The Badminton Racket

Badminton Rackets used to have a wooden frame, but they desired a more light-weight racket in order to be able to move around the court quicker. After the wooden frames, they changed to aluminium, then later decided to use carbon fibre materials to have the lightest racket they could possibly make. The shape of the frame has usually been in a tear-shape. The earliest strings in badminton rackets were made using the gut of natural animals. They then changed to using synthetic materials, the most popular being nylon in order to increase the speed of the game and improve string tension, also they are cheaper and provide the same quality as natural strings. Graphite fibre, titanium and kevlar are also used to make badminton rackets today. Synthetic materials have also been used to produce the grip on badminton rackets, one example is polyurethane. A lot of attention is put into the grip on a badminton racket as it stops the player from losing a hold they might have as well as making the handle a larger diameter, making the racket more comfortable to hold. The grip had to be evolved as when wooden rackets were used, the grip would cause the players to acquire cuts on their hands.

Badminton Players

The best badminton athletes in the world come from mainly China, only Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia, Denmark, Thailand, Taiwan and Spain. Many of the top badminton athletes come from Asia and this is because badminton is a sport that Asian countries focus on whereas Canada would focus on ice hockey and Ireland would focus on Rugby. Because badminton in Asia is so popular, there is a lot of support behind it.   But China dominates in badminton and one of the reasons behind this statement is because the badminton program's are supported by China's government, this means that the government takes care of their meals, housing and training.   China is also very good at badminton because they have such a large following of badminton players that they can choose from, roughly around 100 million of China's 1.3 billion population play badminton. What it takes to become a top badminton athlete are amazing tactical, technical, psychological and physical traits. 

The Shuttlecock

The shuttlecock is used in badminton, it can also be called a bird or birdie. It is formed into a conical shape by feathers or by a plastic material. It will always fly cork first through the air. The shuttlecock is normally shortened to shuttle. The part "shuttle" came from how it constantly went over the net, back and forth like a loom, a machine that is used to make clothing. The "cock" part was added by how the feathers on the shuttle resemble those of a rooster. Most feather shuttlecocks are made using 16 feathers from the left wing of a goose, feathers from both wings are never used as the formation of the feathers on the different wings are not of a similar shape.  A thin layer of leather is placed over the cork to make sure that the flight of the shuttle is alright. Before matches feather shuttlecocks are humidified for 4 hours, so that during the match the feathers flex, this means that the shuttle will have better speed change and durability than if the feather shuttlecock was dry. But when the feather shuttlecock is being humidified, water is never meant to touch the cork top. A very good point from Wikipedia explaining how to test whether a shuttle is good for use or not - "According to manufacturers (!) proper shuttle will generally travel from the back line of the court to just short of the long doubles service line on the opposite side of the net, with a full underhand hit from an average player."




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Where and what has badminton originated from?

 Badminton has been known to have originated from ancient civilisations within Asia, Europe and Egypt. The game was originally called battledore and shuttlecock. Battledore and shuttlecock was a pastime for many of the English upper class as well as in many European countries.


 But British India in the 19th century is where modern badminton was formed. British military officers created while being stationed in British India, but the change was that they added a net to the game. This new version of  battledore and shuttlecock became very popular in the British Garrison town of Poona, therefore the name of the game was changed to "Poona" or "Poonai". Woollen balls were preferred by the upper class in bad weather but the shuttlecock was chosen for Poona over the ball.


 When retired officers returned home to England, the game was shown to the guests of the Duke of Beaufort in his home, Badminton in Gloucestershire, England.


 The IBF, International Badminton Federation formed in 1934 with nine members - New Zealand, Canada, Wales, France, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, England and Denmark. India joined 2 years later in 1936.

Introduction

My name is Harry and my blog is about the geography of badminton.