Frazz by Jef Mallett for April 28, 2024

I prefer Badfinger.

A quick search shows that birdies used to be made with feathers and corks, but that’s history.

A fun sport, but unfortunately even the slightest breeze makes it almost unplayable. Maybe after I finish my backyard gymnasium…

The internet is a better resource than a library by light years.

I have a feeling we might not be done with this topic…

Thank you for sending me to search! The term as are interchangeable—in France, it’s called a volant….go figure

When he says Library does he mean internet.

We had a couple of ratty, K-mart tennis racquets in the basement (wood, long before composite or even metal racquets existed), so buying actual badminton racquets was out of the question. Really slows down your reaction time.

We have a rooster named Shuttle.

But if you put the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble of shuttleCOCK, some may be offended, but many more likely will laugh.

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” – Bertrand Russell

OK, if you Google “badminton birdie vs. shuttlecock”, the first item (for me) (on li-ning-sports dot com) claims just the opposite: birdies are plastic, shuttlecocks are feathers, especially in the U.S.

Speaking of learning: “Badminton House is a large country house and Grade I Listed Building1 in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, which has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The house, which has given its name to the sport of badminton, is set among 52,000 acres of land.” -Wikipedia

The top birdie or shuttlecock speed is just under 300 mph, 493 km/h.

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Knew a guy in college who was nationally ranked, all I got from standing on the court was welts from the unseen birdie!

Actually he’s got it backward. Shuttlecocks are made with feathers and birdies are plastic. Google “badminton shuttlecock vs birdie”.

Good serve!

I prefer goodminton.

This is a great lesson. I was prepared to believe the “fun fact” after just reading the second panel. Shame on me.

he’s a watcher not a doer

I played badminton in the National Senior Olympics in Houston awhile back. Got teamed up with a Hawaiian who was really good and really fast. We went 4-3.

Badminton is a great sport. It’s a far cry from the backyard badminton we played once a year.

“A shuttlecock (also called a birdie or shuttle) is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape formed by feathers or plastic (or a synthetic alternative) embedded into a rounded cork (or rubber) base. The shuttlecock’s shape makes it extremely aerodynamically stable. Regardless of initial orientation, it will turn to fly cork first, and remain in the cork-first orientation.”