Hi, I am just wondering. Does clothings really matter how you play in a game...Isn't it just for looks and wearing...

Hi, I am just wondering. Does clothings really matter how you play in a game...Isn't it just for looks and wearing...

To quote a triathlete who once blasted by my monocoque carbon-fibre frame on his old, heavy Italian Cro-moly steel-framed racing bike, "It's all in the legs". That basic mantra holds just as true in any sport and it is relevant to the importance of things like racquets or bikes so it has to be even more so for clothing.

Having said that, being uncomfortable can take your mind off the game and there is usually no reason to compromise these days. Until a couple of years ago, I insisted that it was important to wear anything but the clothing manufactured by the big brands in racquet sports. In my experience it was all made of either cotton or plain nylon or polyester. Hollow-fibre polyesters like Coolmax and others have existed for at least 15 years and yet they have been ignored by major brands in many product lines. In Korea, the only socks in the entire country that aren't made mostly of cotton are sold in mountaineering shops, are green or yellow or red and go up to your knee. In Canada, they actually sell socks for sports (ie. made of Coolmax) in sportswear stores so it is quite easy to avoid having to trudge around the court in waterlogged socks and shoes all summer.

T-shirts are another category in which I have always avoided brands like Yonex. In Korea, at least, up until a year ago, everything was 70s-style polyester like my old high-school basketball uniform. The style, as far as I can tell, is intended to conform to an archaic dress code for badminton and tennis. The button-up neck might give you a little more ventilation than a crew-neck on a regular T-shirt but I find it's a lot easier to find T-shirts in Coolmax and that is always cheaper than buying something that says "Yonex" or "Carlton". The sleeves on so-called "badminton shirts" also tend to be too long and that can be annoying for the quick swings required in badminton.

As for shorts, I do actually end up getting badminton shorts, now. I find I don't mind having the pockets, most brands have switched from the old tennis-style button-and-fly to full elasticized waist bands and Coolmax shorts were never that easy to find from non-badminton suppliers, either. Furthermore, in Korea at least, brands like Carlton and Hi-tec have come out with hollow-fibre polyester models and it's generally easier to find shorter legs in badminton shorts than in those made for other sports. Let's be honest, when was the last time you saw shorts made for basketball, tennis, or hiking that stopped anywhere above your knee-cap? It's different if you're over 6' but for the rest of us, having shorts that stop at mid-thigh or higher makes the lunging required in badminton a lot easier.

In short, badminton clothing has always been governed more by tradition than practicality. If that changes - as with the emergence of Carlton Coolmax shorts or the sleeveless mini-dresses that make Gail Emms and Pi Hongyan look so comfortable - then go ahead and buy from the top brands. But keep buying Coolmax socks from MEC or Running Room until Yonex, etc. wise up on that one, too.

for me it helps if your clothes are made for badminton, before ive tried wearing clothes made for other sports, but as my skills improved i found out that you should wear clothing that stretches easily and doesnt hamper your movement and wont stick to your skin if your prespiring a lot. i dont know if its all in my mind but i cant seam to move properly if for example the shirt im wearing sticks to your skin if im wet with sweat, or the sleeves are to tight around my arms its like somethings holding you back so the power is not there or your thinking at back of your mind what if you exert alot you might rip your shirt:crying: (well its all good but what if it was your shorts are the one that were suddenly ripped:D )

Anything that makes you feel comfortable and boosts your confidence does matter.

up until recently, I would be the last person to ask about whether a t-shirt or shorts make any difference to a person's game. after trying and being convinced into using dry-fits and similar technology clothing, I have to admit these types of clothing does help my game. In particular, it's not the first game that it shows it's mettle. Rather in the later games or as the day wears on, is when I found these outfits to really help.

Wearing my older cotton clothing, after a few games and breaks in between, I would have either been forced to change outfits, or literally fighting with my own clothing as the wet shirts adds to the effort of playing. In a colder gym, the cotton shirts also had a very negative chilling affect on the body and made it harder to get the body back to temperature in between games.

I have also noticed that designs in these outfits vary substantially between sports. Having accidently bought some designed for cycling and and some for soccer, the designs and cut of the shirts do affect the movement of the arms and shoulders. Although not likely to be too much of a concern in the early stages of a match, but as you get tired over the length of a long tournament day, it will all add up eventually.

