Which scoring system is better? 1) 3 x 15 with 3 x11 for LS, score on serve only 2) 5 x 9 score on serve only, tried perhaps once or twice many many years ago. Not much known on feedback about this. 3) 5 x 7 score on serve only 4) 3 x 15 for MS, MD, 3 x 11 for LS, LD and Mxd, score on serve only 5) 3 x 21 score on each rally Here is another system I think has realistic potential. 5 x 15 points score on each rally. First person to reach 15 points wins the set. Final set, first to 15 points win the set, but must win by 2 clear points.
Women run marathons. In almost any sport women compete in exactly same disciplines than men do. So, I don't think it is appropriate that women's games should be shorter. Actually, badminton is very old-fashioned in this respect. Otherwise, 3x15 traditional system seems to be OK. Maybe 5x11 or 5x9 would be even better. Score on serve only.
5x15 Would be more fun for the spectator but I really like the longer game because the game tends to even out thru 21 pts.
Maybe the same discipline, but not always with exactly the same equipment. Even the Olympics have differences e.g. men's Shot Put 7.26kg kilograms (16 pounds), women's 4 kg (8.8 pounds). men's javelin 800g, women's javelin 600g men's hammer 7.257 kg (16 lb), women's hammer 4 kg (8.82 lb) men's discus 2kg, women's discus 1kg men 110m hurdles, women 100m hurdles 50km walk is men only One of the IBF's reasons for changing the scoring was to reduce the length of the game to help prevent injuries. But Ladies Singles might have got longer. Some ladies have been complaining that the new system is more tiring.
The differences in running (and walking) distances have been diminished gradually. Some are still left, for historical reasons mostly, but the trend is quite clear. As far as endurance is concerned, men and women basically compete in same events. The differences in events of physical strength are there, and there is also difference in muscular power levels between men and women. There are no such differences in badminton. The gals can take the longer games as well as us men (if not better). We use the same racquets and shuttles, too.
The reduced number of points for women's games addresses two issues not related to women's ability to withstand a lot of running. One of these issues has basis and the other does not. The first issue is that of smash power versus reflex. Women in mixed doubles routinely return smashes by the best men in the game and have little or no disadvantage in this respect. Meanwhile, you can't compare the smash speeds of the top women with the top men due to that nagging difference in muscle power that you mentioned. Therefore, the rallies in women's games are not as often finished by a dominant smash because, for example if Zhang Jiewen smashes at Gao Ling, her chances of ending the rally with the smash are not great considering that the latter is capable of returning smashes by Kim Dong-moon or Jens Eriksen. In other words, you get much longer rallies with both women's doubles and women's singles than you get in the men's games and so an 11-point women's game with should compete with a 15-point men's game the same number of lead changes. The second issue is not defensible because it is biased and relates to the current and only probably to the future state of badminton. That is that the women's games at the end of the top events (in other words, what is usually televised) always seem to be between the same players. Count up the number of women's singles finals last year between Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang or doubles finals between Gao/Huang and Yang/Zhang or Zhao/Wei. Same old, same old. No national rivalry, no change from the previous tournament. Boring. If any of the precious hours of TV coverage allotted to badminton are devoted to so many versions of the same matchups, it would help if they were at least shortened to 11-point games. This argument wouldn't have occurred to anyone 10 years ago when women's singles were dominated by a three-way rivalry of China-Indonesia-Korea but unfortunately, it's the first thing that occurs to me whenever I think of the women's game now and the Chinese dominance will only become more complete in the next ten years. I like watching Zhang Ning play but I don't want to watch her play Xie Xingfang a dozen times a year nor do I want to watch her play Tracey Hallam or Jun Jae-youn or Salakjit Ponsana because 11-1, 11-3 is never exciting.
