History of Badminton

A long, long time ago…

For hundreds of years there have been games which bear a striking resemblance to what we now call Badminton. This is how the history of badminton began. In 16th century China, a game was played where a shuttle (similar to what we now refer to as a shuttlecock or birdie) was kicked into the air. The object was to keep the volley going for as long as possible without the shuttle touching the ground. The following century, Europeans were playing a game in which they used racquets to keep the shuttle airborne.

Get the net!

The main difference between these games and Badminton was that they did not involve a net. The net came along in a game called Poona. This game was developed in India in the 1800s and became of interest to members of the English army stationed there. It was not long before they brought it back to Victorian England.

The name Badminton came about because the Duke of Beaufort, a member of the English elite, invited guests at his estate to play Poona. This estate was called Badminton. From then on, people throughout England referred to it as the Badminton game.

In 1877, the Bath Badminton Club (the lesser known English BBC) developed the first written rules for the game. In the almost 150 years since then, the rules for Badminton have changes very little.

As its popularity grew, tournaments were set up for organized, competitive play. By 1893, over a dozen Badminton clubs formed what was later to be known as The Badminton Association of England. This organization helped to create the rules of the game that we know today. In the earliest games in England, Badminton was played on an hourglass shaped court, but in the 1901, the Association made a rectangular court the official court for tournament play.

Badminton in the New World

Across the pond in New York, the game was gaining a following, too. By 1925, the Badminton Health Club of Boston had over three hundred members. In 1935, the American Badminton Association was formed and the first official tournaments were played here in the States.

Around this time, the International Badminton Federation was formed. The first international Badminton tournament was to be held in 1939, but had to be delayed a full decade because of the Second World War.

Badminton became an official part of Olympic programming in 1992, and the mixed doubles game was added in 1996.

Today, more than one million Americans play Badminton on a regular basis.

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