Clothings does matter , it is as important as what type of shoes you are wearing on court. The clothes that you wear have to be comfortable and does not hinder the way you play your game. May it be sleeveless or
short sleeves.

Clothings do matter.

Have you tried playing wearing nothing :eek: :eek: :eek:

Clothings do matter.

Have you tried playing wearing nothing :eek: :eek: :eek:

Sounds fine but too distracting. When I was a boy I used to play without shirts, but always with shorts. During the Malaysian emergency I used to play all sorts of games with the British soldiers, who were then in Malaysia. In their military compound the soldiers used to play soccer wearing absolutely nothing but their birthday suit. I was then too young to know why, and assumed it was the English way. But I got wiser later when I found out that soldiers from the then Rhodesia, West Indies, Kenya, and Nepal never played games with nothing on. :D

Clothings do matter.

Have you tried playing wearing nothing :eek: :eek: :eek:

So have you tried wearing nothing?

So have you tried wearing nothing?

lol

Not yet :crying:

But sometimes I want to take all my clothes off because of too much sweat :eek:
Since it's not nice, I do it in the shower room instead :cool:

I'm a big guy so, with the heat and humidity from where I come from, I need something to help wick the sweat away and does not stick to my skin. I've tried cotton shirts but they give me a heavy feeling and just does not dry fast enough. I tried some soccer shirts because I like the designs, but since their made for soccer they don't cool me as much as the Victor and MMOA Hi-Cool Shirts. Clothing does matter if you want to focus on your game and not be distracted and have a feeling of discomfort.

Those dry fit and Clima Cool shirts for Tennis work fine in the badminton court but they do get kinda pricey.

Do you really think dry cool shirts are more comfortable and cool your body better? The rate of evaporation will be faster on a wet cotton shirt than a dry cool shirt, making you feel cooler although more wet. Water on your skin cools best, air is a distant second. All dry cool shirts do are to merely transfer your sweat from the skin to another outer mesh of fiber, which actually has a lower evaporation rate. If you play in extreme temperatures of 35 degrees C and a relative humidity of 88% or more, leaving your sweat on your skin may save you your life; dry cool shirts may kill you.

So have you tried wearing nothing?

If I did that, it would be too distracting... for everyone... and not in a good way. :crying: (I've got to get back to the gym!!!)

Do you really think dry cool shirts are more comfortable and cool your body better? The rate of evaporation will be faster on a wet cotton shirt than a dry cool shirt, making you feel cooler although more wet. Water on your skin cools best, air is a distant second. All dry cool shirts do are to merely transfer your sweat from the skin to another outer mesh of fiber, which actually has a lower evaporation rate. If you play in extreme temperatures of 35 degrees C and a relative humidity of 88% or more, leaving your sweat on your skin may save you your life; dry cool shirts may kill you.

Is this your own deduction about coolmax killing someone or have you heard experts warn of this? My apologies if you're an expert yourself.

If we're all just combining known science with our own deductive skills, then let me offer my own take. As, I understand it, the reason that sweat on your skin keeps you cooler is just that it requires your body heat to heat the water to the point that it will evaporate. If there is something on your skin that is preventing the sweat from evaporating, then the sweat itself simply increases in temperature and doesn't draw as much heat from the body (ie doesn't cool it down as much). What would prevent the sweat from evaporating? A cotton shirt with a capacity for soaking up sweat might do it. If there is more sweat on you or in your shirt, that means that less is evaporating which means that less body heat is being used. One gets hotter on a humid day for the same reason. The body gets just as hot but the humid air doesn't take water vapour from your skin surface so you get wetter, regardless of what you're wearing, and your body heat just makes the sweat hotter instead of causing it to evaporate. Sweat can't evaporate into a wet T-shirt just as it can't evaporate into humid air.

If the sweat is being drawn away from the skin at an appropriate rate, the body's heat is still being used to evaporate the sweat and your body is being kept cool. I find it hard to believe that a Coolmax shirt could magically wick all the sweat away leaving no moisture for your body to heat up and evaporate.

I haven't done the research. I'm just deducing. Let me know if there is a flaw.

Do you really think dry cool shirts are more comfortable and cool your body better? The rate of evaporation will be faster on a wet cotton shirt than a dry cool shirt, making you feel cooler although more wet. Water on your skin cools best, air is a distant second. All dry cool shirts do are to merely transfer your sweat from the skin to another outer mesh of fiber, which actually has a lower evaporation rate. If you play in extreme temperatures of 35 degrees C and a relative humidity of 88% or more, leaving your sweat on your skin may save you your life; dry cool shirts may kill you.

