Badminton

First Olympic Year:

Demonstrated at the 1972 Olympics, it was not a regular event until Barcelona 1992.

Origin:

The game was created as an off shoot of Battledore and SHUTTLECOCK!¹ Basically this was just using paddles to keep the SHUTTLECOCK in the air. So when British were ruling India in the 18^th century they decided to put a net between two people. Simple enough, some say it was still created in Great Britain because they called it Badminton Battledore. This is the only place people could find why the sport is called Badminton.

The soldiers came back from their duty of being jerks to local Indian population and created Badminton clubs back in the Jolly Ol. The game was played with those crazy Indian rules until the Brits wanted to play by more civilized rules. Before this they were allowed to play during tea time.

The International Badminton Federation was created in 1934 and they didn't include India. Someone mentioned something about being brown. In 2007 the name was changed to the Badminton World Federation.

First Competition:

Munich had the first Olympic competition in 1972. Since it was just a demonstration no medals were awarded and some doubles team were not even from the same country.

The first Medals were awarded in 1992. They gave it to the Dream Team because they were so dominant in basketball.

There were four different events that all were dominated by Asian teams. Denmark won the only non-Asian medal and probably wouldn't have medaled if there was a Bronze Medal match. Lesson: if you want to be good at this sport, it helps to be Asian.

Dominant Countries:

China has dominated the sport. Winning 11 of the 24 possible gold medals and 30 of the 76 total medals awarded.

South Korea and Indonesia have won 6 Gold medals each. Denmark is the only other nation with a Gold.

Basic Concept:

Don't let the SHUTTLECOCK hit the ground.

The court is a shrunken version of a tennis court. The court is 20 ft wide and 44 feet long and the net is 5 feet high. However, the court is smaller in singles both in width, by 3 feet, and length, by 2'6” for each side.

The racquets themselves are small and light and the SHUTTLECOCK is designed so it cannot be hit way to far. Like in tennis you must serve from one diagonal to the other. The serve must go past the short service line and before the long service line.

Every time the SHUTTLECOCK lands on your side in play the other team gets a point. The person who scores gets to serve. The first to 21 wins, you must win by 2.

Tactics:

There are a few basic strokes: forehand, backhand, lift, and overhead smash. The overhead smash is going to likely score points. The stroke gets stronger with the jump smash.

A player will not just be able to smash their way to victory. Every stroke needs to be chosen based on where you are on the court and where the SHUTTLECOCK is as well.

There are three options when defending against the smash: block, lift, or drive. Block is self-explanatory, put your racket up and the deflection will send the SHUTTLECOCK back over the net. A lift starts with the racket facing downward and lifting the SHUTTLECOCK to the back of the court. A drive is meeting the SHUTTLECOCK before it gets below the net. It is the most difficult defense of a smash.

How is the Outlook for the US?

Not good. The three dominant Asian countries will continue to dominate.

There are only a few US competitors and they are major underdogs.

Betting Odds:

Lin Dan from China is the men's singles favorite at 2/5. Lee Chong-Wei has 9/4 odds for gold. I like Taufik Hidayat because he has the coolest name at 16/1.

The women's singles favorites are all from China. Wang Yihan at 6/4, Xuerui Li at 7/4, and Wang Xin at 3/1.

I'll pick Tine Baun, because Tine could be pronounced Tiny, and always root for the little gal who is at 16/1.

What to Look For:

Long rallies like this:

1I will be using SHUTTLECOCK as often as possible. Also, Battledore and the Shuttlecocks is an awesome band name.