Try your hand at badminton

A” schools is because mostly the students in high-density schools do not have the exposure to these sports.

We got a request from some students to focus on badminton.
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net.
Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents half of the court.

Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor, or if a fault has been called by either the umpire or service judge or, in their absence, the offending player, at any time during the rally.

The shuttlecock (or shuttle) is a feathered (or plastic, mainly in uncompetitive games) projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently than the balls used in most racquet sports. In particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball.

Shuttlecocks have a much higher top speed, when compared to other racquet sports. Because shuttlecock flight is affected by wind, competitive badminton is played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game.

Since 1992, badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events: men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair consists of a man and a woman. At high levels of play, especially in singles, the sport demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, explosive strength, speed and precision.

Badminton is also a technical sport, requiring good motor co-ordination and the development of sophisticated racquet movements.

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

The full width of the court is 6,1 metres, and in singles this width is reduced to 5,18 metres. The full length of the court is 13,4 metres. The service courts are marked by a centre line dividing the width of the court, by a short service line at a distance of 1,98 metres from the net, and by the outer side and back boundaries.

In doubles, the service court is also marked by a long service line, which is 0,76 metres from the back boundary. The net is 1,55 metres high at the edges and 1,524 metres high in the centre. The net posts are placed over the doubles sidelines, even when singles is played.

The minimum height for the ceiling above the court is not mentioned in the Laws of Badminton. Nonetheless, a badminton court will not be suitable if the ceiling is likely to be hit on a high serve.

Badminton rules restrict the design and size of racquets and shuttlecocks. Badminton rules also provide for testing a shuttlecock for the correct speed. To test a shuttlecock, use a full underhand stroke which makes contact with the shuttlecock over the back boundary line. The shuttlecock shall be hit at an upward angle and in a direction parallel to the side lines. A shuttlecock of the correct speed will land not less than 530mm and not more than 990mm short of the other back boundary line.

Each game is played to 21 points, with players scoring a point whenever they win a rally regardless of whether they served (this differs from the old system where players could only win a point on their serve and each game was played to 15 points). 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. When the serving side loses a rally, the serve immediately passes to their opponent(s) (this differs from the old system where sometimes the serve passes to the doubles partner for what is known as a “second serve”.

In singles, the server stands in their right service court when their score is even, and in her/his left service court when her/his score is odd. In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally, the same player continues to serve, but he/she changes service courts so that she/he serves to a different opponent each time.

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. A consequence of this system is that, each time a side regains the service, the server will be the player who did not serve last time.

Cool Lifestyle hopes that you have understood this sport and you will be able to introduce it in you respective schools, both for fun as well as in competitions. Till next week stay focused . . .