Sorry Taneepak, your analysis is just too extreme and not correct.


The CoolMax/Dry-Fit/ClimiCool/Dry Cool/Cool Dry stuff evaporates at a much higher rate than cotton. In fact, wet cotton is one of the hardest things to dry. And it doesn't have the chance to "kill you". :p

Taneepak probably think all of us play in 30 deg C environment:rolleyes:. If coolmax shirts could kill, I guess we would all have a case against the apparel industry:D. Class action suit anyone? They're not as rich as the tobacco companies but, hey, those companies are legitimate targets, right:rolleyes:?

There is a simpler solution. Just bring two more polo shirts and change!!!

No, this is not my own theory. If you are into sports injury management, you should know about the body's internal heat regulation and preventing heat emergencies.
In conditions where the air temperature is at or higher than your skin temperature, evaporation becomes the predominant means of heat dissipation. In other conditions heat dissapation from the body occurs as a result of conduction, convection, radiation (about two-thirds), and evaporation. It also says that evaporative heat loss occurs only when clothing is thoroughly wet and sweat can vaporise. It also says no no to changing to new dry shirts or anything that will take the sweat away from your skin.

They're not as rich as the tobacco companies but, hey, those companies are legitimate targets, right:rolleyes:?

Well, DuPont might not go broke in a day or two......since I ain't no smoker and avoids McDonalds as the plauge this will be my only chance to get rich:p

No, this is not my own theory. If you are into sports injury management, you should know about the body's internal heat regulation and preventing heat emergencies.
In conditions where the air temperature is at or higher than your skin temperature, evaporation becomes the predominant means of heat dissipation. In other conditions heat dissapation from the body occurs as a result of conduction, convection, radiation (about two-thirds), and evaporation. It also says that evaporative heat loss occurs only when clothing is thoroughly wet and sweat can vaporise. It also says no no to changing to new dry shirts or anything that will take the sweat away from your skin.

Hi Taneepak,
I would like to get your openion on the following situations. Please do correct me if I am wrong.
1) When is the last time you played badminton where the indoor temp is higher than your body temp? I never experience that in my life.
2) In condition where the air temp is @ higher than your body temp, it is true that evap become the primary souce of body heat disspation. However, the main form of body transfer heat from one part to another is actually by blood (any MD here please help) Our body does not conduct heat like the normal heat tranfer in chem or physic.
3) Body can only radiat heat when the enviroment is cooler than your body temp. @ temp higher than your body temp, your skin actually obsorb heat from outside.
4) I grow up in a desert area, we play tennis in 100F+ (37.5C+) temp all the time. It is important to drink a lot of water to keep our body hydrated to EVAPERATE our body temp not radiate. Yes, in HK, air are more humid and that is why you do not see people play tennis OUTDOOR at 36C temp beacuse you will get heat stroke.
5) You need to keep your body dry so your skin can keep on pumping out sweat to cool you down. That is what cotten cloth for, not for evaperation.

Have a nice weekend.

1) When is the last time you played badminton where the indoor temp is higher than your body temp? I never experience that in my life.

he said skin temperature

he said skin temperature

Sorry about that... Thanks for the correction.

However, your skin temp does change due to the enviroment. Does you back of the hand sweat when you hold a cup of hot coffee against it on a regular day?

such a touchy subject, the skin :D

taneepak, i'll take a dry condition over a wet condition when wearing a shirt:p
I dunno where to start but i dont follow any of your logic.
1. normal body temp is 37C, under intense activity, body temp. can go up few degree C higher, like to 39-40C. Rarely is ambient temp. is 37C+ because even a fit person can't last long under those condition.
2. those coolmax/dryfit/etc works or else nike, yonex, fila, adidas, etc won't be adopting these synthetic clothings.
3. what professional sport players still use cotton outwears because cotton better has cooling?
4. try this 'wet t-shirt contest/experiment', wash and hang dry a cotton and a coolmax shirt, see which one dry the quickest. You can try one cycle with and another cycle without squeeze drying it first. I assure u in both trials, the coolmax will dry(evaporate) much much faster.

Hi Cooler,

Beauty is only skin deep... However, a wet t-shirt is alway good to see on a GGG.

