This note indicates some of the views expressed including a letter from Badminton England and might help us come to a decision at our own AGM about the use of the new system in our league next season.

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Some of the views expressed

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Out of 7 regions, only 2 play the new rally point system, therefore to insist that we play this format on the day would not be a true representation of the Leagues or Regions that this event is structured for. Therefore, may I ask that the District Committee at least review this prior to the event, I believe that the decision to play this format might have been made before the current season had started.  This would therefore have been made prior to the Regions choice of the New Rally Point System or the current system. 

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I dislike rally point and find it much less satisfying for league play.  It does however ensure that the playing time for any game can be clearly defined which would be beneficial in terms of running an event and ensuring it does not over-run! 

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Given the stance taken by BE, there seems little choice, but to adopt  RPS as the standard scoring method for all tournaments.

I would suggest that the Inter-Regional is a good opportunity for those who haven’t experienced RPS yet, to have a practice in a competitive environment before we all have to use it next season! My League Club has been using RPS this month as a trial and we have all picked it up very easily – my only issue is that I don’t like losing a match when I am serving, but I’m sure I’ll get over that when I learn how to serve properly!

I recommend that RPS is used for the Senior Inter-Regional this season. The Junior Inter-Regional will use RPS.

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See Letter at end of notes===============

Thank you for drawing our attention to the letter from Mr Christie.  I would like to let everyone know that from those I have spoken to, the Rally point system is not considered an advantage and that is has led to much less satisfying matches.  Used in County and tournaments there are advantages via scheduling and for those who are not as fit !  In leagues it has been most disappointing with some matches not worth the effort of turning out.  Rally point is a disaster when there is a big gap between playing standards, and once experienced there is little tension or excitement in the game until the blind panic that sets in when your next serve can lose the match for you !  As chairman of Ashford and District we will be continuing with the old scoring as the experience of those who also play South Foreland is against Rally point.  As a Medway player I will also be supporting others attempts to reverse the decision taken at the Medway League formation meeting for Medway to change to Rally point.

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I can only respond as the organiser of tournaments and the parent of two junior players.

RPS makes the scheduling of tournaments considerably easier. For juniors it is appropriate to change immediately to RPS as this is the current scoring system in the Badminton Rules and accordingly is the scoring system taught at schools. If the junior clubs do not teach the new scoring method, it becomes difficult for tournament organisers to cater for children outside the club scene and the last thing we want to do is to exclude any group of children from competitive badminton. For this reason, I ask that all junior competitions in Kent use RPS. All Kent Badminton Ltd junior competitions will use RPS.

Once these juniors start to filter into the senior leagues, it will be up to the senior leagues to convert to RPS to encourage youngsters into their leagues, or to teach them the old scoring method. However from Mr Christie’s letter, long term, I don’t think the leagues will have a choice.

My daughter only uses RPS and she is very happy and enjoys her games. The TWBL Spring Junior Tournament used RPS for the first time this season and once we had taught the non-RPS juniors how to score, we had nothing but satisfied customers – not one complaint about the scoring system. I know that for some of the more mature players (and I include myself in that description),  change is not always very desirable, but we have to look to the future of our game and consider the younger generation. Two scoring systems can be very confusing and is not beneficial to our game long-term.

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Speaking personally, my preference is to use rally point scoring.  This is the system favoured by the IBF and is used in national tournaments and county matches - both of which I play in.  Tunbridge Wells League and Orpington are still using the old scoring system and I agree with Stephanie that this is confusing and counter productive.  In my view, all leagues should be instructed to use RPS.

Those people who are opposed to rally point scoring are in my view simply unable to accept change.  It's tough luck if there is a gap between standards and if anything use of the scoring system encourages the employment of consistency.  I disagree that there is no excitement or tension in the game using the RPS - in my experience, the opposite. 

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We do have to consider the 'juniors', but at the expense of many many older players who do not like the change ??
I saw the letter earlier this week, but of course Regions are free to choose whatever scoring system they wish.

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Sorry we have opened a can of worms !  As a junior I played at school and was actively encouraged along with my contemporaries to join a club and play league badminton.  Some of those same "juniors" are still playing and we represent the county as vets.  Over time the focus of the sport has changed with an ever increasing focus on "excellence" with those that fail to meet the grade abandoned.  For many years "juniors" have been prohibited from playing league and those still within the "program" have neither the time nor the incentive to join clubs.  Once they have come to the end of their "junior" time in badminton they leave for University and never come back. My opinion is that if you have been playing within the junior structure for over 10 years and return from college there is no direct replacement unless you are good enough to walk into the Senior county teams.  These players have no experience of club and league and plenty of other distractions and are permanently lost to the Sport.  As a business Badminton has taken a gamble comparable to Coke's launch of a new recipe it could cost them very dear !

Rally point scoring is not a disaster and makes organising easier , however it does not in my opinion represent a major improvement to the sport and as such should not have happened.  Any effort by the "experts" to insist on forcing rally point scoring will further reduce the playing numbers.  It is right that everyone should be trying it but I do not see it as a problem to play both types of scoring.  I happily play Medway,  East Kent, South Foreland and Vets in rally point and Ashford and North Foreland 3 x 15. This year Medway matches have been very disappointing compared to North Foreland/East Kent due solely to scoring system.  For tournaments and Vets I have been happy with rally point as physically it is less demanding.  I would like to see figures from Badminton England to see if rally point has achieved more income from television, better understanding by new players otherwise why should we not abandon it and go back to 3 x 15 What benefit has rally point given to the players ?

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I would also like to add my comments on the rally point debate. Those of us who have tried it this season are not afraid of change as long as it is for the better so I entered the season with an open mind but I have to say that at our level it just doesn't work and I know of a few people who are talking about giving up the game if they are forced to use this system. Most points are now won by you or the opposition making mistakes which we all do at this level - very few points are actually won! It is far less physically demanding and negative safety play is greatly rewarded with people far less likely to go for tricky attacking shots. I can see that it is very suitable at International and possibly County level where there are far fewer mistakes but for club badminton it is a retrograde step and takes alot of the excitement away. Gone are the days where somenoe can comeback to win once you are 5 or so points behind. Obviously the future of the sport is the youngsters coming through but unless they make it to a very high level they will be playing a much less enjoyable sport.

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Personally I prefer the RPS system and I and many players will bevery disappointed if it not used especially  as it is now sanctioned byBadminton England and the IBF.

I have come back from 13-7 down and lost from being well ahead using theRPS to win so that blows out the quote used in another mail . It hasmade me think a lot more about my game and the way I play it to positiveeffect . I also feel it gives club/county reps far greater ability tocompete against " Better playes ".

One of main reasons I decided not to play Orpington this year wasbecause they voted in the old badminton scoring , the odd game that Ihave filled in on ( one in a single court hall ) has been twice as longand not nearly as exciting for me personally.

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