What’s in a name?
I called this site the Badminton Bible because I want to create an authoritative and comprehensive reference work for learning badminton.
Badminton is a technical sport, and most players simply don’t know the correct techniques. Not every player has a coach, and not every coach’s teaching is correct. This site helps players to learn for themselves.
Although there are many other guides to badminton on the internet, few of them are accurate and well-written. The internet is saturated with low-quality, effortless publishing. I want to make something better.
Why should you trust me?
Wherever possible, I base my advice on the teachings of Badminton England and world-class coaches. I list my sources at the bottom of each page, so you can assess the credibility of each item
(I only list sources where relevant, and I don’t include them in early drafts; see article levels.)
Sometimes, however, I give my own opinion, without any support from higher authorities. I always indicate this, so you can choose to ignore those parts if you wish.
- Disclaimer
If I cite a coach or organisation as a source, this does not represent an endorsement from them.
It only represents my interpretation of their teaching.
Who am I?
My name is Mike Hopley. I am a Badminton England coach (level 2), and a fledgling professional writer. I have a BA in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford University.
I wrote the
original badminton grips guide on Badminton Central, which
soon became the most popular online article about badminton grips (based on Google rank for the search terms badminton grip
); that success inspired this site.
I have also written the majority of the Wikipedia badminton article.
I currently coach secondary school children and adult club players; I have previously coached primary school children and adults with a wide range of neuro-spinal disabilities.
And yes, that is me in the photographs. I can’t afford to hire beautiful people, so you’re stuck looking at me.
Principles
I want to shape the future of this site by these principles:
- Trustworthiness
- I want you to feel you can trust everything on this site. Where there is controversy, I will present both sides of the argument and offer my assessment.
- Clarity of instruction
- I want to make it impossible for you to misinterpret my teaching. All the writing here should be clear and concise, and the articles should be supplemented by good diagrams and photographs.
- Openness
- I will list my sources, so you can make better judgements about the advice (this won’t happen immediately, but I’ll add sources later as I develop an article).
- Free content
- All the articles published here will be free, forever.
- Accessibility and ease of use
- I want this site to be accessible to everyone, easy to use, and easy to read.
Writing the Good Book
This is a work in progress. It’s not easy to write good content, or to make good illustrations. The Badminton Bible will grow slowly because I want every addition to be worthy.
Thanks and acknowledgements
Many thanks to the Badminton England coaching representative who explained the details of Badminton England grips teaching. Your patience with discussing gritty details helped me enormously. Because you prefer to remain anonymous, I can’t give you a personal acknowledgment; but thank you nonetheless.
Thank you to Dorking Sports Centre for allowing us to take photographs on your badminton courts.
A special thank you to Phil Hopley, my father, for all his help—but especially for taking the photographs.
Thanks to IconDrawer for their free flag icons.