Have a nice weekend.

such a touchy subject, the skin :D


LOL Cooler! :p

I don't know about all the scientific analysis but I will say this, prior to wearing "Cool Dry", which is predominately microfiber polyester, I would have to bring 5 cotton T-Shirts each time I played Badminton. The cotton T-Shirts would get completely soaked to the point they were too heavy and I would even sometimes drip sweat on the court. The shirts would not dry. Then I discovered Cool Dry material and only need to bring one shirt. Yes, it gets completely soaked as well but all I need to do is dry off by using a towel. :D

The Cool Dry stays cooler (pun intended ;) ) for one reason or another, doesn't retain as much sweat so I'm lighter on my feet and best of all, I don't need to bring 5 shirts and lug them all home when they are all wet. :p

So to answer the question in the original post, yes, for me, what I wear does make a difference. With the Cool Dry material, I stay drier, cooler and lighter on my feet because Cool Dry evaporates my sweat at a much faster rate than cotton can.

Long live microfiber polyester! :)

Do you really think dry cool shirts are more comfortable and cool your body better? 1. The rate of evaporation will be faster on a wet cotton shirt than a dry cool shirt, making you feel cooler although more wet. Water on your skin cools best, air is a distant second. All dry cool shirts do are to merely transfer your sweat from the skin to another 2. outer mesh of fiber, which actually has a lower evaporation rate. If you play in extreme temperatures of 35 degrees C and a relative humidity of 88% or more, leaving your sweat on your skin may save you your life; dry cool shirts may kill you.

1. if evaporation is faster from a wet cotton shirt, then why is it 'wet' and while the dry cool shirt is dry and cool? LOL
2. what a crazy thing to say. :rolleyes:

I can think of an advantage of a dry cool shirt.

It conduct heat away temporarily.

It also absorbs some of the hot sweat temporarily thereby drawing away some of the heat.

Mind you, most of the time I change my shirt is because it gets too wet rather than the heat. Drops of sweat can on the floor seriously damage one's and other's health.

You get it right on!


Mind you, most of the time I change my shirt is because it gets too wet rather than the heat.

of course, i didnt mentioned that sweat removal by mechanical mean (ie. changing t-shirtis is far superior method). ;)

Yeah, you'll more likely slip on your own puddle of sweat and crack your head open than die from wearing microfiber shirts:p.


Mind you, most of the time I change my shirt is because it gets too wet rather than the heat. Drops of sweat can on the floor seriously damage one's and other's health.

The human body is basically a heat engine producing heat all the time. Incredible as it may seem, your heat engine gets all its heat (energy) from the sun via microorganism, plants, animals in the form of food. In very hot conditions where the ambient temperature is higher than your skin temperature, evaporation becomes your main means to remove heat from your body. This is called heat transfer. Evaporation from the sweat on your high temperature skin requires energy (heat). That is why you feel cool when sweat evaporates from your skin-you have just lost heat. When you sweat the temperature of the sweat gets warmer, its vapour pressure also increases and is higher than the moisture in the air. This makes evaporation possible.
Evaporation takes place in all temperature, including those snow fall, which will disappear in a day or two even if the temperature never goes above freezing.
Go to a beach on a hot but sunless day. Walk along the beach for 10 mins and then take a dip. Then get out of the water. Now, tell me why does your body feel much cooler? Your body apparently has exchanged body heat with something else.

The human body is basically a heat engine producing heat all the time. Incredible as it may seem, your heat engine gets all its heat (energy) from the sun via microorganism, plants, animals in the form of food. In very hot conditions where the ambient temperature is higher than your skin temperature, evaporation becomes your main means to remove heat from your body. This is called heat transfer. Evaporation from the sweat on your high temperature skin requires energy (heat). That is why you feel cool when sweat evaporates from your skin-you have just lost heat. When you sweat the temperature of the sweat gets warmer, its vapour pressure also increases and is higher than the moisture in the air. This makes evaporation possible.
Evaporation takes place in all temperature, including those snow fall, which will disappear in a day or two even if the temperature never goes above freezing.
Go to a beach on a hot but sunless day. Walk along the beach for 10 mins and then take a dip. Then get out of the water. Now, tell me why does your body feel much cooler? Your body apparently has exchanged body heat with something else.

