Thomas Cup

The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships have been conducted every two years since the 1982 tournament, amended from being conducted every three years since the first tournament held in 1948-1949.

The final phase of the tournament involves twelve teams competing at venues within the host nation. The final phase of the tournament is also often known as the Thomas & Uber Cup, because it is played concurrently with the women's championships, the Uber Cup (organized since 1956-1957), as a joint extravaganza held at the same general time and same venue beginning in 1984. However, this unification may end after the 2008 tournament, as the BWF has said that it is considering holding each event separately again beginning in 2010.

Of the twenty-five Thomas Cup tournaments held since 1948-1949, only three nations have won the title. Indonesia is the most successful team, having won the tournament thirteen times. The current cup holder, China, which did not begin to compete until the 1981-1982 series, follows Indonesia with seven titles, while Malaysia has won five titles. Thomas Cup and, to a lesser extent, Uber Cup are probably the world's "biggest" regularly held badminton events in terms of player and fan interest, trumping major tournaments for individual competitors such as the venerable All-England Championships, the BWF World Championships, and even the badminton competitions at the Olympic Games.

The Thomas Cup competition was the idea of Sir George Alan Thomas, a highly successful English badminton player of the early 1900's, who was inspired by tennis's Davis Cup, and football's (soccer's) World Cup first held in 1930. His idea was well received at the general meeting of the International Badminton Federation (now Badminton World Federation) in 1939.

source: wikipedia.org

Lin Dan

Lin Dan born October 14, 1983 in Longyan, Fujian) is the current dominant player of world badminton from China, his ethnicity belongs to the Hakka ancestry. He has been nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans. Lin won the men's singles gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He is the only player in badminton history to have won three singles world championship titles having done so consecutively in 2006, 2007, and 2009. He currently has a romantic relationship with fellow Chinese badminton player Xie Xingfang.

Lin became one of the dominant players of men's singles, winning nine top tier international championships between 2002 and 2004. In a surprise loss, he was eliminated as the no.1 seed in the first round of the badminton men's singles in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. However, he has continued his dominance in international tournaments and has been continuously ranked number one in the world since early 2004, except for a very brief period of time in 2006 when Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia overtook him.

Among the tournaments Lin Dan have won are the All-England Open (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009), the BWF World Championships (2006, 2007 and 2009), and the Olympic Games (2008). He has helped China win three consecutive Thomas Cup (men's world team) championships in 2004, 2006, and 2008 and has also been a major contributor to Chinese teams which won the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's team championship) in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Lin Dan is a left-handed player whose most defining characteristic is his ability to attack with fast smashes at steep angles. He combines quick movements around the court with the ability to maintain long aggressive rallies to win the majority of his matches. He relies on diving to retrieve his opponents attacking shots with an exceptionally fast recovery. His well built physique helps him to produce powerful straight and cross court jump smashes, and his fast penetrating footwork makes him one of the toughest active badminton players in the open circuit. At one time he was criticized for a lack of precision or refinement, especially when compared to competitors such as Taufik Hidayat and Peter Gade. However, Lin now occasionally uses deceiving wrist movements and employs a wider variety of shots, developing into a more complete player.

source: wikipedia.org

Badminton Grip

Exclusive summary about Badminton Grip by Wikipedia

The choice of grip allows a player to increase the thickness of his racquet handle and choose a comfortable surface to hold. A player may build up the handle with one or several grips before applying the final layer.

Players may choose between a variety of grip materials. The most common choices are PU synthetic grips or toweling grips. Grip choice is a matter of personal preference. Players often find that sweat becomes a problem; in this case, a drying agent may be applied to the grip or hands, sweatbands may be used, the player may choose another grip material or change his grip more frequently.

There are two main types of grip: replacement grips and over grips. Replacement grips are thicker, and are often used to increase the size of the handle. Over grips are thinner (less than 1 mm), and are often used as the final layer.

Badminton Grips Guide

Exclusive summary about Badminton Grips Guide by badmintonbible.com

Benefits of good grip: more powerful smashes, ore accurate net shots and serves, stronger smash defence, and ready for both sides, deceptive strokes.

Problem caused by incorrect grips: clears are too short; smashes are weak, limited choice for the direction of your strokes, difficulty coping when opponents hit towards your body, Obvious strokes that your opponents can predict.

To play skillfully, you must learn the right badminton grip for each situation. For example, you need a different grip for a backhand serve than for a forehand smash.

Badminton Strings

Exclusive summary about Badminton Strings by badminton-information.com

First, you have to know that there are two types of badminton strings, strings made of natural guts material or synthetic material. Natural guts strings provide more feel, control and power. Badminton strings have different gauge numbers to indicate the thickness or diameter of the strings. Thicker strings will have a lower gauge number.

A 20 gauge string is thicker than a 22 gauge one. A lot of people think that a higher string tension means more power. A higher string tension will give you more control while a lower string tension will give you more power. What you can do is - Use thin strings at lower tension. Then string it accordingly.

String of Badminton

Exclusive summary about Badminton Strings by wikipedia

Badminton strings are thin, high performing strings in the range of about 0.65 to 0.73 mm thickness. Thicker strings are more durable, but many players prefer the feel of thinner strings. String tension is normally in the range of 80 to 130 N (18 to 36 lbf). Recreational players generally string at lower tensions than professionals, typically between 18 and 25 lbf (110 N). Professionals string between about 25 and 36 lbf (160 N).

It is often argued that high string tensions improve control, whereas low string tensions increase power. This is in fact incorrect, for a higher string tension can cause the shuttle to slide off the racquet and hence make it harder to hit a shot accurately. The most effective way for a player to find a good string tension is to experiment.

Badminton Shuttlecock

Exclusive summary about Badminton Shuttlecock by Wikipedia

A shuttlecock is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen overlapping goose feathers embedded into a rounded cork base. The cork is covered with thin leather.

The name shuttlecock is frequently shortened to shuttle; it may also be known as a bird or birdie. The "shuttle" part of the name was probably derived from its back-and-forth motion during the game, resembling the shuttle of a loom; the "cock" part of the name was probably derived from the resemblance of the feathers to those on a cockerel.

A shuttlecock weighs around 4.75 - 5.50 grams. It has 14-16 feathers with each feather 70mm in length. The diameter of the cork is 25-28mm and the diameter of the circle that the feathers make is around 54mm.

Badminton's Tactics Are Smashing - Thanks to the Shuttlecock

Exclusive summary about Badminton Shuttlecock by Michael X Hayes

Shuttlecocks make badminton unique, but paradoxically also contribute to its popular image as backyard recreation rather than an energetic sport - after all, don't real sports use balls?

The sheer variety of shots and tactics in badminton are made possible by the shuttlecock's unique aerodynamic properties.

With feather shuttlecocks it is possible, if you judge your shot right, to hit a hard and fast clear over your opponent's head but still have it fall safely inside the court. Very skilled players can use a special shot which can only be properly executed with feather shuttlecocks - the tumbling net shot.

This makes badminton an incredibly fast sport, requiring superb reflexes - the fastest smash recorded, hit by Fu Haifeng of China, was a thunderous 332kph (206mph).

The fact that shuttlecocks float gently before dropping also provides the opportunity for the most impressive badminton shot of all: the jump smash!