When played well, and I ain't talking about the genteel back garden variety played by folks who think it is played over a volleyball net, badminton is one of the fastest reaction sports in the world. I've made many friends over time through membership of the 5-7 clubs I've been at and it is a rewarding sport. :)Couple of observations:
1) I've always enjoyed playing a style of badminton which is hard and fast yet also tactical and cerebral....but one inescapable conclusion remains. For the most part, playing mixed doubles remains essentially a game of men's singles with two women standing at the net....LOL Admittedly this may sound parochial but I base this on the average standard of play I've seen over the years both in England and Canada (but more so in the latter). Guys should be prepared to sweat buckets and cover the entire court, as well as shadow his female partner to 'cover' that 'invisible hole' that exists in middle of her racquet...... :)
2) Feather shuttlecocks are over-rated for game play and their exhorbitant price and durability is questionable. I could easily smash through a tube of crappy (and expensive) Yonex feathers in an evening if I was so inclined. The air resistance of feather birds appear to mitigate against a fast smashing game, and it renders cross-court backhand shots ineffectual. And the thing that gets me is the lack of flight consistency viz a viz synthetic shuttles......each feather bird will not always land in the target baseline zone. And I'm not prepared to do some voodoo mumbo-jumbo of steaming the damn things just so that they can supposedly reach a similar flight path quality as their synthetic counter-parts. Their only redeeming feature is the crack sound when hit, but I'll forgo that and the illusion of 'quality' play, in favour of consistency and equitable economy of price for all. (Plus, I ain't really in the mood to catch avian bird flu either...LOL).
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