AirBadminton - A New Way to Play Badminton Outdoor

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by LenaicM, May 13, 2019.

?

What do you think?

  1. Awesome!

    26 vote(s)
    47.3%
  2. Not for me...

    29 vote(s)
    52.7%
  1. It'sMeMeMe

    It'sMeMeMe Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2004
    Messages:
    4,625
    Likes Received:
    724
    Location:
    United States
    correct me if i'm wrong....isn't one of reason put forth on why badminton can't get the commercial exposure like tennis is becoz badminton has always been seen as backyard sport? meaning doesn't need proper court and facility per se like tennis to be played....i mean other than the other very obvious reason of western players not doing so well compared to asian counterparts... i mean so this air badminton....isn't it just gonna reinforce THAT notion that it IS a backyard sport?
    i'm confused....o_O
     
    event and darrengsaw like this.
  2. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    I doubt AirBadminton is primarily aimed at the western countries and even less to what you describe as USA (badminton being a backyard sport).

    The recent launch in China totally shows where their priority is. The shuttle has been developed in Singapore too.
     
  3. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    Looking to replace my badminton sessions with an alternative during summer (my clubs are closed until September) I stumbled on this variation mentioned in the previous pages of this topic: speedminton.

    I watched that speedminton promotional video and thought the part they play in the narrow street (0:48) to be very similar to the one recently published by the BWF to promote AirBadminton. Looks familiar right? o_O

     
  4. darrengsaw

    darrengsaw Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2011
    Messages:
    117
    Likes Received:
    28
    Occupation:
    Data Analyst
    Location:
    UK - Peterborough
    Badminton hardly needs a great amount of promotion in Asia, it's already a huge sport.

    That's not too say you aren't right of course, but the BWF (hardly the sharpest tools in the box) aren't exactly very effective at marketing the sport.

    They really do need to increase exposure and interest in markets where badminton isn't so big, The Americas, parts of Europe etc.

    I really don't see how airbadminton achieves any of this as I agree with the previous poster, it reinforces the idea that Badminton is just a casual pastime in my opinion, especially in the USA where the game is little more than a joke.

    Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
     
    Saru, Slade and It'sMeMeMe like this.
  5. It'sMeMeMe

    It'sMeMeMe Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2004
    Messages:
    4,625
    Likes Received:
    724
    Location:
    United States
    hmmm i'm even more confused now...
    what is going on?
    i thought bwf is trying this air badminton so that more ppl play badminton or at least to try to increase exposure of the sport..... naturally i thought western countries n some european countries or maybe african continent where proper courts are rare are the targets

    i need some panadols....
     
  6. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    May be the BWF is trying to reach on a new segment of the Asian population. The sport is popular in Asia but can always gain more followers. The Air Shuttle solves issues in many Asian countries including Singapore where indoor courts are limited while plenty of outdoor courts are available, especially next to many HDB flats. In India and Indonesia still plenty are playing outside. What about East Asian countries? A lot would gain to have access to this cheap outdoor shuttle. Badminton is played indoor and is a very popular sport in Asia but in a lot of those countries where the sport is popular, playing badminton indoor is somehow a privilege and quite expensive with hourly court fees and limited space.

    Now I totally agree with you and there are also other parts of the world where the BWF could promote the sport better but then why don't they? Why badminton brands are shying away from Europe for example with only a limited access to most of their products especially clothes. Why Adidas has an instagram account and website for most Asian countries but their products are not available in some Europea countries? Zame can be said for Mizuno , Apacs or Gosen. I think the BWF and brands knows and studied the market well enough and aren't amateurs. It's just at some point you have to assess the situation and if it is economically worth the effort or not.

    Would badminton be popular in USA if the sport would be more promoted over there? Would it be worth the effort? How much effort are we talking about?

    May be there is a higher benefit for the BWF and brands (they cooperate on a high level, the Air Shuttle being tested and will be produced by a known badminton manufacturer) to tap in another segment of the market where the sport is already popular and followed on TV (less advertisement necessary). Anyway I just think they never considered the perception of the sport in USA.
     
  7. darrengsaw

    darrengsaw Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2011
    Messages:
    117
    Likes Received:
    28
    Occupation:
    Data Analyst
    Location:
    UK - Peterborough
    Sounds like they are picking the low hanging fruit and taking an easy option.

    Much as they have done since they moved the operation to Asia a few years back.



    Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
     
  8. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    Being based in KL is another indicator of their priority yes.
     
    darrengsaw likes this.
  9. Borkya

    Borkya Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2016
    Messages:
    492
    Likes Received:
    487
    Occupation:
    teacher
    Location:
    Xiamen, China
    As an american who is living in China I think about this a lot. In many ways I think promotion would help the sport, but promotion alone won't do it. You need courts, coaches, clubs, shops etc, to keep the interest going past the initial spark of interest due to promotion. Also, look at soccer/football. Almost all kids play soccer in American when they are young and then they stop around puberty and overall soccer has never been able to infiltrate the American market like it has in Europe (despite a lot of attempts --and money spent--throughout the years). I do worry that badminton is like soccer and just won't catch in america for whatever reason.

