminton was not simply just created; it evolved. With early badminton style games being played by the Chinese as far back as 2,500 BCE, the evolution of the sport has been touched by peoples of many nations including the Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and British.
The earliest modern form of badminton can be traced to the Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England, 1873. The basic rules of badminton were drawn up in 1887 and the very first badminton competition was at the All England Open Badminton Championships in 1899. Since that time, badminton has grown into the second most popular participatant sport in the world.
While especially popular in Asia (badminton is the national sport of China) and Europe, badminton has not caught on as well here in the United States. Many Americans continue to view badminton as strictly a backyard game and as such, finding facilities to play and people to play with can be difficult in more rural areas. In international competition, today's dominant countries are China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Denmark, and South Korea.
General Overview
Badminton is a sport generally played indoors on a court measuring 20'x44' (doubles) with a net splitting the court width wise and standing exactly 5' high in the center (5'1" at the standards). The sport is played with either two or four individuals on the court at one time (similar to tennis). The object of badminton is to cause the feather shuttlecock (shuttle or birdie for short) to hit either your opponent or the ground within the boundaries of your opponent's court. During a rally, each side may only contact the shuttle with their racket once and the shuttle must travel over the net to the opposing side. There are two general scoring methods: traditional and rally-point. Currently, the rally-point system is the official scoring method but many people still play by the traditional scoring rules.
To be successful at badminton, players must possess a balance of strength, speed, agility, endurance, balance and mental alertness. Because of the speed of the sport, badminton training places a large emphasis on conditioning and proper footwork. Badminton beginners looking to improve their game should always begin by learning proper footwork techniques.
Fun Facts About Badminton
- The official game of Badminton was born in a stately home in Gloucestershire, England, home of the Duke of Beaufort.
- Badminton is the fastest racket sport with shuttle clocking speed in excess of 200 mph.
- The best shuttlecocks are made from the feathers from the left wing of a goose.
- The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was founded in 1934 with nine members and now has over 150 members.
- The IBF is now headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Badminton was introduced into USA in the 1890s and became popular in the 1930s.
- Badminton is the second most popular sport in the world (by participation count), after soccer.
- Badminton is an Olympic Sport played first in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
- More than 1.1 billion people watched the 1992 Olympic Badminton competition on television.
- A badminton player can cover more than 1.25 miles in just one match.
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