Saturday, June 09, 2007

Badminton Philosophy (part 1)

Today, my exam results come out (it's not too bad I guess, thank God). Although I know, out there, there are many people who get straight As or such, I don't really care about that. I have done my best and I am happy with my result. Of course, I did regret that I did some silly mistakes or not studying very hard for certain subjects, but I guess that's over. What I can do now is learn from the results, revise the strategy, and move on. That's the best I can do for now.

OK, that's all about exam I guess.

Now, it's time for something more relaxing, and more fun, badminton. Two badminton sessions in 3 days make me really fresh. I haven't visited gym for the past 2 weeks. OK, I need a break from that boring routine (Don't you agree with me that working out in the gym is the most boring sport ever invented by human? Followed by running in the second place maybe..). But for exchange, I played badminton, and tennis. Who says you can't play badminton and tennis well in the same time? OK lah, my tennis skill is still very far from acceptable level, but I am working on that.

I have been playing badminton since I was 10 years old, although between that time and now, there is 4 years time I didn't play at all. I think, badminton is one of the most complete sports in the world. You need to have superb stamina to play badminton (a good game usually last for about 30 minutes to 1 hour). You need to have speed, accuracy, strength, and most importantly, you need a smart brain to play badminton well. I give you an example why I said that brain got something to do with your badminton skill. When you are playing badminton, you need to think fast and place the ball very accurately. You can't just return the shuttlecock anywhere you want, or you will be very tired trying to catch the shuttlecock and your opponent is enjoying the scenery without even moving his body. That's the key. Unless you have a sound strategy how you are going to play, you will never win anything worth mentioned, even if you have a bull's strength or a cheetah's speed.

What I like most about sports (especially badminton) is that, you can learn something from it, and apply it to your life. I once played a terrible game. I kept smashing and my opponent kept returning it easily. I can learn 3 things from that game:
- I positioned the shuttlecock too easily so that my opponent can easily catch it.
- My smash is not strong enough.
- Maybe, just maybe, smashing is not really my strength.

After a bit of soul-searching, I found out that I very seldom received a compliment like "Benny, your smash is very powerful.". Compliments that I received are usually "OMG, Benny, how come you can always return my smash! So irritating!"

And I come to the conclusion that attacking is not really my style of play in badminton. I am more to defending type. I can defend and return a smash very well. And after my opponent become very tired after smashing 6 times, I do smash, just once or twice, and I win. Smart isn't it? First, I win a point. Second, I make my opponent feel down. He will feel so bad because he smashed many times and achieve nothing.

In life, if you can't win any argument, or you can't convince people very well by talking, let them talk. You shut up. You listen. At first, agree on their points. However, slowly, build up your points without their knowing about it. At the end of the day, you will win. And the best part is, you only voice up 1000 words and your "opponent" voice up 3000.

That's only one of so many lessons I learn from badminton. Now, who dare to say that badminton players are not smart?

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