Mathematical Badminton

[Sum]

Are there any journals or papers that treat Badminton mathematically ? So, I can have a look at it as mathematician.

[Brett]

During my sophomore year of college this incredibly nerdy freshman child prodigy (a 15 year old who was so immature that he refused to share data with his chemistry lab partner from their joint experiment, claiming he wasn't going to help anyone cheat) joined the track team and announced he was going to run the 3000m as his event. He constantly told us that he was doing a mathematical analysis of his running and one day quit after about 1 km, claiming that his "energy surplus had dropped below critical levels" and that he "needed to replenish his energy core with at least 250g of carbohydrates." He declined to go on a team run during practice one day, claiming a) we were running through too dangerous of a neighborhood (actually, it was probably the most affluent neighborhood in the city, on streets lined with $1-10 million mansions) and b) the particular route we were taking was far too meandering, as he "won't run on routes that have curves." Although everyone on the team was a pretty considerate person and had tried to encourage him for a week or so, we couldn't help but mock this recent outburst of absurdities and point out to him that he couldn't run more than 100m on a 400m track without encountering another 100m curve. He quit the team the next day.

So anyway, Sum, what are you seeking to gain from a mathematical analysis of badminton? I presume what you actually mean is a study of the physics, rather than math, involved in the game of badminton? What are you going to measure to obtain your statistics? Sounds like you might need a very high speed camera and a radar gun, at the very least, to help you quantify your observations on speed, shot angles, etc.... I don't know what your skill level is, but unless you are a world class player, I would imagine that your game would benefit more by taking the time and money necessary to do your study, and applying them instead to coaching and drills. In some sports, such as cycling or sailing, I can easily see why statistical data is useful to streamline a boat or bike and its rider to increase aerodynamics. However, I can't really picture any way that a study of physics would play much of a practical role in badminton, except in racquet design.

[kwun]

what aspect of badminton? techniques or strategy/game play?

[Matho]

No, at least not for now, for the simple reason that badminton is not purely a science.There are too many aspects to it. The artistic side, the human side, ad infinitum.
Even chess, seemingly a calculative game, does not lend itself to purely mathematical analysis.
Yes, a high-powered chess computer once beat Kasparov convincingly so probably in the future there could be a robot that could beat a human 15-0,15-0 in badminton all of the time.

[Sum]

All aspects of badminton, especially stringing tension (I have seen someone posted an emperical formula in this forum, thought that it is nonlinear equation. So the chaotic behaviour might be observed.), flight path trajectory of the birdie, racket frame design, etc.

[Sum]

Hi, can you study physics without maths ?

[kwun]

you can't study badminton physics without math.

however, you can study badminton mathematics without physics. :)

kwun, who crawled through his undergrad logic class at a really slow pace.

[kwun]

for equipment related, try combing through the badminton patents. there are some stuff there. also, the sports research journals sometimes has badminton articles.

i suspect that most of the real stuff are probably stuffed away in the Yonex or whoever's research division.

and the rest are just skills, more art than science.

[Sum]

Ta Kwun.

[marshall]

I have seen a prototype for such a robot, but it has a few bugs. It cannot serve but it returns very well, so well in fact, that it wins all the rallies. The guy who built it calls it a "wall." ;))

[May]

hahahaha, gud one marshall.

[Cheung]

One statement from Han Jian's book says if you low serve to an opponent he is more likely to hit a lift with a forehand shot and more likely to play a net shot with a backhand shot. He quotes an example of a calculated risk he took in the Thomas Cup against Liem Swee King in 1982 with match point.

Isn't this a use of applied statistics?

[cooler]

yes, i (and many other players) use statistics in deciding risks vs reward shot making. However, it is not simple statistics as flipping a coin scenario but more closer to playing casino BJ.

[cooler]

"All in all it's just another brick in the wall"