badminton racket - badminton equipment

Often times badminton players give the racket the most emphasis. If you go into badmintoncentral.com and you will find that most of the discussion centers on the racket. While the racket is certainly an important equipment, the importance of which is often overrated, and that is the reason why I put the Racket almost next to last in our recommendation list.

The badminton racket is the middleman when transferring force from the player to the shuttle, sitting right between the grip and the string. A badminton racket can be categorized by a few characteristics: shape, stiffness, weight, balance.

Virtually all badminton rackets are made of carbon fiber or graphite. Some manufacturers choose to put in extra ingredients into the racket material like titanium or recently nanocarbon. I want to emphasis that they are only addictives, the 99% of the racket is still graphite and the extra benefits of the additives are very marginal.

Badminton rackets comes in two major head shapes: Isometric/square and Oval. Oval is the traditional racket shape, it is a slightly bottom heavy oval, almost the shape of an egg. Oval rackets in general have a small but more concentrated sweet spot. Oval fans like the concentration of power around the sweetspot of the racket. The shape is the Isometric or square which became more popular after the early 1990’s. The Isometric head has a wider and more squared top half of the racket head. The advantage of the isometric is an enlarged sweetspot which give off-centered hit a better response.

The effective stiffness of a badminton racket is similar to the effective of string tension. So I will refer you back to that section. A stiffer racket has the similar effect as a higher tensioned string, while a flexible racket is similar to the lower tension string.

Rackets comes in different weights. Normally the racket alone weighs between 80-95g. Different manufacturers have different rating system, the most popular of which is Yonex’s U system, U = 95-100g, 2U = 90-94g, 3U = 85-89g, 4U = 80-84g. a racket’s weight determines how fast one can swing a racket, the lighter a racket, the faster one can swing it with the same force. In general, a lighter racket is more maneuverable than a heavy one. However, before everybody goes out and buy the lightest racket, I also want to point out that lighter isn’t always better. A light racket is less stable than a heavier racket, more force is necessary to keep its path, furthermore, a heavier racket has a larger momentum and thus more effective in transferring its speed and power to the shuttle.

The final racket characteristic is the balance of the racket. Head balanced racket is becoming more popular recently. Head balanced rackets have more mass near the head of the racket. A head balanced racket is more stable and have higher angular momentum when swung. On the contrary, a even balanced racket is more maneuverable.

As you can see, none of the different properties of the above characteristics are strictly better than other. Some players prefers slightly heavier rackets, some prefer slightly lighter, some like even balanced, some like head balanced. What I want to point out is that ultimately, it is a person’s skill level and style that determines what racket is suitable, go try them out if you can to see what fits.

badminton shoes - badminton equipment

Among badminton equipment, a good set of badminton shoes are the most important piece of equipment a badminton player can have. Badminton players move around the badminton court at an amazing pace, dashes and changes directions on every stroke of the rally, twisting and turning and lunging. All these movements are supported and made possible by the badminton shoes.

Badminton shoes are designed for badminton movements; a thin but well supported sole with good lateral support keep the player’s feet close to the ground, this allows for fast and ankle bending directional changes with lower chance of injury; light weight for faster feet movement; surface hugging gummy soles to grip the indoor surface without slipping.

Pick your badminton shoes with care, make sure you choose the pair that fits the shape of your feet and thus the most comfortable.

And whatever you do, do not wear running shoes or any other thick soled shoes. They keep your feet too high up in the ground and all it will take is one deep lunge to have your ankle sprained. From then on, you will be in excruciating pain for days and the injury will affect your badminton game for years to come.

Good badminton shoes brands include adidas Stabil Shoes, Asics, Hi-Tec, Mizuno, and

2007 badminton malaysia open

Super Series which will be offering minimum prize money of US$200,000 will begin in January 2007. Malaysia Open will be the 1st tournament to hold the Super Series. The Grand Prix series which will be held 12 times thruout the year in different countries most likely will last for at least 3 years.
With the new structure of the Grand Prix, it will definately attract more viewers and also Top Ranked players to join in.
After Malaysia Open, next stop will be Korea Open. Among the other Opens is All England, Swiss Open, Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, China Masters, Japan Open, Denmark Open, French Open, China Open and Hong Kong Open. The venue for the last tournament in December will be decided later on.

