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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Yonex Nanospeed 9900

Yonex is launching Nanospeed 9900 this february.

I cannot wait to get my G5 claws on it. Yee Haw!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Racquet science

Some of the good science were presented in this website. Although it's about tennis racquet, the basic principles also applied to badminton.

It mentions the physics of the racquet, the cause of tennis elbow and injury.
A pretty useful website for engineers to look into.

Korea Open 2009

Happy day for Denmark today.

32 year old Peter Gade has beaten the World no. 1 player, 26-year old Lee Chong Wei in a rubber game.

Whereas in Women's singles, Tine Rasmussen has beaten Pi Hongyan from France in straight sets.

Boe/Morgensen has upset the favourites, Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung in a straight sets. The Korean weakness and vulnerability to jump drops has been exposed.

The MD was won by Korea and the Women's Doubles was won by Chinese Taipei.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Review of three badminton shoes

I am using these 3 badminton shoes: Yonex SHB90MX
Pros: One of the best eye candy shoe, well cushioned all around, ease of movement and mid-range price
Cons: Lateral instability when landing from a jumpsmash, can cause rolled ankle if shoe lace is not tight. (happens to any shoes for that matter).
Yonex SHB 100 LTD
So far the benchmark of all badminton shoes. Can't get any better than this.
Pros: Well cushioned heels, ease of movement to any direction, durability (for me anyways), lateral stability, ankle support and very comfortable.
Cons: the most expensive Yonex shoes, cushioning a bit lacking in forefeet especially when landing from a jumpsmash, others may may have issues with its durability.
Asics Gel-Task
Pros: very well cushioned shoes, hardly felt any impact when lunging or landing from a jump Cons: not a badminton specific shoe, slightly heavy which affects mobility, not well ventilated, feet warms up easily and slightly high on the ground (need to tie shoe lace tightly)
Mizuno Wave Smash-SG
Missed opportunity, I didn't have a chance to try this popular shoe.
Pros: the looks, low on the ground, well ventilated (there are some air vents on the soles)
Cons: Price, almost the perfect badminton shoes.

My unpublished post in Badminton central

Ha ha, I got the same problem in 2006 when I tried the ti-10.

My guess is you didn't do the overhead from a sideway stance, hence your swing will pull your shoulders during follow through.

Swinging the racquet from not a sideway stand will result in torque which will pull your joints away from your body. Since for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The torque will "pull" your ligaments/tendons (joint tissue) away from you, your joints will resist the torque. The follow through by scissoring of the racquet leg will resist the torque.

Try this simple exercise to strengthen the shoulders. if you feel not strong enough. I'm sure the pros have some form of this type of exercise as part of their training regimen.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Badminton shoes

I've always know that badminton is a game of movements.

The requirements of badminton is very different from sports like sprinting or tennis.
badminton shoes need to be tough and able to absorb impacts like sudden stops, change of direction and jumps.

The heels absorb most of impact on lunging. When in the ready position, the balls of feet absorbs the weight and pushes the player forwards, sideways or backwards. Therefore its easy to see there's movenment in 360 degrees.

Therefore, the shoes need to be sturdy enough to handle all this forces. Usually a tough leather upper is sewn by thick threads to renforced the shoe upper.

The center of gravity needs to be low enough, not to cause ankle sprains.

Therefore if possible, don't skimp on cheap shoes, its the tool that helps your game, protect your joints and prevents injury.

This video shows how the impact our feet is subjectd with proper footwork.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Badminton All-time great matches

Datuk Punch Gunalan vs Rudy Hartono
They are using 1U wooden racquets :)

Lim Swee King (INA) vs Morten Frost (Den)

Zhao Jianhua (CHN) vs Morten Frost (DEN)

Awesome weekends

I had played 5 hours of badminton this weekend. Staurday and Sunday. After the games, legs start to get sore, but euphoria of enjoying the game still lingers. :)

Back to work tmrw.

Look forward to next weekend.