Grab your racket and smack the birdie over the net! Our badminton designs feature shuttlecocks (aka birds, birdies and cocks) and rackets (racquets), panda bears, smilies, skeletons, pirates, hearts and penguins. Find it all at our
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THE HISTORY OF BADMINTON
Badminton was first played in Greece as a game called Battledore and Shuttlecock. Each player had a battledore (racket) made of parchment or rows of guts stretched across a wood frame. The shuttlecocks were made of light materials such as cork, with trimmed feathers around the top. Shuttlecock games are believed to have originated in Greece about 2000 years ago.
In Japan, a similar game to badminton called Hanetsuki was played as early as the 16th century. In 18th century India, badminton was called Poona. The British Army officers stationed in India carried the game to England in the 1860’s, calling it Badminton Battledore.
The shuttlecock, also known as a bird or birdie, which differentiates badminton from most sports played with balls, is a high-drag conical projectile. Typically made with a base of cork covered with thin leather and topped with 16 overlapping goose feathers, shuttlecocks have short life spans and most home players play with a synthetic shuttlecock. Badminton professionals still use the feathered shuttlecock and replace it several times during a game.
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