Of Sport. Badminton Learning Pack

Transcription

1 Of Sport Badminton Learning Pack

2 I take this opportunity to welcome new partners to the Roots of Sport project and invite others to join us. We hope the Roots of Sport Badminton Commemoration Project will stimulate take up of the sport by black and minority ethnic girls and women, as not enough are currently involved. All sports are good for fitness but badminton is a really good sport for women who want to achieve fitness in an unfussy manner. Roots of Sport Badminton Commemoration Project is examining ways to help disabled and diabetic women play the sport. Please contact us via our web site Claudine Boothe Founder & Chair Roots of Sport This project targets young people and adults from diverse backgrounds who wish to find out more about badminton, celebrate with the Sobell Centre and be inspired by youth leadership through sport Mike Speranza Founder: Scope-4-Success

3 History Origins Of Sport History: Origin of the Sport The beginnings of badminton can be traced to mid-18th century British India, where it was created by British military officers stationed there. Early photographs show Englishmen adding a net to the traditional English game of battledore and shuttlecock. The sport is related to ball badminton, which originated in Tamil Nadu, and is similar to Hanetsuki which originated in Japan. Being particularly popular in the British garrison town Poona (now Pune), the game also came to be known as Poona. Initially, balls of wool referred as ball badminton were preferred by the upper classes in windy or wet conditions, but ultimately the shuttlecock stuck. This game was taken by retired officers back to England where it developed and rules were set out. Although it appears clear that Badminton House, Gloucestershire, owned by the Duke of Beaufort, has given its name to the sports, it is unclear when and why the name was adopted. As early as 1860, Isaac Spratt, a London toy dealer, published a booklet, Badminton Battledore a new game, but unfortunately no copy has survived. An 1863 article in The Cornhill Magazine describes badminton as battledore and shuttlecock played with sides, across a string suspended some five feet from the ground. This early use has cast doubt on the origin through expatriates in India, though it is known that it was popular there in the 1870s and that the first rules were drawn up in Poonah in Another source cites that it was in 1877 at Karachi in (British) India, where the first attempt was made to form a set of rules As early as 1875, veterans returning from India started a club in Folkestone. Until 1887, the sport was played in England under the rules that prevailed in British India. The Bath Badminton Club standardized the rules and made the game applicable to English ideas. J.H.E. Hart drew up revised basic regulations in 1887 and, with Bagnel Wild, again in In 1893, the Badminton Association of England published the first set of rules according to these regulations, similar to today s rules, and officially launched badminton in a house called Dunbar at 6 Waverley Grove, Portsmouth, England on September 13 of that year. They also started the All England Open Badminton Championships, the first badminton competition in the world, in /16

4 Of Sport THE GAME Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents half of the court. Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor, or if a fault has been called by either the umpire or service judge or, in their absence, the offending player, at any time during the rally. The shuttlecock (or shuttle) is a feathered (or plastic, mainly in uncompetitive games) projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently than the balls used in most racquet sports; in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball. Shuttlecocks have a much higher top speed, when compared to other racquet sports. Because shuttlecock flight is affected by wind, competitive badminton is played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game. Since 1992, badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events: men s and women s singles, men s and women s doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair consists of a man and a woman. At high levels of play, especially in singles, the sport demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, explosive strength, speed and precision. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated racquet movements. Governing Bodies The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the internationally recognized governing body of the sport. Five regional confederations are associated with the BWF: Asia: Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) Africa: Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) Americas: Badminton Pan Am (North America and South America belong to the same confederation; BPA) Europe: Badminton Europe (BE) Oceania: Badminton Oceania (BO) 4/16

