Head gear in badminton

I recently noticed many professional badminton players are wearing sweatbands.

As an indoor sports, badminton tournament are air-conditioned and players rarely sweat into their eyes.

However owing to the intensity of the games and genetic predisposition to sweat profusely on the forehead, many people wears sweatbands in badminton.

Figure 1. Most commonly are sweatbands as sported by Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.




Figure 2. Anders Antonsen.

And Anders Antonsen of Denmark.

As a person who wears headbands, I can appreciate its uses to prevent sweat from getting into the eyes.

There are 4 types of head gear to prevent sweat from getting into your eyes.

1. Headband
2. Head tie
3. Hair tie
4. Bandana

1. Headband
A cotton version of the wristband that wicks sweats away from your forehead.
Pros: ample absorption
Cons: a bit uncomfortable owing to the tightness of the elastic band's pressure on your skull.

Figure 3. The Adidas Head tie vs the Nike Hair tie.

2. Head tie
Basically a long rectangular piece of cotton or polyester cloth with a triangle tip.
Pros: The cool factor. Think tennis pros like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Cons: Less absorbent than the headband.

3. Hair tie
It's essentially a longer version of the head tie
Pros: The cool factor, especially for ladies. Think Serena Williams.
Cons: Less absorbent than the headband.

4. Bandana

Figure 4. Picture of a tube bandana, a versatile piece of headgear.

Figure 5. Picture of the traditional Square cloth tennis style Bandana from Nike (100% cotton).

(There are two types, one is the 'Buff' type head tubular gear and two is the traditional long piece of square cloth that are folded into place.)

Pros: The cool factor and super-absorbent. The perfect sports head gear. Tennis pros are using it for a practical reason, so should you, the badminton player.
Cons: None, except for haters.

Gosen Inferno Ex Review

My first impression of this racquet is it is unique.

The frame shape is in a form of sinusoidal shape like a wave.

Racquet is brilliant red.

The racquet is aesthetically pleasing.

The shaft is made from pyrofil.

The racquet is made in Taiwan.

The specs can be seen here.

Had it strung with Yonex BG66 at 26lbs.

The recommended string by Gosen is the G-Tone 5 strings.

                                         Figure 1. The T-joint

                                         Figure 2. The unique frame shape

Figure 3. The shaft

The meat and potatoes of the racquet...

THE factors: Balance & Flex

1.  Head heavy balance
2. Stiff flex.
3. Aerodynamic shape frame.
4. Weight of racquet: 86g

Conclusion: I have been playing with this racquet for 2 months now.

I would rate it as an excellent racquet for power and handling. In terms of control, it is surprisingly good even though the frame is kinda funny, the 86 g weight of the racquet makes it stable. Suitable for singles and doubles. Favours the attacking player.

Numerical ratings:

Power: 9.5/10

Control: 9/10

Defense: 9/10

Maneuverability: 9/10

Feel: 8.5/10

Hello 2018

I am back to blogging.

A lot of things have happened in 2017.

This year 2018, a major badminton tournament just finished, the 2018 Thomas and Uber Cup in Bangkok.

I missed the opportunity to the IMPACT centre at Bangkok, instead I completed my climb up the summit of Mount Kinabalu.

Indonesia and Malaysia Open is next...

What else happened in 2017? The emergence of Indonesian pair of Kevin Sanjaya and Marcus Gideon as world beaters.

Yonex introduced the Astrox series...

Some controversy with the service fault calls, owing to the new rules...

Badminton Shopping in Hong Kong

I went to Hong Kong SAR last month immediately after the conclusion of Malaysia Open.

I experience a culture shock after checking in into the notorious Chung King Mansion at Tsim Sha Sui area.

However, as my first visit to Hong Kong, I did the tourist thing and visited the usual area like the Peak, Lantau Island, Stanley and a day trip to Macau SAR.

However, Hong Kong is well known for shopping, being tax free.

Badminton shops are located all over the place like Mongkok, Jordan and Central. However, I visited the famous sneaker street or Poh Hai Gai in Cantonese.

The famous Rose Sports, well known from Badminton central. However, I found to my disappointment that Rose Sports is not a dedicated badminton shop but sells hiking shoes/bags and other sporting stuff. Badminton racquets are few.

Racquets at Rose Sports

Mizuno/Yonex Shoes at Rose Sports.

One of the shop with a much bigger selection than Rose Sports, ESL Racquets and Sports Megashop.

Malaysia Open April 4th 2017 in Kuching, Sarawak-Badminton Holiday

This is my second visit to Kuching Sarawak.  However this time with the added bonus of watching Malaysia Open.

