First Steps in Playing Badminton

The Evolution of a Badminton Player. It all started so innocuously enough. Perhaps it was a net in the backyard or at the summer beach house.

Maybe it was a story that a friend of a friend of a friend had told. In any event, you realized that people actually played badminton indoors and that there was a club at the MAC on Fridays and Sundays. Imagine that… indoor badminton! So you made your way to the MAC to see what was really going on… and a badminton player was born.

The Rally

You start playing, and the first few games are just simple back-and-forth. But then you realize that if you hit the bird harder than your opponent, you can force them to make mistakes. So that’s what you start doing.

But then your opponent catches on and starts hitting it just as hard, driving you back. You need to do something… so you try a smash or two.

The Smash

You work hard, and you work hard, and you work hard. Your opponent is trembling with fear, but he keeps trying and eventually starts to return some of your attacks. Then he starts returning more of your attacks.

What next? Why – a harder attack! You start lifting weights 5 times a week. Your steroid shots start making a breakout. Your attacks get a lot harder, but man, it sure is tiring. To make things worse, no matter how hard you work, that darned bird keeps on coming back.

The Placement Shot

You realize that if you don’t hit the birdie right to your opponent, he has a harder time returning the shot. In fact, if you hit the birdie away from your opponent, he may have difficulty returning any of the shots. So you start mixing it up.

You hit a smash to the side. Then a clear to the backhand. And finally, a drop shot – what a concept! A shot that uses very little energy and makes your opponent run! Your new strategy works for a while, but like everything else, your opponent catches on and starts doing the same thing to you.

Survival of the Fittest:

Your games are a lot more exciting now. You’re making your opponent run all over the court; your opponent is making you run all over the place. But that’s all right – you’ve started your running program, so you’re in better shape and can wear your opponent down.

Not only that, but because you’re paying closer attention to your opponent, you can pretty well predict where he’s going to hit the bird from the way he holds his racket and the way he starts to swing.

The Deception:

Your opponent seems to have the upper hand, but there’s only one way to respond to all this deception – by picking up the pace of the game. This will give him less time to play tricks and put him on the defensive. That’s the name of the game.

Your opponent is trying to play mind games with you and it’s time to step up your game in order to beat them. They’re trying to make you feel like you’re all over the place so you’ll make mistakes, but you need to stay focused.

The best way to do this is to speed up the pace of the game. This way, they won’t have as much time to mess with you and they’ll become more defensive. Stay calm and collected, and don’t let their tricks throw you off your game.