5 The Game THE RULES The following information is a simplified summary of badminton rules based on the BWF Statutes publication, Laws of Badminton. The Badminton Court The court is rectangular and divided into halves by a net. Courts are usually marked for both singles and doubles play, although badminton rules permit a court to be marked for singles only. The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but both are of same length. The exception, which often causes confusion to newer players, is that the doubles court has a shorter servelength dimension. The full width of the court is 6.1 metres (20 ft), and in singles this width is reduced to 5.18 metres (17 ft). The full length of the court is 13.4 metres (44 ft). The service courts are marked by a centre line dividing the width of the court, by a short service line at a distance of 1.98 metres (6 ft 6 inch) from the net, and by the outer side and back boundaries. In doubles, the service court is also marked by a long service line, which is 0.76 metres (2 ft 6 inch) from the back boundary. The net is 1.55 metres (5 ft 1 inch) high at the edges and metres (5 ft) high in the centre. The net posts are placed over the doubles sidelines, even when singles is played. The minimum height for the ceiling above the court is not mentioned in the Laws of Badminton. Nonetheless, a badminton court will not be suitable if the ceiling is likely to be hit on a high serve. 5/16

6 Of Sport Serving Each game is played to 21 points, with players scoring a point whenever they win a rally regardless of whether they served (this differs from the old system where players could only win a point on their serve and each game was played to 15 points). A match is the best of three games. At the start of the rally, the server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts (see court dimensions). The server hits the shuttlecock so that it would land in the receiver s service court. This is similar to tennis, except that a badminton serve must be hit below waist height and with the racquet shaft pointing downwards, the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce and in badminton, the players stand inside their service courts unlike tennis. When the serving side loses a rally, the serve immediately passes to their opponent(s) (this differs from the old system where sometimes the serve passes to the doubles partner for what is known as a second serve ). In singles, the server stands in their right service court when their score is even, and in her/his left service court when her/his score is odd. In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally, the same player continues to serve, but he/she changes service courts so that she/he serves to a different opponent each time. If the opponents win the rally and their new score is even, the player in the right service court serves; if odd, the player in the left service court serves. The players service courts are determined by their positions at the start of the previous rally, not by where they were standing at the end of the rally. A consequence of this system is that, each time a side regains the service, the server will be the player who did not serve last time. 6/16

7 The Game Scoring When the server serves, the shuttlecock must pass over the short service line on the opponents court or it will count as a fault. If the score reaches 20-all, then the game continues until one side gains a two point lead (such as 24 22), up to a maximum of 30 points (30 29 is a winning score). At the start of a match, the shuttlecock is cast and the side towards which the shuttlecock is pointing serves first. Alternatively, a coin may be tossed, with the winners choosing whether to serve or receive first, or choosing which end of the court to occupy, and their opponents making the leftover the remaining choice. In subsequent games, the winners of the previous game serve first. Matches are best out of three: a player or pair must win two games (of 21 points each) to win the match. For the first rally of any doubles game, the serving pair may decide who serves and the receiving pair may decide who receives. The players change ends at the start of the second game; if the match reaches a third game, they change ends both at the start of the game and when the leading player s or pair s score reaches 11 points. The server and receiver must remain within their service courts, without touching the boundary lines, until the server strikes the shuttlecock. The other two players may stand wherever they wish, so long as they do not block the vision of the server or receiver. Lets The legal bounds of a badminton court during various stages of a rally for singles and doubles games If a let is called, the rally is stopped and replayed with no change to the score. Lets may occur because of some unexpected disturbance such as a shuttlecock landing on court (having been hit there by players on an adjacent court) or in small halls the shuttle may touch an overhead rail which can be classed as a let. If the receiver is not ready when the service is delivered, a let shall be called; yet, if the receiver attempts to return the shuttlecock, he shall be judged to have been ready. 7/16

8 Of Sport Racquets Badminton racquets are lightweight, with top quality racquets weighing between 70 and 95 grams (2.4 to 3.3 ounces) not including grip or strings.they are composed of many different materials ranging from carbon fibre composite (graphite reinforced plastic) to solid steel, which may be augmented by a variety of materials. Carbon fibre has an excellent strength to weight ratio, is stiff, and gives excellent kinetic energy transfer. Before the adoption of carbon fibre composite, racquets were made of light metals such as aluminium. Earlier still, racquets were made of wood. Cheap racquets are still often made of metals such as steel, but wooden racquets are no longer manufactured for the ordinary market, because of their excessive mass and cost. Nowadays, nanomaterials such as fullerene and carbon nanotubes are added to rackets giving them greater durability. Shuttlecock A shuttlecock (often abbreviated to shuttle) is a high-drag projectile, with an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen overlapping feathers embedded into a rounded cork base. The cork is covered with thin leather or synthetic material. Synthetic shuttles are often used by recreational players to reduce their costs as feathered shuttles break easily. These nylon shuttles may be constructed with either natural cork or synthetic foam base, and a plastic skirt. 8/16

