How to Become a Great Badminton Player

The history and origin of badminton dates back to the ancient times, around 500 years before the birth of Christ. There was game called 'Ti Jian Zi,' which was played in ancient China. It involved kicking something similar to the modern day shuttlecock, but did not use rackets. By the time of the birth of the Christ, a game called Battledore and Shuttlecock was being played in China, Japan and Greece. The battledore was a simple bat aimed at hitting the shuttlecock back and forth as many times as possible. However, the origin of shuttlecock is unknown.

During the 16th century, badminton evolved as a children's game and by the 17th century, it gained popularity amongst the upper class people of Europe. Here, it was known by its French name 'jeu de volant'. In mid 19th century a game called 'Poona' emerged in India, which closely resembled the present day sport. The game was quickly picked up by the British Army officers stationed in India. They learnt the basic rules and brought it along with them to England. In effect, the game was introduced to the noble and royal society by the Duke of Beauford at his estate in Gloucestershire, England.

This estate was known as Badminton House. It is said that it was here that a string or partition was placed between the two players, wherein both of them tried to hit the shuttle away from each other. Within a short span of time, the Bath Badminton Club was formed, which laid down the rules that are followed even today. With this the sport also got a new name, 'Badminton'. Over the next few years, a number of badminton clubs sprung up in the country. In 1893, the prominent 14 clubs met in South Sea in Hampshire. Soon, after this meeting, the first national badminton association was founded and the first set of rules was also given shape.

During the course of time, the sport evolved and acquired a competitive nature. The first tournament occurred at the end of the century, while the first international 'All England' tournament took place in 1899. This led to the emergence of badminton stars, the first one being Kitty Godfree, who won badminton championship, three times in the 1920s. With the increasing popularity of the game around the world, the International Badminton Federation was established in 1934. The initial members of this federation were England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Holland, Canada, New Zealand and France.

India joined the federation in 1936. After its inception, the first major IBF tournament was the men's team championship, the Thomas Cup, in 1949. The first ladies team championship was held in 1956, when the US won the Uber Cup. As more and more tournaments started being organized, badminton became a demonstration sport at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The first World Badminton Championships, including singles events were held in 1977. During the next decade, the sport was passionately pursued by Asians, primarily by Chinese women.

I am trying to cram as much info as i can into this one page but if you are really serious about your badminton i recommend you check out these DVDs Beginning Badminton and Advanced Badminton. These are two great DVDs which i insist all my students purchase as they go into great detail and you are shown by the top players in the world how it is done. There is no need to go buying DVDs though if you just want to learn the basics only if you are really serious about becoming a great player as later on i will show you all the shots and how to play them correctly.

Below i am going to show a number of good rackets for beginners right up to people who are experts. Obviously i can show you all the rackets as there are hundreds.

For begginers i would recommend the following rackets:

Yonex nano speed 100 badminton racket at just £22.99 this is a great starting racket CLICK HERE

Carlton Powerblade 4010 £19.99 CLICK HERE

Ok lets not dwell on rackets for begginers too much as the low end rackets are all very similar. Here are a few really good rackets which are now on the market for a fraction of there retail price.

Browning platinum nano 75 is an amazing racket made from %100 nano carbon/titanium. It Retails at £249.99 but i have managed to find you a reputable site which sells it for £39.99. They charge £7.75 for delivery but that didn't bother me as they offer such a huge saving on the racket. CLICK HERE

Carlton Powerblade Graphite RRP £110. I found it for 29.99. This racket is good for powerful players. CLICK HERE

These are just a few of the rackets i recommend. Below is a link where you will find hundreds of rackets at discount prices with all the information you need to go with them. You can also find shoes shuttles and other accessories.
CLICK HERE

Below I am going to show you a few shots and the correct way to play those shots if you want access to how to play every shot with full instructions and more in depth detail the try reading Badminton Secrets a really good programme which many top players have used.

The Basics
Badminton can be played either as a singles game or as a doubles game. All the equipment needed by the players are a racket each and a shuttlecock.

The Court
Badminton is played on a rectangular court that is 6.1m wide and 13.4m long. In a doubles match the full width of the court is used but in a singles match the width of the court is 5.18m. Marking lines down the length of the court indicate the boundaries for singles games.

There is a horizontal line near the net on either side of the court which indicates the start of the service area. In the centre of this line begins a vertical line that extends to the back of the court. This splits the service area into two boxes. At the back of the court are two horizontal lines which indicate the end of the service area. The closer one indicates the limit of the doubles service area, while the further one indicates the limit of the singles serving area

The 1.55m high net is hung over the centre of the court from stands on either side.

Badminton can be played outdoors but in the UK indoor courts are the norm. Any competitive event will also be held indoors.

The Game
Before the start of a match the players should toss a coin. The winner the coin toss can either opt to serve or choose which side of the court to play on. Once they have decided, the loser takes the discarded option.

Scoring
In a badminton match players aim to win the best of three games, each of which is played to 21 points. Each time a side wins a rally they receive a point and the right to serve for the next point. The first to 21 points wins the game.

Like sets in tennis, games must be won with a two-point lead. If a game is tied at 20-20, the game continues until one side achieves a two-point lead or until one side scores 30 points (30-29 is an acceptable score for victory).

Serving
To serve in badminton the server must hit the base of the shuttlecock in a single stroke with their racket pointing downward. Neither the server nor the receiver can lift a foot off the ground until the shuttlecock has been served. The shuttlecock has to be below the server's waist (defined as the lowest rib of the server) when it makes contact with their racket.

The shuttlecock must make it past the receiver's service line and stay withing the court boundaries, otherwise the serve is a fault, resulting in a point being awarded to the receiver and service passing to them. There are no double faults in badminton.

In a singles match the player serving serves from the right if their score is even and from the left if their score is odd. The receiving player stands in the court box diagonally opposite to him. The server changes sides for each serve. The receiving player cannot come forward of the service area

In doubles the server stays the same throughout the game and follows the same pattern. If the opposing team wins, the player on the right serves if their score is even and the player on the left serves if their score is odd. When a team is receiving, the player diagonally opposite the player must stay in the serving area. The other player can stand anywhere they like on their half of the court so long as they don't distract the server. The same is true for the non-serving player in the serving team.

By tradition, in a mixed doubles game the serving team's female player will make the first serve of the match

The Game
The shuttlecock must make it over the service line when it is served, otherwise it is a fault and the receiving team wins both a point and the serve.

After the serve a rally can take place anywhere within the court boundaries and a point is scored when the shuttlecock hits the ground within these boundaries. If the servers win the point they continue to serve. If the receivers win the point they become the servers.

If the shuttlecock lands outside the court boundaries this is a fault and a point goes to the receiver. Similarly if a player fails to get the shuttlecock over the net this is also a fault. It is also classed as a fault if the shuttlecock hits the ceiling.

The shuttlecock can only be hit once in a rally. Though only the base can be hit in the serve, the feathers of the shuttlecock can be hit during a rally.

Let
Rallies can be replayed if something disturbs its flow, for example, people wandering across the court or anything landing on the court. This is known as a let. In a competitive match these will be at the umpire's discretion, and in a friendly game at the player's discretion.

If one player serves before the receiver is deemed ready an umpire may give a let and ask the server to replay the serve. This cannot happen if the receiver returns the serve.

So hopefully the information i have provided has been useful to you. I have only scratched the surface of the game if you want to know absolutley everything you could ever need to know i suggest you take a look at Badminton Secrets or Advanced Badminton .

Thanks for Reading and enjoy your badminton.