I'm increasingly seeing badminton games commentated as being 'sets', i.e. "She won the first set now let's see if her opponent can win the second set..." Sets are a number of games, as in tennis. One game of badminton is not a set so why is this catching on? Looks to me time to change the whole nature of badminton scoring.
That's the definition in Tennis (and I think Darts?) but not a general definition of set. Let's have a look at some other definitions.... Let's have a look at some definitions for "game"... With that, the name game doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since it's just part of a final result. Then, English is not the only language spoken on this planet. In German, it's "Satz", I think Greeks use "Σετ" (literally set) and I would be very surprised if there weren't more languages that use something similar. I don't think that "set" is used anywhere else in badminton, so I don't see a problem. Although.... a badminton outfit may be referred to as set, I guess?
I am not convinced of an argument to change the use of sets and games “just because in tennis it is different and badminton should follow tennis”. Shouldn’t tennis change their confusing scoring system to a more easily understandable 21 points per set? It’s been sets since I was a kid and that’s a number of decades ago. Best of three sets is one match (tennis is similar) However, because frequently we don’t have time to play three set matches, we will play one game to 21 points before allowing the next in line to play.
How can there be any argument? As has been posted before, the BWF is quite clear. Nothing whatsoever about sets here. Hearing badminton commentators referring to games as 'sets' is nonsensical. I reckon they think it sounds new and cool to say sets instead of old fashioned games. Saying a player won a match 2 sets to 1 actually it makes the person look pretty duh...stupid.
As I mentioned before, I grew up with sets and games used interchangeably in England. So I don’t think it’s anything new. A lot of people would play badminton in the winter and tennis in the summer. Copies of the Laws of Badminton weren’t so easily available. Which commentators have you heard using sets? Can you refer to any particular matches?
Satz [German] Sæt [Danish] Set [French] Σετ [Greek] .............. Even native English speakers sometimes use set. There is no other meaning for "set" in Badminton. There is no problem. If you want to argue anything, you should argue that "game" doesn't make sense for something that doesn't have a final result, but is only part of it. The word "game" is used for what it actually is in other sports, just not in Badminton. When you say you want to play a game with your family, does that mean everyone gets one turn? Two? Three? Or do you play until the game is over?
