Badminton Popularity - The Role of Yonex

[samtruong200]

No offense intended ok? I don't know about you but for me, that's what makes sports so exciting. It is many things for many people. For the competitive type - it is the chance to be better, the chance to rise above your current level and reach the next level, to reach the best level you can achieve, and for those who are not in it for the competition - taking part in sports is a form of relaxation/stress release, a way to stay healthy and fit and also a chance to hang out and develop friendship and camaraderie.

If your objections against badminton getting bigger are 1) it makes you less unique and 2) makes it harder for you, then it really shouldn't matter to you very much if Badminton gets bigger because 1) you can always find a sport that is obscure and therefore make you unique as one of the only few to know about it and play it. 2) you can always play with weekend athletes or beginners, that way you will always have an easy time playing against them and also, you will never run out of people to play with because with badminton getting big, there will be more and more people trying it out, no shortage of beginners for you to play against.

Ok, i dont intend any offense to either, i realized my objections and your thoughts but if badminton gets bigger how would u feel towards it? do u want to be just someone in the group that plays badminton? do u want someone to say "u play badminton? me too?" or do u want to be the one to be explain how it works and everythin? and i again i mean no offense to anyone i just want to express my opinion

[danielg]

Ok, i dont intend any offense to either, i realized my objections and your thoughts but if badminton gets bigger how would u feel towards it? do u want to be just someone in the group that plays badminton? do u want someone to say "u play badminton? me too?" or do u want to be the one to be explain how it works and everythin? and i again i mean no offense to anyone i just want to express my opinion

None taken sir. For me, I rather be playing badminton than explaining it

[samtruong200]

None taken sir. For me, I rather be playing badminton than explaining it

i would be to but wen u explain sumthin it makes u sound smarter

[danielg]

i would be to but wen u explain sumthin it makes u sound smarter

err....... different strokes for different folks as they say.

[chnrunner]

i believe that one of important things in increasing the popularity of badminton is to go to the schools. i mean most kids have never even heard of badminton, if we sponsor schools and provide them with equipment i'm sure students will begin to realize the skill and graviting enjoyment of the sport.

[bluefeather]

Keep dreaming... there's nothing wrong with it... The PHILIPPINES is a very good example... I was there... there were only a handful of us 10 years ago... look at how the sport is suddenly catapulted to fame... just keep promoting the sport and recruiting new people... its popularity will catch on soon enough

[prothobs]

i think that badminton shouldnt get bigger becuz wen it gets bigger u wont feel as unique wen u play it. when i play badminton i feel unique and i feel proud of being able to play badminton. but wen it gets bigger u wont have that feeling anymore and ull just be part of the crowd. so i think it shouldnt get as big

Badminton will never be like Basketball or football beacuse its not a contact or in your face sport. It may be like tennis someday (or even more popular) but I don't think we need to worry about attracting the wrong crowd.
The is no sense of acheivement in winning when there is no competition (at least for me). I have been playing for just over two years (competitively) and already I am within the top two in my age category in the province (U16). For me, it's frusterating to see classmates be dumbfounded by someone hitting a smash or roll a netshot. They don't realize that these are just basics to the sport.

I understand that tv coverage of badminton would help a lot but I think what really needs to happen is popularity in schools. If you were an eleven year old boy or girl, sitting at home watching tv when you ran accross a badminton tournament. Everyone of the players there is asian (not saying this is true) you might just think "Well, that's cool but it's not for me. All those people are faster than me by genetics and I have no chance." It would almost be seen as a novelty. People would be surprised at how amazing the pros were but they wouldn't consider playing it themselves.
If badminton associations around North America (e.g. Badminton BC, Badminton MB, Badminton CA) would send some elite club players around to elementry schools (or jr high/middle schools) and play a game or two, kids would be impressed and want to play. Everyone (well a lot of people at least) looks forward to badminton at my school, they just dont realize that they can play it competitively.
Then tournaments (local) could be advertised and entries could be found in schools. More people would come out to them and see how fun it is. Gradually they would get bigger and bigger and local companies (like subway, mcdonalds, pepsi) would sponsor them. Heck, after that maybe even all badminton clubs could open.
After there was a little more interest, even if a lot people still thought of badminton as a backyard sport, those who saw badminton on TV might have heard of a league at school. Or, maybe they had a friend who had entered a junior tournament.

Who knows? Maybe it could work?

[Jumpalot]

Actually if badminton is more popular you would feel more special !! The current situation is that no one appreciates the game of badminton. Its hard to impress anyone even if one best jump smash when most people have never even played badminton. Imagine its like being able to SLAM DUNK a basketball but you are in a world that no one knows about basketball and how impressive it is to DUNK !!!! To be good in badminton right now is just not the same as being good in basketball, football, and other major sports.

