r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/DearEmphasis4488 • 14d ago

Video The process of making badminton shuttlecocks from raw feathers

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u/WileyWilly1985 14d ago

what I find astounding is that the badminton economy is big enough to require that level of infrastructure and automation.

That factory has to to be cranking out thousands of those things per day.

I just looked up the price, apparently, shuttlecocks (the feather ball thingy for us dumb Americans) cost between $25 to $65 per dozen.

wow. quick google fu and apparently an easy 220M+ people play badminton every year.

Well alrighty then...

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u/badass_physicist 14d ago

in some countries literally almost everyone plays it

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u/Modest1Ace 14d ago

Like where? Monaco? Liechtenstein?

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u/masd82 14d ago

In Portugal everyone plays it at some point at school. It’s part of the curriculum.

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u/mayafied 14d ago

do they use feather ones or plastic?

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u/leppaludinn 14d ago

Really popular in countries like Denmark, Phillippines and Korea

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u/LegOk7384 13d ago

National sport in indonesia!

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u/islobojono 14d ago

In Southeast Asia, everybody play badminton

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u/RedRedditReadReads 14d ago

Have personally experienced pickup badminton in Vietnam

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u/Bai_Cha 14d ago

Mostly southeast Asia, including indonesia and China, which of course have large populations.

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u/S_A_R_K 14d ago

Thailand has the badminton capitol of the world

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u/badass_physicist 13d ago

most are asian countries, China alone has around 100M people playing it. From where I’m from (Malaysia), we play badminton as an evening recreation after office hours. It requires lots of thinking and fast reflexes when played properly, so it’s really good for brain stimulation.

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u/fat_boyz 13d ago

Badminton is the national sport in Malaysia

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u/diecasttoycar 10d ago

Southeast Asia namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore; China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India, and in Europe, Denmark.

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u/theacp127 14d ago

It's super popular in Asia. Countries like China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Japan, and South Korea heavily invest into the sport and have high recreational participation and successful professional leagues.

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u/StarboardMiddleEye 14d ago

It's the most popular sport in China, apparently

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u/GeForce_GTX_1050Ti 14d ago

it's the sport with the lowest ceiling you can get into, it's also in school curriculum in place of PE classes in lots of countries, mine included

kids reuses shuttle a lot and uses rackets that are 2-3$, but adults who can afford pro stuff and rent a field on their own discard like dozens in an hour

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u/Diligent_Plastic1043 14d ago

lowest ceiling

That doesn't sound true. Soccer only needs a ball, which allows it to be prevalent all over the world. Badminton needs birdies, racquets, and a net. 

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u/TheArtOfSleep 14d ago

I don't know about the lowest ceiling, but for a lot of schools, it's space that's at a premium. Soccer needs a giant field of grass outdoors, whereas for badminton you can shove a dozen cheap nets into a gym and call it a day.

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u/Wermine 14d ago

Soccer needs a giant field of grass outdoors

Well, it's another question now what "playing football" means.

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u/Electrical-Review180 14d ago

I guess soccer also needs two teams. It's easier to just pair 1 or 2 pupils. Easier to grade performance and everybody has to move. I think

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u/islobojono 14d ago

Net is nice to have, you don't need it though.

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u/ArtNo6305 13d ago

For soccer you need at least 10 players (and after a while you can't play mixed gender) to play it's least player form. For that reason it takes a lot more organisation.

Badminton needs at most 2, but is socially played as doubles. And you can play various combinations of mens/women's, until you get to a very high level where it's organised into mens/mixed/women's disciplines.

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u/HoidTheUnanimous 14d ago

Actually you need a very high ceiling to play properly because in defensive clear shots you should hit the shuttlecock at least 5 metres high, often up to 10
Technically you don’t need this much overhead space in many other sports

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u/HTPC4Life 14d ago

Nah, Pickleball is. That's why it's popularity has exploded the past few years

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u/Conwaysp 14d ago

Based on the effort, it seems these would be $50+ each, not $3-5.

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u/158cm_Otaku 14d ago

It’s a very easy sport to pick up tbh

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u/rusty_cage77 14d ago

Exactly my thought…

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u/RoostasTowel 14d ago

At first it sounded crazy high.

But then I remembered that its the same price people pay for 12 new golf balls.

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u/HoverShark_ 14d ago

220M is a colossal underestimate

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u/WileyWilly1985 13d ago

i did say 220M+, the plus means more

Also keep in mind, I said "per year" not "have ever played".

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u/-Opinionated- 13d ago

It’s big in Asian pockets in the US/Canada too.
I play semi competitive leagues and it’s pretty much strictly tournament grade birdies. I haven’t touched or seen a plastic bird since elementary school

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u/MarketCrache 14d ago

World's fastest racket sport...

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u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 14d ago

Until about 1 foot after it leaves the racket and then the air resistance slows it down.

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u/MortLightstone 14d ago

Dealing with the change in velocity is part of the game