I gain the greatest satisfaction in badminton when I take the commanding role in covering the back of the court. In complete control, I am more able to pull off the perfect drop, half-court or smash. This is like taking a deep breath of fresh air. When does badminton satisfy you? Is it hitting a perfect smash, a fast, low drop, or is it just winning? Do you take pleasure in deceiving people or showing off? Or is your satisfaction simply out of winning? Is there more to it than this?
lol badminton withdrawl..actually, i have dat...i'm getting addicted to badminton. It's on my mind 24-7...i have to play at least once a week..or else i go crazy...^^
1. Better Health/Physique (running) 2. Better Ppl relations (meeting new pplz) 3. Better Reflexes (returning smashes) 4. More flexible wrist (ur racket arm) 5. Lopsidedness (in both arms and legs) 6. Better Eyesight (From trying to stare at birds in gyms that are badly lit) 7. Better Verticle? (Personally mine got worst HAHA) 8. End up spending too much time on badminton ( AKA Badminton withdrawl) 9. Bigger Ambitions (For me... it kinda helped me become more ambitious all round) 10. Quicker Mind (in a bad way cuz ur always trying to throw people off with ur movements ^^")
Well.......haveing fun...releasing frustration....staying fit....and I love every move that will trick my oponent.....and smashing that will stay down. LOL.
On the plus side ... - I met my wife playing badminton! - A lot of nice people and new friends. - A great deal of enjoyment. - Always a great workout. - The challenge of learning something new. - Did I mention I met my wife playing badminton? On the negative side... - Severed achilles tendon. - Torn MCL ligament (knee). - Torn left meniscus (knee). - Sprained trapezius muscle (neck). - Compacted disc (spine). - Lots of sore joints and muscles.
i was actually thinking about this over shower just now. what about badminton that really really attracts me? i kept thinking. what about badminton that makes a person like me go to the gym religiously every week, sometimes 3 or 4 times a week, and if that's not enough, spending much of my time chatting in BF afterwards, and then talking more badminton. what makes me rather spend hundreds of dollars on rackets, shuttles, court fee, flying/driving somewhere just to watch a tournament. what about this game makes it so addictive? i was thinking about it and i started to think from a different angle. i started wondering, what do i want to get out of playing badminton? what are my goals? what do i want to achieve (perhaps nothing at all) makes me happy playing badminton. fun i think one goal that is safe to assume everyone will have, is that we all want to have fun playing badminton. "fun" is the ultimate goal, if badminton is no fun, and we get no enjoyment out of it, i think those people would have dropped the game many years ago. so yes, fun, or enjoyment is the main goal, but how do we achieve "fun"? winning? do we get enjoyment from winning? sure, at least, most of the time, if we win, it is fun. but is that all of it? i think not. many of times, i have played and lost a game, and still afterwards, i was happy. may be because it was a good game, may be because i did well despite my opponents are stronger. whatever it is, losing didn't matter. so may be it is not as simple as winning? sweating? strangely enough, many people find getting a workout to be fun. i too find that too, i played a game of single today, it wasn't particularly tough a game as my opponent wasn't too strong. but i tried to keep the rallies going and we both had a good workout. i had sweat running down into my eyes. and for some reason one towel didnt' seem to be enough. so yes. getting a workout is a enjoying thing to do. improving? do you find satisfaction and enjoyment from finding out that you are improving in your skills? if you can hit a shot that you were able to hit before, or if you managed to cover the court with faster footwork, or that you managed to anticipate a tricky shoth from a friend. or as Aleik said, hitting the perfectg smash. or any aspect of improvement in your skills. i find that very satisfying. however, the path to achieve that is usually quite steep, usually with many hours of learning and drills. but that's not the only thing that makes it worthwhile, isn't it? drilling? this one is really strange. i find that sometimes merely hitting the shuttle back and forth during a drill is quite satisfying. the other day we were doing some drive and netshot combination drill. nothing too special, 2-on-1. the 2 side is front/back like in mixed doubles, and we just do drives and push and net shots. pretty simple stuff, but the fact that we were hitting the shuttle and running/hopping around the court was actually a lot of fun. it was very relaxing and un-pressured way to play badminton. unlike playing a real game where there is pressure to win the rally, we were just plainly having fun. or perhaps it takes a real badminton fanatic to have so much satisfaction from just hitting the birdie around. you tell me. socializing? how about spending time with friends and other badminton players? wherever i go, i generally find that most badminton players are really friendly people. the environment of a badminton gym also facilitates socializing, many a time, people may be sitting around waiting for a court, a great time to chat and joke around and stuff. i have enjoyed that very much. i think in general, it is a combination of all the above. for me, i would rank them as such: drilling, improving, sweating, socializing, and then lastly winning. what about you? how would you personally rank these? anything else that i have missed?
It's legal? and the game can be played for over 70 yrs... since u can start when ur young and play til you can no longer hold a racket
Interesting... I'd rank your 5 aspects in the same order: "drilling, improving, sweating, socializing, and then lastly winning". I wouldn't necessarily describe each of the aspects the same way because they have different personal meaning for myself as I'm sure they do for others. However, they still pretty much end up in the same order for me as they do for yourself . I'd like to add one thing though... Kwun, you're definitely a hardcore badminton fanatic *LOL* . Those aspects you listed might be true for a lot of us here but for some people some of those things don't even exist in their badminton vocabulary. I know quite a few people who's order would just be: socializing and winning (and maybe improvement if it just happens magically one day). And of course there are those whos list seems to be nothing less than: winning, winning, and more winning! . Anyway, anyone who wasn't a fanatic, would look at your post and say, "Wow... what a (badminton) GEEK~!!!" . From one badminton geek to another...
timeless, yes, i am a badminton geek alright! but then, i start to wonder... (kwun always start to wonder into wild wilderness when it is late at night and he has work to do...) is that it? is that all the attraction of badminton? is that all that brings us fun and enjoyment? if that is so, so how come many other sports doesn't have the same effect on us? there must be something else, something deeper, more profound and fundamental. but i haven't been able to find it. perhaps i need some divine guidance. where is my sacrifice to the Badminton God?
Hmmm... I've had the same passion for a few other sports as I currently do for badminton. So I guess it just depends on whether a sport really touches you and sparks that special flame inside you .
I've done other sports as well. Some of them I think I had probably picked up easier than badminton. (also competed in as well). However, none has really captured my imagination and been as long lasting as badminton has. I did do martial arts for a few years when badminton was difficult to play. I was pretty much into that and did get a few minor injuries before I decided badminton was probably safer. However, never had the injuries that Timeless describes....... I did meet my wife playing badminton :romantic:
For me, the ranking changed over time. In my first 2 years of playing, playing game is probably the most important until I got frustrated that my game did not improve or rather digress. For the last year or so, the drilling and improving part becomes the most important part, I even took a few months off from work to train with a coach in LA. It seems to me that more people are more interested in: playing game, winning, socializing And some are (mostly recrational players): socializing, playing, winning I don't find too many people more interested in drilling/improving where I play.
