Badminton
Rules
Rules
- Badminton is a game for two or four people. Players use ‘rackets’ and they have to hit a ‘shuttle’ over a high net.
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Badminton is played on a small court, usually indoors and there are lines on the court to show different playing areas.
- The shuttle, or shuttlecock, looks a bit like a strange ice-cream cone and it’s made from cork, goatskin and feathers. That doesn’t mean that badminton is a slow game. It’s actually really fast.
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To try to win a point, players ‘smash’ the shuttle by jumping up and hitting it really hard over the net. They dive and run around the small court trying to stop the shuttle from hitting the floor and trying to hit it back over the net. It’s exhausting to play and exciting to watch.
- Each of the players take turns to serve the shuttle and the first player or team to get twenty-one points is the winner provided they win by two points or more. Otherwise they play until a player or team scores two more points than their opponent or until one of them reaches 30 points.
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Badminton? That’s like tennis, only ‘soft’, isn’t it?
Well, it’s like tennis in some ways, but it’s certainly not ‘soft’! The fastest badminton stroke was more than 330 km/h compared to 250 km/h in tennis!
Wow! But tennis players have to be much fitter, don’t they?
Not really. One study showed that although badminton players compete for half the time that tennis players do, they run twice as far and hit nearly twice as many shots.
Really? Is it easy to play? It looks easy.
To start to play badminton is quite easy but to get very good requires a lot of skill, practice and speed.
OK. You said it’s like tennis in some ways, what do you mean?
It doesn’t use a ball but a shuttlecock, which is made of goose or duck feathers, cork and leather. The rackets are also very light.
So it’s like tennis without a ball then?
Not really, the court is smaller and the net is higher than in tennis.
I see, so there are lots of differences. And where does the name come from?
It comes from a place in the UK called ‘Badminton House’. A rich duke was famous for playing the sport there. People called it ‘the Badminton game’ but now we just call it badminton.
Ah, so it’s only played by rich people then?
Not at all! There are 130 badminton associations around the world, with more than 14 million members – I’m sure they’re not all rich!
No. So which country is the best at badminton?
China has won eight gold medals since the game first became an Olympic sport in 1992.
Anything else?
Yes, the best shuttlecocks are made from only the left wing of a goose.
Goodness! Why’s that?
Enough questions for today!
You don’t know, do you?
Hmm …
Task 1
Task 2
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Comments
Hi Uguisu,
I used to play badminton as a child as well and was surprised by how energetic and physical the real game is when I saw it on TV for the first time many years later. The statistics are interesting, aren't they? And a bit scary!
Paul
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, new corner English for 2012.
I used to play badminton for fun,when I was a kid. I hit the shuttle as forcefully as I can though, it would not fly straight to opponent. I remember that the shuttle was swaying itself in the air.
The fastest badminton stroke was more than 330km/h!!
It's absolutely amazing!!!.