Portland Badminton Club

Ever taken a road trip down to Portland? The beaches are beautiful, the grass is green, and the drives seem short as the beautiful scenery whisks past your window.

But being cooped up in the car for long hours is never fun! Get out of the car and stretch at the Portland Badminton Club!

As Oregon's premier badminton club, PBC has paid great attention to detail in choosing high ceilings, natural lighting and oakwood floors. PBC offers 6 full-sized courts and one practice court for your convenience.


Practice court seems awesome--box game, anyone?


PBC offers year - round classes, from beginners "after-school" classes to competitive classes. (For more information: http://www.portlandbadmintonclub.com/monthly_classes.php).
- Owner and head coach Ralph Cervantes is a USAB Certified Badminton Coach Trainer with international experience, so he'll undoubtedly get you involved in tournaments in no-time! (Additional coach information: http://www.portlandbadmintonclub.com/coaches.php).


Try it out by dropping in. Rates are:
Weekdays (2pm-10pm)
$10 for adults
$5 for kids
Weekends (Sunday Noon-9pm)
$12 for adults
$5 for kids

Drop-in rates cover the entire day so you can play to your heart's content. Be sure to ask them for their affordable membership fees as well! After you start, you won't want to stop!

Portland Badminton Club opens its doors to all levels of players so don't be afraid to pay them a visit.

If you want to get more information, check out their website: Portland Badminton Club

I'll be posting their upcoming tournament information soon, so stay tuned! Hope to see you at PBC!

Russian Military is taking up Badminton!

Read the paper this morning? According to Business Insider Europe, the Russian Military is to take on badminton!  Why? "Officials have said that the game requires the same muscles used to throw a grenade or other projectile, while following the shuttlecock trains the eye and improves reaction speeds."

(Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-military-badminton-2011-11#ixzz1dkIcZRI1)

Unfortunately, the Russian Defense Military is denying these allegations. According to The Guardian, it's true that there are courts and rackets in existence, but the military [might not] have plans to actually take up the sport for military technique training. Who knows? 

(Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/14/russia-denies-service-personnel-badminton) 

Badminton's been taking Russia by storm lately-- if you haven't heard, Russian President Dimitri Medvedev was interviewed for his badminton hobby a few months ago. Believing those who play well can make quick decisions, he plays with his soon-to-be successor, Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, during his time off. Cool!

In terms of 'reaction speeds', a group of friends and I were talking about this around the dinner table yesterday, after the BCD+A. They managed to scare me with a screamer video via iPhone, and caught the phone as soon as I had thrown it in fear. At the same time, a nearby waitress had pushed a knife off a table by accident-- quick hands caught it in the blink of an eye. Badminton skills? Perhaps. 

Video: http://www.businessinsider.com/medvedev-putin-badminton-match-2011-10

So if you'd like to practice 'throwing projectiles', take up badminton! 

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In other news, BCD+A tournament results are up. You can see them here: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=2C37EE5B-9820-485C-9DEA-2C9AD6BD19B7

Don't forget to check out Men's Singles A and BCD. Women's Singles A didn't have enough entries, so they were dispersed into the Men's Singles category. I wonder how well they did...

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BADMINTONSQUARE!!!!

November 7th marked the first anniversary of BadmintonSquare! The first tournament that was promoted on the blog was the BCD+A 2010, so it's only fitting that we celebrate in the very weekend of BCD+A 2011!

BadmintonSquare was created to expand the badminton community. Badminton has done so much for me in the past few years. Through this sport I've met so many amazing people--local players, international athletes and big time all-stars! My teammates and opponents became my friends, and these friends became my family. Without the badminton community, I have no idea how I would have kept my sanity throughout my high school and university years. BadmintonSquare is giving me the opportunity to give back, and hopefully I can share what I've learned with you.

It's been great fun running this blog for the past year, and there will only be more improvements to come! Here are some weird facts about BadmintonSquare to keep your hunger satiated:

The most popular post of all time, winning by a LARGE 'viewer' vote, the T-Shirt Design post!  Looks like badminton players are quite stylish. I've been collecting photos of designs from tournaments all over the world, so I'll be sure to post them up soon!

A majority of my viewers use Internet Explorer and Firefox to keep updated with their badminton news, but I've gotten a few other ones that I've never heard of before. Iron? Rockmelt? Snazzy-- where are you guys from?

iPods, iPads, iPhones....Androids, Blackberries-- glad you guys are keeping in touch on-the-go! Let me know if I can make the blog easier for your small-screen viewing pleasure :)

We've gotten hits from all over the world-- the US, Canada, Phillippines, Singapore, Myanmar, India, Malaysia, UK, Afghanistan, Romania, Latvia, Germany, France, Indonesia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Korea....AND MORE! Send me your tournament information and help me make BadmintonSquare INTERNATIONAL!


