Do you keep playing over summer?

[kenneth yick]

i play once every other day in the summer. its relaxing and you dont have to do school work and its better then sitting around doing nothing

[Togey]

Yes, I do, as much as possible

[Me-0w]

HELL YES. Summer is like training time.

[fpixi]

I usually train my footwork, it gives good results when the real practice stars

[event]

The same thing here in the US, almost half of the gyms close during summer ... and most people are more interested in outdoor sports ...

I found that in Canada, although there were pockets of interest in more rural areas, summer wasn't the only time gyms weren't available. Forget year-round. My hometown (pop. 3200) gave us Sept-May and the nearest city had an almost dedicated gym with the even shorter Sept-April season. In fact, one of those might have started in October.

In Korea, a major difference is that most people with sports as a hobby concentrate on only one. Therefore, virtually no sports facility is seasonal. For example, we have only a few dozen ice rinks in this whole country but every last one operates year-round and all but a few are accessible to the public 7 days a week.

People who do badminton rarely play tennis with any kind of fervour and vice-versa. At the local tennis/badminton shop I go to, when I took my tennis racquet in to be re-strung, they seriously asked me whether I was giving up badminton. In terms of the gyms, there isn't the competition from sports like basketball and volleyball so there are plenty of school gyms that are used for badminton 5-7 days a week and there are more and more public facilities which are cheaper and better. I pay one dollar at my gym, which has ten courts. We have two places that are free year-round, too. We even have air conditioning but this is the first time I've seen that kind of luxury in a gym in Korea and it is definitely NOT the norm. The air-conditioning was installed badly, too. They hardly ever turn it on because it makes lots of noise yet nothing seems to come out of the vents even as the shuttles do amazing aerobatics whenever it's on. The majority of gyms aren't even heated in the frosty winters we get here. So most places experience a drop in numbers on the coldest winter days and the hottest summer days.
I, on the other hand, suspect that one day I will return to the land of warm-in-the-winter, closed-in-the-summer Canadian gyms and so I never change the frequency of my gym visits all through the summer.

[Noob848]

I play more than usual because i don't feel like playing hockey in the summer -.-

[fast3r]

I play much more than usual, in fact during the summer i play 7 days a week. It's important for me to play more over the summer, since that is when i have most time to train (no school etc). It gives me a chance to step up my game in time for the new season. If you are a relatively serious player who likes to enter tournaments like me its important to take advantage of the extra time available. My aim for next season is to get into the county squad for my age group as soon as possible, and having been invited to attend pre-season training(incidentally this happens next week) with the county, i hope that the extra training has paid off since this is the ideal opportunity to catch the eye of the coaches.

[Jinryu]

You know, me being in Canada, heat isn't so much of an issue in summer gyms (though it still is). I hear that in a lot of asian countries, say, philipines for example, that badminton is really on the rise-- how do you people handle the heat?!

[DinkAlot]

You know, me being in Canada, heat isn't so much of an issue in summer gyms (though it still is). I hear that in a lot of asian countries, say, philipines for example, that badminton is really on the rise-- how do you people handle the heat?!

You just suck it up and take it. Either that or you don't play.

Oh, and you bring 10 shirts instead of 5.

[jerby]

drinkalot ()

at a summer trainingcamp we sometimes drank 5-6 liters a day or something, just mad...

I keep playing, maybe a little less. our badmintonsystem here is more clubwise: you have a badminton-club (wich is in my case 700 members) who rent a sportshall from the goverment for certain hours of badminton-only (in my case they own their own baddy-specific-hall) and that's our 'club'. sadly enough the season stops for me at teh end of june...and starts in august.

so I'm guessing i'll be doign a lot of running in that month...

[Baderz_Jas]

In summers I play more than usual since I don't have to go to school ANYMORE

[keith_aquino]

In summers I play more than usual since I don't have to go to school ANYMORE

Yep, same here. I usually play four days a week and 4 hours a day on average. This summer's become a heaven (except summer school on Tagalog though ).

I'm also thinking of joining a tournament this summer but it's only four mixed doubles at my age group, and not alot of girls at my age group from graduate backyard badminton here. The coach told me to join the adult age group instead, which is more exciting since it's something different.

Keith

[asuncion_03]

im not playing much... im practicing more on basketball..

[MikeJ]

You know, me being in Canada, heat isn't so much of an issue in summer gyms (though it still is). I hear that in a lot of asian countries, say, philipines for example, that badminton is really on the rise-- how do you people handle the heat?!

A british county-coach asked me something similar before. He asked, "are you used to the heat?" I told him, "I was born here (Manila). I grew-up here. YOU NEVER get used to the heat!"

During summer, the temperature inside the courts can approach 38 degrees Celsius. My friends and I usually drink LOTS of water and Gatorade (or any sports drink). My fluid consumption can be as much as a gallon during a two-hour badminton session.

[s0lar]

We have special training sessions twice a week so I play heavier then usual, normally only one training session a week and 2-3 other days I play games. Now it becomes 2 days of training and 1-2 of playing games.

[olle_whitehead]

during the summer i enjoy playing badminton even more although i dont get the oppotunity to play anymore than regularly, although usually in the summer i come of court looking like i have just been swimming

[tinkerbella122]

not this summer unfortunately ... I guess all I will be doing this summer is going to the gym, workout a bit, hangout with my friends and get a JOB ( I really need a job since the tournaments are so expensive and I feel so guilty wasting my parents money ) ...