STL All Sports

Badminton is a net and racket' game, the principles being similar to those of tennis but the rules and equipment being somewhat different.

Court. The courts, preferably indoors.  The combination "singles" and "doubles" court is the most economical and practical one to lay out for the two courts are exactly the same length, and the "doubles" court is only three feet wider than the "singles" court.

The respective courts differ in length and width. The singles service court is long and narrow, while the doubles service court is wider and not so deep. The singles playing court is long and narrow and the doubles playing court is long and wide. The singles court requires 17 feet in width and 44 feet in length, whereas the combination court requires only three feet more in width, no more in length, and provides f or singles and doubles play. There should, however, be a minimum of four feet from obstructions on the side-lines and six feet at either end. It is also very essential that a clearance in height of not less than 20 feet, pref erably 25 or 30 feet, be allowed. If there is a slant roof, a side wall of 20 feet should be sufficiently high f or the ends of the courts, the roof rising gradually toward a recommended height of 25 or 30 feet at the center. Playing Equipment. Instead of the white, bouncing, inflated ball used in tennis, the object to be propelled is a shuttlecock or bird, weighing from 73 to 85 grains. This bird is made of fourteen or fifteen carefully steamed, evenly matched, white feathers about two-and-one-half inches long. The feathers are bound with silk and cemented to a three quarter-inch half -sphere of cork covered with white kid.

From the flat side of this slightly weighted base the several feathers extend crown-like to form an object that does not bounce like a tennis ball but carries, with varying degrees of speed, ever so accurately through Fia. 4 THE BIRD. the air. The outdoor bird is the same as the one described above except it is slightly heavier and has a rubber base instead of the cork.

The rackets are similar in shape and proportion to those used in tennis but are smaller, much lighter, and not nearly so sturdy. The throat of this delicate racket is no larger around than one's little finger and the head is strung with a lamb gut or silk that would, no doubt, snap at the stroke of a squash or tennis ball. Yet this resilient racket with but five-and-one-half ounces of weight ably propels the bird as it sails back and forth over the net.

The net is made of fine, three-quarter-inch square mesh cord and may be from 17 to 24 feet in length, depending upon the position of the standards. The net should be two and one-half feet in depth and tightly drawn so that the top is five feet and one inch high at the uprights and five feet high at the center.