INTRODUCTION

Badminton is a sport like no other and it is one of the most popular in the world. In some Asian countries, it is in the top ten sports, while in Europe it is well-established and played in schools and at sports clubs. Badminton challenges sports such as golf, cycling and basketball in participation figures. Historically, the top performers had come from Europe, especially Denmark, England and Sweden, but in more recent times – since the mid 1980s – the Asian nations have closed the gap and overtaken the European players. The leading nations currently include China, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and Denmark.

At the highest level, badminton is a fusion of power, speed, strength, agility, precision, athleticism, mentality and many more superlatives than we would care to mention in a short introduction about the fastest racket sport in the world.

When played at other performance levels, the nature of the sport is no less challenging and delivers competitive environments for all ages, from young juniors to senior masters.

While all sports at the top level require high levels of personal endeavour, the world’s top badminton players are without doubt among the fastest athletes in the world. They have the ability to cover short distances, from the middle of the court to intercept a shuttle, at incredible speeds for the duration of a match, which can often last for more than an hour.

The movements involved in badminton are so dynamic that it requires very organized footwork forwards, backwards, sideways and diagonally with control and speed, linking it to a high level of agility. Players need to jump multi-directionally and recover, as well as reaching low to retrieve shuttles hit downwards rapidly by opponents. Players need to be very powerful while maintaining a light body weight to make fast, explosive agile movements, stopping and changing direction for each shot played, and then recovering to be ready for the next shot.

As previously mentioned, badminton is a global sport. In many Asian countries, it is their number one sport with top players being well known and recognized when they walk down the street.

Sport Governance

The sport is governed internationally by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), an organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

‘The BWF is empowered by the International Olympic Committee and the BWF’s 180 members to govern the sport of badminton worldwide.’

www.bwfbadminton.org

The BWF has five continental bodies, each of which is the governing body for the sport in that continent.

The Badminton Europe Confederation is based in Denmark. Its role is to lead on the regulation, promotion, management and development of badminton on the Continent. It was founded in 1967 and now has fifty-two member