9 AN OLYMPIC SPORT AN OLYMIC SPORT Badminton was a demonstration event in the 1972 and 1988 Summer Olympics. It became an official Summer Olympic sport at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and its gold medals now generally rate as the sport s most coveted prizes for individual players. In the BWF World Championships, first held in 1977, currently only the highest ranked 64 players in the world, and a maximum of four from each country, can participate in any category. In both the Olympic and BWF World competitions restrictions on the number of participants from any one country have caused some controversy because they sometimes result in excluding elite world level players from the strongest badminton nations. The Thomas, Uber, and Sudirman Cups, the Olympics, and the BWF World (and World Junior Championships), are all categorized as level one tournaments. At the start of 2007, the BWF introduced a new tournament structure for the highest level tournaments aside from those in level one: the BWF Super Series. This level two tournament series, a tour for the world s elite players, stages twelve open tournaments around the world with 32 players (half the previous limit). The players collect points that determine whether they can play in Super Series Final held at the year end. Among the tournaments in this series is the venerable All-England Championships, first held in 1900, once considered the unofficial world championships of the sport. Level three tournaments consist of Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix event. Top players can collect the world ranking points and enable them to play in the BWF Super Series open tournaments. These include the regional competitions in Asia (Badminton Asia Championships) and Europe (European Badminton Championships), which produce the world s best players as well as the Pan America Badminton Championships. 9/16

10 Of Sport SOBELL BADMINTON CLUB CELEBRATING 40 YEARS In the beginning In 1973, The Sobell Leisure Centre was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. This year it celebrates its 40th anniversary. One of its key achievements is a strong affiliation to Badminton. Shortly after the Sobell opened, Ismail Onan (Ish), a Maths student at University, began working there as a part time Sports Supervisor. Although his sporting background in Malaysia was Cross Country Running and Hockey, Ismail took on a weekly Badminton session. It was popular and he decided to broaden its scope and call the session Family Participation, opening it to anyone wanting to play. It grew in popularity and became an established part of the Sobell programme. Ish then decided to take the club to the next level and with growing demand he introduced a competitive element; thus the Sobell Badminton Club (SBC) was born and started life as a Thursday night club in Ideology The aims of the club were: to popularise the game within the community, encouraging individuals and groups to play badminton at the centre to create a centre of excellence based on developing and training players from juniors to seniors to encourage juniors and seniors to aim for Middlesex county status. The methodology Ish employed was to create a pyramid type model based on three tiers adult sessions for beginners and intermediate players; junior coaching sessions to develop players from the age of Coaching clinics for league and non league players and advanced coaching for the elite players using both SBC and external coaches encouraging participation in open and overseas tournaments. By 1983, after eight years of hard work, all of the above had been implemented. In the same year Ish became an assessor and set up courses for players to become Badminton Association of England (BAof E) club coaches. 10/16

11 THE SOBELL CENTRE Key Successes Over the years, the SBC has seen all manner of successes. In 1977 SBC entered the Middlesex Badminton League with great success and followed with further teams and more. At this time there was only a trophy for winning Middlesex Division One so the SBC suggested that the league have trophies for all the other divisions and donated three trophies. SBC was the first club to play and hold matches on a Sunday and to have an ethnic player selected, Gilda Francois, to play for the county. Over time more teams were entered until at its peak SBC was running two Mens, two Mixed and three Ladies teams. By this time, teams were not only entered in the Middlesex Leagues but also the Hammersmith, Enfield and Barnet leagues. Sobell was successful in winning divisions in all these leagues. The Sobell Badminton Annual Club Tournament was now an established fixture on the calendar so Ish started to look further afield at external tournaments. The first one entered was the local Islington Tournament and the Carlton American doubles tournament (1979) in which Carolyn Ellison and Aziz Yahya from Sobell were victorious. In 1989 SBC entered and won the Tate and Lyle national competition becoming the champions in Birmingham. SBC were also being represented in international tournaments as far afield as France, Belgium and Holland. 11/16

