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A shuttlecock is a high-drag projectile used in badminton and other sports. In badminton, it has an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen overlapping goose feathers embedded into a rounded cork base. The cork is covered with thin leather.
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.
The name shuttlecock is frequently shortened to shuttle; it may also be known as a bird or birdie. The "shuttle" part of the name was probably derived from its back-and-forth motion during the game, resembling the shuttle of a loom; the "cock" part of the name probably derives from the resemblance of the feathers to those on a cockerel.
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Feathered vs. synthetic shuttlecocks
The feathers are brittle; shuttlecocks break easily and often need to be replaced several times during a badminton game. For this reason, synthetic shuttlecocks have been developed that replace the feathers with a plastic skirt. Players often refer to synthetic shuttlecocks as plastics and feathered shuttlecocks as feathers.
The cost of good quality feathers is similar to that of good quality plastics, but plastics are far more durable, typically lasting many matches without any impairment to their flight. For this reason, many clubs prefer to play with plastics.
The playing characteristics of plastics and feathers are substantially different. Plastics fly slower on initial impact but slow down less towards the end of their flight. Feather shuttles may come off the strings at speeds in excess of 320 km/h (200 mph) but slow down faster as they drop. For this reason the feather shuttle makes the game seem faster but also allows more time to play strokes.
Most experienced and skillful badminton players greatly prefer feathers, and serious tournaments or leagues are almost always played using feather shuttlecocks. Experienced players generally prefer the "feel" of feathered shuttlecocks, and assert that they are better able to control the flight of feathers than of plastics. Because feather shuttles fly more quickly off the racquet face they also tend to cause less shoulder impact and injury. In Asia, where feather shuttlecocks are more affordable than in Europe and North America, plastic shuttlecocks are hardly used at all. All senior international tournaments use only feather shuttlecocks of the highest quality.
SpaceShipOne design
The shuttlecock's aerodynamic behavior was consciously replicated in the design of the spacecraft SpaceShipOne1. Its "feathered" flight mode is a very stable high-drag configuration used to make the flight insensitive to orientation during atmospheric reentry.
Specifications
A badminton shuttlecock weighs around 4.75 - 5.50 grams. It has 14-16 feathers with each feather 70mm in length. The diameter of the cork is 25-28mm and the diameter of the circle that the feathers make is around 54mm.
Kick shuttlecock (Asian game)
Many Asian countries have a popular game in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air using their feet and other parts of the body (but not hands). In China, where it originated around 500 BC, it is known as jianzi but other countries each have their own local name. The game may involve a court and net, similar to badminton, or be played among a circle of players, such as in a park, with the objective to keep the shuttle 'up' and show off skills. In Vietnam, it is known as da cau and is the national sport, played especially in Hanoi.
Brazilian game: peteca
In Brazil, mainly in some central areas of the country, a similar game called peteca is played with teams of 1 or 2 using their hands to put the shuttlecock (peteca) over the net - no other part of the body can be used. This game is considered to be a preparatory training to volleyball classes, often taught to children in elementary school up to the 5th grade.
References
See also
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- This page was last modified on 20 November 2008, at 19:20.
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