BADMINTON RULES - global

BADMINTON RULES
A simplified version of the Laws of Badminton designed for the beginning or casual player. This should get you started, and once you have these mastered, you should examine the more complete laws.



1. BADMINTON COURT : Service lines are 15' 6" from the back court lines. The net is set at 22' from the back court lines.

2. POSTS: The posts shall be 5'1" from the ground and shall be placed on the side boundary lines of the court.

3. NET The net shall be firmly stretched from post to post. The top of net shall be 5' in height from the ground at the center; 5'1" at the posts.

4. PLAYERS A doubles game shall have two players to a side; a singles game shall have one player to a side.

5. TOSS The side winning the toss shall have the options of: a) serving first; or b) not serving first; and c) choosing ends.

6. SCORING For recreational lawn games a doubles or singles game shall consist of 15 or 21 points, as may be arranged. Provided that in a game of 15 points, when the score is 13 all, the side which first reached 13 has the option of setting the game to 5, and when the game is 14 all, the side which first reached 14 has the option of setting the game to 3. After a game has been set the score is called love all, and the side which first scores 5 or 3 points, depending upon whether the game has been set at 13 or 14 all, wins the game. In either case the claim to set the game must be made before the next service is delivered after the score has reached 13-all or 14-all.

7. DOUBLES PLAY The player winning the toss to serve shall serve from the right-hand service court to the player in the service court diagonally opposite. If the receiver returns the shuttle before it touches the ground the shuttle is in play. Future serves are then to be made from alternate service courts to alternate players. No player may receive two consecutive services in the same game. The side winning a game shall always serve first in the next game.

8. SINGLES PLAY Rule 7 applies except that the players shall serve from and receive service in their respective right-hand service courts only when the server's score is zero or an even number of points in the game. The service is delivered and received in the left-hand service courts when the server's score is an odd number of points. Both players shall change service-courts after each point scored.

9. FAULTS A fault by a player of the side which is in puts the server out; if made by a player whose side is out, it counts as a point to the in side. It is a fault:

a) If in serving, the shuttlecock at the instant of being struck is higher than the server's waist, or if any part of the racket head is higher than any part of the server's hand holding the badminton racket

b) If in serving, the shuttle falls into the wrong service court, or falls short of the short service line, or beyond the long service line, or outside the boundary lines.

c) If the server's feet are not in the service court from which the service is being made, or if the feet of the receiver are not in the service-court diagonally opposite until the service is delivered.

d) If before or during the delivery of the service any player makes preliminary feints or otherwise intentionally balks his opponent.

e) If either in service or play, the shuttle falls outside the boundaries of the court, or passes through or under the net, or fails to pass the net, or touches the person clothing or a person.

f) If the shuttle in play is struck before it crosses to the striker's side of the net.

g) If, when the shuttlecock is in play, a player touches the net or its supports with racket, person or clothing.

h) If the shuttle is hit twice in succession by the same player; is hit more than once; or is held on the racket during the execution of a stroke; or if the shuttle is hit by a player or his partner successively.

i) If in play a player strikes the shuttle (unless he thereby makes a good return) or is struck by it, whether standing within or outside the boundaries of the court.

10. If the server, in attempting to serve, misses the shuttle, it is not a fault: but if the shuttle is touched by the racket, a service is thereby delivered.

i'll put more detail Badminton rule later

Tip for chose Badminton Racquet

there are many racquet. You should chose that not too heavy or too lighter. Go to shop, and try Yonex Nano Speed 5000 Badminton Racquet, Yonex Muscle Power 45 Badminton Racquet, Yonex Armortec 300 2007 Badminton Racquet, Yonex Nano Speed 7700 Badminton Racquet, Yonex Armortec 700 2007 Badminton Racquet, Pro Kennex Titanium Pro 747, Carlton Aerogear 900 Badminton Racket, Victor Inside Wave 1100 badminton racquet, Qiangli 5317 Badminton Racket and etc. choose that suitable for you, not only because it expensive :)