actually, we all come from super novas. You said lotta incoherent things and unrelated as to why certain clothings are better in cooling. FYI, you can reduce explanation if u use the correct term 'latent heat of vaporization.' When u throw around the term 'heat transfer' around, it sounded scientific but u lack understanding in its speech application. KISSING is also involve heat transfer and no evaporation involve due to thick lipstick coatings. Practically every processes involved heat transfer and it's all around us. Ex. it's like saying when i walk outside and the sun make me feel warm, this is called 'heat transfer' :rolleyes: ,big deal.
When u talk about snow 'evaporation' below 0 deg. C, IT IS NOT EVAPORATION, it is sublimation. :p :rolleyes:

Hi Taneepak,
I would like to get your openion on the following situations. Please do correct me if I am wrong.
1) When is the last time you played badminton where the indoor temp is higher than your body temp? I never experience that in my life.
2) In condition where the air temp is @ higher than your body temp, it is true that evap become the primary souce of body heat disspation. However, the main form of body transfer heat from one part to another is actually by blood (any MD here please help) Our body does not conduct heat like the normal heat tranfer in chem or physic.
3) Body can only radiat heat when the enviroment is cooler than your body temp. @ temp higher than your body temp, your skin actually obsorb heat from outside.
4) I grow up in a desert area, we play tennis in 100F+ (37.5C+) temp all the time. It is important to drink a lot of water to keep our body hydrated to EVAPERATE our body temp not radiate. Yes, in HK, air are more humid and that is why you do not see people play tennis OUTDOOR at 36C temp beacuse you will get heat stroke.
5) You need to keep your body dry so your skin can keep on pumping out sweat to cool you down. That is what cotten cloth for, not for evaperation.

Have a nice weekend.

1. When the air temperature is below 30.6 degrees C about two thirds of your body's normal heat loss occurs as a result of conduction, convection, and radiation. As the air temperature approaches skin temperature and exceeds 30.6 degrees C, evaporation becomes the predominant means of heat dissipation. Usually body heat is warmer than the environment and energy is dissipated through the air or into surrounding cooler objects. When the temperature of the surrounding air or objects in the environment exceeds skin temperature, heat is then absorbed by your body.
Summer in Hong Kong can bring night temperatures to 33 degrees C. I used to play under such conditions, sometimes with doors closed, and I can tell you the hall's ambient temperature must be 2 degrees higher. I experimented with wicking dry cool shirts-I must have bought dozens of them-but they were useless. The best was a porous cotton sleeveless T-shirt, very short cotton shorts, socks rolled down to the ankles, and sweat, lots of them. I was drenched in sweat, which I never wiped off once, and supplemented it with water splashed over my face, neck, ears, which I do not wipe off. Surprisingly, the evaporation make me feel cooler.
2. Your body's internal heat is generated during muscular activity through energy metabolism. As exercise begins, heart rate and cardiac output increase while superficial venous and arterial blood vessels dilate to divert warm blood to the skin surface. Heat is dissipated when the warm blood flushes into skin capillaries and is evident when the face becomes flushed and reddened on a hot day after exercise. Now you need to remove the heat on the skin. Sweat on the skin is the medium to remove the heat. Alcohol evaporates faster than water. Put some on your skin, and you will be convinced you have lost more body heat (heat transfer) than you would with water. In operations under ether, doctors must take precautions so that the patient will not lose too much heat (heat transfer) that he gets pneumonia.
On a hot day try to sprinkle some water on the sidewalk. As the water evaporates it uses up heat and cools the air above the walk.
3. Yes. Without the sweat on your skin and the magic evapoartion does to remove your body heat, you would die.
4. I have played under such hot conditions when I was much younger. But without shirts and plenty of water to drink and wearing my trademark sweat on my skin at all time, I used to go though successive games of soccer, basketball, field hockey, and cricket. But I was then acclimatized to playing under such conditions.
5. Under extremely hot conditions a dry skin is the kiss of death. However, if I am fanned by an electric fan, it makes evaporation faster, and it makes me feel as cool as if I am being bathed with alcohol. :D The electric fan speeds up heat transfer from the body.

actually, we all come from super novas.
When u talk about snow 'evaporation' below 0 deg. C, IT IS NOT EVAPORATION, it is sublimation. :p :rolleyes:

I am not talking about the origin of our species, only about the mother of all heat source, including our body heat.
Sublimation is not 'evaporation' below zero degree. It is evaporation from a solid without first becoming a liquid. However or whatever you call it, sublimation, evapoartion, or transpiration, it is simply sending vapor off. The fundamental given is that when a liquid evaporates from the surface of something, that surface becomes much cooler because it requires heat to change a liquid into a vapor or a gas. When you use up this heat (heat transfer) you have lost the heat and you become cooler. Is it that hard to understand? I am lost for words. :crying:

The fundamental given is that when a liquid evaporates from the surface of something, that surface becomes much cooler because it requires heat to change a liquid into a vapor or a gas
Only if the liquid is cooler than the surface, surely.

