racket sports

I bought this book hoping it would help me learn skills and tactics that would make me a better badminton player, but was really disappointed. This book has dozens of various drills that would probably have a positive effect on most persons' games if: (1) the reader had at least five hours a week of spare time to devote to the practice drills; (2)the reader has a partner willing to spend those five hours working on the drills; and (3) the reader can find a place to practice for those five hours. Given that most people (in N. America at least) probably have only a few hours a week available for either playing or court space (which they would like to use for playing rather than practice in any event), it does not become feasible to bother with the various drills that take up the majority of space in this book.

There is very little content in this book about subjects other than drills. The author describes the various strokes, but there is no mention whatsoever about tactics and strategies, either for singles or doubles. I agree with almost all of the comments of the first reviewer, but disagree strongly with his/her rating for the book. I found this book to be substantially useless for my needs.

Ok to check out from the library, but definitely NOT recommended for purchase.

Badminton is probably one of the most underecognized sports in the western world, but it is immensely popular in Asian countries as well as several European nations.

The game is not too difficult to learn, and this book does a good job in explaining the strokes. But the truth is that explaining how to play a game (through a book) is simply an impossible (or nearly impossible) task. The graphics do help, but the instructions can become a bit tedious. You'd do better to buy a video and simply study their actions and then read this book, rather than just buy the book by itself.

NOTE: This is not your average picnic-style game. True badminton is fast-paced, incredibly explosive, and filled with trick shots and actions at every turn. One has to be in top physical condition with excellent hand-eye coordination and quick feet in order to play the game well.

If you have these skills or have played the game before, grab this book. The basics will help.