Badminton Players on Boards

tipper1

Just wondered !
Are there many badminton players on boards and could there be enough to have regular discussions on the game as I do miss the forum which was on the B.I. website.
I do think forums are a great way to get information and to discuss ideas for any sport.

To get the ball rolling,
I do think that B.I. have taken there eye off the club scene and club player over the recent past and this is disappointing as this is where the majority of the games volunteers come from and where the registration fees come from to run the sport.

neil_hosey

i thnk the BI forum is back actually. But theres very little activity on it.

helimachoptor

Guys, can you tell me if there are any competitive clubs around south dublin, I played quite a bit in school (10 years ago) but would like to get back into it. We did have a "club" use our school for a while but frankly they were quite old and it was no where near competitive enough for me.

chat247

Would love to see regular badminton discussion. For what its worth I would be more interested in club badminton and the issues surrounding it rather than bigger picture @ B.I. level.
Would appreciate any ideas on how to attract new and lapsed ladies especially up the grades, 4,3,2 etc. Good club facilities in the Midlands with good overall membership, lots of men of all grades but always struggling to find enough ladies. Do you have / did you have similar problems, if so how did you improve the situation?

Repolho

chat247 wrote: »

Would appreciate any ideas on how to attract new and lapsed ladies especially up the grades, 4,3,2 etc. Good club facilities in the Midlands with good overall membership, lots of men of all grades but always struggling to find enough ladies. Do you have / did you have similar problems, if so how did you improve the situation?

I think this is a problem in alot of clubs; strong men with no strong ladies to play with and beginner ladies with no beginner men to play with and unfortunately I have no solution to offer!

In our club, we offer coaching and a beginners only night at the start of the season (usually for 6 or 8 weeks) and this has been very good for us in finding new members.

chat247

We have something similar, coaching and a beginners night for Sept & Oct however the beginners then don't want to progress to the club nights proper. A divided club then brings resentment.

tipper1

neil_hosey wrote: »

i thnk the BI forum is back actually. But theres very little activity on it.

Neil, I don't think the BI forum is back. I think they pulled the plug on this after some controversial discussions about the International scene. I could be wrong thou.

It is also the club scene which is of interest to me.
Ladies in the competitive club game is disappointing but also the lack of girls playing.
I would see badminton as having major appeal to them and their parents so I do wish they would get involved.

I hope B.I. also refocus their interest/promise of a countrywide, universal grading. Tough job to sort out thou.

Repolho

tipper1 wrote: »

I hope B.I. also refocus their interest/promise of a countrywide, universal grading. Tough job to sort out thou.

Whatever became of this. I remember speaking to Craig Casey (president of B.I.) at the Irish open in 2008 and he told me this was coming in in 2009. Never heard anything more about it after that.

neil_hosey

tipper1 wrote: »

Neil, I don't think the BI forum is back. I think they pulled the plug on this after some controversial discussions about the International scene. I could be wrong thou.

It is also the club scene which is of interest to me.
Ladies in the competitive club game is disappointing but also the lack of girls playing.
I would see badminton as having major appeal to them and their parents so I do wish they would get involved.

I hope B.I. also refocus their interest/promise of a countrywide, universal grading. Tough job to sort out thou.

ah i see.. well theres nothing wrong with us turning this into a badminton forum i reply to most badminton questions here (that i see any way).

tipper1

Ya I think the universal grading has been forgotten about since. It is a pity as I see it as a possible great plus for the club scene as players willing to travel, may be able to play comps all over the country and more importantly within their own level/grade.

However I do think there are changes afoot in B.I. so their may be some developments sooner rather than later. Won't be much before next season thou I reckon.

I do think the club scene does need a helping hand from the top as far as guidance goes but of course it is dowm to the individual clubs to look after themselves. It is without doubt tough going.

Repolho

Do any of your clubs suffer from a post Christmas drop off in attendance / interest in club nights?

We had an average of over 25 people on club nights before Christmas and since we can back afterwards our average has been down to 15.

Any of you guys notice that in your clubs and what do you do about it?

Repolho

Seeing as this seems to be the only badminton thread with a bit of banter in it I though I would ask this question here:

How many rackets d you guys have and do you have different rackets for different events (Singles, doubles, mixed) or even for different halls?

Heres my story for starters:

I had 3 rackets all the same so that I would always have spares when I broke a string or something. 1 Broke towards the end of last season, 1 earlier this season and 1 about 2 weeks ago. I'm using my wifes spare racket for the time being while I wait on my new rackets to arrive (I bought 2 x apacs tantrum 200 from racquet_sports on www.ebay.com.my ; those Malaysians know a thing or 2 about badminton!).

