2011 World Rankings

2011 has been a rough year for international badminton players. With the ever so intense men’s singles Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and China’s Lin Dan competing for the top position, the 2011 world rankings have emerged.

Men’s Singles World Rankings

Rank	Player	Country
1	Lee Chong Wei	Malaysia
2	Lin Dan	China
3	Chen Long	China
4	Peter Hoeg Gade	Denmark
5	Chen Jin	China

Women’s Singles World Rankings

Rank	Player	Country
1	Wang Yihan	China
2	Wang Xin	China
3	Wang Shixian	China
4	Nehwal Saina	India
5	Baun Tine	Denmark

Men’s Double’s World Rankings

Rank	Player	Country
1	Cai Yun Fu Haifeng	China
2	Jung Jae Sung Lee Yong Dae	Korea
3	Boe Mathias Mogensen Carsten	Denmark
4	Ko Sung Hyun Yoo Yeon Seong	Korea
5	Chai Biao Guo Zhendong	China

Women’s Doubles World Rankings

Rank	Player	Country
1	Wang Xiaoli Yu Yang	China
2	Tian Qing Zhao Yunlei	China
3	Fujii Mizuki Kakiiwa Reika	Japan
4	Ha Jung Eun Kim Min Jung	Korea
5	Maeda Miyuki Suetsuna Satoko	China

Mixed Doubles World Rankings

Rank	Player	Country
1	Zhang Nan Zhao Yulei	China
2	Xu chen Ma Jin	China
3	Joachim Fischer Nielsen Christinna Pedersen	Denmark
4	Ahmad Tontowi Natsir Liliyana	Indonesia
5	Chen Hung Ling Cheng Wen Hsing	Chinese Taipei

All rankings have been confirmed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF)

Types of Shots

The fundamentals of badminton include certain types of shots. There are five essential shots: drive, clear, drop, smash and net. Each of these shots contain a different body form and technique. The offensive shots-- drop and smash-- require more power than defensive shots-- clear and net. Drive shots, however, can be considered both offensive and defensive.

Offensive shots
1. Drop:

• Hitting the shuttlecock downwards towards the opponent's forecourt, barely over the net and before the service line.
• If opponent is in the back court, the drop shot will make the opponent run forward.
• The closer the drop is to the net, the harder it will be to return.

2. Smash:

• The most powerful shot.
• At the highest point of contact and a snap of the wrist, the shuttlecock with go speeding downwards in a steep slope.
• Usually used to end a rally.

Defensive shots
3. Clear:

• The shuttlecock will hit directly in the middle of the racket-head.
• The shuttlecock will land in the opponent’s back court.
• Usually used in need for more time.
• If opponents are close to the net, the clear shot is useful to make the opponent run towards the back court.

4. Net:

• A light shot that uses little force to push over the net.
• Normally tumbles over the net and does not pass the service line.

5. Drive:

• Hit directly over the net.
• This shot is quick.
• The racket should be help in front with the racket-head facing flat forward. Because the quickness, the racket should always be held up.

Here are the five basic shots of badminton. It is difficult to explain without a diagram or video. Hopefully my readers at least get the gist of the shots.

Badminton + Media Attention = Needed

Badminton has always been considered the “underdog” of sports. With basketball, hockey, football and all other in-season sports gaining much media attention, badminton still never receives the acknowledgement it deserves.

In recent news, the National Basketball Association (NBA) players refuse to play this season until they receive a high salary. Making money in order to support family and whatnot is important, but are their salaries not high enough? NBA players should be lucky to receive the attention they are getting, while badminton players in the United States practically receive none.

Badminton is just as much of a sport as basketball or any other sport for that matter. Athletes should focus on playing the sport they love rather than increasing their salary.

Most sports are viewed internationally while badminton is not even played on regular television stations in the United States.

Honestly, I am not very up-to-date with any sport besides badminton. But it is just hard keeping up with badminton tournaments through Youtube or an online blog. It deserves as much media attention as major sports like basketball, football, soccer, golf and more.