12 Of Sport Junior talent In order to ensure seamless progression of talented and up and coming players, focus was given to developing a junior club which began on Saturdays in 1980 and has been going strong ever since. Ish always encouraged the juniors to play competitively and in his roles as both youth games team manager (Islington and Enfield) and as head coach of the Middlesex junior county squad ( ), he played an instrumental role in developing some key players to date. A New Era Despite the incredible successes, in 2005, Ish decided to cease the competitive side of the SBC and shifted his focus to the more recreational players and coaching. However this rest period didn t last long and in 2008, new life was breathed into the club, with Tariq Shamsudeen and Amanda Ellison reforming the league teams. The new Sobell started with a mixed, a men s and a ladies in the Middlesex leagues and within four years now boosts two men s, two ladies and two mixed teams. Just this year SBC has claimed the ladies Division One title for the second year running, a mixed trophy and also a ladies trophy in the Hammersmith league. The new club runs sessions for both advanced and recreational players and as always has a strong focus on junior development, with three weekly junior sessions as well as running a Middlesex junior country training session on Saturdays. Even the SBC juniors are winning tournaments and trophies. SBC has and always will be proud to be a cosmopolitan club that welcomes players of all abilities. With a focus on player development, it values each and every member who we are lucky enough to meet and play and hope to be a home of badminton for many years to come. 12/16

13 THE SOBELL CENTRE TAKING CARE OF THE SOBELL CENTRE Aquaterra is a registered charity as well as a thriving, innovative organisation with a big heart for sustaining healthier, happier and fitter communities. Our not-forprofit status enables us to use our surplus to invest in projects and services that benefit the communities in which we operate. We aspire to improve the quality of life, health and wellbeing through leisure, fitness and sports activities that are accessible for all. Aquaterra works in partnership with Islington Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council to manage an array of sports and leisure centres and facilitates programmes, classes and tuition to create healthier and happier communities. Aquaterra is the partner of choice for quality and innovation to deliver positive, proactive outcomes. In addition to managing leisure and sports facilities on behalf of local authorities we work in partnership with key organisations including public health, local health professionals, housing associations, other not-for-profit organisations and councils, to deliver the benefits and enjoyment to be had from participating in physical activity. How we make a difference Aquaterra enriches lives though sport and leisure activities. At your Aquaterra, we re about loving leisure and making individuals feel welcome and supported. We enjoy what we do, and we want you to enjoy everything about your experience with us! We are the specialists in delivering community focused leisure services and provide motivational, energising programmes, classes and tuition to create healthier and happier communities. Through our local leisure hubs, our community programmes and charitable projects, we connect people to their communities in an active way. 13/16

14 Of Sport The GB World Class Performance Programme Four years on since funding partner UKSport introduced a Great Britain World Class Performance Programme with the objective to identify and drive the very best badminton talent across all the home nations to achieve medal success on at world level remains as strong as ever. Led by Jens Grill (Performance Director), the World Class Performance Programme funds the training and international competition programmes of the British players considered to have the potential to deliver success at the highest level of the sport. The Programme is divided into 2 distinctive groups: World Class Podium Players who have either medalled at past World or Olympic events or have potential to produce medals at this level within the next 4 years. World Class Development This level of the programme features players supported due to their longer term potential and who have demonstrated the ability, determination and aspiration to perform at this level in the future. Team England Showcasing the country s finest young badminton talent. The talent identification process that works within the large pool of new, young badminton prospects coming up through school and junior club ranks has pulled together Team England squads that cover all age groups from Under 12 level to Under 19 standard. Events such as the 5 / 8 Nations tournament, European Mixed Team Junior Championships showcase the best badminton prospects in England on the international scene whilst giving the Team England squads a chance to develop essential teamwork skills in the process. 14/16

