The Soo Badminton Club

Come out and play with The Soo Badminton Club.  We have over fifty members from high school age to seventy plus, and from beginner to advanced.  We also have a junior development program for those age 8 – 19, and one of the best coaches in the province.  The senior club plays three nights a week from September until the end of May each year.  The club hosts the annual Soo Open Tournament on or about the first weekend in December. After a spirited evening of badminton, many of our members will go out for an even more spirited evening of socializing and dancing.

SEE YOU OUT THERE!!

Spectator’s Guide to Badminton

Hey, you ever wonder why some people just think badminton is boring? It’s the same reason why some people think football, baseball, or soccer are boring to watch. They just don’t know what to watch for. This guide will clarify some of the things to make the game more enjoyable to watch.

The Spectator’s Guide to Badminton
Stroking, fitness, balance and tactics are the keys to badminton. “Stroking”, involves the actual production of the shots.It is difficult to produce the shot well if one is not fit enough to get to the shuttle in time. Having gotten there in time, one must remain on balance before, during and after the stroke. “Tactics” is the ability to mix the other three elements together in a winning combination.
What To Watch For
STROKING – Is the stroking smooth or choppy?  Compare your own strokes or those of the average player on court.  Watch the strokes of the superstars.  How effortless they seem!  How graceful! Note the absence of a long backswing or follow through.FITNESS – Is there a lot of huffing and puffing?  Is the player consistently taking the shuttle high at the net, and above him in the backcourt?  If the shuttle is taken low at the net or behind the player in the backcourt, he is probably tiring.  Watch then for stalling between rallies – the long “S” curve back to the service position.
BALANCE – Is the player on balance?  If the player gets bent over, he is probably being forced off balance.  Has the player become a human windmill, all arms and legs?  Is the player “diving” for shuttles?  Or, is the player moving around the court exuding confidence and control?  Frantic “digging” for shuttles shows guts but suggests an earlier weakness in the play leading to more and more off balance or out of position strokes.

TACTICS – Look at the badminton rally in singles as a game of chess, with one player testing the other’s ability in terms of (1) stroking - “How’s your backhand or smash returns?” (2) fitness – “Are you prepared to sustain a long rally time after time?” (3) balance – “Do you throw yourself off balance after certain strokes or sequences of strokes?… or after long rally after long rally?”  Usually, players have decided how to play the opponent before the match begins, but the match situation may cause changes in plans.  Try to figure out the tactics being employed.  What are they?  If you were that player, would you have done the same?  If the match goes three games, what advice would you give each player?  The third game will show you if you were right.

In DOUBLES, one team tries to force the other to lift the shuttle so it can be smashed.  Watch how they do it – hitting the shuttle downward off the serve, intercepting shuttles high at the net, playing a variety of net and flatshots rather than lifting.  Once the shuttle is lifted, watch where the smasher hits it and where his partner positions himself to prevent the opponents from playing any net shots or flat shots off the smash.  What shots are they playing?  Are they staying deep in the court or aggressively attacking the smash close at the net?

In MIXED, watch how the men try to take advantage of the opposing woman’s position close to the net or try to force her into the backcourt.  Watch how the women block shuttles at the net and try to force the opposing team to lift the shuttle.  The key to mixed doubles is the woman.

If this is the first time you have watched a badminton match, here are a few hints which you may find useful:

SCORING – In badminton, the winner of a rally serves and only the server or the team serving can score points.  Ladies singles goes to 11 points with the options to set 12 points if the game is tied 9-9 or 10-10.  All other events go to 15 points with the option at 13-13 to set to 18 or at 14-14 to set to 17.  All events are played until one side has won two games.

TYPE OF SHOTS – The smash is the badminton player’s most formidable weapon.  It is an overhead stroke delivered similarly to a powerful serve in tennis.  However, you will see it used continually through out the badminton rally with the shuttle leaving the racket at speeds in excess of 140 m.p.h..  The drop is hit up to the point of contact identically to the smash and clear, thus creating a very effective change of pace.  The clear, up to the point of contact like the drop and smash, forces the opposing player to the back of the court.  The backhand strokes are identical to their equivalent forehand ones except they are usually hit with less power.  However, these international stars will make all strokes seem easy.

If you have the opportunity, stand close to a court and watch the varying speeds of the shuttle from the blinding speed of a smash to the most delicate of net shots.  Watch the players’ remarkable defensive ability.  Watch, too, their agility and quickness.

Come back again and bring your friends.

Rules of Badminton

Beware of falling shuttlecocks!

Well the idea of badminton is very simple. But the rules of badminton are a lot more complex and difficult to understand. I will first give the basic idea of badminton, then I will list the rules just as they appear in the official rulebook. Also later I will add a part on this page for tips on playing badminton that I have picked up over time. And I will add graphics on the size of the court and other things once I get access to a scanner. But until then you got these great text rules. Ok everybody? Good, lets get to it.

Basic rules to get you going

Singles

You and you opponent take your positions on opposite sides of the net. Im not going to tell you the dimentions of the court, Im assuming you already have a court to play on. Hopefully you each have a racket and at least one birdie. To decide who serves first hit the birdie high into the air, when it hits the ground the person it is pointing at gets to serve first. There are other ways to decide who serves first such as Greco-Roman wrestling but this is probably the best.

Whoever gets to serve first stands in the box on the right side of the court behind that line that is located about 2 feet from the net. (It’s called the short service line if you must know). Your opponent stands on his/her right side of the court. The server hits the birdie underhanded so that contact between the birdie and the racket take place under the servers waist. The server hits the birdie into the side of the court diagnol from him, into the court where his opponent is standing.

Now you see that there are 2 different lines in the back and 2 different lines on the sides of the court. Here are what we will call the lines.

  • Inside lines on the sides = skinny
  • Outside lines on the sides = fat
  • Outside lines at the back of the court = long
  • Inside lines at the back of the court = short

map of the court:

In singles serving the lines are skinny and long. For the rest of the time in singles the lines are skinny and short. Oh yeah, lines are in.

Doubles

Doubles is pretty much just the same as singles except for a few minor changes. In doubles the service lines are short and wide. Normal play lines are long and wide. The first team that serves starts on the right side of the court and serves across. After they lose that serve it goes to the other teams player that is standing on the right side. After he loses that serve his partner gets to serve. After that it goes to the other side and does the same thing until the end.

Scoring

There are many different ways you can score. Here is a list of all the different things that can happen to either cause you to score a point (when serving), or get a side out (when not serving). These go the same for when you do these things your opponent scores. Thatspretty much it, there are a few other things that are different, bt they wil be outlied in the scori section.

  • Your opponent hits the birdie out.
  • Your opponent fails to hit the birdie over the net.
  • The birdie touches your opponents body, clothes or any other item on his body
  • Your opponent hits the birdie twice before it goes over the net.
  • Your opponent touches the net with his body, clothes or racket while the birdie is in play.
  • The birdie hits the ground in the court on your opponents side.

There are also many things you or your opponent can do wrong while serving, since there are a bunch this is a whole different section, but the same rules for points and side outs still are in effect here.

  • Your opponent fails to hit the birdie over the net.
  • Your opponent is not standing fully in his service box (the area inside the designated lines behind the short service line).
  • Your opponents partner is not standing in his service box.
  • Your opponent hits the birdie over the net, out of bounds.
  • The birdie hits your opponent or his clothing.

And there are others that can happen too but since there are too many that is pretty much I have to say in the way of rules.

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