I have an obsession with my age, in that I see players who are both younger and better than me. I reckon once you're past a certain age, there comes a point of no return. Either you'll take the path of a seriously good player or relax into mediocrity. Who agrees? Is it ever too late to start really going for glory?
Well, according to your profile, you're only 17. I think a good age to start badminton would be 11-12. I started when I was 7-8 years old and those first like 5 years were wasted because I was never mature, I never focused on my play, I never had the strenght to develop some skill etc. At age 11-12 it is the start to a "new level" where you begin to develop strenght, you have common sense. I'd say it is hard to start badminton when your past 40 years old. You're getting pretty weak and all whereas someone who started from 11-12 and played till their 60 consistantly will continue to be good. Just my point of view on it.
I dont think ur too late to start! I personally started 17 as well. Well I'm not exactly "good" but I've progressed slightly since a yr n a half ago, my skills HAVE actually developed somewut I'm not to the point where I can win anything in tourneys yet, but I think if I had a few months of solid play then I can do "not so badly" in tourneys. However, the results may varies from person to person, but it all depends on how "serious" you are at learning the skills Cheers!
What is all this about age???? You are never too old to learn and that includes sports. What might be considered too late is a career. I have seen folks as old as 45 yrs picking up the game. Sure they have never played the game but they have played other sports and the hand to eye coordination is there (just the timing is off). If you aspire to be a top International player, well, that's a different story as you will have to catch up and unless you are extremely talented and focused, there is no way you can do so even with the best coaching available. The trick to anything is to develop plans and goals. Focus on achieveable goals, e.g. within a year - to make the school team, etc.
At age 17 you should pick up the game real fast. If you find a club for the summer or something and get lessons, you should be decent by the end of that summer and from then on is just pretty slow.
I knew a guy who started badminton at 17. Later he became so good, he got to the 3rd round(I think) of the All England back in the 80's in the men's doubles. Of course, many other people don't get that far (like me ) At that same period, I knew of a man who only took the game up in his early thirties. He got a coach (who I believe is now part of the England setup). I heard that player ended up playing for Surrey 2nd team in England. No mean feat. I think there is also a player in the Kent 2nd team who got coaching in the last couple of years to make it to that level.
How good do you want to be? The best in the world? The best in England? The best in your county? Darren Hall was still winning singles at the English Nationals aged 27 (I think - in 1995) 10 years should be plenty of time to improve your game If you really really want it, you can do it.
That is the real big part of this. If you want to get real decent by some time you have to really try and put the extra effort into every practice. I always slack off :/
is there a limit to how good you get at badminton, and how are you suppose to know how hard are you playing is enough to get better???
Play, practive, rest(while you let the strokes sink in, and meanwhile watch some games to gain strategic improvement) I heard the best way to improve is to watch games(between skillful players) watch their movement, strokes etc, then try it out yourself... In fact, I used to do this for a while (inbetween games at rec centers)
AzNbOi2747: I think you made my point better than I did. I was trying to relate to potential. What I meant to say was, is there a relation to how good you can become with how early you start? Possibly there are some acquired skills learnt best when you are very young, i.e. when you are most receptive in learning terms. I've been playing long enough to know how the game should be played, but there are some advanced skills I just can't grasp, perhaps down to annoying habits developed over time, or perhaps because I wasn't taught correctly at an earlier age. Does anyone agree?
I can understand ur concern, sure, the earlier, the better. I mean, around age 10 to me, is the perfect age to start to participate in sports. However, agree with most of previous posts, it really depend on u. Badminton is not as same as gymnastics or figure skating, once u tried to start after 17, u might find it will be almost impossible to achieve higher level due to body structure. It's true that 17 might be late to bring u up to be a world champ within 2 yrs or so, but if u just keep trying, i am sure u will enjoy it and achieve certain satifaction later on. There's nothing impossible in the world, and success comes from the combination of various factors. Age surely applies, but other factors, such as physcial (agility, height, stength, stamina, etc), mental (determination, willingness to train, to fight, to win, etc) all play key roles as well. My suggestion is, just don't put too much energy on worrying about whether ur "protential" is high enough or not, but just put ur efforts in practice/training. Things can be changed with 180' around later on if ur career, overthinking is pointless and useless. Plan ahead is surely good, but no matter how well thought a plan is, ur need hard work to try to apply it.
so when did you guys started playing badminton and how old are you right now??? would you say you improved alot???
