I feel that it should be solely the players choice on what to wear. It would be okay if the IBF or apparel companies made suggestions on what to wear, as long as it isn't enforced. I believe that the beauty of the sport should come from the finesse, skill, quickness, ect. when playing the game, not from the attractiveness of its players. I understand that the IBF would want to make the players more attractive to draw more people into the sport, but im not sure how effective it would be. I think the main problem is that the general public doesn't view badminton as an intense, competitive sport! Most people see it as just a leisure activity. Priority needs to be given to showing the rest of the world that it IS an intense, competitive sport. Maybe the IBF wants to use attractiveness to show the world, but I feel that there must be other ways.
badminton will get a lot mroe attention, but how 'sexy' is it? Does anyone have any pics of the ideas?
Another female's perspective... Newplayer....that comment by "patterson" from NZ, that's actually Sarah Runesten-Petersen. Please get it right or I'll be forced to throw rotten kiwi fruits at you next time I see you Ok, to more serious stuff, while I agree with what you guys said in principle that the 'suggestion' is good because it gives more options to women who wants to dress a bit 'sexier' if they want to and more conservative players can remain 'conservative' with their dressing, unfortunately, in reality, I believe this will later create undesierable consequences as a result of women simply being women, i.e our innate level of insecurity. Look at how media portrays what it considers to be an "attractive" and "sexy" woman ~ tall, hourglass figure, perfect face and body and the kind of effect this has on your normal ordinary women across the world who are simply all not born looking like Pamela Anderson or Maria Sharapova. So they become anorexic, bullemic, invest in all sort of plastic surgeries, spend lots of money they do not have on clothes (or tea towels to show more skin), all simply to try and live up to this image. Similarly in badminton, do you really believe that a conservative female player wearing her badminton shirt and shorts is simply going to smile and be happy looking like a beat up 1982 Honda Civic while over on the next court, there's this 19 year old gigglish girl wearing her one piece body hugging outfit, prancing around like a brand new 2005 Mercedez convertible? I don't think so...so if this 'suggestion' is taken up seriously, sooner or later, the pressure will be on for all players to try and live up to that image. Question is what will this kind of pressure do to the more conservative player? She may follow suit and change her dress sense even though it made her uncomfortable, or she may try to resist but still be affected by this (in both cases, it will affect her game). Then there's the pressure that will arise from coaches, other players, the country's association and the country's media. I can just see it now.. A Malaysian newspaper reporting on how more presentable the female players are from X country with their smart looking (politically acceptable term to use for 'hot looking' in journalism) outfits and how Malaysia is lapsing behind in terms of fashion trend blah,blah,blah. Then the BAM will start 'encouraging' the players to dress similarly to keep up and you get the rest.. I'm sorry, I'm not offering any solution to this. I'm simply saying that in principle this 'suggestion' has its merits and it sounds ideal to give players this 'choice', but in the end of the day, the reality of the consequence of players taking up these suggestions may not necessarily lead to a happy ending that we all want..another case in point that you can NEVER make everyone happy....c'est la vie!
i think there thinking along the lines of tennis like Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. personally i think it might not be the best idea (for them to have to dress more sexy) but then again it would be up to the players if they wanted to dress more sexy, from some of their comments i dont think it would be favored among many female players...male players on the other hand well we have seen Taufik's response, probally wouldnt be such a good idea for XD though...
Once again, I'd like to point out the discussion is heading in the wrong direction. My focus was not on the fact that we're changing to clothes for females. We are changing to clothes for everyone to promote badminton off the court and in the public.
i'm totally for that. I'm sure business love that idea too That's where yonex (and forza, gosen, sotx, etc) are missing the boat here.
yup i believe its a gdway to attract more attension to badminton...people offen comment things like y the clothing is so old fashion and go on yup i agree tat badminton is a sport and more important is the performance from player BUT dun u think it will be GREAT if more people pay attention to badminton FIRST slowly they will take note of the skill and the fun of badminton... maybe in few years time badminton might be a sport well like by the world jus like soccer waahahaha....great man!!!!
The sentence "allows you to concentrate on your sport and not on your clothing" means that it doesn't ride up, fall down, bunch up, etc. The ladies t-shirts are not revealing, but they do conform to your body shape to allow freedom of movement, instead of restricting body movement as many cotton items or compression apparel does. Underwear is underwear; it's not meant to be worn as outerwear. I believe that sports performance apparel should help the sport, not hinder it. Sharon
So in the end it will be like tennis. the female player can wear what ever they pleased. maybe a good idea to attract male player who may bring their ladies friend to enjoy this fine sport
I think this idea sarks. Badminton has always have this aura about it that makes you feel that its a cool sport with all fast exploding action, it definitely does not need any "hot" outfits to make it "catch up with the era" etc ,or will badminton be left behind the way it is now. With their skills alone I'm sure the women players are already hot, in their own way,there is no need for sexy outfits. After all badminton will be so out of place with these hot outfits anyway, it has always been a practical sport with without all the unneccessary stuff.
