DOUBLE
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Badminton Tips
* One of the best badminton tips is try to tire out your opponent by making him move around as much as possible. The concept is the same as a batter tiring out a pitcher in baseball. As your opponent loses stamina and energy he will begin to make more and more mistakes.
* Improve your serve by practicing hitting it into both the right- and left-hand sides of the court. The tendency is for players to favor one side over the other. You need to learn to be equally comfortable getting it in on either side.
* Warm-up your body as you should in any sport--some good ways are to walk, jog, or stretch different muscle groups. If you begin a match without doing so you increase the chances of injury. Also, don’t forget to cool down after the match.
* Make sure your racquet has a comfortable grip. It can be modified with a replaceable grip at any tennis specialty store. Your grip is critical to serving and making shots properly so don’t play with a racquet right off the shelf without making adjustments to make it just right for you.
* When asked for badminton tips many players advise that when returning during a rally it is best to hit the shuttlecock as early as possible to keep your opponents off-balance. They will have less time to react to the shot physically and mentally, giving you a decided advantage.
* Increase your stamina by cross-training. Walking or jogging can help as can flexibility exercises. Knee-strengthening exercises are also good for badminton players. Some people have also found yoga to be helpful both physically and mentally.
* Wear proper footwear. Running, bicycling, tennis, and many other sports including badminton have specific shoes to help improve your performance. Get rid of those cross-trainers and get badminton shoes made especially for the particular movements of the game.
* One of the most useful badminton tips for beginners is to return to the center--after serving or returning a shot, get back to the center of the court. From there you will have the most options in figuring out what your opponent is going to do and in returning the next shot.
Equipment or tools that are used to play badminton
Badminton Racquets
Over the last few years the equipment used in just about every sport has undergone a technological revolution. Badminton racquets are no exception. In the beginning badminton racquets were made of wood. They advanced to aluminum and steel, and now words like graphite aluminum, carbon fiber composite, graphite carbon, and high modulus graphite are used to describe the newest badminton racquets. While you might have to be an engineer to truly understand the materials used in racquet construction, recreational through professional players can see the results: The new racquets are much lighter and stronger and give the player more power and control. Many cheap racquets found in sporting goods stores are still made of aluminum--wooden badminton racquets are no longer made. These new high-tech badminton racquets weigh between 80 and 100 grams.
The type of badminton racquets you purchase depends on what kind of player you are-- beginner, intermediate or advanced. Players all make different choices depending on their skill and playing style. You can make decisions about whether you want your racquet head to be oval, wide-bodied or isometric, and you can choose the thickness and tightness of the strings along with the type of grip that best fits your hand. Generally speaking, stiffer, higher strung racquets are used by advanced players while amateurs and recreational players choose a racquet with more flexibility and lower string tension.
Most badminton racquets are around 68 cm long--the head is usually in the area of 29 cm with the strung part of the head approximately 28 cm long and 22 cm wide. String tension is measured in newtons and usually range from 80 to 130 newtons. That translates to being strung to about 20 lbs for beginner, 22-23 lbs for intermediates and over 25 lbs for advanced competitors. When buying badminton racquets you can choose what type of grip you prefer. There are several choices but most fall into the PU (polyurethane) category or the group often referred to as a “toweling grips,” with a surface treatment designed to absorb sweat. Most players also prefer to use replacement grips, which can be thick or thin depending on what feels the most comfortable in the player’s hand.
The basic tendency in buying badminton racquets is to start out with a heavier one and then to go lighter as your badminton skills improve. Badminton equipment is not as expensive as that for many other sports--racquets generally range in price from under $20 for a cheap steel model to over $250 for those high-tech designs used by players who compete at the highest levels.
What Are The Rules Of Badminton?
It is necessary to understand badminton rules to play fairly and get the most enjoyment out of the game.
Badminton is a sport played in singles and doubles, and its rules have some similarities to tennis.