Our club hall has a low ceiling which makes for a very fast game so I like a headlight and very manouverable racket. However I find it lacks power in a high hall where you are forced to play from further back more often so I might get a second racket, more head heavy just to give me a bit more welly. It would also be better for the odd time I play singles!

Whats your racket situation?

tipper1

I too, used to have a couple of different rackets (Sotx Woven 8 & Carlton Superlight).I liked both of these but now have three of the same rackets ( Sotx CP5000).
These are a light balanced racket and find the maneuverability brilliant for doubles and fast play, while still having the power for singles and smashing,etc.
I have tried a head-heavy racket before but having gone back to the balanced racket, I would not change again.
I also slightly blame the head heavy racket for bit of shoulder trouble.

To answer an earlier post. We too find a slight fall off after Christmas, especially in with the more social player. This could be down to the January Gym buzz. I think players need some reason the come to the hall every week maybe for some regular club comp or something. The end of the season comes very quickly once Christmas is over.

neil_hosey

ive 2 rackets that i use regularly and swap between to 2.. I use an yonex arcsaber 10 as my first racket most of the times. Its a balanced racket with a hell of a lot of power, but not very good for low ceiling fast flat games you were talking about.

My second racket is a head metallix 8000. Absolutely brilliant racket for 80 euro.

Actually think i prefer it to the arb saber 10. Either way 2 great rackets.

Arb Sabre 10: 140 euro :eek:
Metallix 8000: 80 euro

dogg_r_69

I've a Yonex Amortec 250 as my main racket.... Had a nice Wilson until one of the lad broke it:mad: Thinking of getting another one soon but will probably leave it till after my last few matches

tipper1

Anyone miss the Old Scoring or would ye rather the new 21 point system.
Personally I like the new system especially in singles but would rather the old system for doubles, especially mixed.

Repolho

I like the new system. On club nights, it allows us to generally get a full set played in the 10 minutes per game. Also, we run tournaments in the club which under the old scoring used to go on all night, now we get down to the pub in plenty of time for last orders.

From a playing point of view, I generally like it although it can sometime favour a more conservative and defensive player rather than an attacking agressive player. I think this is particularly true for singles.

I hate serving into 20!

Has anyone ever gone to 30 points in a game? I'd hate to be the one to serve at 29-29 :eek:.

Brian

Furthest I've gotten was to 27... a MD match in the Swiss Open today got to 29-27 though, which was crazy.

I have a Yonex MusclePower 99 and Yonex Carbonex 8... both of them are a bit weary at this stage. I can hear the shaft of my MP99 creaking when I flex it. I'm interested in getting a Panda Power Trinity 2 off Daniel Chien on BadmintonCentral... but can't really afford it right now.

tipper1

Anyone playing in league or cup finals as it comes towards the end of the season or how has yer seasons gone. Our own team is in a league final next week. Really looking forward to it.

Repolho

Overall its been a pretty good season, but we still have some cups to play. In summary:

Mixed team:

• 3rd place in the league, but beaten in the semi final
• Runner up in 1 cup
• in the semi of another cup (but playing the team who beat us in the league semi final).

Mens Team:

• Came nowhere in the league. Very disapointed as we were very narrowly beaten in the final last year so we thought we had a good chance this year
• In the semi final of the cup.

We have a few other teams in the club who are also in cup semi finals so hopefully 1 of us can bring back a cup to fill up in the local

dogg_r_69

Been a good season so far......

Mens Team:
- Came 2nd in the league Won semi-final last week so final to come....
- Cup still to be played

Mixed team:
- 1st in the league, won semi-final. Final to come in a week or 2
- Won one of the cups
- Quarter finals (1st round) in a handicap cup (seeing as we won the league we're -6 Team we're to play is +4

As for the rest of the club...... Alot of teams in semi's but think nearly everyone has lost.....:(

Brian

What clubs do you Dublin guys play for? I'm playing for TCD but I was thinking of playing for another club next year since we don't get any real training...

Jayeire

Playing with UCC and Waterford City Badminton Club at the moment.

Great to finally see an active badminton thread. Its a real pity that there's no forum on badminton ireland anymore!

tipper1

Narrowly beaten in our final but hopefully have another one to come next week. On a whole our club has done well and are still involved in a few finals. We will have to wait and see.

tipper1

Do many of ye keep playing over the summer months or rather take a total break.

