My Badminton Progress

..::*+ Small Talk +*::..

Well I know this blog has been abandoned for quite some time. It just means that I haven't been playing good badminton game, or simply just because I didn't keep track of my game progress. But 'nuff said, I'm back.

---

Today I went to play badminton. And as usual we started off with some warm-up and some strokes to have the touch to kick in. And we (Koboi and I) played a double game with Germans. We lost the game, mainly because the better play and control from the opponent team (a guy and a lady). Nevertheless, I was quite annoyed by the fact that I made in total of 5 mistakes for shuttle serve, which is something that wasn't often happen to me. Positioning from both of us needs to be sharpened.

However, I think the main reason of the lost is still control. We sorta struggled to get control of the game, despite the fact that our skills and power are much more superior than theirs. Typical Germans: They are not that good in whole, but they are good in what they are doing. In this case they showed their superiority in hold-position ball-control, and since it is nearly impossible to make them off-position in a double game, it was difficult for me to take over the wheel.

After the game we rested a while, and the lady went on with her mix-double game in other court. After that she challenged us to play a single match. It has been more than a year since I played a proper single-game. So it was natural for me to not let this chance pass by.

Nightmare stroke though: I didn't know that my performance was no longer that great, given that I was trained to be a single player. I lost the first set. My shots were all adjusted to double-court, since I didn't train to play for double anymore. All my shots went out. Services were bad as well: My natural serves went beyond the court. For a while I was really convinced myself that the court was smaller -____-

In terms of court, I definitely had the best opportunity because I was facing the dark wall, compare to the other side, where one could overlook all other 7 or 8 courts before the wall. In the second game, it was even more disadvantage for me. But this time I controlled all my serves, and thank God I managed to recalibrate my shots back to a little normal. Lesser power, but focus more on controlling the shuttle instead. It did go better and with my dying breathe I managed to win the set and force a rubble-set.

I think none of us planned for the third set so by the third set we were very tired. Nevertheless, I made sure I took the full advantage of the side and managed to get 11-1 score before we changed side. The situation turned bad and soon enough she was just a point behind me while the score increased by time towards the 21 points mark. I wasn't able to apply proper control of my shots, only tried to do some tricks and find some advantage to force her to make errors. It was then 20-19 and all I had in mind was control control and control.

She made mistake and I won. It was a hard fight. And breath-taking game. It has been a very long time since I played such a game and it definitely felt good. I think I should play more single game and focus on controlling my shots. And my weakness still exists: I couldn't return their services in an offensive power. I think I need to work something out from that. Secondly it's about footsteps - It slowed me down by a lot and I found myself being lazy to chase after shots that were nearly on-line. Definitely should learn to play a little steady and hold-position control like they do. That is something I must master - the only improvement that I must make to compete with them.

It was definitely fun and it really felt good. We talked a little while post-game and she is actually studying in my school. Well, not surprise I didn't see/know her - I don't really know anyone from IBIS course.

That's all for now. signing off.

It felt good to come back to play badminton again. It's just that I still not really use to the fact that I might be going away from Heilbronn to other place.

Anyway, today I played well at the first hour but second hour was kinda bad. I partnered Mus against Siew Chun and Koboi and it was quite fun although quite hard.

But after 4 rounds we decided to stop and the German woman who "brought" me into the "gang" asked for a game. First set we played well. But after that I realized what Danny said in Ocean's 11 was true: You as challenger play the same strategy over and over against the host you will eventually lose.

And what I didn't like the most about the quote was that I lost my coolness. Ceh. We lost 19-21, 21-10(?), and 19-21. It wasn't fun because I was the one that kept making mistakes. All due to the injured ankle that I failed to get my fulcrum and direction properly. Sway away by... less than 5 cm.

grrr.