Life lessons from the badminton court

Despite suffering a slight pulled muscle on the right hand this week and a sprained right ankle last month, I’m passionately and hopelessly in love with badminton! I play at least once or twice a week, usually three hours straight per session with different opponents. As a novice, what I lack in experience and skill, I try to offset with unbridled passion and raw energy. I just love the thrill of an exciting match, plus the physical and mental energy it requires.

Due to the surprising volume of readers’ responses to our previous "Badminator" column, I wish to share some life lessons recently learned from only three months of playing badminton.

Lesson No. 1 – In Badminton And In Life, Mental Toughness Is Important

Mental toughness in the fast racquet game of badminton or in other aspects of life means an individual can cope with all the pressures or stress that come his way. For example, if we’re already losing by more than five points against tough opponents, we should not allow the situation to mess up our concentration and disposition. It has been scientifically proven by studies that fear of losing, feeling bad or getting angry at yourself causes stress, which in turn makes the muscles in your body to tense up and harden. How can you win?

Don’t follow the bad examples of former world tennis champion and brat John McEnroe or even boxing champ Mike Tyson, their temper tantrums on the court or on the ring usually messes up their over-all performance. Often, bad mental attitude is not as high-profile or outwardly expressed as those by players who throw their rackets or shout invectives. There are people with the wrong mental attitude who cannot get over previous mistakes or failures, sadly brooding that their next shots would miss, imbibing and believing this negative pessimism which can become self-fulfilling.

In contrast, athletes with good mental toughness are iceberg cool, like the French Open’s youngest champion Michael Chang or the former world tennis champion Bjorn Borg of Sweden. Whether on a winning or losing streak, good mental attitude induces the relaxed muscles all over your body which makes you more efficient in playing your game. In badminton, I learned that it is important psychologically and physically to believe that you will win, whatever the odds.

Don’t yell in anger or curse at yourself or your partner. Don’t kill yourself over errors or lousy shots, no matter how seemingly stupid. Get over mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Don’t let emotions take over your game. Always smile, win or lose. Anything can happen until the final score, so even when I and my doubles partner are sometimes incredibly eight or even 10 points behind, we never lose hope, never give up. Innate optimism and not giving up surprisingly carried us uphill to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, because we mentally never gave up.

Lesson No. 2 – Know Yourself.

The ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu advised 2,500 years ago: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and in a hundred battles, you shall have a hundred victories." In my observation of various badminton players – whether newcomers like me or veterans – they have evolved their own distinctive styles. There are players who are offensive-type players – fast, with many jump smashes, quick drop shots, net shots, attacking lobs, lots of low services, lots of running fast around the court. I’m more of this first type because of my natural hot temperament, my impatient nature, my love of risk-taking, aggressive attacks and passionate hard-hitting shots (or attempts at shots…).

I observed that some players are not that quick or vigorous, but they’re more clever, calculating, steadier and sly in badminton – fewer smashes, more deceptive play, deceptive drop shots, that drop nearer the net, more high services to the baseline, deep and angled lobs.

Another type of player is the defensive, consistent and hardworking one – less deceptive, less flashy, less vigorous in attacks, fewer tricks, more straightforward and steadier. The defensive players are more careful with their shots, take fewer risks, hoping to wear out their opponents and win by their consistent good play.

In badminton, other sports or in life, there’s a tendency for people to try copying champions and achievers without assessing themselves. Any study of world badminton champions on ESPN or other sports TV shows, reveals that each champ has his/her own different style. What is important is that we learn to be comfortable with our own individuality. Learn from the champs, but be yourself. Based on your unique individual temperament, personal enjoyment, physique, build, stamina, and age, develop your own style of playing and winning.

Lesson No. 3 – Tire Out Your Opponents, Play Smart

I hope my regular badminton friends don’t read this, but since I’m just an excited and over-enthusiastic beginner still lacking the skills and experience, my strategy is to try to tire out my opponents. A book of Danish badminton tactics has a portion showing a strategy for singles, whether beginner or veteran, with this illustration of where to hit shots for opponents to run:

Called the "triangle principle," try to tire one’s opponent out and focus on targeting the shots far away so that our competitors will be forced to spend much energy, much sweat and much "khui" in Hokkien or "chi" in Mandarin while they attempt to return the shots. Try to make the opponent keep on changing positions for every next shot. Use your wits to win the game, not just our skills or our strength. In badminton and in life, we should not only work hard and play hard, I learned that we should work smart and play smart!

Lesson No. 4 – Train Correctly And Always Study

Once in the Valencia Badminton Court between San Juan and New Manila, my amateurish but energetic weekly game with friends from Anvil Business Club was interrupted by the court owner and Philippine team coach Errol Chan. I thought I had violated a Quezon City ordinance or destroyed something on the court. He just abruptly grabbed my racket from me, and started doing demonstrations and explaining the correct way to grip it and the better way to do the backhand. He later smiled, advising us that whether I go to his court to play, or at Asuncion Court, Olympic, 650, Hemady or Pro-Kennex, we should seek trainers to train us correctly in the fundamentals.

Of course, there are born geniuses in sports, music, business or other fields, I learned that generally, we need to have some basic study of badminton or any other endeavor to do well. Without the basics, beginners like me would make all sorts of wild shots and become accustomed to the wrong fundamentals. It will take three times more time and lots of sweat in the future to unlearn wrong techniques. It’s the same with life; if we get hooked into wrong habits or even vices, it will be hard or painful to unlearn.

