I not only play badminton twice or more a week, but squash, tennis and go running as well. It occurred to me after seeing those notices in hotels about all the towels they unnecessarily wash, that I get through a lot of shirts each week. If you multiply this by the huge number of players around the world, think how many washing machine loads are players' shirts. Why do I need to wear a shirt? Usually after 15 minutes of play, my shirt is starting to look as if somebody has spilled water on it, and by the end of a session it is sodden and stuck to me. It interferes with the natural perspiration process and even makes me feel cold when I break for a rest. So will I be making a sensible and green statement by starting my racket sports sessions by removing the shirt I arrive in before starting to play? Some will say it is unsightly to see shirtless amateur sports people, but this is only a conditioned expectation. You think nothing of the various shapes of bodies seen at a swimming pool or on the beach. There are examples of some of our top racket sport players practicing shirtless, particularly tennis players in the sunshine. So I am willing to go green and shed that unnecessary shirt that only ends up sticking to me, so that I can re-use the shirt I arrived in (after towelling down) and save another shirt from the wash. If we all do the same, then it will become the normal practice we will all be greener as a result, saving electricity and detergent pollution.
There is a fine line between going "green" and being repulsive(to others), in this case. Not everyone would appreciate you going shirtless. There is a reason why there are certain general unwritten rules in place that governs or makes up the society, otherwise, just imagine if everyone started walking around the way they liked, it would create such chaos & commotion.
Depends..if u r playing only with the boys,i think that's cool.If u don't sweat alot,n not hairy..n won't be body clashing with ur partners..that's cool.Since we won't wanna see another scene of "along came polly" no more. Lastly,depends on when would u play,since if it's in winter,n the temperatures in the court can go below 10,i don't think u'd pull off ur shirt n play.
The practical demands of badminton clothing are scant. You just need good shoes and socks, and supportive underwear. Any other clothes are unnecessary provided the hall is warm enough. Unfortunately, some people will be offended by the sight of your gleaming, rippling muscles. You have to follow the club dress code, be it explicit or unspoken, unless you're willing to start a conflict that you will ultimately lose. As a practical measure, you can buy shirts that wick moisture away. The quality of these mechanisms varies, but you'll likely see a big improvement over ordinary cotton T-shirts.
It's really simple. If you're Pi Hong Yan, or Rachel Hindley, go green. All else, wear a shirt. Oh okay, Tania Luis as well, go green. -dave
dave, keep on chucking. i think there are some other players in your club you want them to go green too! why not start a bikini badminton league?
Seeing guys walking around shirtless would only make girls: a) wish that they could do the same. b) ruin their image of all the guys in the club c) really wish that some guys weren't so hairy or d) wish that some guys would hit the gym every now and then Unfair, I say. I can only imagine how distracting it would be to play mixed doubles with shirtless guys @_@. Unless it's an all boys club or something.
I wouldnt mind going green in summer, but wouldnt all the sweat (that should be absorbed by my shirt) fall on the floor and make it slippery? Even worse if the floor is dusty, you are sweaty and dive when retrieving the shuttle? The sweat will make all the dust, hair and other bits on the floor stick to your body! Anyway, I think a sweaty person makes a very good mop.
Lets hear from the ladies.. any comments? If lets say you are playing in an All girls club and everyone is open minded.
I think everything has a bottom line, including going "green". Proper gear is part of the sports, even if might not necessarily boost up performance. Otherwise, should we don't drink, to save water. And never eat, to save plants and animals?
i always think the shirt helps absorb the sweat. if you don't wear any shirts, then the jumping and hitting will cause the perspiration on your body to get flung everywhere, which is not only disgusting, but also dangerous.
This was in the late eighties when I witnessed two shirtless dudes at Marple Community Centre in Vancouver. Okay, it was summer - hot and dry. They were not big (Al GrandMaster Panda), but very tone and fit, badminton players. They actually did spectacular jumpsmashes .
Hey I go green and nobody can tell. I just have to be carefull about jump smashes and stretching for the birdie. Go green! GO Commando!!
I think wearing a shirt is a good idea because if your not wearing a shirt and... Your sweat drips everywhere, then that's kind of disgusting And... I just think wearing is a shirt is a good idea xP
You won't want to slip on someone else's sweat while you're playing after them. More embarassing would be if you slip on your own sweat! If you wanna 'go green', why not go all the way and play in the nude? That should save you a whole lot more laundry runs than being shirtless.
Are wicking shirts bad for you? The purpose of sweating is to allow water evaporation from the skin to cool it. Wearing a shirt interferes with the evaporation process by placing an insulation layer over the skin. A cotton shirt will absorb the sweat, become soaked itself and act as a barrier to skin evaporation. The body compensates for this by sweating even more. Various clothing manufacturers have tried to deal with this by inventing wicking fabrics designed to draw sweat from the skin and allowing this to evaporate Some research has taken place (CLICK HERE FOR MORE). A quote from this research should get you thinking: Mike Smoltz, the founder of TR Gear and the brother of Braves pitcher John Smoltz, told me that newfangled wicking shirts counteract the body's natural thermal regulation mechanism. By drawing sweat away from your skin as soon as it rises to the surface, he says, your body won't cool properly. That will make you sweat even more, which will lead in turn to dehydration and compromised muscle performance. So it is possible that the shirt you are wearing could be making you sweat even more. So rather than let sweat evaporate naturally into the air as nature intended, we tend to allow our shirts to soak it up so we end up carrying it around with us. What is really more disgusting, carrying your sweat around with you in your shirt, or letting nature take its course? Save a shirt today, save the planet tomorrow, and be cooler at the same time. Alternatively, line the pockets of alleged exploiters of third world labour and buy the latest sweat 'processing' shirt (that may make you sweat even more). Finally there is nothing wrong with being out of shape and hairy. We have all succumbed to the ideals of the perfect body as portrayed by nearly all media. We are brainwashed into believing that anything that does not conform to these media standards is wrong (is disgusting). The truth is that most of us do not conform to these standards. We should accept this, be happy with who we are, and be proud of what we are. Going shirtlessly green is for everybody, not just the people you prefer to look at.
society is littered with countless rules nowadays, be they explicit or otherwise. going topless goes against these rules. u could save the earth through this little effort if u wish, but i suggest switching off the aircon, not turning on lights unnecessarily, switching off the computer monitor AND SWITCHES when not using them etc... if u havent already done so yes the media has set certain standards that not everybody likes. but thats besides the point when u say that going shirtless can work for everybody, regardless of shape and size. can u just imagine how the number of molestation cases will rise, exponentially, if this happens? i wouldnt mind a world where everyone is free to go about without clothes, but i would get tired of reading conversative writers' letters in the newspapers everyday. society has set down these rules, and whether they appear ingenious or stupid to us, most of them are here to stay. i would prefer to keep my shirt on and avoid these unnecessary arguments
As said by Kwun and a few previous posters, your sweat will drip while you play because of all the jumping and moving during your game. Although not wearing your shirt can be beneficial to your body, i think i will cause danger to everyone around you including yourself. BTW not to offend anyone but i find this post very humourous.