15 GB BADMINTON 15/16

16 Of Sport

17 I take this opportunity to welcome new partners to the Roots of Sport project and invite others to join us. We hope the Roots of Sport Badminton Commemoration Project will stimulate take up of the sport by black and minority ethnic girls and women, as not enough are currently involved. All sports are good for fitness but badminton is a really good sport for women who want to achieve fitness in an unfussy manner. Roots of Sport Badminton Commemoration Project is examining ways to help disabled and diabetic women play the sport. Please contact us via our web site Claudine Boothe Founder & Chair Roots of Sport This project targets young people and adults from diverse backgrounds who wish to find out more about badminton, celebrate with the Sobell Centre and be inspired by youth leadership through sport Mike Speranza Founder: Scope-4-Success

18 History Origins Of Sport History: Origin of the Sport The beginnings of badminton can be traced to mid-18th century British India, where it was created by British military officers stationed there. Early photographs show Englishmen adding a net to the traditional English game of battledore and shuttlecock. The sport is related to ball badminton, which originated in Tamil Nadu, and is similar to Hanetsuki which originated in Japan. Being particularly popular in the British garrison town Poona (now Pune), the game also came to be known as Poona. Initially, balls of wool referred as ball badminton were preferred by the upper classes in windy or wet conditions, but ultimately the shuttlecock stuck. This game was taken by retired officers back to England where it developed and rules were set out. Although it appears clear that Badminton House, Gloucestershire, owned by the Duke of Beaufort, has given its name to the sports, it is unclear when and why the name was adopted. As early as 1860, Isaac Spratt, a London toy dealer, published a booklet, Badminton Battledore a new game, but unfortunately no copy has survived. An 1863 article in The Cornhill Magazine describes badminton as battledore and shuttlecock played with sides, across a string suspended some five feet from the ground. This early use has cast doubt on the origin through expatriates in India, though it is known that it was popular there in the 1870s and that the first rules were drawn up in Poonah in Another source cites that it was in 1877 at Karachi in (British) India, where the first attempt was made to form a set of rules As early as 1875, veterans returning from India started a club in Folkestone. Until 1887, the sport was played in England under the rules that prevailed in British India. The Bath Badminton Club standardized the rules and made the game applicable to English ideas. J.H.E. Hart drew up revised basic regulations in 1887 and, with Bagnel Wild, again in In 1893, the Badminton Association of England published the first set of rules according to these regulations, similar to today s rules, and officially launched badminton in a house called Dunbar at 6 Waverley Grove, Portsmouth, England on September 13 of that year. They also started the All England Open Badminton Championships, the first badminton competition in the world, in /16

19 Of Sport THE GAME Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents half of the court. Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor, or if a fault has been called by either the umpire or service judge or, in their absence, the offending player, at any time during the rally. The shuttlecock (or shuttle) is a feathered (or plastic, mainly in uncompetitive games) projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently than the balls used in most racquet sports; in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball. Shuttlecocks have a much higher top speed, when compared to other racquet sports. Because shuttlecock flight is affected by wind, competitive badminton is played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game. Since 1992, badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events: men s and women s singles, men s and women s doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair consists of a man and a woman. At high levels of play, especially in singles, the sport demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, explosive strength, speed and precision. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated racquet movements. Governing Bodies The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the internationally recognized governing body of the sport. Five regional confederations are associated with the BWF: Asia: Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) Africa: Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) Americas: Badminton Pan Am (North America and South America belong to the same confederation; BPA) Europe: Badminton Europe (BE) Oceania: Badminton Oceania (BO) 4/16