If I have the extra time, I should take up the good advice, train with shadow badminton, do multiple shuttle drills (focusing on speed with pressure), aim for refining my strokes and smashes, improve drop shots, and master the basics of proper footwork. Although I no longer have illusions of becoming an Olympic gold medallist, learning and training the basics correctly will go a long way in enhancing my enjoyment of the game, minimizing injuries, cut down waste of energy due to errors and inefficiency, and improve my chances of winning!

I learned that the badminton champions here, in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Britain or Denmark were not born champions, but they had to literally study hard, train hard and play often to get to the top of their game. Practice, indeed, makes perfect whether in badminton, basketball (Michael Jordan practiced a shot literally a million times to become superb at it), music or other endeavors. Always train. Always study. Expand your mind, perhaps study a new language or hobby, add to your repertoire of skills if possible. Keep on reading and learning endlessly.

Lesson No. 5 –Don’t Forget The Footwork.

At the beginning, I thought that my doing the treadmill daily in the gym is already perfect for my badminton game. I thought I could outrun my opponents, so it would be no sweat to outplay them. However, as the weeks passed, I noticed that I indeed could outrun some of my friends, but the better still could win over me and my doubles partner without their running much! Later on, some of my weekly badminton friends like Keppel Bank’s young Malaysian chief financial officer Stefan Tong, asked me to stop playing and demonstrated to me the secrets of proper footwork.

The skill that allows one to move from point to point on the badminton court without having to run around that much is great footwork which should be part of the badminton basics. It is a difficult but absolutely necessary skill in badminton which I have yet to master. My friend asked – What’s the use of your precise hitting of the shuttle or your energy, if improper footwork prevents you from being there to catch the opponents’ shots? Even if you have the best racket skill, but you are not in the right position, how can you return any shot? The former Korean badminton national player Lee Jae Bok once said: "You hit shuttle with your feet."

In life, it’s no use if we have all the right skills and the knowledge or resources at our disposal, but do not shuffle our feet to the correct destination or place. We should muster the patience, courage and will to go and act out our knowledge. What is the use of our great ideas, opinions, dreams and plans if we do not will our feet to go out there and if we do not act on it? Was it Confucius who once said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step? In badminton, even in life, the journey towards winning starts with proper footwork!

Lesson No. 6 – Be Simple, No Need For Fancy Equipment, Fancy Shots

When I started out in badminton, I hated that I had to keep borrowing my friend’s racket because I didn’t have time to purchase my own. In reality, I was also undecided about buying what brand or type of "superior" racket. I thought I’m King Arthur, and I must get my hands on that Excalibur, then I could smite all the armies on the badminton court without sweat! Eventually, the cheapskate Chinese Jew in me just settled for a friend’s un-used, inexpensive, China-made fake Yonex racket – rationalizing that anyway, I was only a beginner. Eventually, a wiser me learned another lesson – I’m not King Arthur, there’s no Excalibur, and badminton is essentially more about skills and mental toughness, than expensive or nice-looking rackets!

Of course, we must use the correct equipment in badminton, similar to deploying right resources for any endeavor in life. But it has been said that 99 percent of the winning comes from how one wields or uses the racket, not on how fancy or superior the equipment is. Perhaps more important than the racket is good comfortable rubber shoes.

Apart from not throwing away money on too expensive equipment, I learned to avoid focusing my energies on doing fancy shots and trick shots. A young talented woman player once advised me that in badminton, being consistently good and efficient is more important than being fancy or splashy in the game.

I do not begrudge those players who are more comfortable in the fanciest equipments, it is not in itself wrong to buy the best brands, but I learned that using correct and good ones can make you win. I learned that in badminton, as in life, many of the best things and experiences come with consistency and simplicity. 

Lesson No. 7 – Enjoy The Game

Whatever our objectives in badminton – whether to gain physical fitness, to lose weight, to promote with family or friends’ camaraderie, or to win in sports competitions – I have learned the overriding importance of enjoying the game.

What’s the point of all the skill or tournament winnings if we don’t enjoy playing? No need for blood-curdling grunts or curses when making errors or losing, no need to be angry at life, at our racket, at the X^%*&*%^^#@*%* opponents who win.

When one plays a bad game, there’s no need to make all sorts of silly excuses – blaming your doubles partner, cursing the lights as too glaring, that the linesman was duling or cross-eyed, the shuttle was lousy, the net was awry, your shoes were new and weird, the flooring was no good, the place was too hot, you didn’t sleep well, you suffered a sprain daw, the girlfriend quarreled with you, the food you ate made you feel weak or lousy, the opponents had better trainers and you don’t have any, or the spectators were too noisy, etc. etc. etc. Lighten up. It’s just a game that we should enjoy!

Whatever our vocation or profession, whoever we are or aspire to be, avoid rancor, anger, negative thoughts, too much stress and unhealthy habits. I should not be a grouchy badminator. Whether for recreation or competition, I hope to play badminton as I should try to live my life – be of good cheer, good physical and mental fitness, be a real good sport, be honest, do my very best, never give up, always learn, always be humble, have faith, enjoy life!

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Thanks for all your messages. Comments are welcome at wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com, wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com, wilsonleeflores777@gmail.com, and PO Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.