Badminton

History and development

The first traces of a game involving the use of a shuttlecock can be found in
Asia, and specifically in China. It supposedly has its origins in T’su-chü, a
Football game created 2,500 years BCE at the time of the legendary Huang-Di in
order to improve the skills of soldiers fighting Chi-You, the leader of the Miao
people. In Japan, the related game Hanetsuki was played as early as the 16th
century. In the west, badminton came from a game called battledore and
shuttlecock, in which two or more players keep a feathered shuttlecock in the air
with small racquets.

The modern form of Badminton however can be traced to India, where British
military officers stationed there in the late 19th century became interested in a
similar local game which was known to them as Poona. This game was taken
back to England where the rules of badminton were set out.

The new sport was definitively launched in 1873 at the Badminton House.
During that time, the game was referred to as "The Game of Badminton," and
the game's official name became Badminton. In 1893, the Badminton
Association of England published the first set of rules according to these
regulations, similar to today's rules, and officially launched badminton in a
house called "Dunbar" at 6 Waverley Grove, Portsmouth, England on September
13 of that year. They also started the All England Open Badminton
Championships, the first badminton competition in the world, in 1899.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was established in 1934 with

Rules and regulations

Playing court dimensions

The court is rectangular and divided into halves by a net. Courts are usually
marked for both singles and doubles play, although the laws permit a court to be
marked for singles only. The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but
both are the same length. The exception, which often causes confusion to newer
players, is that the doubles court has a shorter serve-length dimension.
Scoring system and service

Each game is played with 21 points, with players scoring a point whenever
they win a rally. A match is the best of three games.

At the start of the rally, the server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite
service courts. The server hits the shuttlecock so that it would land in the
receiver's service court. This is similar to tennis, except that a badminton serve
must be hit below waist height and with the racquet shaft pointing downwards,
the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce and in badminton, the players stand
inside their service courts unlike tennis.

In singles, the server stands in his right service court when his score is even,
and in his left service court when his score is odd. In doubles, if the serving side
wins a rally, the same player continues to serve, but he changes service courts
so that he serves to each opponent in turn. If the opponents win the rally and
their new score is even, the player in the right service court serves; if odd, the
player in the left service court serves. The players' service courts are
determined by their positions at the start of the previous rally, not by where
they were standing at the end of the rally.

Faults

Players can win a rally if their opponents commit a fault. The most common
fault in badminton is when the players fail to return the shuttlecock so that it
passes over the net and lands inside their opponents' court, but there are also
other ways that players may be faulted.

Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes back over the
net; but during a single stroke movement, a player can contact a shuttlecock
twice. A player may not, however, hit the shuttlecock once and then hit it with a
new movement, nor may he carry and sling the shuttlecock on his racket. It is a
fault if the shuttlecock hits the ceiling.

Lets

If a let is called, the rally is stopped and replayed with no change to the score.
Lets may occur due to some unexpected disturbance such as a shuttlecock
landing on court or in small halls the shuttle may touch an overhead rail which
can be classed as a let.

If the receiver is not ready when the service is delivered, a let shall be called;
yet, if the receiver attempts to return the shuttlecock, he shall be judged to have
been ready.
Equipment and facilities

Racquets

Badminton racquets are light, with top quality racquets weighing between 79
and 91 grams including the strings. They are composed of many different
materials ranging from carbon fibre composite to solid steel, which may be
augmented by a variety of materials. Carbon fibre has an excellent strength to
weight ratio, is stiff, and gives excellent kinetic energy transfer. Before the
adoption of carbon fibre composite, racquets were made of light metals such as
aluminum.

There is a wide variety of racquet designs, although the Laws limit the racquet
size and shape. Different racquets have playing characteristics that appeal to
different players. The traditional oval head shape is still available, but an
isometric head shape is increasingly common in new racquets.

Strings

Badminton strings are thin, high performing strings in the range of about 0.65
to 0.73 mm thickness. Thicker strings are more durable, but many players prefer
the feel of thinner strings. String tension is normally in the range of 80 to 130 N.
Recreational players generally string at lower tensions than professionals,
typically between 18 and 25 lbf . Professionals string between about 25 and
36 lbf.

Grip

The choice of grip allows a player to increase the thickness of his racquet
handle and choose a comfortable surface to hold. A player may build up the
handle with one or several grips before applying the final layer.

There are two main types of grip: replacement grips and overgrips.
Replacement grips are thicker, and are often used to increase the size of the
handle. Overgrips are thinner (less than 1 mm), and are often used as the final
layer. Many players, however, prefer to use replacement grips as the final layer
as they have an adhesive backing, whereas overgrips have only a small patch of
adhesive at the start of the tape and must be applied under tension; overgrips
are more convenient for players who change grips frequently, because they may
be removed more rapidly without damaging the underlying material.

Shuttlecock
 A shuttlecock is a high-drag projectile, with an open conical shape: the cone is
formed from sixteen overlapping goose feathers embedded into a rounded cork
base. The cork is covered with thin leather or synthetic material.

Shoes

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

Compared to running shoes, badminton shoes have little lateral support. High
levels of lateral support are useful for activities where lateral motion is
undesirable and unexpected. Badminton, however, requires powerful lateral
movements. A highly built-up lateral support will not be able to protect the foot
in badminton; instead, it will encourage catastrophic collapse at the point where
the shoe's support fails, and the player's ankles are not ready for the sudden
loading, which can cause sprains. Players should ensure that they learn safe and
proper footwork, with the knee and foot in alignment on all lunges. This is not
only a safety concern, as proper footwork is critical in order to move effectively
around the court.