20 The Game THE RULES The following information is a simplified summary of badminton rules based on the BWF Statutes publication, Laws of Badminton. The Badminton Court The court is rectangular and divided into halves by a net. Courts are usually marked for both singles and doubles play, although badminton rules permit a court to be marked for singles only. The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but both are of same length. The exception, which often causes confusion to newer players, is that the doubles court has a shorter servelength dimension. The full width of the court is 6.1 metres (20 ft), and in singles this width is reduced to 5.18 metres (17 ft). The full length of the court is 13.4 metres (44 ft). The service courts are marked by a centre line dividing the width of the court, by a short service line at a distance of 1.98 metres (6 ft 6 inch) from the net, and by the outer side and back boundaries. In doubles, the service court is also marked by a long service line, which is 0.76 metres (2 ft 6 inch) from the back boundary. The net is 1.55 metres (5 ft 1 inch) high at the edges and metres (5 ft) high in the centre. The net posts are placed over the doubles sidelines, even when singles is played. The minimum height for the ceiling above the court is not mentioned in the Laws of Badminton. Nonetheless, a badminton court will not be suitable if the ceiling is likely to be hit on a high serve. 5/16

21 Of Sport Serving Each game is played to 21 points, with players scoring a point whenever they win a rally regardless of whether they served (this differs from the old system where players could only win a point on their serve and each game was played to 15 points). A match is the best of three games. At the start of the rally, the server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts (see court dimensions). The server hits the shuttlecock so that it would land in the receiver s service court. This is similar to tennis, except that a badminton serve must be hit below waist height and with the racquet shaft pointing downwards, the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce and in badminton, the players stand inside their service courts unlike tennis. When the serving side loses a rally, the serve immediately passes to their opponent(s) (this differs from the old system where sometimes the serve passes to the doubles partner for what is known as a second serve ). In singles, the server stands in their right service court when their score is even, and in her/his left service court when her/his score is odd. In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally, the same player continues to serve, but he/she changes service courts so that she/he serves to a different opponent each time. If the opponents win the rally and their new score is even, the player in the right service court serves; if odd, the player in the left service court serves. The players service courts are determined by their positions at the start of the previous rally, not by where they were standing at the end of the rally. A consequence of this system is that, each time a side regains the service, the server will be the player who did not serve last time. 6/16

22 The Game Scoring When the server serves, the shuttlecock must pass over the short service line on the opponents court or it will count as a fault. If the score reaches 20-all, then the game continues until one side gains a two point lead (such as 24 22), up to a maximum of 30 points (30 29 is a winning score). At the start of a match, the shuttlecock is cast and the side towards which the shuttlecock is pointing serves first. Alternatively, a coin may be tossed, with the winners choosing whether to serve or receive first, or choosing which end of the court to occupy, and their opponents making the leftover the remaining choice. In subsequent games, the winners of the previous game serve first. Matches are best out of three: a player or pair must win two games (of 21 points each) to win the match. For the first rally of any doubles game, the serving pair may decide who serves and the receiving pair may decide who receives. The players change ends at the start of the second game; if the match reaches a third game, they change ends both at the start of the game and when the leading player s or pair s score reaches 11 points. The server and receiver must remain within their service courts, without touching the boundary lines, until the server strikes the shuttlecock. The other two players may stand wherever they wish, so long as they do not block the vision of the server or receiver. Lets The legal bounds of a badminton court during various stages of a rally for singles and doubles games If a let is called, the rally is stopped and replayed with no change to the score. Lets may occur because of some unexpected disturbance such as a shuttlecock landing on court (having been hit there by players on an adjacent court) or in small halls the shuttle may touch an overhead rail which can be classed as a let. If the receiver is not ready when the service is delivered, a let shall be called; yet, if the receiver attempts to return the shuttlecock, he shall be judged to have been ready. 7/16

23 Of Sport Racquets Badminton racquets are lightweight, with top quality racquets weighing between 70 and 95 grams (2.4 to 3.3 ounces) not including grip or strings.they are composed of many different materials ranging from carbon fibre composite (graphite reinforced plastic) to solid steel, which may be augmented by a variety of materials. Carbon fibre has an excellent strength to weight ratio, is stiff, and gives excellent kinetic energy transfer. Before the adoption of carbon fibre composite, racquets were made of light metals such as aluminium. Earlier still, racquets were made of wood. Cheap racquets are still often made of metals such as steel, but wooden racquets are no longer manufactured for the ordinary market, because of their excessive mass and cost. Nowadays, nanomaterials such as fullerene and carbon nanotubes are added to rackets giving them greater durability. Shuttlecock A shuttlecock (often abbreviated to shuttle) is a high-drag projectile, with an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen overlapping feathers embedded into a rounded cork base. The cork is covered with thin leather or synthetic material. Synthetic shuttles are often used by recreational players to reduce their costs as feathered shuttles break easily. These nylon shuttles may be constructed with either natural cork or synthetic foam base, and a plastic skirt. 8/16

