Badminton is a type of racquet sport. The minimum number of players required for this sport is two. This is called singles play and the two players are each other's opponents.
The maximum players allowed is four; with teams of two players each face each other across the net. The play is carried out in a rectangular court. The two teams or players face each other across the net which is strung out midway between the courts by the means of badminton net posts.
Although today we cannot visualize the game of badminton without the net and consequently, without the badminton net posts, these equipments were not always part of the game. Badminton is a really old sport and is believed to have originated in ancient Greece.
From there it spread towards the East, reaching India, China and ultimately Malaysia. During medieval times in England, a variation of the game called Battledore and Shuttlecock was quite popular. Essentially a child's game, it made use of a paddle to keep the shuttle in the air. Thus, the net and badminton net posts had as yet not become an essential, part of the sport.
It was in the 1860s that the net and the badminton net posts made an appearance in the game. We can credit this to the popularity of the game among the officers of the British Army stationed in India. Thus the badminton net posts and the net are a legacy of the British Raj. It was in the Indian city of Pune that the above equipment made its debut.
The officers were initially engaged in the standard game of Battledore and Shuttlecock. Later, to add a competitive edge to the game, they introduced the net and the badminton net posts. The height of the net is 1.55 meters at the edge of the court and 1.254 m at the centre. Thus badminton net posts have to be of comparable height to accommodate this specification.
One of the peculiarities of this game is that the playing court is marked for both the doubles and singles play even if the tournament is a singles game. Thus, as a result, the rules state that the badminton net posts should be placed over the doubles side lines, regardless of singles or doubles play.
Badminton net posts, today, are not sold separately but are bundled together with the net and the guy ropes and pegs. Badminton net posts are usually differentiated on the basis of location - indoor or outdoor.
A good quality outdoor badminton net posts set should be made of heavy gauge steel and should be able to withstand the weather. Therefore make sure that the company has treated them to be rust proof.
Indoor net posts come in two varieties. One of them is the 'wheel-away' model and the other is built to plug into the floor of the indoor stadium. The former net posts are designed as steel uprights. The net hooks, cleats and grooved tops for the fixing of the net are attached to the post.
These kinds of badminton net posts are T-shaped at the base. Rubber floor pads should be a standard part of this design (for the protection of the floor). Also, they should come equipped with in-built weights so that the whole arrangement remains stable during play.
Floor pugs should come as standard accessories of the second type of badminton net posts. Also, they feature brass pulley wheels for the fixing of the net onto the post. An arrangement called the T-bar is used to fasten the whole structure to the floor of the court.
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