Importance of court surface

Tag category: Badminton 101

When my friends and I were still playing regularly at the badminton court located at the Court of Appeals, a friend of mine would constantly complain of back problems after a competitive game of badminton. I was not spared of any pain either. My feet would also ache due to the constant running I had to do.

At first, I thought the pains we were experiencing were due to the fact that we were getting older(lol!). It was only later that I found what the culprit was - the surface we were playing on was cement and it was harsh on our bodies due to the constant running, jumping and lunging we had to do. It was then that I discovered the importance of court surfaces in playing.

So far, I have seen four (4) kinds of surfaces in different badminton courts here in the Philippines, namely: (1) cement (hard court); (2) rubber mat-on-cement; (3) wooden planks flooring (wooden court surface); and (4) rubber mat-on-wood.

An example of a rubber mat-on-wood surface

Of these four, I prefer the last one, rubber mat on-wood. Cement is my least favorite surface. It has no 'give' after you perform a jump. Your body will have to absorb all the impact of that jump. A wooden surface, on the other hand, will help absorb some of the impact and will help the player 'bounce back.' Rubber mat, on the other hand, provides for a good surface since it has anti-skid properties. Due to the sudden stops and starts in a badminton game, this will help the player avoid sliding across the court after a sudden move. Obviously, a rubber mat-on-wood surface provides the best surface since it absorbs some of the shock and prevents the players from skidding inside the court. In the absence of available rubber mat-on-wood surface, I would settle for a wooden surface. I would definitely steer clear of those cement surfaces. I still want my knees and joints to be intact in my old age. :-)

Badminton 101: Court Ethics

Tag Category: Badminton 101









I love watching a good badminton game. I am what you might call a professional.....spectator! Hahaha... (Did you think I was gonna say professional player?) What makes a badminton game enjoyable to watch? In my personal opinion, it becomes enjoyable when the players are good, of the same caliber and of course, well-mannered. I have watched a million informal games in court and even a sizable number of tournaments and I have observed that there are a good number of players who do not practice the proper decorum in court. I have even seen a shouting match in a tournament when a player succumbed to the cheerings and jeerings of a spectator-mom, but that's another story altogether.

What constitutes good manners and right conduct of players in court? There are no hard and fast rules, although there are really some behavior that are prohibited in court as stated in the Players' Code of Conduct issued by the International Badminton Federation, the official governing body of badminton associations worldwide.

I also came up with my own list. Some of these can also be found in the Players' Code of Conduct, others are just my own observations. Please feel free to come up with your own list.

1. When the shuttle falls dead on your side of the court, you should return the shuttle properly to your opponent. The shuttle should be picked up either by hand or by your racket and properly tossed to the other side of the court. Please do not kick it, sweep it or smash it back to your opponent.

2. When the opponent is serving, do not engage in threatening acts or words in order to psyche out your opponent. Please leave that for the boxing match later.

3. When you are serving, please wait for your opponent to be ready before you swing at the bird...err...shuttle. Surprising the opponent is a "dirty tactic" that is easily gaining popularity...tsk tsk.

4. Please do not abuse the shuttle or your racket, especially in moments when you get frustrated. It is not nice to see a racket doing somersaults and back flips during a game.

5. When the opponent inadvertently lifts the shuttle high and near the net (otherwise, pag benta na -- badminton aficionados will understand this term), please do not aim for your opponent's face. This is not target shooting.

6. Show only the appropriate amount of emotion in court. Do not shout obscenities, use foul language directly to your opponent, the linesmen or the umpire. That behavior should've retired together with John McEnroe.

7. When playing informally with a group of friends, and the shuttle falls on your side of the court, please make the appropriate call. Please do not say that the shuttle is out when it obviously fell in. Remember the Golden Rule.

8. While this is not necessary, I really appreciate a show of apology by either raising your hand or your racket when the shuttle grazes the net and still falls in your opponent's side. After all, even world no. 1 Lin Dan does this. So shouldn't we, lesser mortals, follow his example?

9. Do not be intimidated by spectators. (Ang mapikon, talo.)

10. Finally, before this list gets any longer, after a game, please do not forget to shake your opponent's hand. (And that includes the service judge and umpire when playing in a tournament.)

With this in mind, just remember that the most important thing in a game is to enjoy. Happy playing!

Badminton 101 : Proper leveling - the heart of every tournament

Tag category: Badminton 101

In my opinion, the heart of every badminton tournament lies in the proper leveling of the participants. Leveling is a procedure in a tournament whereby players are required to go to a certain venue and asked at random to play with other players in order for the organizers to ascertain their level in the tournament. Of course leveling is only done for tournaments at club levels. There is no need for leveling in tournaments of international calibers since these are “open” tournaments (i.e., no leveling and players can be pitted against anyone, even against members of the national team.)

I have seen many tournaments fall flat on its face due to misleveling. I hope I don’t give you the impression that other aspects are not important as well, e.g., having an experienced and well-versed tournament director, proper organization, having competent umpires and linesmen, sizable quantity of participants, good venue and proper lighting, excellent time management, etc. All of these factors are equally important. However, if misleveling occurs, either due to favors being granted to friends of the organizers or sandbagging, the reputation of the tournament becomes tainted and players will steer clear of such tournaments in the future.

Sandbagging occurs when, during the leveling of the tournament, the players deliberately do not play well in order to be placed in a level much lower than their actual level. This is being done by certain players in order to ensure that they win in their particular level. Sandbagging is unavoidable in every tournament and cannot be totally eliminated. However, if this happens on a wide scale in a tournament, then tongues will start wagging and the reputation of the tournament becomes at stake.

I have seen at least a couple of tournaments in the past wherein there was a wide scale of misleveling and sandbagging. These tournaments (whose names I will not mention) have not been staged since. (One time wonder lang kumbaga.)

How does one avoid misleveling during tournaments? I asked my hubby this question since he is the expert in this matter and not me. According to him, the leveling must be conducted by an acknowledged expert who will notice the various nuances in the acts of the participants. To clarify, the players may not win the game during the leveling but the “expert” will see how the players handle the rackets and shuttlecocks and will be able to at least differentiate a beginner from an intermediate player. An additional deterrent should be the length of the games during the leveling period. The “real strokes” of the players will most likely show if they play the full 1 or 2 sets instead of a shortened set. There are other telltale signs which can be recognized by an expert but I’d rather not mention them all here for fear that a “sandbagger” reading this blog might be able to pick up hints.

I hope that organizers keep these things in mind to make future tournaments, if not enjoyable, at least tolerable.