I kinda kept in touch last summer but I think I will totally switch off for a couple of months and let the joints recover. Any cures for shoulder pain ?

One thing I really hope to do early next season is do some proper footwork training. Threatening it for too long now but once you get into a hall, all you want to do is play a game.

Brian

Ideally I would be keeping up training over the summer, but I'm going to be in Maine for a summer job and it doesn't look there are any badminton clubs nearby... pretty annoying.

Repolho

Our club breaks for the summer. We pretty much follow the school calendar as we play in a school hall.

Alot of our players (myself included) play tennis for the summer.

A few of us are contemplating going to a training camp before the start of next season. Badminton England and Badminton Scotland both run them. Its not that we are super serious about badminton, more that theres a few of us are dood friends playing on the same team and it would be a weekend away together. Anyone else ever done any of these courses? Are they really hard core or could you make a good weekend out of it aswell as get a bit of training?

neil_hosey

through to the quarters of the league. playing this sunday in baldoyle. Semis of the cup.

My club plays thru the summer with alot less people. maybe 15 or so. the summer bonanza tournament run in whitehall road is a bit of craic.

Repolho

Mixed team beaten in the semi final of the cup but my mens team won their semi final. Final in 2 weeks time. Wish me luck .

dogg_r_69

Mixed - League final tomorrow night, out of the cup Monday night... twas disgusting.....:(

Men's - Lost league final, Cup semi-final to come yet

smallgarden

i played for years when i was younger but its been around ten years since last played,didnt go from juvenile to adult club,i didnt even know theyve changed point system!

tipper1

If there has been just one thing or the biggest thing, that you have done or focused on, to improve your game, what has it been.

Repolho

tipper1 wrote: »

If there has been just one thing or the biggest thing, that you have done or focused on, to improve your game, what has it been.

Serve & return of serve. When I was in college, if we had uneven numbers the coach would tell you to get the box and go and do 100 serves while waiting for the next round of games! Definitely has paid off. I play in division 2 and I always tell people in my club that I'm not much better than them but I can serve well and return serve well and this has gotten me from division 6 to division 2!

Our division 6 players overlook the basics too much. When we get coaches into the club they ask about overhead backhands, or big smashes or overcomplicated tactics yet will lose probably 10 points per set from bad serves and bad returns!

I can never understand why players have a bad serve as its the only shot in the game that you are fully in control of and its the easiest to practice as you don't even need a partner!

Justice

Im a badminton player too,

i only started last year as an adult, i had never played before.

i will second Repolho, the serve (i'm still working on the return) has done wonders for me, i used do it forehand, but (with advice from coaches) i changed to backhand and now plop most of my serves on the front line. peeps think i'm great but its such a fruitful skill that anyone who actually thinks about the game cant miss. i have only played a couple of competition matches (grade 6) but that will change as the team is changing.

its a great game, i have even gotten involved in the coaching side with our junior club (actually i started there, then decided i may as well play myself!) after doing the level 0 coaching course. im seriously enjoying this aspect of the game as well,

so on two fronts i am really enjoying this game.

cant recommend this enough to anyone.

tipper1

Anyone attend or hear aything interesting from the B.I. agm.
I was thinking of going but weather was just too good.

neil_hosey

i thought its been and gone tbh.. thought i seen it on BI website but could be wrong!


More importantly :P, anyone know if the summer bonanza graded tourney in whitehall road is happening again this year?

MinesABulmers

neil_hosey wrote: »

i thought its been and gone tbh.. thought i seen it on BI website but could be wrong!


More importantly :P, anyone know if the summer bonanza graded tourney in whitehall road is happening again this year?

24th and 25th July - http://www.leinsterbadminton.com/Home/tabid/222/ctl/Details/mid/764/ItemID/691/language/en-US/Default.aspx

bellylint

I play too. Been playing since I was a wee nipper. Love the game, but play it far too much, am trying to branch out into other sports. Down to two nights a week atm

bellylint

tipper1 wrote: »

If there has been just one thing or the biggest thing, that you have done or focused on, to improve your game, what has it been.

+1 to "Serve and return of serve"

I play div one atm, got to semi's this year and won it a couple of years (before I injured my knee and had to take a break). If you think about rally's generally lasting on avg 5 shots, then serve and return of serve make up 40% of the shots played in a rally.