It's not just the temperature of the environment you have to worry about, it's the humidity.

If the air temperature is greater than skin temperature, won't you get condensation forming on your skin (depending on the humidity) ?
You can experience this in Dubai. Walk out of your cool air-conditioned hotel into the hot humid outdoors and you get condensation on you.

When u talk about snow 'evaporation' below 0 deg. C, IT IS NOT EVAPORATION, it is sublimation.
maybe my memory is playing tricks, but I thought sublimation was when a solid turned into a gas without going through a liquid phase.
e.g. dry ice (i.e. not wet, no liquid), solid CO2 changing into gaseous CO2
Water vapour is still water in the liquid state, but in very very small droplets in suspension in the air.

When u talk about snow 'evaporation' below 0 deg. C, IT IS NOT EVAPORATION, it is sublimation.

maybe my memory is playing tricks, but I thought sublimation was when a solid turned into a gas without going through a liquid phase.
e.g. dry ice (i.e. not wet, no liquid), solid CO2 changing into gaseous CO2
Water vapour is still water in the liquid state, but in very very small droplets in suspension in the air.


below 0 deg C, water is a solid :p :rolleyes:

below 0 deg C, water is a solid :p :rolleyes:

Water at 0 degrees C or below may be solid and yet 'evaporates'-sorry, it should be sublimation. But moth balls are also solid at freezing or above freezing temperatures, and yet they also 'evaporate' like snow or ice. Therefore sublimation is strictly evaporation directly from a solid without first becoming a liquid. The freezing 0 degree C has no bearing on what is sublimation.

Yes, the evaporation of moth balls is also sublimation.

Can we get back to the subject please!

Clothing does matter. Look at the pro tennis player. They are all wearing cloth made of new meterial now. When it is quarter even half million dollar on the line, they are going to choose what works the best (cool fit or whatever it is being called). Same as the pro badminton player. They want all the edge they can get. Kwun, can you ask a pro to get his/her advice on this please?

below 0 deg C, water is a solid :p :rolleyes:
yes. duhh. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
but I didn't think it turned into a GAS, as in water >= 100 degrees C becomes a gas, steam. (temperature depending on pressure)

The clothes that the Pros wear usually are provided to them by the sponsors. For the pros, most of them dont really care.
Actually it does make a little difference in their performance. For them as long as its comfortable ( can be in terms of cloth materials , heat and sweat evaporation ), not heavy due to sweat , light and look nice.

you can have the newest most technologically advanced clothing and it might not even make a difference, i say its all about personal preference. Personally i have a polo shirt but i dont wear it, not couse of the looks but i just dont like to wear it so i just wear a t-shirt. I know some guys who dont even change they will just wear their street clothing, basically like khakis a t-shirt and/or sweater and what happens they still play amazing they just like the feel of it and thats what matters...but then again they dont really sweat much.

Clothings do matter.

Have you tried playing wearing nothing :eek: :eek: :eek:

I think the dry cool shirt could help the sweat flow away, rather than stay on skin, so I guess wearing such a cloth is cooler than wearing nothing.
Right?

I think the dry cool shirt could help the sweat flow away, rather than stay on skin, so I guess wearing such a cloth is cooler than wearing nothing.
Right?

Yes, as the cloth absorb some of the moisture, it also helps evaporate it faster, lowering the temperature as that happens. As long as you are constantly moving and allowing the cloth to freely move around, you will feel cooler than without it.
On the other hand, if you wear a cotton t-shirt that sticks to you when you sweat, the cloth does not help to increase the surface area, but just holds onto the moisture. In this case, you are better off not wearing a shirt.

This topic has been blasted out of all proportion. Science shmiennce.

