Badminton S2
On the 14th of Nov, I went to the first lesson after I finally felt well enough to resume with being active after I fell sick. We did warm ups and a lot of running which I appreciated as I needed the exercise. After, the coaches asked if we wanted to do competitive badminton (continuation in season 3) or if we wanted to do recreational badminton. I chose recreational because I really don’t feel comfortable doing badminton when I am not very good at it and I don’t do well under pressure if I were to go to matches. The recreational group was very small so we got put to the side and went to boy’s hall and we only had one court. We kept alternating with doubles but eventually some people gave up because no coaches gave in and taught us so then the rounds turned into singles. Next time, I might switch to competitive because I wanted to learn something and improve but I won’t sign up for season 3 as I want to try to do something else.
On the the week of 18 of November, we would get separated into recreational and competitive again, I went to recreational because I was very tired and wanted to get right into playing games but that Thursday i really wanted to push myself and try to improve my skill so I went to the competitive side. This week of 25, there were too many people in the activity so the coaches split into morning sessions (for the ones trying out for the team) and for the night sessions (those who want to practice badminton but not for the team). This Tuesday (26th Nov), I stayed for the night sessions and we were pushed really hard this session. The footwork exercises were extended by a lot and there were more rounds for running and cardio exercises which made it really, really difficult for me. I was heaving extremely hard and panting because I’m not particularly fit but am eager to boost my fitness up. The warm up was very hard for me to do but I kept trying and persevering. The training for the skills was to practice overhead clears and lifts. This time, the coach would actually fix my positioning and tell me on how to improve and I did progressively get better through the practice. When we were not training one-on-one with the coach, we would play games in groups of 4. I made new friends and was able to practice the same skills that I had just learnt in order to consolidate. It was a very intense session.
During the Christmas break, I wanted to boost up my fitness and continue with doing something active. I signed up for Badminton Camp for both the weeks. The warm ups and exercises were very intense and I felt like I learned and improved on my Badminton skills. I felt more fit after the two weeks as I noticed that I wasn’t intensely panting after climbing many flights of stairs and I started walking faster without becoming very tired. The time that it took for my breathing to return to normal shortened, meaning that I became more fit which really made my day. I hope to continue with increasing my fitness once school resumes and so do the Badminton Club sessions.
The season has come to an end. I really enjoyed the club and really learned a lot about myself (what motivates me and how to be more resilient). I didn’t try out for the season 3 teams because i wasn’t able to make the training days that followed the try outs due to other commitments but I hope that in the future, I will be able to continue with badminton.
The learning outcomes:
LO1: A good quality about myself is that I am persistent, especially when it comes to things that I constantly fail at but at some times I give up pretty quickly. In order to change this, I tried to join this badminton club in order to push myself more and be able to really become resilient.
LO2: Although I have been apart of a sport club before I have never exactly put in the effort to continue and become better at the sport so in a way, being part of the badminton was a new experience because I put in more effort. I even attended the badminton camp in order to improve which did actually help.