Next big think I would advise is court positioning. you can come off looking like an amazing player just simply from being in the right place to capitalise on whether you are attacking or on defense.

robw017

I played until I was about 15, started back playing again 10 years later, the middle of ths season a year ago, in a social club, and played the end of this season with the league club. Gonna join the league club this season. Was playing 3 or 4 nights a week last year. Love it.
Regrding numbers up to last christmas we would ahve up to 45 people coming down for 3 courts, but it died off after the christmas. Very frustrating playing 1 game, and sitting out the next two.
Started back with my old racket, which was an aluminum head carbon shaft Carlton, which lasted until last Nov. The head folded on itself.
Now playing with Prince O3 Speedport, and since then my game has gotten so much better. broke about 3 sets of strings witin a couple of months.
Most important thing I have improved on is my serve and return, and my positioning, and to learn not to pre-empt the return from very good players who will just snap their wrist and place it where I moved from, leaving me looking like a tool.
I also foud that I was getting a bit stale for a few weeks from constant play and needed a break of a week or two. looking forward to getting back ina few weeks though.

helimachoptor

Guys can anyone recommend a decent club around south dublin? I played quite a lot in school and have begun playing again with colleagues during lunch. I'm pretty fit and competitive also.

Anan

helimachoptor wrote: »

Guys can anyone recommend a decent club around south dublin? I played quite a lot in school and have begun playing again with colleagues during lunch. I'm pretty fit and competitive also.

Try it here - http://www.leinsterbadminton.com/Clubs/tabid/245/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Repolho

Can't believe its almost the start of the new season. Its amaxzing how quick the summer goes when its not raining all the time!

Is everybody else as excited about it as I am this year.

Every year in our club we say that we are going to do proper training (maybe even get in a coach) at the start of the season for 6 weeks before the leagues start and really hit the ground running. Lets hope this is the year we make good on our promises!

Anyone know if Gormanstown will be on this year? I've never been but I heard its great craic!

zeusnero

Repolho wrote: »

Can't believe its almost the start of the new season. Its amaxzing how quick the summer goes when its not raining all the time!

Is everybody else as excited about it as I am this year.

Every year in our club we say that we are going to do proper training (maybe even get in a coach) at the start of the season for 6 weeks before the leagues start and really hit the ground running. Lets hope this is the year we make good on our promises!

Anyone know if Gormanstown will be on this year? I've never been but I heard its great craic!

No idea if Gormanstown will be on - the ISBT in Limerick definately is though

CiaranMT

zeusnero wrote: »

No idea if Gormanstown will be on - the ISBT in Limerick definately is though

Went to that last year, great craic!

I'm a badminton player as well, playing with UL, currently in Canada atm looking for the club on campus. Not having much luck

Repolho

Repolho wrote: »

Anyone know if Gormanstown will be on this year? I've never been but I heard its great craic!

I see on the badminton Ireland website that there's an All Ireland Club Championships on in Baldoyle in the 16/17th October.

Is this the one that used to be in Gormanstown?

That seems to be a popular weekend for tournaments, Mitchelstown club are also having a tournament that weekend. Div 5s & 6s only though.

dogg_r_69

After being back playing now a week or 2 what's everyone's aspiration/expectations for the year?

Not sure what to expect myself yet, moved up a division an not sure what ways the teams are yet

Also where does everyone buy their rackets.....Tempted to treat myself......;)

g0g

dogg_r_69 wrote: »

After being back playing now a week or 2 what's everyone's aspiration/expectations for the year?

Not sure what to expect myself yet, moved up a division an not sure what ways the teams are yet

Also where does everyone buy their rackets.....Tempted to treat myself......;)

I've bought rackets here last season plus my club used them for shuttles for quite a while I think. Good prices, no problem with delivery and a lot better value than buying locally I found unfortunately!

tipper1

dogg
I sell SOTX Rackets myself. Great rackets at very good prices, just pm me or if from Cork try Siobhain Corbett in Carrigaline (Yonex). She has a shop called Little Rascals and sells the badminton gear from there. Very good to deal with.

tamoor2

hi i am living in dublin and i want to play badminton morning time any body help me any club or group of people playing morning time . please help me my mobile no is 0862005696 e-mail@...

Repolho

tipper1 wrote: »

dogg
I sell SOTX Rackets myself. Great rackets at very good prices, just pm me or if from Cork try Siobhain Corbett in Carrigaline (Yonex). She has a shop called Little Rascals and sells the badminton gear from there. Very good to deal with.

+1 for Siobhan Corbett. Our club buys all our shuttles from her and I've bought several pairs of yonex badminton runners from her. Very good to deal with.