Nah...some tournaments and Grand Slams actually have mild dress codes, which I actually prefer sometimes. Well, telling badminton female players to wear sexier clothes so they'll be more appealing to the public eyes is kinda offensive. They're professionals and they should wear whatever that makes them feel comfortable. I don't know why the IBF "suggest" the female players to dress more like Sharapova (I don't think she's even pretty or attractive after looking at her closely XD) because people definately have their own preferences. Some tennis players wear conservative clothings like Davenport or Henin, and people are still attracted to see them play. The main reason why badminton is not as popular because people think it's a sissy sport and most people think it's an Asian people sport. Not enough "western" people (Americans and etc.) play the sport to appreciate the finesse and the fitness of the sport. But if a player want to be more showy, go ahead. It's their choice. Personally, I love the sport for what it is not for what I can wear to attract others.
Agreed! In one way or another, this will affect the players inevitably. Although it's supposed to be the player's decision what they wear, the public (media) pressure can and will overrule in the end. For example, in one country, (before media was available)women there were average sized and don't give a care to the world as to what they eat. But ever since television was publisized, studies shown that an increasingly amount of women began dieting, and were trying to be as thin as the actresses/models they see on television. Many of them later became anorexic or bulimic ( like what adelina had said ). Which goes to show what an incredible effect the media has on people. And sooner or later, these badminton player's won't have a choice! Media and fans will make the choices for them! ~J
Indeed! How many remember any article about Anna Kournikovas playing? But her outfits and lovelife were all over the papers all the time. That's the way media works, it's all about presentation, doesn't care about content. Won't sell much that one player is better than another, but "sexier"....sure to cash in the jackpot. This is most certainly what will happen, making the most "good looking" getting all the attention (and money) instead of the best players. I understand this will improve the interest in the sport and force progresss to develope the play..... What's more is the physical safety interest of the players (young girls). I've seen several times that the "sexy" outfits Vanessa Williams has been wearing have been rejected by doctors and physiotherapists as dangerous since they doesn't support the back and breast. Good rolemodel isn't she Well she might be laughing all her way to the bank, doesn't need to care if the back hurts. But what about all those young girls who won't be as succesful(=rich), but gets worse damages to their bodies due to having used the same kind of clothes as the (media)popular players. This is something that will follow when "sexy" and "fashion" sets the agenda instead of performance. Now I do believe that some liberty in dresscode would be OK, the kind of dresses Carola Bott has been displaying will do for me. Also the one the english girls were wearing during WC wasn't bad (except boring coulor IMO). /mats
it depends on what kinda fans they want to attract. i'll use my case as an example. as a die hard tennis fan, I am only interested in the mens tour, aka the ATP . i don't watch the WTA , the female counterpart. not because i'm a sexist but because when u have the superior power and athleticism on display in the former, i have very little incentive to follow the other option. same goes with me watching the NBA and not the WNBA, mens soccer and so on...., of course not all sports are the same, for example, i prefer female figure skating and gymnastics to the male version. anyway, what i'm trying to say is that when the WTA began sexing and glamming up the female tennis game, followed by the william sisters and the blonde russian girls taking it to another level, i didn't get enticed by it at all. in fact, i got repulsed even more. however, the strategy did work in the general public, the female game became more popular as a result. not that *** was the only factor in its rise, but the *** selling was a huge reason. heck man, maria s. recently had this over publicized event where all she did was reveal the new attire she was going to wear in the US open!
Maybe I should hook up with cool fit to produce a line of badminton gear. Basic Bury the Bird design for white shirts - this appeared on the front left pec area and on the the back below the slogan. Colors are not as crisp given the JPEg conversion.
I don't agree about watching ATP instead of WTA. Actually I find ATP to be quite boring today, no profiles and lack of interesting play (same is about to happen in WTA). But that is OT....and to each his own. However I also question whether it actually is the female *game* which has been more popular. Is it the performance people/public and *media* is talking about??? Nah, don't think so. One more example of how media works, Annika Sörenstam has been dominating LPGA for years (almost a decade). Still they only complains that she is too boring and not "sexy" enough. Well I do agree that she isn't the funniest person I've heard about but please do tell me why she needs to be sexy? In what way will it make her a better player and develope the sport? My personal fav is Laura Davies, big british gal - smoking cigar, and a h**l of a good golfplayer! A nightmare for sponsors and media to market, as if she care / mats
