The Badminton Association of India hopes to make country the first choice for first-class events

According to DNA India, "The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is hoping to make the country the first choice destination of world-class events and wants to use the upcoming Asia championship here to achieve its goal."

"ndia will host the Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship here from April 12 to 18, in which 334 players from 21 countries are set to participate. Thrice world champion Lin Dan of China and former Olympic gold winner Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia in the men’s section, and Chinese world champion Lu Lan and Indonesian Olympic bronze winner Maria Kristin Yulianti in the women’s section, will be among those in the fray."

This is encouraging news for the badminton, because it shows that developing countries such as India, are starting to recognise and promote the sport Badminton and with a financially-growing country like India to shows its support for badminton will hopefully raise its stature and profile in the world. Badminton is already popular in several Asian and European countries, but it is always exciting and refreshing to see more countries showing ambition in the sport. Hopefully other countries will follow suit and one day Badminton will reach heights where it can finally reach the same stage as tennis when it comes to the media exposure, profile and prize money. ;)

The wonderous feeling of a broken racquet.

Racquets are precious objects and there is no doubt that there is a tingling of the nerves and a slight shudder when you clash your racquet with your doubles partner. This has already happened to be on several occasions, but thanksfully, my racquet remained unscathed.

However it seems that I am more likely to break my own racquet. As shown above, 2 of my racquets have already suffered the wrath of misfortune. A fault in the fram perhaps, maybe a hairline crack. But nothing overshadows the disappointment and depsair at a loss of a racquet. Especially when a Nanospeed 9900 costs over £100! =\

"Smash!" The Badminton Manga

Love manga? Love badminton? Well now you can combine the two by reading "Smash" a badminton manga I have discovered. It's about time there was a badminton version of "The Prince of Tennis". Boy dreams of becoming badminton world champion.....well im sure you've heard it all before. ;) Chapters are slowly being added to the site but its free to read, so what are you waiting for?! READ. :)

'Smash' can be read here: http://www.onemanga.com/Smash/

A Young Star's Fight For Fame!

As a young badminton player I’m no virgin to disappointment; two years ago I would have given up my baby maker just for national trials but somehow along the way I lost all of my enthusiasm, so much so my coach is lucky to get a good performance out of me even in a tournament.

Quoting Clive Palmer (x-England player & level 3 Performance Coach) “You have the talent of a world champion and the mentality of a 2 year old” my badminton career has had its up and its down’s. I turn up to tournaments beat the seed then lose to the guy nobody has ever heard of, get into three sets with U21 players then lose in 2 to an U13 player – Inconsistency may as well be my middle name.

Ive been playing for 4 years now and have been in the county squad for 2, 15 years young and in my first year of U17 im still doubting the probability of me ever reaching national level but tomorrow IS another day and who knows what will happen? :)

Sam(uéleta) McKune(amatata) pleading for some help,

Thank you.

Plastic and Feathers

As all us badminton players know, there are two types of shuttles; plastic and feather. But what are the are the real advantages and drawbacks between them?

Most beginners and casual players use plastic shuttles. They're cheap, durable and widely available. Go to a local sports shop and you most likely to find a tube of plastics. But also to a casual player, the lower price of the plastics will be more appealing, because to them, they might find all shuttles the same or similar. Plastics are durable and easy to hit, which means newer players can mishit it and it won't suffer much damage at all and you dont have to have precise technique to hit it.

But as you become a better player, you start to feel that feathers are the way to go. Feather shuttles are seen as the more 'superior' type of shuttle, because of the quality of the flight and the preferred feel when it is hit. Once you hit a plastic shuttle afterwards, it feels rather 'dead' or 'numb' and it seems you dont get the same control on certain shots such as drops and nets. The sound a quality feather shuttle makes is sometimes really second to none.

Where the extra quality comes in, there obviously has to be a price to pay. First, the durability is ususally dramatically less. Feather shuttles can still be played if it has suffered a little damage, but once several feather has broken off, the flight becomes inconsistent and it renders it unplayable. Secondly, there's th increased price. Premium feather shuttles such as the Yonex Aerosensa 40/50's, can cost anywhere up to £20, even £25 a dozen in some places. Ridiculous prices many would say. Whereas a dozen of high standard plastics such as the Yonex Mavis 300's, only cost around £10 a dozen. Unless you're a serious, competitive badminton player, you'd never really consider paying that kind of money to play high end plastics.

Although if you play in tournaments, you will have to play and train using feathers, because arguably, plastics will ruin your game and technique. But when all is said and done, there is no better feeling than hitting a clean, game-winning jump smash with a speedy, quality feather shuttle.

Arcsaber Z Slash Is Released!

It's finally here. The long awaited Arcsaber Z Slash is available and in stock on many online badminton shops. The colours do look a bit dull and the colour scheme is a little reminiscent of the low-end Muscle Power racquets. But as for performance, there hasn't been any reputed, extensive reviews of the racquet as yet, but a review is to be posted on Badminton Central in a few days time. However, the inital reviews seem to say that the Z Slash posseses great power, because of its head-heavy balance and the shaft is extra stiff. On the other hand, the poor choice of colour scheme is a bit of a put-off for some users. The racquet also claims a hefty price tag; around $240 from badminton alley (see below) which equates to around £150 in the UK.

The Arcsaber Z slash is available in these stores: (more to come)

http://www.badmintonalley.com/Yonex_ArcSaber_Z_Slash_Arc_Z_Badminton_Racket_p/racket-yonex-arc-saber-z-slash.htm

Why Use Trick Shots?

There's only a certain amount of basic shots you can play in badminton. Clear, drop, smash, net. Once you get to an advanced level, you're going to have to learn something a bit special. Shots that are different to the routines ones. A shot that can win you a rally. If you're gonna just play with the basic shots, then sometimes the opponent can read your game. But if you play some trick shots, you can add variety to your game, forcing your opponent to think and move around the court. Deception is key to trick shots. Without deception, you won't be able to pull off your shot effectively and your opponent can intercept. Most importantly, most trick shots require practice, so don't expect to pull of an amazing, crowd mind blowing trick shot, without practising it in training first. ;)

Taufik Hidayat is considered one of the best players in the world today, when it comes to trick shots (especially at the net) and overall deceptive play. He is arguably most famous for his backhand smash, which has been recorded at over 200 km/h and can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEsARpxuYTM (It's truly amazing!)

Here's also a video displaying some of the trick shots played by some of the world's best professionals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8IFeLHz-eQ