Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Badminton
The first major IBF tournament was the Thomas Cup (world men's
team championships) in 1948. Since then, the number of world events
has increased with the addition of the Uber Cup (womens team),
World Championships (individual events), Sudirman Cup (mixed team),
World Junior Championships and the World Grand Prix Finals.
Commonwealth Games Sport - 1966
Badminton was introduced as a Commonwealth Games program sport
in Kingston Jamaica in 1966 and has been part of every
Commonwealth Games program since then. Initially all five disciplines
were included singles (men, women), doubles (men, women) and
mixed doubles with the Teams Event included in the program in later
Commonwealth Games.
Olympic Games Sport - 1992
Badminton is a relatively new Olympic Games sport. After being a
demonstration sport in Munich in 1972, badminton became an Olympic
sport in Barcelona in 1992 with the singles and doubles disciplines
introduced for the first time in the Olympic Games. In Atlanta in 1996,
a mixed doubles event was included and this is the only mixed doubles
event in all of the Olympic sports.
The following countries have won medals in badminton at an Olympic
Games since its introduction in 1992 - China, Denmark, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Russia.
Susi Susanti from Indonesia won the womens singles in Barcelona,
becoming Indonesias first medallist in the 40 years Indonesia had
competed at the Games. In the same Olympic Games, Alan Budi
Kusama won Indonesias second gold medal in the mens badminton
singles.
ETTA had a membership of 19 leagues but now has over 300, with
around 75,000 registered players.
The first world championships were held in 1927 and were won by a
Hungarian, Dr. Jacobi. Apart from the famous Fred Perry redressing
the balance for England in 1929, this was to be the start of an
unprecedented run of success for the Hungarians, who completely
dominated the game throughout the thirties. Their team was led by the
legendary Victor Barna, whose inspiration and skill did so much to
elevate the game to sports status.
The 1950s saw the game turned upside down by the invention of the
sponge or sandwich rubber, this new material for bats, which, up until
now, had been a relatively simple affair with a universal thin covering
of pimpled rubber.
Until this time, spin had played only a minor part in a game that had
been dominated by the defensive style of play. But these new bats or
paddles, introduced by the Japanese, had the capacity to move the
ball around in an almost magical way. The ITTF, the games governing
body, was quick to legislate in a bid to control this new development,
seen in some quarters as equipping players with an unfair advantage.
The thickness of the sponge and rubber sandwich was controlled and
remains so to this day. But the nature of the game had been changed,
establishing the fast attacking speed and spin style of the modern
game.
Today, the sport both in England and abroad is very well established
and is growing each year. The culmination of this has been its
recognition as an Olympic Games sport, being featured for the first
time in the 1988 games in Seoul. Television coverage of the mens
singles final attracted an incredible worldwide audience of 2 billion. In
China, the game is played by literally millions at work, in school, and in
community parks. Chinese top players are regarded as national heroes
with pop star statuses.
Backhand
A shot done with the racket to the left of the elbow for
a righthander, the reverse for a lefthander.
Backspin
Bat
Same as racket.
Blade
Block
Chop
Chopper
Closed
Counter-
drive
counter-driving.
Cross-
court
Dead
Deep
A ball that lands deep on the table. A serve that will not
bounce twice on the opponent's side of the table if
given the chance is also considered deep.
Down the
line
Drive
Drop shot
Flat
Flick or flip A topspin shot generated over the table close to the
net, usually with the power generated only from the
upper arm or the wrist. Used to start offense on a short
ball.
Footwork
Forehand
Any shot done with the racket to the right of the elbow
for a righthander, the reverse for a lefthander.
Game
Game
Point
Hitter
Inverted
ITTF
Junk
Kill
Let
Lob
Loop
Looper
Open
Paddle
Same as racket.
Penholder
Pips
Pips out
Point
Push
Racket
Same as bat.
Rally
Rating
Receive
Serve
The first shot, done by the server. It begins with the ball
being thrown up from palm of hand and struck by the
racket.
Spin
Stroke
Topspin
Twiddle
Same as twirl.
Twirl
Umpire or
Referee
match.
BADMINTON TERMINOLOGY
Attacking clear : An offensive stroke hit deep into the opponent's
court.
Backcourt : Back third of the court, in the area of the back boundary
lines.
Backhand : The stroke used to return balls hit to the left of a righthanded player and to the right of a left-handed player.
Base position : The location in the centre of the court to which a
singles player tries to return after each shot; also called "centre
position".
Baseline : The back boundary line at each end of the court, parallel to
the net.
Carry : An illegal stroke in which the shuttle is not hit, but caught and
held on the racket before being released; also called a "sling" or
"throw".
Centre line : A line perpendicular to the net that separates the left
and right service courts.
Clear : A shot hit deep into the opponent's court.
Doubles : A game where a team of two players play against another
team of two.
Doubles sideline : The side boundary of a doubles court.
Drive : A fast and low shot that makes a horizontal flight over the net.
Drop shot : A shot hit softly and with finesse to fall rapidly and close
to the net in the opponent's court.
Fault : A violation of the playing rules.
Feint : Any deceptive movement that disconcerts an opponent before
or during the serve; also called a "balk".
Flick : A quick wrist-and-forearm rotation used to surprise an
Net shot : A shot hit from the forecourt that just clears the net and
drops sharply.
Passing shot : A shot which passes the opposing player or team.
Push shot : A gentle shot played by pushing the shuttlecock with a
little wrist motion.
Rally : The exchange of shots that decides each point.
Serve : The stroke used to put the shuttlecock into play at the start of
each rally; also called a "service".
Service court : The area into which a service must be delivered.
Different for singles and doubles.
Set : To choose to extend a game beyond its normal ending score if
the score is tied with one point to go.
Short service line : The front line of the service courts 1.98 metres
from the net. Singles : A game where one player plays against another
player.
Singles sideline : The side boundary of a singles court.
Smash : A hard-hit overhead shot that forces the shuttle sharply
downwards into the opponent's court.
Wood shot : A legal shot in which the shuttle hits the frame of the
racket.