Badminton Basics: Badminton Facts, History and Equipment

As we all know that badminton is a racquet sport as well as a great sport for fitness and the benefit of the sport is that it can be played by people of all ages. Players hit the shuttlecock towards their opponent. As a badminton player needs a lot of stamina and agility, certainly at competitive level badminton can be played by anyone and badminton is the most popular sport after cricket which is often played by the people and it also helps in keeping the body fit of the player. Let's get on with some badminton basics that everyone should know.

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Badminton Basics

• Badminton is a social sport. It also helps the player to interact with other players and peoples and it also generates a way to meet new peoples. 
• Badminton helps in burning calories as well as it increases the stamina, endurance, coordination as well as the flexibility of the player. 
• If you are a beginner then you need not to worry about the game as you need minimal equipments to get started. You will have to focus on few simpole badminton basics first.
• There are lots of clubs and schools open to the public where you can train yourself and learn better badminton skills as they provide a teacher or a coach to teach in an adequate manner. 
• As the beginner or the new players can enjoy the game as the masters and intermediate players doesn't face much problems as they are well aware about all the badminton basics, rules and regulations of the game. 

Game play 

Badminton is recognized as an indoor game in which the player hit the shuttlecock and moves and run back and forth across the court and does not allow the shuttle to touch the ground. Badminton is basically played in two forms singles and doubles. In singles, there is a single player on each side whereas in doubles there are two players on each side. The main objective of the player is to hit the shuttlecock to the floor on the opposite side of the net so the serving player scores a rally.

History of badminton

Badminton when began in India was recognized as "Poona". In the 1860s the British officers stationed in India adopted the game and took it back to England where it became very popular. The history of badminton relates with the country like ancient Greece, China, and India and also relates to the old children's games which were known as battledore and shuttlecock. Badminton in England is played from1873 and is named after the country estate of the dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England.

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BWF

BWF is the world governing body of sports. It was formed in 1934. There are many such countries where badminton is a famous sport such countries are Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Denmark. The world's first BWF championship was held in 1977.  BWF held many championship leagues and international tournaments which includes the Thomas Cup for men's and the Uber Cup for women's. Each and every badminton tournament is look over by BWF.

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Equipment

Court

Badminton court is basically a rectangle in shape which is coloured with white or yellow lines which are 40mm wide. The posts are 159cm high from the court and are placed on the side boundary of the court. The badminton court is 13.4 m long and 6.1m wide. For singles, the court is marked 5.18m wide.

Net

The net is basically made up of cord which is dark in colour and the thickness of the is 152cm <5 feet> which is edged by a white tape doubled and supported by a chord or a cable which run through the tape and there are no gaps between the ends of the net and the posts.

Shuttlecock or Birdie

The weight of a shuttlecock or a birdie is between 4.73grams to 5.50grams and it contains 14 to 17 feathers which are fixed in a cork basically. The diameter of a shuttlecock is 2.5cm and 2.8cm.

Racquets

There are different kinds of racquets available in the market according to the need of the players. Basically, rackets are designed in such a way that consist of a handled frame with an open hoop across which the strings are stretched tightly. Traditionally the rackets were made up of wooden frames but now there are varieties of rackets made up of steel, carbon fibre composites, and aluminium frames due to which the wooden frame racket can hardly be seen in the market.

Basic requirements for the game

There are lots of tricks and deceptive shots which will help you in improving your gameplay as well outcome your abilities to face your opponent. You don't need a perfect body to play this game all it requires is a perfect mind and the agility to play somehow the game itself improves your body structure if the player daily practice and work on his/her game. If you are looking into badminton at a career or competitive level then you need to focus on your health as well as your mental ability as badminton is a highly energetic sport.

 Overall benefits of Badminton

Playing badminton is beneficial for the players as well as the beginners who just stepped into this sport as some of the benefits are as given below:

• While playing badminton the player needs to run across the court which helps him/her to burn his/her calories and boost up his stamina and also maintains the heart rate of the player. Overall playing badminton helps the player to stay fit and tone up his body and keep the body in shape.
• Playing badminton also helps you in socializing and interacting with other players or peoples in the court or outside the court.
• Playing badminton keeps us physically as well as mentally fit. As exercising daily releases hormone in our body which keeps us stress free, reduces depression and also helps in fighting with insomnia.
• Playing badminton also enables us to improve flexibility and mobility.