Justice is a moral concept, then a legal one My intention is not to encourage litigation, but a different badminton custom that is more 'just' IMO. Justice is a moral concept, the law simply codifies its practice (in addition to customs, which may have no moral basis.), which may not be true in your culture. It seems there are few supporters for 'justice in racket clash' among Asian players. GGBC and SC in the bay area now ask visitors to sign liability waivers before they can play badminton. My reaction would be the same as taneepak ten years ago. Now, I also appreciate that if I give up any rights, it's explicit so I can make an informed decision. Asian society operates on more implicit assumptions than Western society, and if you don't know or don't comply with these assumptions, life would be unpleasant or inconvenient, to say the least. This is a powerful force for conformity in values and customs. America is more tolerant of different values and customs, so rights and responsibilies are spelled out in advance to avoid conflicts, and you choose whether to participate. Again, thanks to all for your frank opinions. Having conflicting opinions doesn't prevent me from wanting to be friends with you or play with you, but YMMV I have no intention of suing anyone due to racket clash. But rather, how 'justice', 'the rule of law' is conceived by people from different culture is quite fascinating to me. Cheers.
At fault The first post already listed some criteria. I think it's a start. But it seems many commentators don't even want to consider who is at fault, especially if you play in a social setting. I admit fault can be difficult to decide in many cases. I'm focusing on cases when it's easier to decide. e.g. back player can see front player, but front player can't see back player, so back player is more at fault in a clash. Side by side formation is more gray area. If similar skilled player and one is forehand, the other backhand, forehand should take the shot, except against smash which require different criteria. So backhand is more at fault for a clash except maybe against smash. Backhand may be better than forehand against a smash, so w/o prior agreement you can't say definitively who is more at fault. Other cases in side by side clash are probably 50-50. I'm sure the list can be elaborated much more, but if people don't want to consider fault, it's futile to go there.
OK first i'm a canadian and i aggree with the "asian heritage" oppinions. Breaking a racket is not the end of the world, nobody cares who is at fault. When you step on the court, you are risking taking injurying yourself, breaking your racket, strings blah blah blah... So if you don't want to break your precious racket don't step on the court. Otherwise live with it you cannot blame someone for breaking your racket. In no circumstances durring play would they have intentionally broke your racket. People make mistakes, like i already said, live with it. That's why people buy spare rackets.
instead of thinking about how 2 can partner to have a good game and win, now we are talking about how we can classify so that we can determine who is at fault????? sportsmanship? both enter a the courts on free will for game! if our racket is so precious then do step in! keep racket in bag sure wont get clash. this is not that kind of courts that you go to present evidence to sue one another. what if you are the weaker player and you miss the shuttle, your partner help to cover you by reaching the for the shuttle in the front and then, for that once, you manage to stretch far enough to clash into his racket??? its your shot, but you always miss, he cover for you and you clash onto his racket. ITS YOUR SHOT!!! so now is it his fault to cover for you? again, if cannot afford to clash dont play.
same here. racquet clash, just get a new one. I wouldn't demand compensation. However, if i understand the threadstarter's position, he comes from a club where he is forced to share courts with complete strangers, whereas in Singapore, we play in social groups and usually know the partner we are playing with even if he's not our regular partner. My answer to that is that you can generally play 'safe' when playing with an unknown partner by not taking any 50/50 shots eve if u lose the point. I do that quite often when playing with partners who join our group for the first time....
i suggest you don't use your precious rackets when practising and playing unimportant games. some professional players don't use their best rackets while they're training. from my experience, i'm not affected by the kind of racket i'm using during the game. try your best to reduce your errors, and i think thats enough to win. think of it... smashing the shuttlecock down to the middle court area between the two is a strategy being widely used in high-level matches.even the best double players in the world would crash their rackets. it can confuse the pair and often cause them to make mistakes.in this case, there'll be many 50-50 shots. racket crash would probably happen.so you and your partner have to decide who'll go for it. so the very best attitude is to avoid every avoidable crash and try not to demand compensation and sue someone.
or, if u can't accept the fact that there is no real way to justify whos "at fault" in a clash there is always Singles
Yes, my rackets were broken only when I play with people I don't know well. Now I only need to find a cheap but reasonable racket to use in such a situation, OR be more conservative. Some good players say their play is not affected whether they are using high end rackets. I have a hard time understanding how do you do that. Rackets do influence my play, therefore my preference to use my favorite (high end) racket as much as possible.
i am not sure if it is easy for you to get clone rackets in your area. you can always get a racket of similar wt and balance. when i play w new partners. i am always careful in the first few shots. the 50/50 shots i would usually take it late to see what my partner tends to do in situation like this. if my partner can tell me its his shot or its mine, then i know we have common understanding. not just to avoid racket clash, but more importantly to avoid accidents that may hurt players physically. once i think i have a better understanding, then i will go for the shots. and usually i start w a cheapo racket before using my main rackets. there is a player that i once played w that will take the shuttle really late. sometimes i would thought he had miss the shot when i am in front. then when you are about to stand, turn back to look the shuttle just shoot pass you. whenever i play w him again, i amke sure i stood low even if i wanna turn to check. or when i am behind him, i make sure he really miss the shot before i even try to go close. he hits real hard and i am more concern of my head and safety than the racket.
Compensation for rackets? Hi mettayogi, Clashes resulting in broken rackets are pretty common in this game.Especially in doubles.Sometimes, we just cant avoid it. It is the misunderstanding between players that resulted in such dilemma. If u have a kind of telepathic understanding with yr partner, then this would not have occur. Alternatively, just buy a strong, solid built racket which u can kill others but not yrs. Look at all options.........choose yr best one. If u still have the phobia, then play single lah!!! We dont talk about compensation in our games, we try to win the games n not to get injured. Of course, it will be a heartache to see yr favourite racket been damaged but in game, accident does happen n it is unavoidable. Lee
Hmm.... Hmm...interesting tread. Let me stir the pot a bit more then. How about if someone borrows your racket to play, and the it breaks because of a clash? Would you ask to be compensated?
who ever's fault it is, he should pay you a similar racket. whether he is gonna demand from the fella who clash his racket is his problem, but he must return your racket, if broken then to bad, he has to get a new one in return. at least that is what i will do la.... i would usually be very very careful if i borrow a racket and rather miss a shot then clash the racket. the racket might not be broken after a clash but i think the owner definitely wont like it.
I have my fair share of unintentional clashes.. usually its my partner's that clash my racket. Too bad the compensation method doesn't apply to me. If not.. i will be very happy with it. Anyway that is what we call accident. Play at your own risk. However if someone use my racket and he/she broke it.. then he/she should replace it for me.
why does it not apply to you? as for on-topic: If it's anywhere near vague who's 'fault' it is: 50-50? if it's quite clear who's fault (like in a side-to-side smash defense down the middle, where there are mostly clear-cut rules between players) then maybe a bit more (almost never 100%, the racket has been played with..and probabaly already scratched up and all) like 80%.
Well it doesnt apply because most of the time i don't demand for the compensation. If the guy is smart enough.. he will offer to pay for the compensation. If not.. he may have to live with the guilt.
don't say it in my exact wording with a low voice..or people will think you're gonna beat them up I'm not saying you should demand a refund..do what you're comfortable with...who am I to advise you? Btw, what a crazy time of day..Both european, American and Asian folk online...
once you have decided to walk in that court w the other player, it means you agree to the partnership, then what ever happens DURING normal game play, even when shuttle land on center and the backhand fella clash into youforehand racket and your broke, its nobody's fault. unless he raise his racket trying to be funny, hit on your racket for no reason then he should pay!
