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Badminton is a popular sport in the European and Asian countries
such as England, Sweden, Denmark, Indonesia, and China. More
than 130 countries belong to the International Badminton Federation
(IBF). Badminton became an Olympic sport when it was first
introduced at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. More than a
billion people watched badminton’s Olympic debut on
TV.
Scientific studies conducted by the Department of Physical
Education at Baylor University show badminton as one of the
finest conditioning game activities. Badminton at a competitive
level requires explosiveness, a lot of running and jumping,
good reflexes, and good hand-eye coordination. The shuttle,
not to be mistaken with the NASA shuttle, can leave the racket
at a speed up to 180 mph during rallies in a top-level match.
With that kind of speed, even the fastest tennis serve or
the hardest thrown baseball in the major leagues will look
like a slow motion picture.
A badminton player can run more than a mile in just one match.
In a typical 45-minute game match, a player will make 300+
changes of direction of 90° or more. In just a single
game, a player can easily hit hundreds of shots at a speed
almost twice as much as the fastest speed in tennis or major
league baseball. 100+ of the strokes in the game will be full
arm swings. That is a lot more swings than in the major league
baseball.
A double game is a more fast-flowing and hard-hitting game
compared to the single game. In the double game, there are
can be 15 shots in just 20 seconds. That means in a typical
45-minute game, the two players can combine for a total of
2025 shots, more than 1000 shots for each player. Assuming
that 50% of those shots are hard-hitting smashes, by the end
of each game, each player will have hit over 500 shots that
can top 180 mph speed.
Badminton as a professional sport is played on a court measuring
6.1 meters by 13.4 meters. The net separates the court into
two equal areas. The shuttle or the “ball” is
made of the feathers from the wing of a goose. It is made
of 16 feathers and weighs between 4.74 to 5.50 grams. The
shuttle is played, or hit, with a racket. The weight and shape
of the racket can vary. However, the frame of the racket may
not exceed 680 millimeters in overall length and 230 mm in
overall width.
Badminton requires at least two persons to play. However,
as a recreational game, there is nothing to prevent one from
playing with an odd number of people or even playing without
the net. As one of the most flexible sports, badminton can
be played on any kind of relatively flat and hard surface,
either outdoors or indoors without losing the benefit from
the exercises.
All in all, whether you are just trying to kill some spare
time or reap the benefits from one of the best exercises that
you will ever get, badminton will guarantee that the time
you spend will be well worth it. Like most other sports or
games, the most important thing in badminton is to come out
and have fun. Got Racket, Have Fun.
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