LazyBuddy: Ok, I understand your point. And I agree that, we should protect ourselves in any situation, rather than pray others to show mercy. However, I think your statement is a bit harsh, especially for players who have not as good experience / skill / physical conditions. Most us joe club lvl player going to gym, is to exercise, to make friends, to relax. The last thing we want to see, is someone being sent to hospital, be it's a pure accident or intential stroke. True, everyone plays to win, and the rule book did NOT state where you can't attack. However, is winning a rally the everything about the game? And anything not in the rule book (for whatever reason) must be all right to do, under any situations? For example, fouling is part of the game (i.e. basketball, hockey, etc), and part of the strategy, which is perfectly fine. However, if you play dirty, and on purposely injuried ppl, doubt your reputation will be any good. Of course, you can say, hey, part of the game... why can't him (the injuried one) land more balancely, instead of land on his own head, etc... But hey, do u really want to see blood just for a W in record book? Look at Ron Artest, he's the all star, and play the highest level. Instead being remembered as another great one, everyone considers him as a trouble maker or dirty player. Of course, I don't think he really want to kill anyone, but the way and foul he plays, sometimes is a big NONO. Then, the famous "Bertuzzi blood bath". Yeah, he can say that's "part of his game", but who will really believe his cheap shot is "for the team's benefit"? Other things like pitcher throw the ball to batter's body or head, etc. Ok, keep talking about "i lost my ball control", "damn, the other team just hit my buddy in previous inning", etc. Just think about what about if you are the receiving end, and currently lying in the hospital... Personally, there are several times, I can excute a smash at the front, but I simply changed my strokes or even take a chance shoot it out, just because I am afraid to injury someone. The winning record is good, and we fight hard for it. However, we still need to make a reasonable decision under special situation. We do it, because we are human being, not brainless beast, and definitely not because whether there's a rule book or not. Javalina: I totally agree with all of you. Those behavior shouldn't not be tolerated in the sport of badminton. In my place there is a guy who is playing ok (more like decent but he thinks he is so GOOD), like to take on novice players and smashed a hell of them. I have personally told him he should stop doing that because that discourage the novice players to come again but he just ignore me. So what I have been doing is to refuse playing with him even if I am the only one player available or when I play against him in doubles. My smashes will always go to him and I purposefully aim at him just to give him a taste of his own medicine. I know it is not nice but he should be taught not to do certain things. I understand Gollum's point - Smashing towards somebody is a very good tactic as it almost always takes the defender by surprise and is much harder to hit than a smash 1 or 2 feet to his right or left. And he did exclude beginners - that would really be pathetic. It is also a fact that even if you do aim a few inches away from the opponent you could still be off target. Everyone does want to win but not at the expense of hurting someone - i got my injury from one of my closest friends and it certainly wasn't intentional. Every sport has it's risks and it does no good to whine about them. However, badminton is and should remain, a gentleman's sport - a player who intentionally smashes towards someone even when that person is in no position to return a smash aimed anywhere else is just a show-off. If I see that my opponent is in no position to return a smash I aim away from his body - it's just a courtesy, and some may call it soft, but I think that respect between players is very important. If you treat an opponent with respect, most likely he or she will reciprocate. I wouldn't hesitate to aim a smash at an opponents body (I do have qualms about aiming for the face) if I think it will earn a point but my opponents know that I wouldn't aim at them if there were other options available and if they were out of position to return a smash aimed anywhere else - no sense trying to hit someone when they won't be able to return it if you hit it somewhere else anyway.
What if it was a beginner, getting a juicy short lift, and smashes the other beginner in the face? I find the tactic totally legit, and that's what u get for lifting short or playing dumb.
Gollum, With years of good experience in BC/BF, I have absolutely NO intention to question about ur personality / attitude. I know you are a good person, who always provide help to others. The only thing make me feel a bit uncomfortable is, do we really have to aim the body to win a point. Regardless being intentional or not, such action certainly inceases the chance of injuries. Like I said again, yes, it's not in the rule book. However, being on the receiving end is no fun for anyone. Maybe myself is not that of a very skillful or competitive player, as I would rather lose a rally, than putting someone's health in danger. Of course, the chance to get serious injury is very low, but still no one wants to be the 0.0001%, right?
