Very young children starting school at Primary 1 or 2 will not find badminton interesting if they cannot hit the shuttle at all with standard equipment which are mainly meant for bigger children and adults. Realising this problem, the Singapore Badminton Association introduced a 3-month Modified Badminton Programme at MacPherson Primary School to ensure that the kids are happy with what they are doing so that they will remain interested in the game. Apparently this pilot project, which began this January and involved about 250 pupils, started off with the kids using their hands to hit balloons, something that they are more familiar with. I suppose they will hit the balloons to their schoolmates back and forth to sustain as long a rally as possible. When their enthusiasm grew with their confidence, they were then introduced to a modified version of the badminton game. The Modified Badminton consists of modification to the relevant badminton equipment and rules to make them easier for the kids. Rackets are made 2 inches (5cm) shorter than the standard 26-inch length by shortening the racket shaft (and perhaps thinning the handle for the smaller hands, not unlike some of the things that taneepak did on his modified rackets). The net is 4 inches (10cm) lower that the official 5ft (1.55 metre) high at the centre. The court has no boundary lines! With these special changes, the children find it easier to hit the shuttle over the net and their shots remain in court all the time. They get a sense of achievement and fun from the game. It is therefore easier for the coach to teach them proper strokes. Last Tuesday, Singapore's badminton stars, Ronald Susilo, Kendrick Lee, Li Li and Xing Aiying were special guests at MacPherson Primary and they played with the kids in the programme with about 1,000 other pupils watching the proceedings intently. The success in this pilot project has embolden the SBA to spread the programme to five other primary schools so as to instil interest and fun in the kids from young.
In a tournament a couple of weeks ago, I saw this really young girl playing with a racket that has a normal racket head size, but the middle and the grip handle were shortened ( not sure if this is the kind of racket that you are talking about) ... But anyways, it looks so cute! I wish I had one ~
Although I have seen 6-8 year olds using full size racquets, junior racquets are much more successful in retaining a small child's interest in the sport. They have more success using proper strokes with a shorter racquet, rather than modifying their technique to accomodate the longer shaft and they have more success hitting a wide variety of shots. (There's nothing like trying to teach the backhand serve to someone whose grip is now above their head or teaching someone to keep their racquet up when it's the size of a "flagpole"). Just like other sports, the equipment is properly sized to the size of the player. Badminton is no different. The success in hitting the bird is such that no modification to the court size is really necessary....and guess what? The kids have more fun. Unfortunately, finding decent junior racquets is difficult. (I do not subscribe to the old hack saw trick.......) I think Gosen or Talbot may still have some.