At the end of the day, if you get hot and sweat, your going to make whatever comes into contact with your body sweaty and smelly. The cool dry material has the ability to not stick to your body when wet, and it doesnt soak as much sweat from the body as a conventional tshirt.

Regardless of evapouration/blah blahartion, if you keep hydrated with water, and are comfortable with what your wearing...then i dont see the problem. Going to the extremes and saying people will die if they wear cool dry clothing is one step too far. If that was the case these items would be made illegal. What is more, you will find almost every football shirt nowdays is made from the exact same material :)

I personally will always stick with cool dry tshirts for two reasons. One because they dont stick to me and two, because they are easy to wash and dry and put on within an hour.

Back to the original questions...yes clothing does matter. The corect trainers certainly help with footwork and safety. Tshirts help with comfort, and trousers again help with flexibility and comfort....so make your own choices :D

There are certain clothing that you wouldn't wear during badminton like Jeans, thongs or a leather jacket.

Clothings do matter.

Have you tried playing wearing nothing :eek: :eek: :eek:


if you had to play against a neked girl/boy would be a real problem, because if the girl/boy was hot:eek: it would be to distracting, if they were ugly :eek:would be a serious troble don't you think?:confused::confused:

in my opinion clothes are important if you give importancy to it! If you don't care about you wearing playing naked on with a cool nike/yonex equipment would't matter the important is that you fell well in your skin:)

I think something light will be fine!

Yes clothing n shoes does matter =D The feel is totally different!!! It's light and it evaporates fast and the grip of shoe is good.

depens on yourself if you think wearing badminton clothing let you move faster or something like that you should wear

Clothing shouldn't matter too much. Just wear a light shirt and a comfortable pair of shorts.

I know that for me, I play a lot better when I know I look good aha .
Yeah that sounds bad, but its true.
Even in doubles, when we walk on the court and were confident and matching, me and my doubles partner play great.
So in my case, yes it definaattlyy matters lol

Well, after having this thread for 3 1/2 years. I am feeling so awkward on the court that I have some "fancy" stuff like the SHB100LTD (olympic edition) and using a ti-10. Don't know why my brain keeps feeling people who are watching me play thinks i suck even though my skills is not as good as others. Have anyone had this experience before??

Do you really think dry cool shirts are more comfortable and cool your body better? The rate of evaporation will be faster on a wet cotton shirt than a dry cool shirt, making you feel cooler although more wet. Water on your skin cools best, air is a distant second. All dry cool shirts do are to merely transfer your sweat from the skin to another outer mesh of fiber, which actually has a lower evaporation rate. If you play in extreme temperatures of 35 degrees C and a relative humidity of 88% or more, leaving your sweat on your skin may save you your life; dry cool shirts may kill you.

The concept of sweat is to remove heat from the body. This can be either by evaporation or simply by mass transfer. The common preconception about sweat is that it evaporates off and along with it the energy associated with heating that water.

Core body temperature is at 37C whereas the surface body temperature can be closer to that of room temperature. Obviously, when playing intensely and in a warmer environment, this surface temperature can climb drastically, there is a theoretical limit to that temperature which is far below the boiling temperature of water, 100C.

This temperature of around 40C is not nearly enough to evaporate all the water that comes from sweating. Furthermore, the salt present in sweat actually raises the boiling temperature of that water to even 101-102C. Granted, a portion will be lost as water vapour, the vast majority of sweat simply drips off instead. This is why, when you see people sweating, the water is dripping off and not steaming off.

As for having the clothing take the water away from the body being a cause for death, I would say to the contrary, it might actually save your life by increasing the amount of water that is removed from the body, along with the heat associated with it.

id wear whatever if only any1 would sponsor me!

for me cotton gets a little heavy once u sweat so much. if the cotton is thin enough, it doesnt really matter. those dry cool kinda thing helps but boy playing almost everyday dont really give me much chance to wash them right away. the only cotton shirt that i wear now is the cheapest baleno shirt. they are thin, dirt cheap, and durable.

i wear underarmor/nike pro fit tops (both compression shirts)
it keeps you cool and dry
the compression also helps with keep ease of movement because they hug the body real close
as for shorts, I try to find light, short shorts that you can lunge in
i started out playing in basketball shorts, and those were definitely a mistake
not only are they heavy but also very long (past the knees), this can hamper your lunges
I now play with usually soccer shorts, or mesh "jersey" shorts

hope this gives you a perspective on how important the right apparel is