Yesterday night I had the chance to fill in for a sick friend for her badminton lesson. Despite being told to take lessons if I want to change my bad habits and improve, I have never seen the importance of having a coach.
So I showed up, warmed up with a little stretching before a young Chinese instructor pushed a trolley with a box of shuttlecocks over. Bear in mind that it was already 10 at night so I was already half asleep. My body felt like it has been sleeping for the past 3 months from my slacking off exercise. My instructor, Hugh, after proper introduction, suggested warming up. This being my first workout in a long time I figured it wouldn’t hurt. It was my first time doing running drills, covering the front courts at first then full court. After warm up, we started some deep hitting at the back corners. The hand and striking positions proved more challenging than the footwork. The one thing I caught on quickly was my timing which started a little off as I was hitting the shuttlecock when it is dropping instead at its highest point. Mistakes were pouring but mostly small ones.
An hour flew by and as we collected the shuttlecocks, we reviewed the lesson.
So I showed up, warmed up with a little stretching before a young Chinese instructor pushed a trolley with a box of shuttlecocks over. Bear in mind that it was already 10 at night so I was already half asleep. My body felt like it has been sleeping for the past 3 months from my slacking off exercise. My instructor, Hugh, after proper introduction, suggested warming up. This being my first workout in a long time I figured it wouldn’t hurt. It was my first time doing running drills, covering the front courts at first then full court. After warm up, we started some deep hitting at the back corners. The hand and striking positions proved more challenging than the footwork. The one thing I caught on quickly was my timing which started a little off as I was hitting the shuttlecock when it is dropping instead at its highest point. Mistakes were pouring but mostly small ones.
An hour flew by and as we collected the shuttlecocks, we reviewed the lesson.
- Covering front court, slide in with your legs and relax your hand. Hit the shuttlecock at a higher point to avoid setting. It doesn’t need a lot of force to get the shuttlecock over.
- Keep the racket up and close to you. When hitting high balls forehand, raise the racket in a parallel fashion then swing through.
- Always step in with your right foot and return to ready position after.
- Slow down and take your time to swing your body instead of just your wrist.
I thanked him for his time and before I left, I took a look around at the other courts full of players. You become more critical when you know what to look for. I took a deep breath and let my body take a break. It turned out to be quite a vigorous workout and there were a lot to digest. Having a coach isn’t half bad, that is if you are serious about doing it right and improving. I know I will be back.
1 comment:
No way!!!! We play Badminton too!!!! We used to rent a court at KCC but now we are going to play every Sunday mornings at Dunbar from 9:45 until noon. Where do you play?
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