Badminton rules for both singles and doubles underwent a complete overhaul in 2006. Under the new system, players must reach 21 points. Whoever wins each rally, wins the point. If players are tied at 20-all, whoever has the first two-point lead wins.
If the scores goes to 29, the player reaching 30 first wins. The match is won by the best two out of three games played.
Starting The Game
Every game of badminton starts with a coin toss. The winner can choose whether to serve first or not, and can choose on which side of the court to begin the game.
As in most racquet sports, the score begins at 0-0 (called love-all). The players stand on opposite sides of the court, diagonally opposite. The game begins with the server on the right side. This is always the case when the score is even and when it is odd, the server serves from the left court. The serve is underhand and does not bounce.
The Goal Of The Game
The goal is to hit a shuttlecock over the net and onto the floor within the court boundaries to win a point. The opponent does his best to keep that from happening by returning the shuttlecock back over the net as many times as possible.
If the shuttlecock doesn’t get over the net or goes out of the marked boundaries, it’s a fault and the point is lost. Then, the next serve goes to the opponent.
What Is A "Let"?
A let is a serve that doesn’t count either because:
• The shuttlecock hit the net
• The shuttlecock fell apart
• The umpire couldn’t determine if the shot was in or out of bounds
Badminton rules allow for two minutes between games as the players change ends. When players are in the third game and the score reaches 11, they change sides of the court.
Doubles
The badminton rules for doubles are much the same. The server first serves from the right side of the court.
The receiver serves next - then the receiver’s partner, then service finally will go back to the initial server’s partner.
As in singles, you would serve or receive on the right side of the court when the score is even and from the left side when the score is an odd number. Your partner does the reverse.
How to play ?
There is more to learning how to play badminton than just being up to date on the rules of the game. Learning how to play badminton correctly also means developing certain skills.
Among the most important of these are:
• Gripping the racquet correctly
• Mastering the serves and strokes
Holding The Racquet And Serving
The best way to hold your badminton racquet is to grip it like your are shaking hands with it.
Once you have experimented a bit with this concept, the next thing to do is to try serving. In badminton, the serve is underhanded. The shuttlecock is held below the waist and service is upward, propelling the shuttlecock over the net and into the diagonally-opposed court.
Make sure the shuttlecock enters the area beyond the front service lines, but does not go out of the court beyond the side or back boundary lines. When the serve is made, stand in the right court if the score is even or in the left court if it is odd.
You will need some practice to hit the shuttlecock into the right area of the opposing court. Be careful not to hit the net or serve so strongly that the shuttlecock goes out of bounds.
Badminton Strokes
Learning how to play badminton can be overwhelming if you try to consider all the different strokes involved. It is best for beginners to master the high serve and to learn the basics of forehand and backhand strokes.
In serving, there are low serves and high serves. In a high serve, the goal is to hit the shuttlecock so high that it is falling vertically when it reaches the opponent’s backcourt. A high serve is always returned with a forehand stroke.
In all other situations, the badminton player has the choice to play each stroke either forehand or backhand. A forehand stroke is played with the front of the hand (palm up) and the backhand is the reverse, hitting with the back of the hand (knuckles up). You will eventually work on a number of different strokes, including:
• Service
• Overhand
• Underhand
• Sidearm
• Drop
• Smash
The overhand stroke, sometimes called an overhand clear is meant to drive the birdie as far and deep into the opponent’s court as possible.
The underhand stroke or underhand clear is meant to do the same thing.
A drop shot, on the other hand, is meant to drop the shuttlecock just barely over the net as it falls into the opposing court.
A smash is just like it sounds, similar to a spike in volleyball, where the birdie is hit with a severe overhand stroke so hard that it falls fast downward to the floor and the opponent has no chance for a return.
Don’t try to master all aspects of the game of badminton in the beginning. As you learn more and more about how to play, you can practice all of the different strokes as well as work on footwork and covering the court, which are also essentials of the game.
In the beginning, keep it simple - just concentrate on a basic serve, a basic return of serve, and on keeping the shuttlecock in play.
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