Let me put it this way, if you are good in badminton now, you will still be good if badminton is more popular. Most new badminton players wont be good for at least a few years. So enjoy the game and imagine the pride of knowing you are playing a sport thats getting popular and you already have a head start than almost everyone in your country.

i think that badminton shouldnt get bigger becuz wen it gets bigger u wont feel as unique wen u play it. when i play badminton i feel unique and i feel proud of being able to play badminton. but wen it gets bigger u wont have that feeling anymore and ull just be part of the crowd. so i think it shouldnt get as big

[Jumpalot]

I believe there is a very simple way of making badminton more popular. It is easier said then done but it could be very effective if everyone just follow through with it.

Here it is: The best and quickest way to grow this sport is for every badminton player to bring a friend that's most likely to enjoy badminton as a sport. This is quite a simple theory based on that everyone should have at least 5-10 friends that could potentially enjoy badminton as a sport and means to stay fit and will put in the time and effort to learn the game. All I ask is everyone bring ONE friend to play each time that you play!! Now, I know what is like to bring beginners to the club or gym. But for the good of the sport, bring your ONE friend and show him the basics of the game. If there is a club pro and coach in your gym, you can have him/her show your friend a few basics to get it going. I know for a fact that all coaches knows that all beginners are potential customers for a long time to come so they will be more than willing to show your friend a few basics to start.

Anywas, the key to this is persistance and always have incredible amount of patience with your friend. I have coached many players before and I know how tuff it is to have a friend who doesnt know how to play at all. Well, just stay focused and remind yourself that if we can all bring just one friend into this wonderful sport of badminton than we can potentially see the badminton population double in much quicker time than we have ever hoped.

Of course there will be many different factors affecting the growth potential of this theory. Such is that at one point as I pointed out in my post before, the biggest limitation to the growth of badminton will be courts availability. I believe this will need to be addressed quickly since no matter how popular a sport is, if there is no place to play then it can only grow so fast. After all, it is not crazy to say that most badminton courts are already saturated with players even at current badminton population levels. If badminton increase population then the courts must be increased proportionally. It could be a major task but that will have to be done by badminton associations with more money and pull with local / regional officials to free up more public gym space for badminton and private sectors building more courts.



PS. Badminton is probably the fastest growing sport in China now. and its probably growing because of the simple theory of everyone just bring one friend to play badminton and the increase in the availability of courts.

PSS. Bringing back a friend that stopped playing badminton long time ago will be just as effective as well.

[cooler]

PS. Badminton is probably the fastest growing sport in China now. and its probably growing based on the simple theory of everyone just bring one friend to play badminton and the increase in the availability of courts.

PSS. Bringing back a friend that stopped playing badminton long time ago will be just as effective as well.

for a goose, that isn't good news

[prothobs]

for a goose, that isn't good news

I'm not sure but I think that geese do not get killed when they take their feathers, merely clipped. After all... think of how MANY geese they would have to kill since they only use some feathers in a certain part of the wing. (I'm not really sure about any of that information)

Jumpalot:
I agree with you completely. That tactic works great, just this year I got two of my friends to join my club. Both of them are getting really good REALLY quickly. (they're both 15). If we wanted to speed up the growth of badminton, we could also advertise. I want to become VERY rich so I can start advertising the sport and make some all badminton clubs. Ack... that would be so cool, I would LOVE to coach at an all badminton club. Think of how COOL it would be to have lots of competetion in your city and having all the different clubs play against each other- it could be a team thing! Kids could wear badminton jerseys to school with pride.

Edit: PS

Does anyone know the disadvantage of using duck feathers?

[joonu]

To make badminton more popular the first thing to be done is to make the game more TV friendly.Then highly potential sponsers will come forward.The new point system will pay a good contribution to make this game TV friendly.Again,two time-outs as per the option of the players of each team, in addition to the 11 point break will give ample time for advertisements.This will also help the players from runnimg out of gas.

A change in the dress order will also make the game more popular.This experiment in Volley Ball and Beach Volley Ball gave wonderful results.Ordinary people who are least interested in badminton will find it attractive to watch ladies games if they wear the dresses which Tennies players wear at present and within a short time they will become real fans of Badminton.

Buisiness establishments lie Yonex,etc. will do only lucrative buisinesses and we cannot expect more from them than we are receiving now

[Jumpalot]

Good job !!

You have done great for getting 2 new players into badminton.


Usually Geese & ducks are not killed for its feathers but for its meat. You wouldnt kill a geese just for its feathers because that would make the price of the feather way too expensive. However, if a geese is killed for its meat then the feather becomes a bi-product and the additional money generated from feather sales is additional source of income.

As for the feather, goose feather usually last longer and the flight pattern is more preferable over duck feathers.

