Can NFL Quaterback learn to play Olympic Level Badminton?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by catman, Dec 15, 2013.

  1. catman

    catman Regular Member

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    Apologize if this was already discussed. But came across this on youtube. Robert Griffin III - the quarterback of Washington Redskins (former Olympic hopeful in track & field) suggested he's going to get to the Olympics saying, "it might be track, might be ping pong or maybe Badminton - but I'll get there "

    I know from playing Ping-Pong - no chance. But I thought Singles Badminton - he might have a chance - if his knees can hold up.

    Can super athlete from another sport get to Olympic level in Badminton?
    If you guys can help him - this might be a way to put Badminton on the map in the USA.
    [video=youtube;afEkrHi2VWA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afEkrHi2VWA&t=2m50s[/video]
     
  2. fauci

    fauci Regular Member

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    He had no idea what he was talking about.
     
  3. catman

    catman Regular Member

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    Yeah, reaching Olympic level in sport is a difficult thing. I was thinking with his size and quickness - he should be able to cover the court. But learning the skill shots in 8 years - don't know if that's possible.
     
  4. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    Yeah. I agree with fauci. I hope someone clue him in.
     
  5. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Why not? If he has the resources and the desire, he should go for it. Isn't that the philosophy he talks about in the clip.

    There should be a video documentary at each stage of his development. It would make an enlightening documentary.

    It would bring publicity to the sport in America across the mainstream.

    Some coaches will get publicity (and money).

    More sponsors might come in.

    The disadvantage is he might not make it. So long as he realises that, he makes his informed choice. Dang, go for it. "Nothing is impossible..." ;)
     
  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    one of the TV channel was showing the Kona Ironman last month. the Kona is the full one, 2.4miles swim + 112mile bike + 26.2 miles run.

    they were showing how there are amateurs who are training for it, including the famous chef Gordon Ramsey. it is basically a pain fest. but people can train for it. anybody with some level of athletic base can probably make it in a couple years' of training.

    not winning it, but at least finish it.

    and of course NBC makes a bit deal out of it and the whole show looks more like a documentary than a sports coverage.

    something like that can be done.

    however, it will take any athlete more than a few years to make it to Olympics badminton. Making it to the Olympics will be equivalent to getting close to the front competitive pack in the Ironman instead of just finishing. i don't believe someone starting so late would ever make it, but at least there is a will and means to try, i think they should totally do it.

    and of course NBC would make a nice show out of it. if anything, it will show how difficult badminton actually is. coz i have a feeling he saying ping-pong, badminton means that he think these are easy sports to get into Olympics. He might have a better chance in swimming or track to be honest.
     
  7. craigandy

    craigandy Regular Member

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    It would be cool if he attempted it but he is just having a joke at the expense of "badmitten". He is really fast and plays NFL so I reckon realistically the decision would be to put his efforts into rugby 7's (I think he would be really good). USA may struggle to qualify but lets put it this way, it is waaaay more realistic that they could qualify than him going on tour in badminton and collecting enough ranking points.

    Can a super athlete convert to play "Olympic level"(by this I take it you mean top 8 players) badminton? Probably not, The top 8 in the world have all played since they were very young, had the best resources and coaches and train long every day, This guy would have to have extremely abnormal "natural talent" in badminton to make up for that. Then going from complete novice to this extremely high standard in such a short period of time surely some badminton specific muscles/joints would be badly injured.
     
  8. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    someone should send him a email/twitter telling him badminton is going to be too hard for him to make it. let's see what the reaction is. maybe that will fire him up a little. :)
     
  9. craigandy

    craigandy Regular Member

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    I read he signed a contract for over $20m. Maybe someone should send him an email indulging him, saying you will coach for your usual coaching fee of $1m per year.:D Get your fee for the first year, send him to a tournament watch him get whipped and then ask him what he thinks of badmitten now:D
     
  10. Yellowfish

    Yellowfish Regular Member

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    Robert Griffin III - the quarterback of Washington Redskins should play some ball if not he is going to lose his starting job to K.Cousins.
     
  11. SmashAndDash

    SmashAndDash Regular Member

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    The way he and his family laugh after he suggests badminton and table tennis....he clearly has little respect for either sport, ugh.

    Perhaps if he had any kind of racket sport background, he could have a chance, but badminton is a SKILL sport. He can be super athlete any day and run circles around other people, but if he can't even hit the shuttle, what's the point?

    I do like the idea of him attempting though. Perhaps if he failed publicly, it would show what a difficult, demanding sport badminton is.

    Upon rereading the above, I realize I sound very negative. I definitely support the idea that "anything is possible" if you work hard enough. But that's not what this guy meant in his interview. He meant "I'll get to the Olympics, even if it's playing easy sports"
     
  12. catman

    catman Regular Member

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    My thinking was this: agree with the free publicity. Great exposure for USA Badminton.
    Was there ever a singles player who just retrieved the shuttle? Can you be successful with type of strategy. He is huge, very quick and should be able cover the entire court quickly.

