MASTERING BADMINTON

As a social sport, badminton is a great game to start with. It is a popular past time amongst south east asian countries. It is especially popular in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. To play a social game, it is quite an easy sport to pick up. You just need to be able to hit the shuttlecock back and forth with a friend for hours of endless entertainment.

However, to be proficient at it, like many other sports, badminton could prove to be daunting, especially when you are faced with an experienced opponent. The intricacies of badminton revolve around the usage of the wrist - all the powerful lobs and smashes that you see in competitions are all the result of a trained and strong wrist.

Also, good footwork is essential to be able to master the game. There are four corners in a badminton court that you must be able to cover - front left/right, back left/right; and six corners - add in centre left/right , for more advanced players. You must be able to move effortlessly back and forth, much like a ballet dancer, to cover all these positions, for these are the areas that opponents like to hit to.

You also must master lobbing the shuttlecock high and towards the baseline, otherwise you would be vulnerable to smashes from the opponent. Badminton is also a mental game- you must be able to be offensive - to hit to places where the opponent is likely to miss; and defensive, able to anticipate where your opponent might hit the shuttle next. The fast pace of the shuttlecock does not make things better - but makes for an exciting game.

Your stamina must also be good - both your anaerobic and aerobic stamina would be put to the test here - as you run fast within a confined area. Feinting a shot is also common practice - you must be able to anticipate the shot, as well as deal it out to your opponent. In singles, you are on your own. Victory goes out to the player who is superior in the aspects mentioned. In doubles, the gameplay is the same, but the dynamics are slightly different. Success depends on both the individual skill of the players and their ability to communicate with each other. Doubles mainly revolves around low, fast shots that skim the net (drives), or baseline high shots (lobs), and drop shots - alternating between them in an erratic manner is the best strategy, to make your opponent run here and there.

There are also many rules to follow that a beginner might find daunting and confusing. Traditional format is a game to 15 , other variants have 3 sets of 7 points each-but you only gain a point if you are serving. In general, for odd points you stand on the left; for even points you stand on the right. You must serve towards the opposite court for singles and doubles. Singles service is a high shot to the back (goes high up then lands at the baseline; a half court effort would normally result in a smash from the opponent, which is bad), or a low shot to the front. Doubles is usually a low to the front or a lob to the back, but take note of the difference in the lines. I won't go into the technical details here; it is best to play with someone experienced, and play regularly to improve your skills.

However, if you are really serious in improving your skills, like all other sports, it requires much training - which could be repetitive and boring for some - it consists of honing individual strokes like lobbing (Basic), smashing (more advanced, and deadlier), netting (oh, the trickery), driving (aim for the opponent's head) for hours on end - and lots of running and frog jumps to strengthen the calf muscles. But going through all these exercises would pay off in the end - you would become a better player in the long run, and technically competent too, which is especially important for this game.


The good thing about badminton it is indoor - and thus all-weather - rain or shine you are assured of play. However, it could get stuffy on hot days especially. Also, you won't be able to get a nice tan. The equipment is quite affordable too, a good racquet, which is a worthy investment for an exciting game, costs about SGD 100, plus minus. Shuttlecocks (heard it takes 200 people to make one) could be expensive though in certain places, and their feathers get crumpled very fast. Also, working your wrist could mean that taking up certain sports like tennis and bowling would result in a steeper learning curve initially. Using your wrist to hit a tennis ball could result in a broken wrist; bowling with your wrist curving like badminton could result in lots of balls ending up in the gutter.