Gee, aren't you guys tired of me yet..................) Anyway, on TV there was a summary of great points seen in tennis, like impossible shots, reflex volleys, chasing down acutely angled shots. All this years' matches. Well, just like to say, all you people playing badminton are spoiled because we do this everytime we play! Enjoy yourselves.
that's why i like to play badminton, not because it is easy but because it's hard. Also, badminton has so many variation of shots as compared to tennis. Tennis is a 2D game where as badminton is a 3D game. In 2D i mean 99% of tennis shots are within 1 feet above the net, and 90% of the time the player just move left and right at the back line. Double in tennis is even more boring to watching, the rallies are SO SHORT.
Buddy u forgot something! Tennis uses Ground as a additional surface! SO u can do so many things by using a additional surafce. Man u can spin and skid. That is why i think CRicket is a Far superior game then Baseball! Baddy is def better as i play it and i love it but then this thing abt 3D i am not so sure!
after services, tennis can be play like badminton too if they want to. yes, the ground adds another dimension to tennis but i think the complexity of feather shuttlecock spin plus its flight profile still have more physics variation than a simple spherical ball plus ground effects And we haven't start comparing footwork diversity between tennis and badminton.
Well, problem, many people are intrigued by tennis because they have never seen what the competitive game of badminton is like at all while they have seen it all about Tennis on TV. Its the interest generated by the media that has people paying huge amounts of money for equipement and to learn Tennis but not Badminton. If one fine day some media mogul like Murdoch or CBS, ABS networks start showing badminton tournaments FREE on TV, then you'll see a phenomenal change in people's perception and interest in the game. There is a huge following of the game in South-East Asia. Why ? Well, we get to watch most of the top rate international tournaments FREE on TV. Its the interest generated as a result of these !
Hmm, I'd think the huge following in Asia is due to the successes of generations of Asian players before our present time. They acted as role models showing successful Asian atheletes when up against Caucasians. One of my earliest memories of badminton was TV and I saw an Indonesian playing in a top level tournament. Very rare to observe an Asian at top level sport in UK. Maybe that was partly why I got fascinated by the game.
I suppose one needs to play lots of both games and at all levels to appreciate their finer points and difficulties. There's the learning curve thing and if you are a one racket game-player wanting to start the 2nd game now, you won't be playing all those top spns, clears, under-spin, short angle smash etc. before you hang up your racket(s) for good. The ordinary leisure player begins to understand what each particlar stroke does and how to do it with a high degree of consistency only when he's already past his prime.It becomes fascinating because he understands it so well, but its a wee bit late to become the new Eddy Choong or Lim Say Wan or Lim Say Hup. Anyone for tennis or golf? John.
I didn't know much about badminton until I visited Vietnam and the only thing on TV was badminton! (It was during the 96' Olympics). I absolutely fell in love with the game and have been playing ever since. When I came back to the U.S. though, the only thing they showed were womens gymnastics... (which by the way wasn't a bad thing either... =)
i think there is also a social class factor involved. tennis in the old world is (to me) considered more of an upper class sport, just like what cricket was in england and golf right now. Esp in Australia, i think the gap between tennis and aust will never be breached regardless of how well it is broadcasted. Popularity of badminton will always be a minority. Culturally, tennis also is played by a diverse race of ppl, but the majority of badminton players are asian and a small faction of europeans.
just a small correction to your perception, @ndy. Badminton was first formalized by Lord Badminton and the game was played mostly by very upper class people back in late 1800' s to early 1900's. American were very dominant in the 1950's and early 60's. Judy Hashman of US hold the record of 17 All England titles. I doubt any asian players could topple that record. In Canadian cities where i'm familiar with, real dedicated badminton courts are found in private clubs where its members which i would say upper class too I don't claim to have answer to this low profile of badminton in american and europe in general. However, i see the glory day era of badminton sto come back soon but not overnight.
