Things to take note for beginners
1) Racket head always faces the net in the ready position when hitting back-court shots.
2) Ideally hit the shuttle at the highest point in front of you, but not directly above your head.
3) Swing across to follow thru, do not swing straight down to your right (the side which you hold your racket) hip which will cause shoulder injury.
4) It is recommended for beginner to start with guiding the shuttle across for frontcourt shot instead of trying the spin net shot. Although the shuttle will go further beyond the net, it is much flatter and faster. Ideally, take the shot at the height of the net, guide the shuttle with both your arm and wrist (only slight movement of the wrist). Racket surface must not face up so that the shuttle will go flat.
5) When hitting a shot, focus on executing the motion correctly rather than focusing on hitting the shot hard and fast. This is the number one mistake that most of our trainees made at the beginner level
For everyone who is training hard and working towards their goal, here is a song by our legendary badminton player LinDan. Enjoy!
Q&A with Timothy
How did you first gain interest in badminton?
I first started playing at the void deck of my HDB block when I was 5 or 6 years old and I had fun playing so I signed up for a holiday crash course at a nearby community centre to learn the real way of playing. I had a really nice coach and he helped me improve very quickly. Subsequently, I joined the school team in primary school and made the first team at Primary 4 and that was where I began playing competitively. Everything else picked up from there and I began going for lots of training sessions to improve and it was very much thanks to the many coaches that kept me going as they kept telling me that I had a lot of potential.
Have you been through any obstacles in the pursuit of your badminton dream and how have you overcome those challenges?
I had a couple of setbacks along the way and 1 of them was that I had a knee injury in Primary 6 which kept me from training at a higher intensity and this hindered my improvement for a bit but luckily with some good physiotherapy and strengthening exercises I recovered fully from the injury and continued training hard. Eventually I made it to the National Intermediate Squad, 2 years later.
How you find balance between study and training?
It all comes down to good time management! This means spending less time on computer games and other things that teenagers nowadays love to spend time on. As a student athlete, one of the most important things is to make sure that you get enough sleep as without proper rest, both academics and badminton would suffer. So, over the years, I’ve learnt to be disciplined with my time and finish my work before training so that I can train hard without worrying about homework and assignments and get enough sleep. I tell myself: if I can do work after training, it means that I haven’t trained hard enough!
Which player do you look up to on the international badminton scene?
I loved to watch Taufik Hidayat when I was much younger, and he was still playing. I loved his ability to play backhand shots so easily and still remain in control of the rally. Now, I look up to Kento Momota and Tai Tzu Ying as these are the 2 most intelligent players on the scene now. They aren’t the tallest, strongest, fastest etc, however they play really intelligently to outsmart their opponents and I hope to learn more from them. They are relatively young but they do have an extremely deep understanding of the sport and they are incredible to watch.
What tips & advice will you give to school players/badminton enthusiasts?
Personally, I would say that one of the most under-valued pieces of advice is to watch the professionals play. When I was younger, while my peers watched K-drama’s and reality shows, I spent my time watching badminton and learning. The more you watch, the more you can learn and the better you can become! Of course, just merely watching won’t do you much good, so be sure to put what you learn into practice!
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