24 AN OLYMPIC SPORT AN OLYMIC SPORT Badminton was a demonstration event in the 1972 and 1988 Summer Olympics. It became an official Summer Olympic sport at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and its gold medals now generally rate as the sport s most coveted prizes for individual players. In the BWF World Championships, first held in 1977, currently only the highest ranked 64 players in the world, and a maximum of four from each country, can participate in any category. In both the Olympic and BWF World competitions restrictions on the number of participants from any one country have caused some controversy because they sometimes result in excluding elite world level players from the strongest badminton nations. The Thomas, Uber, and Sudirman Cups, the Olympics, and the BWF World (and World Junior Championships), are all categorized as level one tournaments. At the start of 2007, the BWF introduced a new tournament structure for the highest level tournaments aside from those in level one: the BWF Super Series. This level two tournament series, a tour for the world s elite players, stages twelve open tournaments around the world with 32 players (half the previous limit). The players collect points that determine whether they can play in Super Series Final held at the year end. Among the tournaments in this series is the venerable All-England Championships, first held in 1900, once considered the unofficial world championships of the sport. Level three tournaments consist of Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix event. Top players can collect the world ranking points and enable them to play in the BWF Super Series open tournaments. These include the regional competitions in Asia (Badminton Asia Championships) and Europe (European Badminton Championships), which produce the world s best players as well as the Pan America Badminton Championships. 9/16

25 Of Sport SOBELL BADMINTON CLUB CELEBRATING 40 YEARS In the beginning In 1973, The Sobell Leisure Centre was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. This year it celebrates its 40th anniversary. One of its key achievements is a strong affiliation to Badminton. Shortly after the Sobell opened, Ismail Onan (Ish), a Maths student at University, began working there as a part time Sports Supervisor. Although his sporting background in Malaysia was Cross Country Running and Hockey, Ismail took on a weekly Badminton session. It was popular and he decided to broaden its scope and call the session Family Participation, opening it to anyone wanting to play. It grew in popularity and became an established part of the Sobell programme. Ish then decided to take the club to the next level and with growing demand he introduced a competitive element; thus the Sobell Badminton Club (SBC) was born and started life as a Thursday night club in Ideology The aims of the club were: to popularise the game within the community, encouraging individuals and groups to play badminton at the centre to create a centre of excellence based on developing and training players from juniors to seniors to encourage juniors and seniors to aim for Middlesex county status. The methodology Ish employed was to create a pyramid type model based on three tiers adult sessions for beginners and intermediate players; junior coaching sessions to develop players from the age of Coaching clinics for league and non league players and advanced coaching for the elite players using both SBC and external coaches encouraging participation in open and overseas tournaments. By 1983, after eight years of hard work, all of the above had been implemented. In the same year Ish became an assessor and set up courses for players to become Badminton Association of England (BAof E) club coaches. 10/16

26 THE SOBELL CENTRE Key Successes Over the years, the SBC has seen all manner of successes. In 1977 SBC entered the Middlesex Badminton League with great success and followed with further teams and more. At this time there was only a trophy for winning Middlesex Division One so the SBC suggested that the league have trophies for all the other divisions and donated three trophies. SBC was the first club to play and hold matches on a Sunday and to have an ethnic player selected, Gilda Francois, to play for the county. Over time more teams were entered until at its peak SBC was running two Mens, two Mixed and three Ladies teams. By this time, teams were not only entered in the Middlesex Leagues but also the Hammersmith, Enfield and Barnet leagues. Sobell was successful in winning divisions in all these leagues. The Sobell Badminton Annual Club Tournament was now an established fixture on the calendar so Ish started to look further afield at external tournaments. The first one entered was the local Islington Tournament and the Carlton American doubles tournament (1979) in which Carolyn Ellison and Aziz Yahya from Sobell were victorious. In 1989 SBC entered and won the Tate and Lyle national competition becoming the champions in Birmingham. SBC were also being represented in international tournaments as far afield as France, Belgium and Holland. 11/16

