I apologise for this shamelessly self-aggrandising post. Check out their page about badminton (as an Olympic sport). Look for the "Editor's Picks": http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/badminton/default.stm There's also a pretty good video clip by Gill Clark on the return of serve.
Your determination to painstakingly explain the sport has paid off. To be picked by BBC Sports is a true tribute to the quality of your work. I hope you will eventually bring out a "Badminton For Dummies" book too. Congratulations, Coach!
Hi Gollum, I'm impressed with what you are setting out to do and have done in your Badminton Bible. Especially when you do it for free and make it accessible to all who wish to learn the game at different levels. I do hope that you'll further improve your knowledge from sources which you think will be of help so that you can pass on your best to others who may be able to benefit accordingly. This you have committed to doing as you have expressed the desire to update the Bible whenever necessary and maintain a high standard. I haven't quite started digesting your Bible yet, but I'll do so in due course. But I like your approach on transparency and the option for others who may hold differing views. An exchange of views can only be good for everybody interested in the game. Best wishes and success to your future endeavours.
Good on you, Gollum!! Badminton Bible has helped me so much with my game.. I have improved so quickly after I started reading and studying through it. Before:I lost to my team mate 21:7 about two months ago. *The footwork guide and singles tactics guide posted* After: I beat him two straight sets in a row, 21:11 and 21:9. Haha.. that's my testimony.
Wow, thats great! I'm glad we have a "professional coach" in Badminton Central. Which I always ask for help.
Gollum, you've found a big sponsor. That's great! Now I can add the Badminton Bible to my list of alltime favourite things from the BBC ... such as The Goodies and those Prince Edward specials.
I think you should make videos of all the techniques when you have time. Then add narration. Then make us pay for it. But before you could do that, I would of stole all the information first. I already printed everything you wrote about footwork for the second time last night. I lost my first copy. Haha.
Cheers everyone! Thanks Oldhand. I am indeed delighted by the BBC selection, since it's an independent and serious evaluation of quality. I might well bring out a book at some point, although perhaps not with the "For Dummies" range. I can't say I've had very good experiences with their books. I certainly want to do this as much as I can. I'm always hungry for new sources; I'd really like to be in more regular, direct communication with world-class coaches. That's not easily achieved, but I have some long-term ideas (dreams, even!) about how to do it... Yes, these principles are important to me. Obviously my first concern is to get good content published, but later on I want to update and improve it, including adding sources information. At first I insisted on compiling sources information before publication, but that slowed down my workflow too much. Excellent! Testimony like that is really encouraging. It's been a lot of work providing this content, but I'm motivated by knowing that it's helping people play better badminton. I love the idea that my writing is helping a large number of players. Thanks. Eat my rails. Anyone for CPM1a? Ah, the good old days. Hmm, I suppose people could misinterpret that to mean, "coach of professional players". Oh well, that's not my problem. Shame they're not actually sponsoring me. First I knew about it was the referrer in my traffic logs.
nice one, yeah, you should get the BBC to contribute something towards your efforts, we pay them enough in tv licences as it is.
at least in the UK I think there's a serious need for a decent book on badminton. Jake downey's books are ok but IMO far far too detailed; anyway they are out of print (ok, they are on the net) and I don't really like looking at all those 70s players with the tight white shorts ..don't really know a decent, recent book unless you count vip malixi's but I was not so happy with that. well I imagine any kind of book needs serious backing anyway. Graphics, photos, layout--all these things are difficult, without help. meh I'm just talking off my head. I wondered if you'd thought about what you're going to write about next? eg., specific shots.
That made me laugh out loud. So true. I really respect Jake Downey. My only real criticism of him is that he uses such a complex, abstract, academic framework. Although I think his framework is logical and accurate, I just don't think it helps people learn. Detail is good, but it needs to be useful detail. I find Jake Downey's formalised framework of badminton attractive, because I am (or was) a student of formal logic; but I don't think this framework is especially useful. I am planning to put the "big topics" aside for a while, and start concentrating on specific shots instead. I'll probably start with some of the simpler ones -- perhaps net kills and lifts, rather than TEh PoWAAR Smash!!!! Unfortunately, all my writing is on hold for the moment as I'm doing some medium-term development work on the website. But I think I will squeeze in a photo session soon, so there should be some improvements to existing articles.
Here is yet another testimony from myself again. I was bored at the badminton hall after playing at my club as usual. My friend came by, somehow really early to play at his club, 6.5 hours early to be exact. I always looked up to him as being a 'hardout pro dude' at badminton as he had totally thrashed me last year, 21-2 in a social game. I had already beaten my team mate who was alot better than me before, so I took my opportunity today to challenge my friend in a game of singles on an empty court. What on earth happened ? I beat him the first set 22-20 with an injured back. Second set, I was on the lead: 19-18 when we got kicked off the court because a friend of ours had to get coaching on that court we were playing on. I didn't officially beat him, but I was really happy that I improved so much. Had I not took my time to learn some basic tactics on movement-pressure, I might have played worse. I am looking forward for some more new guides, Gollum!