Sports all across the world are pretty famous but a pretty uncommon yet intriguing, fastest racket sport in the world, Badminton, has encouraged not only adults but students to persevere from point to point. This isn’t like your usual backyard sport but rather a sport that clocked up to 351 mph.
Each rally could consist from 30 seconds to 5 minutes at most but one match could last 2 hours to 10 minutes. Unlike any other sports, badminton is easy to pick up on because it is simple to hit the shuttle but no no, it’s more than that.
Badminton requires physicality, mobility, reaction time, and many more but the essence of it is watching a match in-person as it could change your perspective on Badminton as a whole. Just one rally between two professionals will amaze you as they do each stroke with ease and move around the court flawlessly, not only that, the shuttle is the key part as each exchange and hitting action is quick and fast.
As the young generation arises, students from different schools plan to give their all competitively but specifically, the girls from John Dewey, the Badminton Girls team are preparing their game plan as they enter the season in March.
The Badminton Girls Team has had a rough start in the last 2 years and this year will eventually be the comeback they needed in order to break the streak and win as a team. As a personal adviser for the girl’s team, both the team and I understand that this spring won’t be easy but the girls have proven that they persevere when needed to. Despite the struggles each of the starters faces, they still come and go as they still perform at their best whenever they can whether it be in JDHS’s gym or at another school’s gym. Sometimes it is okay to lose, losing can boost motivation and the will to never lose again. Performing at your very best is what everyone wants whenever playing a match, no matter what sport, and the next few months will help these girls prepare and find the next level they need in order to shatter their ceiling.
End goals and improvement in just about everything is the key to success and that is what these girls are hoping to aim for. Let’s hear what they have to say themselves.
Q:What is your end goal in terms of preparing for the season before it starts since you won the bronze trophy the doubles city championships last year?
“The end goal I hope to aim for is at least top #2 since I have faith in myself and my partner but I need to work more on my weaknesses and it’s moreover teamwork because it’s doubles, not singles and I will need to work with my partner in order to face those challenges”, the Bronze winner of doubles city championship, Sophia Shi, said.
Sophia Shi and Nuoting (Tina) Lang winning bronze in the doubles individual’s championship(Far Right)
Q:What steps will you take in order to improve your physicality and tactics?
“Some steps I can take to improve my physicality is to play every day, learn some skills, find my mistakes, and find out what else I need to improve in order to be better in the future. Some strategies I’ve been using to improve my game itself is to record every game I play and watch it so I can figure out what to work on”, #1 singles starter, Linda Fang Wu, said.
Linda Fang Wu(#1 starter singles) practices at Bay Academy to polish her skills!
Q:Once the rest of your team this year leaves and you’re the only good player available, what do you want to accomplish to make this year successful?
“In order to make this year successful since my team is leaving is to train the new members so they can become more skilled. Also at the same time, I want to train myself so I can do better in games”, #3 singles starter, Jun Xiu Xiao, said.
The coach of the girls badminton team also has something to say as before this season starts-
Q:Before the girl season starts, what do you hope to see in these girls as they enter this competitive season?
“I have great expectations, very high ones. Since we have a whole team returning, I believe we have no weak spots”, Mr. Gross, said.
These expectations and goals these players have set themselves have proven their value and enthusiasm for this rare sport that is barely mentioned when compared to more popular sports, such as basketball. Despite the lack of attention this sport gets, these girls are pushing themselves to the brink in order to promote this sport to new players whilst also having the desire to win. This is especially when there are new opponents they have to face and how competitive and difficult this season will be, these girls have the hope to face them head on.
The team unites in order to prepare for their game!
