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Welcome to the J.B.C. Web Site (Scotland)
Why Badminton?
Fun, Sport,
Physical Activity and Health
Badminton
can be fun and enjoyable with the added benefit of exercise. You can meet
new people, learn new skills, face new challenges or simply have a laugh!
Kit
is relatively cheap to buy, the sport takes place indoors and can be
played all the year round. It's an easy game to introduce to beginners and
with very little experience and skill, beginners can quickly enjoy
badminton.
Badminton exercises no limits through economic status, age, fitness and
athletic ability. The sport is enjoyed socially and competitively by both
men and women. The equipment is light, its a non contact sport and can be
played by the very young. There are no significant health and safety
issues and there is an established network of clubs, coaches, and
volunteers in Scotland and in the UK.
Physical Activity
The most robust evidence on the impact of
physical activity is found in the area of health. People with active lifestyles have lower
risks of coronary, cardiovascular and respiratory disease than those who
have inactive lifestyles.
Participation in sport and physical
activity can have a beneficial effect on mental health, and relate to an
improved sense of wellbeing and self-esteem. There is a link between inactivity and
types of cancer.
A physical activity programme through GP
referrals for those with coronary heart disease resulted in a reduction in
blood pressure, anxiety and depression in participants, social networking
and an improved sense of well-being.
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Sport
Badminton
is a game that combines power, speed, endurance and tactical skills within
a tradition of respect, sportsmanship and fair-play. Badminton has become
one of the most widely played Olympic sports in the world and is one of
the top 6 participant sports in the UK.
Badminton
teaches self-control through a sport that is mentally stimulating and
often emotionally intense, for players must react quickly and wisely under
pressure. These skills, which a young player learns in the sport, are
easily transferable life skills that will help them in their adult life.
As a "lifetime sport'; Badminton acts as a constant reminder of the joy of
competition, sportsmanship and camaraderie.
The value of
participating in sport should not be overlooked. It is widely appreciated
that sporting success helps generate pride and a ‘feel-good’ factor, both
at a local and national level. People take part because they want to,
because it is enjoyable and because it is fulfilling.
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Fastest Racket Sport
At
the top levels of the game, a "shuttlecock" (or "bird") can attain speeds
in excess of 300km\hr. World ‘smash’ records have recorded shuttles in
excess of 350 kp/hr. In a game, with the quick change in pace from fast
"smashes" to "drops" and "clears'; a player must be able to sustain
precise shots, accuracy, stamina and speed over an extended period of an
hour or more. In a typical match, a player will change direction nearly
350 times and hit the shuttle some 400 times. There are few sports that
exhibit the sustained concentrated action that top level Badminton
requires.
Taufik Hidayat fires a 305kph jump smash
Taufik and his usual backhand magic
(In SLoMo)
GEEKY STUFF
Note! I suspect the
following study was performed before the rally point scoring system came
into play and games were normally a bit longer under the old system.
*BADMINTON* IT’S ROLE AS A PHYSICAL CONDITIONER
by
LOWELL N. DOUGLAS, Ph. D
In a series of studies conducted by the Department of Physical Education
at Baylor University, information has been obtained which suggests that
badminton is one of the finest conditioning types of activities. The game
possesses all of the fundamental motor skills with which man is endowed
and demands faster reactions than most any other game.
Fundamentally, the game demands the execution of such skills as running,
jumping, twisting, striking throwing, and various combinations of these
skills executed in rapid hand-eye coordination. In a three game singles
match played between two average men, players of approximately equal
ability, one should expect to find that the three games require a total of
about forty-five minutes, during twenty minutes (44%) of which the
shuttlecock is in actual flight or being batted by one player or the
other. During that twenty minutes of highly concentrated running, jumping,
twisting, stretching, running backwards, throwing and striking, each
player will travel approximately one mile. He will also make at least 350
changes of direction of 90 degrees or better, and will strike the shuttle
some 400 times. Of these 400 strokes, 150 will be full arm swings of a
racket weighing some five ounces. (Many major league pitches have pitched
a complete baseball game without throwing that many times). Players in
normal physical condition should expect an increase in pulse rate from 72
to approximately 125 and increase and systolic blood pressure from 120 to
145.
Few games require as much concentrated actions as badminton. In a
three-set tennis match one should not expect the ball to be in play any
more than eight per-cent of the total time; while in football, a game we
think of as being so vigorous, the ball in actually in play only about 14
minutes (12 %) of the two odd hours that the players spend on the field. |