    But I do agree that airbadminton is not the way to reach an american audience at all. Just perpetuates the "easy outdoor sports for kids" aspects and Americans are clearly not at all interested in that (or it would be more common at parks and beaches).

    And I live really close to Guangzhou where they launched the airbadminton. I follow BWF on facebook and twitter and if I knew about the event beforehand I would have TOTALLY gone to it. I would have even paid for a ticket and everything! But they never mentioned it. I think they missed a major opportunity by not promoting the event beforehand. I think their marketing really sucks.
     
    phihag likes this.
  10. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    The launch was very controlled. Players were only invited and there was almost no crowd. They just wanted to introduce AirBadminton safely and control negative comments about it.

    If you throw amateur players in the event, worst if they pay for it, they will be even more critic about AirBadminton and you don't want to launch a new product (shuttle is not available yet) and jeopardize it right away.

    Funny thing, I discussed with 2 Americans lately about sport and we came to the topic of badminton since it's my sport (they play baseball, american football and do a bit of MTB) and I have to say, there is a long way to go to for badminton over there. They should first know what is it and even how to say it. I was surprised when I heard them call it "badmington" or "badbinton". :D
     
    phihag likes this.
  11. darrengsaw

    darrengsaw Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2011
    Messages:
    117
    Likes Received:
    28
    Occupation:
    Data Analyst
    Location:
    UK - Peterborough
    I doubt more outdoors badminton with a toy shuttle will help the sports reputation in the USA.

    As mentioned earlier in the thread the BWF are only interested in the Asian market, the territory that needs promotion the least.

    Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
     
    LenaicM likes this.
  12. Ouchie

    Ouchie Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2018
    Messages:
    426
    Likes Received:
    244
    Location:
    UK
    I used to live and work very near to the old BWF head quarters when they were still based in the UK. The birth place of badminton and the source of the name was about 50 miles away. I didn't even know the BWF offices were so close until I read that they were going to move to Asia.
    The Badminton Association of England (BA of E) are supposed to be responsible for the local initiatives and promotion of the sport but they seem to do nothing or go completely unnoticed. Do all the other local associations do anything to earn their status?

    I hate to be negative about it but who cares about a new type of shuttle. Where is badminton going to be globally in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years?
     
  13. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2003
    Messages:
    4,642
    Likes Received:
    298
    Location:
    Surrey, UK
    Geez, does no one else ever play badminton in the garden with family and friends? :p I wouldn't mind a shuttle that was less prone to drifting off into the trees.

    Don't know whether it's a good ploy for "badminton exposure" (I'd guess not, but you never know?).
     
    phihag likes this.
  14. Matthew W

    Matthew W New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2019
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    London
    Anyone know where to actually buy one of these AirShuttles?
     
  15. TheDanishAngel

    TheDanishAngel Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2018
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    32
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Denmark - Aarhus
    atm you cant :-(

    "We are currently working with production companies to confirm the manufacturing process and continue the development of the AirShuttle and further improve the stability, durability and performance.

    The intention is to rollout the AirShuttle globally to support the worldwide implementation of AirBadminton" source: https://development.bwfbadminton.com/airbadminton/airshuttle
     
  16. darrengsaw

    darrengsaw Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2011
    Messages:
    117
    Likes Received:
    28
    Occupation:
    Data Analyst
    Location:
    UK - Peterborough
    It's all very BWF to announce this major new initiative and then nobody be able to actually buy the equipment.

    Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
     
  17. mobin2012

    mobin2012 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2012
    Messages:
    61
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    Chemical Engineer
    Location:
    MARS!
    guys where can I find the laws of the AirBadminton ?
     
  18. Giordano

    Giordano New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2010
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    vender
    Location:
    italy
    Are we honestly talking about garden play or outdoor badminton for BWF with international competitions including Beach sport tournaments as their president published in 2016? Has anyone organised an outdoor tournament? If you have the only green/blue/red grades or airbadminton one speed shuttlecock you can only have a successful event with Zero Wind. As an organiser and inviting players who travel long distances I have a responsibility to keep the quality of play high and not players trying hitting fly's. To play outdoors under a BWF umbrella needs a lot of intelligent thought and the problem to overcome is Wind Variance.
     
  19. Ballschubser

    Ballschubser Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2019
    Messages:
    339
    Likes Received:
    255
    Location:
    Germany
    There is a new presention of AirBadminton up:
     
    mobin2012 and LenaicM like this.
  20. Giordano

    Giordano New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2010
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    vender
    Location:
    italy
    Unfortunately I don't understand this thinking!!! They say under windy conditions the 9g weight is ok. can someone ask him what happens if there is no wind???? The shuttle obviously travels too long. Sorry, he must think we are stupid!!!
     
    #60 Giordano, Sep 20, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2019

Share This Page