AzNbOi2747: You seem to have the same sort of questions that I have, and lots of them; we've only recently signed up. I can see that you are keen to learn the sport rapidly, which is always good. I started playing for fun a few years ago, only now it has gone up one gear. Recent local competitions have made me more knowledgeable and more aware of how to play; it has really spurned my game on. I turned down coaching when I was thirteen, and I've regretted that, plus a two year abscence from playing, ever since. This is why I have so many queries about potential and whether I am too late to re-start. The thing is, I wasn't keen on playing different people then, because I was too shy. Now things are different, I try to play wherever and whenever I can. The question you have to ask yourself is, how good do you want to get? What will you get out of realising your potential, if you do? By all means go at the sport full tilt, but only if it means you keep lovin' it + cheers LazyBuddy
The first time I step on a court when I was 13, and now it's my 11th year of badminton. However, due to various reasons, I stopped playing for a period of 4 yrs (major during high school time). When I came back to pick up the sport again, I found out that almost all my skills (well, not a lot compare to a lot of others) were gone. Therefore, I need to work extra harder to fight my way back. Even though, without a coach, I was lucky enough to meet some nice ppl who always encourage me and willing to show me some hints here and there. Now, well, I am still far away from being a pro, and never raise a trophy in any regional tournaments. However, I think I improved a lot - not only skill / game vise, but also in physcial strength (healthy), mental (dedication, determination, willing to learn/try, etc), and many other fields (hmmm... such as how to string? how to drive in rain/snow??? )
wow you started when your 13, im 14 and i only been playing for a few months and 11 years of playing is a long time i feel sorry for you that you coudlnt play in your high school years... i believe that you can improve alot during that time... i think after high school i wont be able to play because theres too much to do... but hopefully i wont get bored of badmitnon and keep on playing... i see that you dont get alot of time to play in your high school years... how come??? i go to the club almost everyday and i am still able to have a good gpa
1. I played about 10-12 hrs/wk during college yrs, and about 10-15 now, even though I am working full time. hehehehhehe... no wonder ppl say I got no life besides baddy.. 2. Well, the reason is very complicated. The 2 major ones were 2.1 $$$: my family was facing serious financial problem @ that time + NY public school always don't have enough $$$ to support various of sports. 2.2 Almost no one though I could play. The so-call coaches just looked at me (short and fat), and just kicked me out of try outs right there, even without gave me a chance to swing a racket. 2.3 GPA was not an issue to me... hehehehee... when I grad. from my high school, I got the highest gpa there... so... no, not this one...
i started at 8,9...until 13...there was lyk no improvement....at 13,14 i saw that i had a natural talent for baddy then obviously i developed interest in it....and now when im 15....im really getting a lot...im improving a lot i mean....17 is no late...its ok..
Aleik, here's a personal testimony, its a bit long, so brace yourself. I started playing badminton since I was little, 6 yrs old maybe. Back then I could only serve and because of that I didn't like the game, everytime I served, my friends would just knock back the shuttle and get an instant point cause I couldn't hit the shuttle. At age 10, I joined my school club, surprisingly I was able to hit the shuttle this time. The coach in my primary sch club wasn't great though, we just brought shuttles and play by ourselves, no training whatsoever. By 14, I joined my high sch team and had proper coaching, I was ranked 17th back then. We had a great coach, unfortunately there was about 60 ppl sharing 6 courts back then so he had no time to privately coach us. All he was able to do was show everyone the stroke he wants us to learn for the day, but that was enough for me, I went on the court and practiced it over and over again by myself. I was really enthusiastic back then. As a result by the end of the season, 4 months+, I rose up to the 7th. Due to that I wanted to play more and more badminton, the crave for badminton was never ending. About a year ago, I'm 20 now, I decided to start training to try and catch up to the professionals. I returned back to Indonesia to get proper training, boy was I surprised when 12 year olds were beating me. Fortunately I was a bit dumb It didn't get to me that 12 year olds were beating me, I just trained harder. In 6 months time, I was easily beating that guy who beat me. Heck I even beat him when he partnered up with the coach's nephew who was 13 back then. By then there wasn't enough decent sparring partners, so I moved to a better club... which was more competitive... way more... I was beaten 15-2 15-2 by a 15 year old... Still didn't get to me, I trained harder and now I can play evenly with that guy who himself has improved quite tremendously. Sure I still can't beat my seniors, but I'm already planning to move to a better club so that I can advance even more rapidly. To me, nothing is impossible as long as you hold on to your dreams and relentlessly run towards it. And I think that's the way it should be for your case too. PS: 3 months ago I wasn't able to do a proper back hand, right now I can play any kind of shots you want me to with my backhand. You might think I'm talented, but I tell you now that it has nothing to do with talent, infact, I consider myself to be the man with no talent. It's all dedication, at home when I have nothing to do, I'd grab a racket and do the stroke I want to learn, correct some bad habbits, further improve what was deemed mediocore etc. Don't give up bro, its not only the extremely talented who can become the best, dedication plays a big part.
Wow, I can't believe ppl still read this thread! I nearly forgot about it. I definitely was over-thinking about things then, because I was very conscious that I was dropping behind what I expected my ability to be at 17. I'm nearly 19 now, and I can't say I'm COMPLETELY satistifed with being a mid-league player, but it certainly stretches my abilites as they are. All I can do is try my best! If there's something I can't achieve if I try my best, I'm still happy. The key is to learn. You might make mistakes in badminton, be they tactical, technical, or to do with training regimes or whatever. The quicker you accept your mistakes like a man and learn from them, the quicker you improve. Honesty with yourself can be like having a free coach! Aleik.