In my college, the coach once ran an excercise. It involved a player serving low and a player pushing the serve. The coach said "It's the servers responsibility to keep the serve low, and the recievers to smash the birdie when its served too high or hit the server in the forehead." They ran the excercise through to show us once and sure enough, the server got hit in the head. Like many others have said, intermediate to advanced players should prepare for attacks such as these, but for sure not a beginner. I'm not sure how to teach your friend, but hopefully you can persuade her (I presume) to do otherwise.
I consider there are totally different situation: 1. In the training, both sides are well awared of the situation. Therefore, the smashing side will not try to injury someone in front of the coach, which means a point blind range full strength jump smah. Also, the server paying attention to the special situation, means s/he is fully prepared to dodge or block all the time. 2. In game situation, especially if the skill gap is large, the less skilled/expereinced player usually does not have the awareness or reaction speed to dodge the smash. 3. Ok, it's the server/beginner/lobber's fault to set up a soft lift. However, do they deserve to get serious injury / bleeding, just because they made a mistake in game, or maybe even just try to come to have fun???
I see where you are coming from, but I believe that is an irrational attitude towards risk. Risk is part of life. Every time you cross the road (cliche, I know), you risk being killed by a car. Most people never have to manage risk consciously, because they exist in a safe "bubble" of society where risk is managed largely on their behalf. Consequently, some believe that it's never worth taking a risk; but they don't realise that they are taking risks all the time without even thinking about it. When you take part in an unusual and dangerous activity, like expedition caving, you learn about managing risk. If I make bad decisions about risk, people can die (especially new cavers, who lack the experience required for safe judgements). But I can't just decide to avoid ALL risk, because then we would never go caving at all. I have to decide what is an ACCEPTABLE level of risk. Fortunately I am not solely responsible for the welfare of expedition cavers; the responsibility is shared. But as medical officer, it is important for me to do my part correctly. I'm quite cautious about this. I always prefer to put more effort into preventing injuries, rather than be a bit lazy. But eventually, we have to go down into those deep dark holes with only a single rope to stop us from dying. You can't avoid risk completely, but you can manage it. I don't think that many players deliberately aim for the head when smashing. I don't. But if my opponent is at the net, I wil deliberately smash directly at him, because this gives the best chance of winning the point (provided I can get a steep enough angle). It is quite likely that such a smash will travel towards his head. I do, of course, exercise some judgement in this. I will never do this to players whom I think are unable to protect themselves. I agree that avoiding injury is always more important than winning the rally. This also applies with your doubles partner. Often, I have an opportunity to smash from the midcourt, but my partner is too close. Usually he is crouching down just in front of me. I will never risk a smash in this case, because I might hit him. So instead I play a drop (much less effective, but safer). Not long ago, I was nearly hit in the eye by a very aggressive return of my low serve. I was not used to such a speedy reply. I don't blame my opponent: I must learn to be ready for this. Last time I played him, the same thing happened; but then my racket was in front of my face, and the shuttle bounced back
Sorry LB, my comment was not targetted at you or anyone in particular. I was just aware that, since I made these somewhat contraversial statements, it would be reasonable for other people to doubt my attitude towards safety. So that they could better judge my opinion, I chose to add some relevant background information about myself.
Agree with Terry wholeheartedly. Many times I lose points because I'm at the net about to do a kill and the opponent is there, I hestitate, decide to "dink" the shuttle over and sometimes it hits the net. Badminton is fun for me. It's not my livelihood so I won't go all out unless I need to.
if the old man was smashing from right in front of the net, and saw the lady, surely the lady would see the old mn preparing to smash about 3 or 4 metres away.....if she was 3 or 4 metres away from someone preparing to smash (even if she was playing mixed doubles where the lady usually keeps at the front) she should back off from the net, or if there is no time, at least turn away quickly, and not wait to see where the smash is going (thus being too late to avoid getting hit). most of the people that get hit are from net kills or hald court smashes, who are not ready with their racquet up and knees bent. there is not point babysitting less experienced players, if they go and play elsewhere they might get hit in the face. the need to know how to minimise the chance of it happening to them and anticipate better.