The stadium where the event is held is called Stadium Perpaduan. Located in a sports complex area called Petra Jaya which is similar to Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.

There is even a large aquatics centre for swimming competition.

The stadium is located pretty far from Kuching town, I did take an uber to get there costing around RM 16...and return I took a Grab car back to the hotel.

Funny thing, the players are staying in Kuching Town, and I was shocked to see Chen Long in a 7-11 shop buying ice packs as was the 7-11 cashier. Many Sarawakians are die hard badminton fans and badminton stars are easily recognized.

I managed to take selfie photos with some players while walking around the street of Kuching.

I saw Lee Chong Wei coming back from training to the Grand Margherita hotel whilst I was about to board a minivan to the Sarawak Cultural Center.

Many players were seen doing their laundry at a 24 hours laundromat, owing the pricey hotel laundry service...

Anyway back to the action.

The stadium is pretty big with many seats.

The interior of the stadium.

The center ceiling of the stadium.

Four courts during the 1st day.

Local team playing...

Freezing the jumpsmash using high shutter speed. However, I did not have a high aperture lens to let in more light. My telephoto lens is a constant F4.

Pro cameraman in action.

Another cameraman with Bazooka Telephoto lens. Lens can get pretty big and expensive once you shoot sports photography professionally.

The sponsor of Malaysia Open is Victor, hence a booth selling Victor stuff.

Bags...

Racquets...

The Victor booth. I did not buy anything there. Prices are pretty competitive with most badminton shops.

There is even an autograph signing session by Victor stars, like Kim Ha Na etc.

This Malaysia Open witness a dream final between Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, with Lin Dan finally beating Lee Chong Wei in the final.

Malaysia Open 2017 Blog/vlog

The Malaysia Open this year will be held not in Kuala Lumpur but in the Kuching, the island of Borneo.

This time, I will try to vlog about it.

Videography seems like a challenging trade, but very exciting as well.

Combining being a director, actor, producer, cameraman and editor...

But definitely I continue to blog using photography.

Travelling light, I will probably bring a gimbal to stabilise my videos.

Previously in Bangkok,  I was using handheld shot which results in severe camera shake. Will try to stabilise the shots using a monopod as well.

A cameraman videotaping the event using a pro camcorder, in Bangkok.

Badminton Holiday Bangkok, Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters 07-12 February 2017

I have just returned from Bangkok, watching the Thailand Masters at the Nimibutur Stadium.

The stadium is located in the sports/stadium cluster. There is the BTS stadium called National Stadium.

Below are the views, shot from the Holiday Inn Hotel's top floor.

                                          Picture 1. The indoor stadium, where the game was held

                                          Picture 2. The track and field stadium

                                         Picture 3.The main stadium

Centrally located at the Pathumwan area, the Stadium is next to the famous Mah Boon Krong or MBK.

Tickets cost 200 Baht for quarter-finals and 400 Baht for semi-finals.

The stadium is dimly lit with the main lights focus on the courts.

There is also tight security where policemen and policewomen will check your bags after you pass through the metal detector.

Picture 4. Policeman manning the entrance to the seating area

There is a Yonex booth, media booth and history booth.

                                          Picture 5. Yonex booth

Local Heroine, Ratchanok Intanon was spotted signing autographs and taking photos with fans during the semi-finals.

The Yonex booth displayed latest gears like racquets, bag and clothes.

The latest, Duora Z-Strike was available at the booth as well.

However, the price is retail price and I did not buy anything. Besides the Thai sports shopping street is just behind the stadium and prices are much lower.

The stadium is a bit old, but it is well maintained though.

                                         Picture 6. Layout of the stadium

The atmosphere was quite lively as other Thai athletes came in a group, singing and chanting,'Thailand! Thailand!" accompanied by drums and dancing.

                                         Picture 7. One of the colourful Thai supporters

Surprisingly, the stadium is so near the hotels that the players were seen walking to the stadium on foot. Besides after the game, many players can be seen going to MBK and Siam Paragon.

Although less lively than the Indonesian Open at Istora Senayan, badminton watching in Thailand is an interesting experience. The Thais are very polite, well organised and respectful of opponents.

                                          Picture 8. Thai player doing the 'Wai' to the supporters and spectators.

All in all, my first experience watching badminton in Thailand. Of course, a great holiday, which I thoroughly enjoyed; combining eating, shopping and watching badminton.

Here is the mini movie I made about the trip. I realised that I still need a lot of experience/skill to edit a proper vlog. My editing and story telling, will need improvement, though.