Badminton

For me the beauty of badminton is that it combines a feinting, soft touch with accuracy, includes quick starts and stops with good footwork and body position, and involves explosive hits that send a speeding birdie toward the opposition. We need to employ a wide variety of strokes in the right situations. These range from extraordinarily powerful jumping smashes to soft, delicate tumbling net returns. We all wanna be at that level, but to reach it is not easy. Having said that, the weekly badminton that I head out to is both for exercise, losing a beer belly and loving the game. You got to love the game, then you will have the heart for it.

For instance, The smash is a powerful overhead stroke played steeply downwards its a very effective stroke, and pleases the crowds, but smashing is only one part of the game. Often rallies finish with a smash, but setting up the smash requires subtler strokes. For example, a netshot can force the opponent to lift the shuttle, which gives an opportunity to smash. If the netshot is tight and tumbling, then the opponent's lift will not reach the back of the court, which makes the subsequent smash much harder to return. Generally that a power game, for me, I am not a power players, yeah I can smash (Jen string my racquet please), my weakness in backhands but I love to play deception shots, take smashes and play it back where they least expected. Now the stage I am in, is where the mind know what I want to do but the body does not lol.

I love deception and deception is also important. We try to make the preparation for many different strokes look identical, so that their opponents cannot guess which stroke will be played. For many strokes, the shuttlecock can be sliced to change its direction; this allows a player to move his racket in a different direction to the trajectory of the shuttlecock. If an opponent tries to anticipate the stroke, he will move in the wrong direction and may be unable to change his body momentum in time to reach the shuttlecock and thats the jackpot.

Among the shots available
Clear: Hit overhead from the backcourt to the opponents backcourt. The aim is to hit the shuttle up. It is useful for producing time for the player, so that he can recover more easily. Used stragetically to push the opponent backwards.

Smash: Hit overhead from anywhere behind the forecourt. The aim is to hit the shuttle down as hard and fast as possible, as it clearly wins the game if the shuttle touches the floor.

Drop shot: Hit overhead from the backcourt to the opponents forecourt. The aim is to make the shuttle just pass the net. Stragetically used to bring the opponent foreward.

Drive: Hit in front or on the side of the body, aiming to keep the shuttle low but going to the backcourt.

Lift: Hit in front of the body near the net. The aim is to "lift" the shuttle to the rearcourt. Similar to a lob in tennis. Also used to push an opponent to the backcourt.

Netshot: Hit in front of the body near the net. The aim is to hit the shuttle just past the net . Used to bring the opponent to the forecourt.