27 Of Sport Junior talent In order to ensure seamless progression of talented and up and coming players, focus was given to developing a junior club which began on Saturdays in 1980 and has been going strong ever since. Ish always encouraged the juniors to play competitively and in his roles as both youth games team manager (Islington and Enfield) and as head coach of the Middlesex junior county squad ( ), he played an instrumental role in developing some key players to date. A New Era Despite the incredible successes, in 2005, Ish decided to cease the competitive side of the SBC and shifted his focus to the more recreational players and coaching. However this rest period didn t last long and in 2008, new life was breathed into the club, with Tariq Shamsudeen and Amanda Ellison reforming the league teams. The new Sobell started with a mixed, a men s and a ladies in the Middlesex leagues and within four years now boosts two men s, two ladies and two mixed teams. Just this year SBC has claimed the ladies Division One title for the second year running, a mixed trophy and also a ladies trophy in the Hammersmith league. The new club runs sessions for both advanced and recreational players and as always has a strong focus on junior development, with three weekly junior sessions as well as running a Middlesex junior country training session on Saturdays. Even the SBC juniors are winning tournaments and trophies. SBC has and always will be proud to be a cosmopolitan club that welcomes players of all abilities. With a focus on player development, it values each and every member who we are lucky enough to meet and play and hope to be a home of badminton for many years to come. 12/16

28 THE SOBELL CENTRE TAKING CARE OF THE SOBELL CENTRE Aquaterra is a registered charity as well as a thriving, innovative organisation with a big heart for sustaining healthier, happier and fitter communities. Our not-forprofit status enables us to use our surplus to invest in projects and services that benefit the communities in which we operate. We aspire to improve the quality of life, health and wellbeing through leisure, fitness and sports activities that are accessible for all. Aquaterra works in partnership with Islington Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council to manage an array of sports and leisure centres and facilitates programmes, classes and tuition to create healthier and happier communities. Aquaterra is the partner of choice for quality and innovation to deliver positive, proactive outcomes. In addition to managing leisure and sports facilities on behalf of local authorities we work in partnership with key organisations including public health, local health professionals, housing associations, other not-for-profit organisations and councils, to deliver the benefits and enjoyment to be had from participating in physical activity. How we make a difference Aquaterra enriches lives though sport and leisure activities. At your Aquaterra, we re about loving leisure and making individuals feel welcome and supported. We enjoy what we do, and we want you to enjoy everything about your experience with us! We are the specialists in delivering community focused leisure services and provide motivational, energising programmes, classes and tuition to create healthier and happier communities. Through our local leisure hubs, our community programmes and charitable projects, we connect people to their communities in an active way. 13/16

29 Of Sport The GB World Class Performance Programme Four years on since funding partner UKSport introduced a Great Britain World Class Performance Programme with the objective to identify and drive the very best badminton talent across all the home nations to achieve medal success on at world level remains as strong as ever. Led by Jens Grill (Performance Director), the World Class Performance Programme funds the training and international competition programmes of the British players considered to have the potential to deliver success at the highest level of the sport. The Programme is divided into 2 distinctive groups: World Class Podium Players who have either medalled at past World or Olympic events or have potential to produce medals at this level within the next 4 years. World Class Development This level of the programme features players supported due to their longer term potential and who have demonstrated the ability, determination and aspiration to perform at this level in the future. Team England Showcasing the country s finest young badminton talent. The talent identification process that works within the large pool of new, young badminton prospects coming up through school and junior club ranks has pulled together Team England squads that cover all age groups from Under 12 level to Under 19 standard. Events such as the 5 / 8 Nations tournament, European Mixed Team Junior Championships showcase the best badminton prospects in England on the international scene whilst giving the Team England squads a chance to develop essential teamwork skills in the process. 14/16

30 GB BADMINTON 15/16

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