Badminton, a school sport that attracts dozens of participants each spring, consists of individual players or pairs of teammates facing off, trying to make the birdie touch the floor on their opponent’s side of the court.
I decided to try this sport because I thought I had decent hand-eye coordination from playing baseball. My thinking: If I can hit a fastball, curveball or slider with a bat, I shouldn’t have much trouble hitting the birdie with a racket.
Before trying out badminton recently, my only experience was in seventh-grade PE. The only thing I remembered is that badminton is pretty simple: You just need adequate dexterity to do fine.
At least that was what I thought until I faced sophomore JV badminton players Max Gendeh and Rishabh Anand. We met up at the school’s small gym, where we played without a net because we could not find a net to set up.
First, I learned about how rackets can have differing weights. A lightweight racket is generally used for doubles, in which quick reactions are necessary, while a more top heavy racket is used for singles for more powerful shots.
Next, I learned how to properly grip the racket, which felt very awkward compared to the way I naturally gripped the racket, especially with the different grips. Though I naturally gripped the racket the way I would a football, the specific grips for forehand and backhand shots required specific placements of the thumb in order to prevent injuries.
They taught me the different types of hits and how they can be used to deceive the opponent. For example, you can hit a clear shot, where you hit the birdie to the back of the court, and hit a drop shot, where the birdie drops right in front of the net.
I also learned the footwork of the sport: You are supposed to try to stay in the middle as much as possible.
Most of these concepts were pretty simple to understand, but there’s a reason badminton is said to be an easy sport to play, but a difficult sport to master.
It turns out that trying to run around with the right technique while returning well-placed shots is harder than it seems. When facing Gendeh, I often got tangled up while trying to move around correctly, and on multiple occasions, I failed to make it back to the center in time.
To make matters worse, Gendeh smashed the birdie right at my face. I just could not return it, and I often ducked away. The one time I returned a shot that soared right at my face, I stood there, admiring my skills. Gendeh quickly hit a clear shot into the back corner of the court.
I was too winded to run to return the shot, and sat down to take a break. After a quick breather, I played a couple more rounds, getting pummeled by well placed shots coupled with smashes.
Anand and Gendeh then demonstrated how they play against each other. They flawlessly returned each other’s smashes, and seemed to rally for decades. Their game was fast-paced with a lot of well-placed shots. If I was on the receiving end of some of those shots, I would have been demolished.
Despite badminton seeming like a pretty straightforward sport, it requires a lot of coordination and agility to succeed.
After this experience, I now hold a higher respect for badminton players. Hitting the birdie is only the tip of the iceberg of mastering this deceptively difficult sport.
