Badminton is an incredible sport of tactics, stamina, and willpower. You must be willing to endure a long battle that is both physical and mental to triumph. Below are five incredible facts about the sport and why you should start playing today. If the left-wing of a goose isn’t enough to tempt you, then nothing will.
Incredible cardio
While the average tennis game takes over three hours to play the average badminton game takes just over 1 hour. Yet while the tennis game takes twice as long, it offers just half the amount of exercise. When the two games were compared it was found that badminton players ran twice as much and hit twice as many shots. So if you think tennis is a good cardio option, try badminton and get ready to work!
Second most popular sport in the world
Badminton is behind only football in numbers of participating players worldwide. When it was first included in the Olympics in 1992, 1.1 billion watched the game.
Asia continues to dominate
Asian countries are far ahead in wins with Asian players winning over 90% of all medals since it was brought into the Olympics. China and Indonesia are the most successful countries and have won 70% of all BWF championships together.
The shuttle is made from a goose
Badminton is played with a shuttlecock. The best shuttlecocks are made from the feathers of a goose. Top players have become quite particular and will only play with shuttlecocks made from the left-wing of a goose. The feathers have to come from the same wing due to the curvature of a wing and testers say that the left-wing results in a superior shuttlecock.
Badminton was initially played with the feet
Badminton is believed to have evolved from a game called Ti Zian Ji which is a game involving the feet only. To do this day many badminton players still have games with feet only and are quite talented at the alternative version.