EQUIPMENT

As the vision for AirBadminton is for it to be played by as many people, in as many places as possible, ease of set up is essential.

Key elements needed to play AirBadminton are:

Posts

The posts supporting the net shall be placed outside each side line, and shall be no further than a 1.0 metre from each side line.

• When playing on grass and hard surfaces courts, posts shall be 1.55m in height from the surface of the court.
• For sand surface, the posts shall be 1.5m in height and the top of the net from the surface should be 1.45m at the centre of the court.

Research showed that by lowering the net to 1.45m, errors were reduced and rallies were extended.

Net

The net shall be made of thick cord of dark colour and with a mesh between 1.5cm and 2cm.

• It should have between 80cm and 1m in depth and 6.0m wide minimum.
• It is recommended that the top and bottom of the net should be edged with a 5cm white tape doubled over a cord or cable running through the tape.
• At the ends of the net, the upper and bottom cables shall be fastened to the posts to keep its top and bottom taut.

Portable net systems are also very popular and can be purchased at most sporting goods stores.

There are two side lines of 16m, two base lines of 6m and two dead zone lines of 6m. There is no centre line that divides the court into equal left and right service courts.

The lines should be 4-5cm in width and contrast sharply to the colour of the surface. For sand and natural grass surfaces, boundary lines should be ribbons made of resistant material.

• A bungee cord should be attached to each corner and connected to a buried anchor disk.
• The bungee will provide the tension necessary to keep the boundaries in place while giving the flexibility to minimise the chance of injury should a player catch their foot under the line.

For concrete and asphalt surfaces, boundary lines should be a tape made of resistant material that sticks firmly to the ground or they can be marked/painted directly on the surface.

As the AirBadminton game takes place in outdoor environment, the presence of wind and gusts will impact the flight performance of the AirShuttle. Much of the power in a badminton shot comes from the string. Thus, it is important to know how string tension can affect the AirBadminton game.

AirBadminton has been designed to be played with the same traditional rackets. However, based on the outdoor elements involved during the game it is recommended that players use a lower tension (between 8-9kg / 17.5-20lbs) and a thicker string when playing AirBadminton.