Why badminton isn't appealing much to non-Asian population in many places

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by Magwitch, Oct 22, 2022.

  1. wannaplay

    wannaplay Regular Member

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    @Budi , my previous comment was referring to UK specifically.

    as for kyu(u)bi, i am embarrassed that at my age i admit to knowing your naruto reference.
     
  2. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    Club level badminton is very demanding on beginner retirees, eg a poor clear is punished. I don't know why you think they would prefer it to tennis? (Other than that tennis is often outdoors). I have seen older players favouring pickleball.

    Tennis is slower and easier to hit the ball as far as you need to. (And granted if a player is 5 years old, or the size of a 5 year old, then they might need balls that bounce less high, but that's not such an issue for retirees).

    I have seen cases of older players that don't play what coaches say. They play sides more. So they don't have to run around at the back. Sometimes they almost have their own clubs! But most clubs I've seen are not mostly older players. Some few I've seen are predominantly older players.
     
  3. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Who says retirees only play in clubs? They could be renting a court and playing in a small group amongst themselves during the daytimes when courts are cheaper. People don’t have to be in a club to play the game. Anyway, I am not saying retirees are making the bulk of the figures - I am saying one needs to delve into the figures further and breakdown into demographic groups.
     
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  4. cerberus1846

    cerberus1846 Regular Member

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    there was a demographic breakdown done by Statista but I can’t seem to find it now…

    speaking from my own experience… my club in Edinburgh has over 400 members participating regularly and the age range is from 5/6 right up to people in their 60’s at all levels of ability.
     
  5. scamp

    scamp Regular Member

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    Badminton may be the most popular racket sport in the UK but sadly there's a tremendous amount of ignorance around it such as -

    Incorrect positional play (i.e. 'shall we play sides or front & back')
    Racket tension (i.e. dim-witted snobbery, my tension is higher, etc.)
    Poor technique (i.e. wrong racket grips/actions)
    Instructing beginners during play by low level players

    Thing is, anyone can pick up a racket and stroll onto a court. I've seen guys playing in sandals thinking they're the bees knees and showing others how to play. Duh! Maybe badminton's negative and/or simplistic public image has a lot to do with this kind of stuff. It's a fun little game you play in the garden, right? You can get a set in the supermarket for a fiver. That's okay to a point but does nothing whatsoever for the promotion of a professional sport.

    For badminton to become immensely popular in the West and raise knowledge, standards and image it needs a re-think from the top along with a revised structure. How many countries have a national league? Is it televised? Any sponsorship money in it? No and no again. So sadly it ain't gonna happen.
     
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  6. cerberus1846

    cerberus1846 Regular Member

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    you seem to be going off a bit on a tangent from the original thread! LOL!

    the original thread was around a claim that Badminton wasn't popular amongst non Asians in the West - clearly, that's not the case.. the things you've listed are entirely separate issues
     
  7. scamp

    scamp Regular Member

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    Not completely off topic. The things I outlined relate to badminton's image and its lack of appeal in the West. Many see it as a simple garden game and/or do not appreciate its skill sets. General ignorance around the sport is part of the problem.
     
  8. ShawnK

    ShawnK New Member

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    I agree. I didn't consider badminton a sport myself, but I played it as a kid. And when I saw footage of a professional game, I really liked it.
    How can badminton be popularized? We have to make it more rewarding. For example, boxing or karate classes give a person self-defense skills. Taking football or basketball classes gives one the opportunity to get a college scholarship. What does badminton provide? The answer to that question will be the answer to the first post in this thread.
     
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  9. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    A Sports scholarship is more of an American thing.

    In the UK nobody gets a university scholarship for playing a sport!

    In the UK people that play football do it because they like watching and playing football and that's enough for them to play it. They talk about it a lot. Newspapers report on it.

    Badminton is generally found to be a fun sport given the fitness to do it at the level you do it, and until an injury.

    And It's not like people would need to be baited to do a sport in the hope of getting an opportunity a decade down the line to commit to some study that if it works out, might help them in the future.

    People get into sport for all sorts of reasons and then the habit forms. Televising it would help for sure. But it's not like it's not popular. Getting decent at it is a huge commitment and there are many competing things in life, so I can see how that isn't popular.
     
    #49 ralphz, Nov 26, 2022
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2022
  10. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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  11. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    They can do but it’s not generous and variable between the Universities. The person would also have to commit to training the team which is fair enough. However, if the scholarship is not very generous in the first place, then the scholarship might not appeal to many people.
     