    So I was thinking a defensive strategy might be a way to win some matches. But not sure if this is a good strategy. (In Table Tennis there are choppers - who just bring the ball back and try to make the attacker miss. Don't know if there is an equivalent strategy in Badminton)
     
  13. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    I would really love to see him try for it as a sort of social experiment. Then get his feedback. Although we pretty much agree getting to Olympic level will be tough (unless he wants to change nationality to a weaker badminton country), it would be fascinating. If he does it, some US badminton coaches will be very fortunate in getting more publicity.

    This is what I am getting at. The proof will be there. If he succeeds with a lot of sweat and training, he would be the only person in the world qualified to give an opinion.
     
  14. catman

    catman Regular Member

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    I would have thought USA is a weak country for Badminton talent. What does it require to qualify for the Olympics?
     
  15. SmashAndDash

    SmashAndDash Regular Member

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    Free publicity isn't always good publicity... interest might be there for a while, but I doubt it'll be long lasting.

    There is definitely a fitness based retrieval strategy. But that will not make you an olympic level player. Ugh, a local badminton club is definitely of the "train fitness/retrieval" mentality. Their kids can just run forever and ever and ever. But the strategy to beat them is to play SMARTER instead of playing HARDER.

    For an example, look at Nguyen Tien Minh. He is pretty much the hardest working player I've ever seen, and I have a soft spot for him since I'm Vietnamese-American. However, his HUSTLEHUSTLEHUSTLE strategy just doesn't work against

    "He is huge, very quick and should be able cover the entire court quickly. "
    1. Huge really isn't a good quality in badminton. The more mass you have, the more mass you have to push around the court.
    2. Very quick? There are many kinds of quickness. I know amercian football players have very good forward sprint speeds, but the kinds of movement you do in football and badminton do not translate easily.
    3. There is no point in being able to MOVE to the bird if you can't HIT the bird.


    The difference between table tennis and badminton is that in badminton, once the shuttle hits a surface, the rally is over. In table tennis, the way I see it, the ball may be "faster", but you have more time to "save" the ball. Even if you are a "chopper" it takes more skill to be able to spin the ball and make a quality shot.

    TL;DR: Even if this guy trains daily for 5 years, he'll be squashed by players ranked 50 and up, easily. Maybe even 100 and up LOL.

    USA is definitely not as strong as other countries, but I still don't think he can just walk in and qualify for the olympics. Really, we'd have to see him even attempt this, and I don't think an offhand comment in an interview is serious commitment lol. He'd need to train a minimum of 5-6 years to even think about keeping up with top USA players..
     
  16. yuki onitsura

    yuki onitsura Regular Member

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    It's always interesting to read about top level athletes thinking they can be great at any sport just because they're good at one. For all we know, Griffin may very well just have a natural knack for badminton and pick it up quicker than most. But if he thinks he can just stroll in and beat everyone on athleticism alone, he's in for one hell of a surprise.
     
  17. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    He is talking about making the Olympics, not top 8 best players. He is shorter than Ivanov but I imagine he could play a similar style at best. As said above he only has straight line speed but with his bum knee even that is becoming questionable. Finesse would certainly be an issue and he should be easily beaten around the net but I think he has the smarts and talent to become a decent player, should be a fun hobby for him ;).
    As for making it in 7's: quarterbacks can't tackle :p

    But with a big pocket full of $$$ he can certainly travel to all the tournaments and with some luck all the R1 defeats will land him an olympic spot for some african country that his great great grandfather came from and he is elligible to play for [​IMG].
     
    #17 demolidor, Dec 16, 2013
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2013
  18. |_Footwork_|

    |_Footwork_| Regular Member

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    Let's not confuse things:

    1. Will he ever be able to make it to the top of badminton? No, def not!! As an adult, he will not be able to learn what asian kids learned their whole life in an EXTREMELY competitive environment.

    2. Will he be able to make it to the Olympics for a country like the US (or even change nationality and go for Tansania...)? Maybe, if he invests 8h a day for the next 8 years, he might be able to qualify for an inferior country (like the US) as the world number 243, go there and get beaten 21:4, 21:6 by /insertrandomchinesename/. Don't know if he's talented for badminton, but if so, it might be possible...
     
  19. craigandy

    craigandy Regular Member

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    Yeah but what he said and what Op asked were slightly different "Can super athlete from another sport get to Olympic level in Badminton?" Olympic level imo is not some guy from an African nation being handed a ticket because there is no other continental representation.
     
  20. |_Footwork_|

    |_Footwork_| Regular Member

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    if you define "olympic level" as a level that is necessary to have a chance to win a medal or so, the answer is obvious.

    no way can he do that ever.
     

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