Advice for beginner

[DaveH]

Hi all,
I want to start playing Badminton; in my case a little late I suppose as I'm 48. Anyway I was wondering if there was any advice regarding hoqw to start and equpment to get going with. I realise that this is a broad question but any information would be useful to get me going.
Thanks in advance,
Dave

[rachyuk]

Dave,
Hi! Welcome to the Badminton world!! Okay, depends largely on your location. Do you have a sports centre nearby that has either badminton club for beginners, courts or coaching?

The best way to learn is to get loads of court time, if you can get a group of friends together and play regularly for a few months. Get your confidence going and find you feet, then seek out something more constructive, like a club once you have some experince of hitting the shuttle.

Have you bought any equipment yet? If not, don't be fooled into thinking you'll need the expensive stuff. There are plenty of rackets out there manufactured to the same standards as the market leaders like Yonex. If you have a look through these discussion threads, there have been a few discussions on rackets. You may pick up some info.

Shoes, try to wear shoes that have non marking soles and that you feel comfortable in. Badminton is a sport that in the begining 'seems' to be 'all racket and hitting the shuttle'. In fact your footwork is vital too, so make sure your shoes are comfortable and not too heavy going!

There is so much to say...I hope I cavered some aspects. Try it out, borrow equipment to see how you get on before you buy....
Let us know how you get on...

[Balmforthk]

Hi,

I started 25 years ago in an Adult Beginners group run by a club in my home town. I suggest you try to find the names of the Executive of your local League who would probably know if any such Adult Beginners groups exist in your area.

I agree with Rachel. Apart from a racquet, shoes are the most important piece of equipment. Apart from helping with your footwork, they are also important for protection of your feet.

Hope this helps

[DaveH]

Hi,
Thanks very much to both Rachael and Kevin for their responses. I'm actually going to start going with my wife Carol to the local sports centre - our first booking is tomorrow evening so we'll see how we get on. Thanks for the advice about raquets and shoes, it's just the sort of thing that I need to know. I know that there are 3 clubs at the centre but I need to found out what they do as I think that they vary quite a lot.
Anyway, thanks again and I'll be in touch with a progress report.
Regards, Dave

[rachyuk]

Where are you based Dave?

[DaveH]

Hi Rachael, I'm in North Lincolnshire in a small country town called Epworth.

[rachyuk]

Did a quick search in our Club Directory and came up with this list of clubs in Lincolnshire.

http://www.badders.com/club_dir/region_eng.fmi

Or try contacting the Lincs County badminton contact:
Lincolnshire County Badminton Association, Secretary D J Mellor,
Email: david.mellor@lincoln-ha.nhs.uk

They may be able to help you with where to play and clubs in the area that will 'bring people on' or new to the sport.