Shuttlecock 101 - Part 1

Let us learn about the Shuttlecock (a word I like saying nearly as much as "butt cap"). We Americans also call them "birdies." They may look funny...they may look like somebody tried to jam a bird into a ping pong ball...but they are one of the keys to the game of badminton.

A shuttlecock is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of 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. The abbreviation cock is rarely used except in a jocular sense, due to its vulgar connotations. 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 was probably derived from the resemblance of the feathers to a bird's cock.

Shuttlecock at wikipedia

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• Amazing Soviet Improvised Badminton Shuttlecock - Nov 28, 2007
• Shuttlecock 101 - Part 2 - Feathered vs. Synthetic - Nov 21, 2007

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