How¿

I started about a year ago in my junior year of high school. It seemed like a sport I can get into. How right I was. Since then, a certain person whom shall be nameless starting talking smack about JV players (I was Jv #5 singles) and since then that comment has fueled my devotion to this sport. I'm an avid Yonex product purchaser. I practically know everything there is know about the new Yonex products. Badminton season is starting now, and I just got through conditioning. I'm a doubles player now and hope to one day be in the Olympics and prove my parents wrong. They think I play just for fun, I'm going to show them...

 

I was dragged into it at age 10 by classmates which means that ive been playing for 3 years now.

 

I was 9 years old when I learned how to play badminton. I initially started playing tennis at a fitness club. My parents played tennis twice a week with their friends and brought us along to play on a different court with their friends kids. I wasn't strong enough back then to hit the ball far and didn't know the mechanics of the game. The other kids and I found our way to the gymnasium of the club and found 8 badminton courts littered with used shuttles. We picked them up (about 50 of them), and found that most of them were still playable because people throw them out even though they had minor damages. We decided to get some badminton racquets so the next time we visit we get to play. From then on whenever our parents went to play tennis we went next door to play badminton. We easily learned the rules on how to play and enjoyed the game more than tennis . That however lasted only 2 years till we had to move. I didn't play again till I was 16.

High School came and in my second year I found out the girl I had a crush on was on the badminton team. I was reluctant to try out because my skills wasn't to par (by then I actually learned how to play tennis and I did so also because of a girl but that is another story. I actually consider myself today more of a tennis player than a badminton player because I have participated in more school and club tournaments for tennis than badminton. In the winter I was not able to play tennis except for some indoor which got expensive so badminton became my winter racquet sport). Going back our story, I wanted to get to know the girl more and for me to be able to play better and perhaps get on the badminton team, I signed up for a badminton tutorial at the school taught twice a week by a lady who was a regional champion. I found it difficult at the start because my endurance was not good enough and my tactics were not so good. But in a few months, night after night of drills and training I found myself in pretty good shape and ready for tryouts. I went for the tryouts and managed to beat 7 opponents thrown at me. I lost however to 3 very good schoolmates who got to play singles. So I made the team; that year I got to play doubles with a buddy of mine who was very good (he would have made the singles team but there were already too many of them). What about the girl you ask? She was on the team last year, but didn't try out this year. Bummer. Even though she didn't join that year I have grown to love the sport and I was glad that I have improved on my skills. The badminton tournament came around which included several schools in the region. My partner and I had a pretty good plan where we'd play up and back. I'd play up because he was better at smashes. Despite our abilities we managed to win only 2 matches. I would say that it was pretty much my fault because I kept framing the birdie and if it weren't for my partner we wouldn't have won those 2 matches. I think just I wasn't really ready for that type of pressure yet, however the game was very enjoyable and I was determined to make the team again the next year.

The next year came around and I did make the team again. I was happier this time because she had made it as well. Of course I chose to play mixed doubles that year. Was she my partner you asked? Well no, we were both pretty good players so our coach split us up to play with other decent players. Her rationale was that she didn't want to have one strong and one weak team, she wanted the team to have even strength. I was of course a bit upset at her decision but I still got to interact with her because we were on the school team. However by that time my crush on her was diminishing and being on separate teams did not devastating (It was complicated back then, there were other people to meet and she was with a different type of crowd). So how did we do that year? My team didn't do very well. My smashing ability improved but that didn't matter much because my partner (I'm not really blaming her) wasn't that good. We still managed to win 2 matches.

I stopped playing badminton for about 4 years till the middle of University/College. By then I was stronger and faster. My smashing ability increased because of playing tennis and working out (I can serve up to 120 mph, as I have mentioned earlier I mainly play tennis but I have grown to love the sport of badminton I wouldn't say as much as tennis but close, I know this because these days I'm very peculiar about my equipment). There are no more tournaments though, I only play for fun these days. I play once a week (hopefully soon twice) with other students but mainly doubles because there are not enough courts to go around. Perhaps one of these days I would join a local club and play in their tournaments. The break in between high school and University/College did drop my confidence in my skills but I'm slowly regaining them. Did I start playing again because of a girl you ask? The answer is....

 

I learnt at school, it is was not an encouraged sport though. Shame, it was just something we played when it was raining a could'nt go outside for PE lessions.

After school, then college I played socially every now and then, and then when I started to get promoted at work I stopped playing altogether.

Then about four years ago, for some reason I wanted to start playing and joined a local club. Played 4th divsion, won, played 3rd division, won then had a year off due to moving away to work, came back and played 3rd division again, didn't win due to extremely weak team mates, ladies only won 2 games in whole season.

I have now moved clubs and play in the 1st Division, so I gues I am an intermediate player. I am totally addicted to the sport. Play at any chance I get, and would gladly play more if someone asked me to. I love it, and only wish that I had gotten in serious play a lot sooner.

Mark

 

That was a good story, too bad you didn't end up playing with her. It would be funny, if she re-try (rejoined) the badminton team because she has a crush on you, that would be something. Huh?

 

being in highschool, i don't get THAT much time to play (not nearly as much as some ppl) *points at fanatics who use this forum* hehe.
started a couple years back when some of my freinds pulled me to the rec center they play at. thats when i got started, and improved quite quickly, probably cuz i had to play with ppl much better then me over and over. now i can match them and sometimes beat them too, yay!

so now in gr12, i'm tyring out for the school team, as i was too lazy last year *grin* i even managed to pull in a couple of other freinds into the game as well...

 

I wish that were true. Maybe I should ask her when I see her again. One of these days I'm bound to run into her again. I haven't really talked to her since high school.

 

I started playing badminton when I was 5 years old with my father and older brother. But as a chubby kid, I never liked running, so my dad, to avoid my complaining, let me sit on the bench while he focussed his efforts on training my brother. I had always been playing at clubs but never had any serious training.

After 2 years of "rest", at age 14, I picked up badminton again by myself. I played for my high school and won medals. I also went to summer training camps. That's when I knew I loved badminton, but wasn't serious about training.

At age 16, I went to Singapore for 2 months and I trained there. I learned the various drills, fitness exercises, and the importance of footwork. The following year, I returned again and my love for the sport increased. I had become extremely motivated after attending the Konica cup and watching Ong Ewe Hock play. When I returned to Canada, I trained as hard as I could. Now that I'm at university, it's difficult to find time, but I play/train whenever I can.

I suppose I am an intermediate player.