Is Badminton still regarded as a 'Gentleman's sport'?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by chris-ccc, Apr 12, 2008.

  1. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    .
    Is Badminton still regarded as a 'Gentleman's sport'? :confused:

    Some say that Badminton players are no longer civil or polite towards each other.

    Some say that Badminton is not as adversarial or as vicious in spirit as other sports.

    What do you think?

    Cheers... chris@ccc
    :):):)
    .
     
  2. yy_ling

    yy_ling Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2006
    Messages:
    774
    Likes Received:
    3
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Singapore
    i guess when more money is funded into a sport, the outcome would be more complications and politics, which in turn causes all these conflicts
     
  3. jayes

    jayes Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2002
    Messages:
    208
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Badminton specialty selling strings, grips, shuttl
    Location:
    USA
    I think Badminton in its current form is not a Gentleman's sport any more; it is just a sport. If there is any 'Gentleman' part, it is diminishing. Currently, most coaches/players attitude is to win only (at all cost? knifing? match fixing?), be it at recreational level or at the professional level. However, at the recreational level, it depends on the group. Thus, at a certain extent, I can still see the Gentleman part more at the recreational level than professional level.

    Cheers :)
     
  4. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Golf players are better mannered

    .
    I'm not sure if money has anything to do with this. Even though Golf is richer, their players are better mannered.
    .
     
  5. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Recreational players will get influenced by professional players

    .
    Agree... In fact I started this thread because there are bad attitudes emerging at the professional level currently.

    IMHO, recreational players will get influenced by professional players.
    .
     
  6. crosscourt

    crosscourt Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2006
    Messages:
    364
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    Legal
    Location:
    Shanghai/London
    I guess the difference is that Golf is not adversarial. There are 20 or so guys all playing shots on their own. If they make a mistake it's never due to the skill of their opponents. In that sense they will will not have the same bad attitude as sports where players go head to head with each hoping that the other makes a mistake. To put it another way, in golf you are playing against yourself, whereas in most other sports you are playing against an opponent.

    As a result of more money coming in the pressure increases and players are looking to take advantage of every opportunity they can. I'm not saying money's the only issue but it is part of it. Some older people would say that sports reflect the general decline of manners in society!
     
  7. treilanin

    treilanin Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2006
    Messages:
    83
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I would honestly say in the recreational clubs that I have played at that Badminton is no longer a Gentleman's sport. The old guard of people who are currently in say the 45-65+ range who viewed Badminton as a social sport that could be competitive have slowly left. The newer younger/immigrant players tend to be hyper competitive and very status oriented. I played at the same club when I was a teen and it is night and day. Back in the day people were very friendly, very open to help, very easy going and very honest (the if I am not sure give it to my opponent). Now people get upset if they have to play outside the circle of "good" players, not willing to deal with the weak players, are more then ready to argue line calls and are cheating on line calls. It's really a sad state of affairs... especially since it a damn rec club. It's not as if 90-95% of the players are even of a level to compete at A or B levels.
     
  8. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Sports reflect the general decline of manners in society!

    .
    It is true in what you have said. :):):)

    However, in Badminton, players can also look at it the same way... 'playing against yourself'.

    So, if I cannot return your shot, then it should show that;
    1. I'm not good enough to return your shot, or
    2. I should give credit to you for forcing a difficult shot on me that I cannot return.

    Perhaps, that saying has great truth in it. :):):)
    .
     
  9. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    It's really a sad state of affairs

    .
    Yes... many have said that Badminton is no longer for enjoyment, but for some status oriented "SHOW-OFF".

    I have witnessed some players even refusing to shake hands after a match. :(:(:(
    .
     
  10. markham player

    markham player Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2007
    Messages:
    187
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    medical
    Location:
    toronto
    Hey guys, don't be so negative. IMO, it is still a gentleman's sport.
     
  11. jayes

    jayes Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2002
    Messages:
    208
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Badminton specialty selling strings, grips, shuttl
    Location:
    USA
    I wonder though, could it be that there is a culture difference involve? For example, Asian usually will not understand what it means to be Gentlemanly, in Western sense. And vice-versa, Westerners usually will not understand the Asian mannerism. Due to these culture differences, perhaps they contribute to the bad feelings in badminton today - no handshake is one example. Perhaps due to these differences also, there are two point of views (perhaps more) - the traditionalist (highly value manners, a la British ettiquette) and pure sport mannerism (win/lose mentality).

    Now, I'd like to clarify though that cheating is nothing to do with culture differences that I've in mind. It is plain dishonest! However, if we look into society in general nowadays, manners/respects/etc are declining too.

    You are right though. Professional players will certainly influence the recreational players. However, I'd like to go one step futher. Now that we know manners/morals are declining, is there anything we can do to improve the mentality in badminton (perhaps in another thread)?