Analysis

Thus far, my blog has been going fairly well. But here is my analysis: 


My weakest post:
My weakest post will have to be my very first post published on Saturday, Sept. 24.

My strongest post:
My strongest post is definitely my second post on Monday Oct. 3.

What is working?
I think what is working is when I provide a lot of descriptions of badminton. For example, my strongest post is titled “Just Have Fun” where it received the most feedback concerning how much they have learned. In this post, I went into full detail of my experience during my league championships. I think writing about the intensity of the sport captures the readers’ attention.

What is not working?
Simply stating the basic aspects of badminton bores the readers. For example, my first post and my third post stated simple facts about badminton. The reason I put these is because I needed an introduction and I also needed my readers to get the general idea of the game. Some people do not know how to play, so I thought it would be good to list some basics. But all that really does is give off a boring post.

What do you want to improve in the next 6 weeks?
I want to improve how I explain the game. As much as I love badminton, I cannot seem to fully express how it is to be played. I want to give readers something different rather than something they can just search online.

What steps will you take to make that happen?
I can do this through more experience playing badminton. If I play the game, I can think about how I feel during that moment and try to jot down some adjectives. Then, I can provide a great outcome like I did on my second post.

A Day In the Life of a Badminton Player

Badminton is a sport that is highly underestimated by society, however this sport requires discipline, stamina, and a basic knowledge of physics.

Like any other athletes, badminton players need to stay in shape and maintain healthy lifestyles. The variety of food that badminton players consume range from granola bars to yogurt to fruits, like apples and bananas for stamina. The average badminton player consumes approximately 1000 calories more than the average person in order to have a surplus of energy to burn during their workout.

Before games, players condition their bodies by running, practicing footwork, and going through the various shots. For the my school team, players run close to two miles a day, to help with their endurance during games and to stretch out their leg muscles. Competitive badminton usually works out the muscles in one’s calves, quadriceps, biceps, and forearms.

Various badminton shots require different angles along with alternate amounts of force to reach , certain trajectories in order to achieve desired effects. Different shots include smash, drop, net, block, lift, clear, drive, and kill.

Many people look down on badminton, claiming it is not a serious sport or it does not require skills. However, many people at my school believe badminton requires techniques in order to play which, fortunately, is very true.

Badminton is the better alternative for those children who do not want to participate in a full-contact sports. Badminton helps with sportsmanship, hand-eye coordination and overall health.

But because people often dismiss the physical demands of badminton, it has been neglected as a sport. Therefore, badminton team seldom gets funding. When the district cuts funds, badminton is usually the first to feel the effects.

People should realize the validity of badminton as a sport, and how it should have more support from the community/district.

The basics: How do you play badminton?

Badminton is a sport that requires agility, balance, and strength.  The game can be played as singles (one versus one) or doubles (two versus two). It is played on a 20 (17 ft. in singles) by 44 feet court with a racket and shuttlecock, also known as a birdie.

Here are the basics:

• Each game is played up to 21 points.
• However, if the score reaches 20-20, one must win by a two point advantage.
• A match is the best of three games.
• There are six essential shots: smash, drop, clear, drive, lift and net.
• The winner of a rally serves the next point regardless of who previously served.
• Even numbers serve on the right box, odd on the left box.
• The objective is pretty simple: hit the shuttlecock over the net so that your opponent cannot reach it or so that your opponent makes a mistake. 
• Most importantly, have fun!

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Badminton_court_legal_bounds.svg/300px-Badminton_court_legal_bounds.svg.png

    The picture above shows where to serve and where a player can hit after the serve. It is pretty difficult to explain through text. There are plenty of badminton videos online to learn how to play. I would post of video, but I’m not exactly the best teacher.
    Although badminton may seem like an easy sport to others, it is essentially hard. Personally, I find that balance and stamina are the most important aspects in playing. Because badminton is such a fast paced sport, it is hard to keep up with the shuttlecock just by running around the court. Balance helps me keep steady in the small court, while my stamina helps me keep up with the birdie.
 

    Random video: Want to have a laugh? Watch Badminton Jedi!

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ01jw-utvo