I got a little bored and googled "BadmintonSquare" and I found a song called "Breakdance on the corner of Badminton Square"......WILL DO! (Is it a remix of some sort?)

If there's anything you'd like to share -- tournaments, players profiles, tips and tricks...leave a comment in the comment box! BadmintonSquare is here to help you improve your game and expand your community, so let me know what I can do to help!

Well, I'm going to head out to watch the BCD+A to celebrate. :) Thank you all for following BadmintonSquare! Don't forget to send me feedback via "comments" below, and subscribe!

Can't decide what to do with your mountain of badminton T-shirts?

(taken from Reddit.com):
My mom and aunt made a quilt of all my old band/concert shirts. Best gift I ever received!

I have an insane amount of badminton T-shirts that have been washed so many times that they're almost unwearable. That, or they've been pushed to the back of my closet and have since been completely forgotten. Anyone want to make me a quilt?

Off topic, but BCD+A tournament draws will be up next week! Look forward to seeing you all there on Veteran's/Remembrance Day weekend!

Speedminton?

Ever hear of Speedminton?

I came across an article at Livestrong.com's Lisa Porter on the rules of Speedminton.

Differences?

Well, first of all, the court is supposedly less complicated. Two squares 18-foot squares separated by 42 feet, with no net.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Speedminton_court.png

 (Obviously, if you have issues with the box game, you're going to have problems playing speedminton...)

If that wasn't different enough, the rackets are different. Rackets look a little more like squash rackets, and the birdies are smaller-- shorter, so it'll fly faster. In a way, it looks like a mix of tennis, badminton and squash rolled into one.


The rules are pretty simple-- hit it into each other's squares, and hit it back before it touches the ground. Don't hit it out of bounds, and don't let it hit the floor. Games are up to 16 with a two point lead. You switch squares after each match, and you must win 3 matches to win a game. Loser serves in the next round.Sounds simple, right? But....how do you play doubles?

YOU CAN! With the same 42 feet in between the squares, your doubles partner will stand in another square adjacent to yours. They'll serve to the opponent that's diagonal from their square, serving 3 serves each time.

Frankly, it sounds incredibly hard, especially since I have a tendency to hit....in all the space between me and my opponent. That'll be a big issue to overcome. That, and I'm not very good at the box game as it is-- this would only make it more frustrating.

It sounds like fun to give it a shot, though. What do you think? Will there be a SpeedmintonSquare.com?

Husky Badminton Open (Recap)

When/if you lose, add a bit of humor to win back your audience :)

That concludes the second annual Husky Badminton Open!

Not only were there the typical players in Washington--but we had a few surprises as well! Players from the University of Oregon showed up and gave us quite a challenge on our own turf-- big thanks to them for visiting! 5 hour drive....well worth it, I hope!

Not only did the Oregonians surprise us-- but it looks like Nicholas Jinadasa showed up to give us quite a scare, taking home the mixed doubles trophy with Rochelle N., beating last year's champions Curtis and Amy in two games. Snazzy! I hope we'll be seeing him in London 2012-- he sure deserves it!

The Husky Badminton Club did a fantastic job running a fairly large tournament. With over 120 participants, they ran the tournament smoothly with the help of their friendly volunteers. Food was plentiful, announcers were fantastic, the opening and closing were organized and timely...as the years go by and the tournament gets bigger, I can definitely see the Husky Badminton Club dominating the Washington badminton scene very soon.

I do hope that the badminton community around the country gets bigger and bigger-- most tournaments can be joined by anyone, so give it a shot! You'll never know until you try, and it definitely gives an incentive to practice. So grab your racket, find your nearest badminton facility, and get smashing!

Thanks again for the great tournament, Husky Badminton Club. See you all next year.

Don't forget....!

Don't forget that the BCD+A Tournament Deadline is this coming Sunday, Oct. 23rd!

(Here's the link for your convenience....don't procrastinate! DO IT NOW!)

I already notice some Canadians on the list....and...Australian...?

For those of you who are playing the Husky Open 2011, best of luck! After you play some good games and win some trophies, challenge yourself with the BCD+A! :) 

In other news...

Does anyone else notice the huge increase in the use of Wilson Rackets? Maybe it's just me-- but I hear they're moderately priced for their quality, and the rackets that they currently offer aren't bad! Averaged at about $80 for rackets that are comparable to competitive brands...it seems affordable enough...any opinions?