Badminton is my favourite sport. It is the fastest racket game in the world. It is played with rackets and a shuttlecock. The shuttlecock is made from goose feathers pushed into a small piece of cork. Badminton rackets are very light. They normally weigh from 90 grams to about 110 grams. The smash of the shuttlecock can travel up to 260km per hour.
There are six main shots: the serve, the clear, the drop, the smash, the forehand drive and the backhand drive. The court on which badminton is played is in the shape of a rectangle and is divided in half by a net. When there are only two players, one on each side of the net, it is a singles game. Badminton takes its name from the home of the Duke of Beaufort, Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England where the first game of badminton was played.
I love badminton because it is good exercise and a lot of my friends play. I play a lots of competitions with my friend Aoife Boyle. My brother Conor also plays. He and eight others played in the All-Ireland final. They came second in Ireland.