    Cheers. :)
     
  12. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    To drive Badminton back to a friendlier sport

    .
    Don't get me wrong...... I wish to drive Badminton back to a friendlier sport through my own activities. :):):)
    .
     
  13. MSN04

    MSN04 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2008
    Messages:
    153
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I think people get frustrated esp when the judges start making bad calls, where you don't get it in golf. Even in Tennis, you see people react badly more often before that "camera system" (whatever u call that).

    I don't think people get bad temper when they are out-played by the opponent tho. You can only blame yourself if you get out-played LOL
     
  14. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Some will almost cry after losing their games

    .
    You are correct... Within each sport, there are inherent cultures too. Handshaking is one.

    Through my own coaching activities, I insist that all trainees must shake hands after their games. To my surprise, I see some very young players (around 9 tears old) actually do enjoy their handshaking. They think it's fun to do it. :D:D:D

    But some will almost cry after losing their games; They are still learning how to face/bear it when they lose. :):):)
    .
     
  15. crosscourt

    crosscourt Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2006
    Messages:
    364
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    Legal
    Location:
    Shanghai/London
    I think professional players are role models in this respect and they need to relise that. With the odd exception most players are well-behved. In my experience it's been the same at recreational/club level.

    Do you think there has been a decline in your lifetime Chris?
     
  16. meteoflare

    meteoflare Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2003
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    String breaker
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I think there's two sides to this story unfortunately. I'm no where near competition level, especially now since I've gotten really lazy and I just play for fun. :D I will play with anyone that wants to play with our group since I think its just plain rude to deny anyone, plus its a nice way to make new friends.

    That being said, court time as well as space is limited, which forces the majority of our games into a doubles game while waiting in line. Most of the time it is fine, but if the skill gap is very large, the rallies become either too friendly with half-lobs or too one-sided with the other team picking on the weaker player. Then, its just not fun for anybody, since there's no challenge.

    On the other hand, if its singles its fine since you can concentrate on your footwork and form more than in a doubles game.

    I will never play with anyone that won't shake hands afterwards... Fortunately I've only had that happen once, which was years ago during high school. :confused:
     
  17. event

    event Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2005
    Messages:
    2,901
    Likes Received:
    278
    Location:
    Korea
    My dad used to use this term and I liked it at the time but later grew uncomfortable with its connotations. The idea of things that gentlemen do hearkens back to a time when people were controlled by men and men were controlled by rich (gentle) men. The history of that idea is possibly related to the military beginnings of modern badminton. The first Brits to play were colonial soldiers stationed in India. To quote the Olympic website:

    While British army officers stationed there were learning the game, the Duke of Beaufort was introducing it to royal society at his country estate, Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England.
    This is not the only instance of officer and gentleman origins. Apparently, air force bases were the sites of introduction of the sport into both of my habitats. I personally don't mourn the loss of the elitest label itself as it seems to have accompanied a much broader base of interest in the sport. I don't wish to overstate the connection. It isn't as if the masses took the sport over and intentionally rejected the notion of gentility. It's more a result of the geographical spread into areas where those notions had no currency or otherwise just did not accompany the sport. This isn't unusual. We all know people who learn martial arts from other cultures just because they want to learn how to fight more effectively. Fortunately for us, badminton players who aren't steeped in old English colonial traditions are a lot less dangerous than muay thai or hapkido students who can't wait to try out what they've learned.

    Of course, there is an inherent hypocrisy in colonial soldiers feeling that it is their duty to refuse to argue over whether a shot is in or out. It reminds me of the portrayal of Cornwallis in The Patriot, who, while prosecuting a war, coddles his dogs and gets miffed at Mel Gibson's character for targetting officers. Who knows? Maybe they needed their athletic pursuits to be that way to compensate for what their day-to-day job consisted of. These days, most of us who play the game do not.
     
  18. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Deal with judges in a gentlemanly way

    .
    MSN04... Are we talking about incompetent or biased judges?

    Even if so, we can still deal with these judges in a gentlemanly way. There is no need to react badly.

    :):):)
    .
     
  19. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Nowadays, bad behaviour is demonstrated more frequently

    .
    crosscourt... Unfortunately, I see a slight decline. :(:(:(

    Nowadays, when the mindset "must win" is so aspired to, I am seeing bad behaviour demonstrated more frequently.
    .
     
  20. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2006
    Messages:
    26,902
    Likes Received:
    33
    Occupation:
    Professional Badminton Coach & Badminton Promoter
    Location:
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    Sometimes it is good to pick on the weaker player

    .
    Sometimes it is good to pick on the weaker player, it offers more challenges to that player. May that make the player more determined to work harder. :D:D:D
    .
     

Share This Page