Most people have seen badminton in one form or another and consequently think they know badminton. However badminton may not be quite what you imagine. Here are a few common questions and answers regarding badminton.

Badminton is that game we all play at family picnics and in the backyard, right?

The backyard/picnic version of badminton is one type of badminton. Badminton as a sport is played indoors with much more high-tech equipment. Modern racquets are complex alloys of carbon graphite, boron, ceramic, aluminium and steel in various proportions. These racquets are very light, less than 3.5 ounces and can be strung very tightly. Also the shuttlecock is made of feathers, not plastic, and weighs between 4.74 and 5.50 grams. Shuttles cost about $20 for a dozen and last about one game, at the most. The net is five feet high, not the height of a volleyball net.

Even so it is still pretty slow, isn't it?

To play competitive badminton you need explosiveness, lightening quick reflexes and rapid hand-eye coordination. Why you ask? Well the shuttlecock has been clocked in excess of 180 mph (NO this is not a misprint). That's faster than the fastest tennis serve, and occurs regularly during rallies at the top level. Add onto this the fact that in doubles games there are often 40 or 50 shots in 20 seconds you can see that the first sentence was no exaggeration.

So what sort of action do you see in badminton?

A badminton match consists of constant highly concentrated action; running, jumping, twisting, stretching, running backwards, throwing and striking. In a typical match the athletes cover every inch of the court and run more than one mile.

Yeah right, how about some statistics?

OK then. Lets compare a Wimbledon final to a world championship final in badminton. The Wimbledon final lasted 198 minutes, the badminton final 76 minutes. Doesn't look good for badminton right? WRONG! The actual amount of time the ball or shuttlecock were in play were 18 minutes and 37 minutes respectively. Breaking it down further to the number of shots played (1 004 to 1 972) and assuming 22 feet traveled per shot per player we find that the tennis player covered about 2 miles, and the badminton player 4 miles. So the badminton player ran TWICE as far in under half the time. This just goes to show how tough badminton is. Tennis is a great game and most people understand the athletic endeavors involved in playing at the top level. From this example we can see that badminton athletes need to be in world class condition.

Got any more stats?

Most certainly have; according to scientific experts (Department of Physical Education at Baylor University) badminton is one of the finest conditioning game activities. During a typical 3 game match, lasting 45 minutes the shuttle will be in play for 20 minutes. In this time the player will make at least 350 changes of direction of 90° or more and strike the shuttle about 400 times. About 150 of these stokes will be full arm swings (with the racquet, of course). Major league pitchers frequently have less arm swings than this in a game. Pulse rate can increase from 72 to 125 for a person in normal condition.

OK, I'm convinced badminton is a tough sport but isn't it pretty unpopular?

Not at all! Whilst badminton is a minority sport in the US it is widely played in Britain, Denmark, Sweden, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and several other countries. Britain alone has 4 million players, about 8% of the population. As a spectator sport it is very popular in the far east. The badminton events at the Seoul Olympics were the among the first to sell out, despite it only being a demonstration sport. The estimated audience for the 92 Olympic finals ran into the hundreds of millions, up to 1.1 BILLION in total.

So badminton is an Olympic sport?

Yes it is. Badminton was admitted as a full medal sport at the games of the XXVth Olympiad in Barcelona 1992. The decision was made in 1985 and recognized the world wide status of the IBF, which has 114 member countries. Athletes competed in Mens and Womens singles and Mens and Womens doubles. Mixed doubles has been added for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Don't miss this chance to see top level badminton!

So who won at the Olympics?

The Asian countries dominated, with Indonesia winning 5 medals. Not bad for a country that had never won a single medal before. Malaysia also won its first Olympic medal ever.

Who are the best in the world?

At the moment Indonesia dominate the world badminton scene with 6 of the top 10 men's singles players and the top ranked woman singles player. Other dominant countries are China, Malaysia, S. Korea, Denmark and Sweden. The US are minnows on the world badminton circuit.

Have the US always been so bad?

No. The US were a major force in world badminton between 1949 and 1967. In this time they won 23 world individual championships (All England titles, the unofficial world championships that is). These were 1 men's singles, 12 women's singles, 1 men's doubles, 8 women's doubles and 1 mixed doubles. The women's team also won 3 Uber cup titles (team championships) and in 1955 the top male player was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Rather ironic considering it was the women who had the most success.

Are the top athletes professional?

Yes, at the top level you can earn a living playing badminton. The money is not enormous like in tennis, but if you come from a badminton country then other money and perks are available aside form tournament earnings. This career is not recommended though for those who anticipate earning loads of money and retiring early.

What other international events are there in badminton?

Aside form the Olympics there are the Thomas and Uber cups (men's and women's world team championships respectively) held every even year, World championships and Sudirman cup (world mixed team championships, held every odd year), Pan American games, US open and a number of Grand Prix tournament around the world.