I'm not sure but I think that geese do not get killed when they take their feathers, merely clipped. After all... think of how MANY geese they would have to kill since they only use some feathers in a certain part of the wing. (I'm not really sure about any of that information)

Jumpalot:
I agree with you completely. That tactic works great, just this year I got two of my friends to join my club. Both of them are getting really good REALLY quickly. (they're both 15). If we wanted to speed up the growth of badminton, we could also advertise. I want to become VERY rich so I can start advertising the sport and make some all badminton clubs. Ack... that would be so cool, I would LOVE to coach at an all badminton club. Think of how COOL it would be to have lots of competetion in your city and having all the different clubs play against each other- it could be a team thing! Kids could wear badminton jerseys to school with pride.

Edit: PS

Does anyone know the disadvantage of using duck feathers?

[chibe_K]

(this is also posted in the front page)

We badminton fans just have to admit it, badminton isn’t a widely popular sport. In many parts of the world, most people do not know anything about badminton, or even worse in the US, where many still believe that badminton is just a backyard sport down there with crocket, played by old ladies in a Saturday afternoon.

...........
So as you can see, for a sport to be popular, you need money, for a sport to be able to command big sponsorship money, you need to be popular. This is the vicious cycle that badminton is stuck in. Badminton is neither popular, nor rich.

So how can badminton break out of this cycle? Well, we can make badminton popular, or pour a lot of money into badminton. Or both.

.......
.

My thoughts are badminton needs to create an INTERNATIONAL superstar, a household name that everyone around the world can relate his name to badminton like Boris Becker to Tennis, Maradona to Soccer, Lance Armstrong to cycling...etc.

In badminton, there are a pool of top players but seldom one can dominant in all major tournaments. Even there is one, the lifespan is short, maybe 2-3 years before fading away. If we have Lin Dan who consistently wins all major tournaments that everyone sees him as the god of badminton, then it becomes a brand and everyone can relate him to this sports. Today, I see Lin Dan is still a local star (for china). For example, for those coming from Denmark, Peter Gade is the star, not Lin Dan. We need to make one who can cross the boundaries and well known to anyone anywhere.

[chessymonkey]

My thoughts are badminton needs to create an INTERNATIONAL superstar, a household name that everyone around the world can relate his name to badminton like Boris Becker to Tennis, Maradona to Soccer, Lance Armstrong to cycling...etc.

In badminton, there are a pool of top players but seldom one can dominant in all major tournaments. Even there is one, the lifespan is short, maybe 2-3 years before fading away. If we have Lin Dan who consistently wins all major tournaments that everyone sees him as the god of badminton, then it becomes a brand and everyone can relate him to this sports. Today, I see Lin Dan is still a local star (for china). For example, for those coming from Denmark, Peter Gade is the star, not Lin Dan. We need to make one who can cross the boundaries and well known to anyone anywhere.

Given the life span on man's single player, it would be hard to bring up a super star that is on the top spot LONG enough to be known as the ultimate

[chibe_K]

Given the life span on man's single player, it would be hard to bring up a super star that is on the top spot LONG enough to be known as the ultimate

I absolutely agree, because badminton nowadays weights so heavily on speed and the skill level among top players are so close and because of that players are so vulnerable to outside factors. Just one bad call can affect the mood of a player and take him down.....like a 100m sprinter, no room for mistake or out of focus. This sport is also very age dependent......like any other sports I guess. Maybe badminton should be part of track and field events in Olympics.

[Jumpalot]

My thoughts are badminton needs to create an INTERNATIONAL superstar, a household name that everyone around the world can relate his name to badminton like Boris Becker to Tennis, Maradona to Soccer, Lance Armstrong to cycling...etc.

In badminton, there are a pool of top players but seldom one can dominant in all major tournaments. Even there is one, the lifespan is short, maybe 2-3 years before fading away. If we have Lin Dan who consistently wins all major tournaments that everyone sees him as the god of badminton, then it becomes a brand and everyone can relate him to this sports. Today, I see Lin Dan is still a local star (for china). For example, for those coming from Denmark, Peter Gade is the star, not Lin Dan. We need to make one who can cross the boundaries and well known to anyone anywhere.

YA, Lance Armstrong is great but watching him win just wont get me on a bike nor sit in front of the TV for few hours wacthing a lot of people riding a bike on paved roads.

However, I do agree that badminton needs a major super star to drive more interest around the world but especially get the interest of news media such as TV stations, radio, magazines. At some point I feel that badminton needs to do SOMETHING LOL.

For starters, the image of badminton needs to be seriously revised. In USA the image of badminton is either an activity on grass for the elite class or its a back yard / picnic sport with the later being the popular opinion. I think to change that image it is extremely difficult unless larger events with much large prize money can be created on a regular basis and not once every 4 years like the Olympics. Without it, there simply wont be any media coverage.