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  12. slovak

    slovak New Member

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    we need to engage some famous persons to play it, and maybe is tennis ball cheaper than our shuttles
     
  13. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    Price is certainly a factor. And moreso the fact that tennis balls last much longer. So people might even just have tennis balls already.

    Gimmicks are not the answer.
     
  14. event

    event Regular Member

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    I'm not sure you can read that much into U19 results. It has been true for decades that even European nations - or even players - that eventually end up with top 10 status tend to be absent from the list of World Junior medallists. In fact, Europe has had exactly two podium finishes in each discipline since 2007, except for boys' singles, since Axelsen medalled twice and Christo Popov once. There was actually even less European representation in the 1992-2006 period, albeit with double the number of champions (2 vs. 1 ;) ) Call it late blooming or patient career development, the senior stage has seen a lot more European success than the World Junior results ever portended.

    That said, your point is still valid in that we have no reason to expect that a major change is afoot if the pattern you observed has been going on for decades.
     
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  15. SSSSNT

    SSSSNT Regular Member

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    Ask yourself the same question. Why are you not into Jiu Jitsu/Taichi/Sepak Takraw/etc? The answer is probably the same as why badminton isn't appealing much to non-Asian population.
     
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  16. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    In the UK, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu actually has far more percentage competitive clubs than Badminton does.

    Infact I wish Brazilian Jiu Jitsu had more of a casual walk in doesn't matter if you are late set up.

    Badminton has a variety of set ups.

    Badminton is a lot easier to get into than Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You don't need a special outfit for badminton for starters.

    Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the start has its own outfit a Gi and that has its own washing cycle.

    And the thing that bugs people about some coached badminton clubs with the cardio training at the start , that's in almost all BJJ places.

    Badminton is a lot easier to get into and stick with no contest.

    BJJ has a higher dropout rate I'm sure.

    And by the way. Most non badminton players don't know there is a place in England called Badminton that it got its name from. It has been played in England since the beginnings of it being played. In the UK people try different things without much thinking re its origin.

    Karate used to be big before the days of MMA and BJJ. East Asian martial arts were hugely promoted in the USA movie industry, which fed into the UK.
     
    #56 ralphz, Dec 20, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2022
  17. Budi

    Budi Regular Member

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    @ralphz, @SSSSNT mean in general (not specificly other sport) its all about environtment & exposure.

    I dont play Tennis coz not much exposure here, not to mentio very little tennis court available.
    I know taekwondo, karate, whushu school club but my community (i mean friend around me) are more into sports than martial art stuff.
     
  18. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    Yes I think it makes sense to consider the exposure to sports in the given country. The question goes too broad..

    The UK is very diverse. It has Badminton Tennis , Karate , Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Taekwondo.

    And could consider the way it's promoted in the country. Though funnily enough. In the UK , BJJ is not mentioned in the mainstream media and neither is MMA.

    And somebody did mention to me about badminton being available on BBC iPlayer.

    Maybe a major reason for lack of competitiveness in badminton in most clubs, is lack of a belt system. And lack of a widespread almost mandatory grading system applied in all clubs.

    That said, maybe badminton has got it right. Most people aren't interested in competitive badminton. It requires a lot of dedication. And there are still a number of competitive badminton clubs and leagues.

    Maybe other sports should be taking the example of badminton

    As for the money side of things, there used to be not much money in MMA until Dana White came along and copied elements of WWE.. But even that aside.

    There isn't much advertising of the big events.. When I went a few years ago to Birmingham to watch some of the world championships.. The cab driver didn't even know the big event was taking place! He had no idea that the top players from all over the world and coming to his backyard to play badminton!

    Also even at the regional levels, people don't know these things are on, though that's true of other sports to eg amateur boxing, which is very high level. If you consider boxing most people don't know much about it if they did they'd watch amateur boxing..But other sports in the UK have more hype around the professional events. BJJ doesn't get big audiences, it's deadly boring to watch unless somebody is a big enthusiast, and there probably isn't much money in it. Maybe the Denmark Open Badminton Tournament gets a lot of hype in Denmark..

    A lot of sports might look like they're not doing too well, if compared with tennis and football. A thing with Badminton is the dedication required is immense.. In MMA it's possible for a talented homeless man to train for 10 years and become a champion. In boxing it's possible for a very powerful guy, Deontay Wilder who the experts think is rubbish, to be a champion.. In Badminton the top players should be better rewarded but I understand things are improving. BadmintonInsight did a video on the subject of the pay for the top ranked players.
     
    #58 ralphz, Dec 20, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2022

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