Lost 24-22 in a match that was anybody's game. Even so, there are some serious fundamental flaws underlying that result. How did an arsenal of overall stronger footwork, more explosive power in movement/strokes, and better technique lose?
I will call the most part of it a strategical lost. My opponent caught me where I didn't catch myself. Sometimes it's fine when an opponent catches your weakness. It's not all pack and go home - as long as you too realize it as a weakness and attempt to reduce any opportunities for exploitation. Now, I didn't know I had a specific kind of weakness: a specific movement in response to a specific stroke for a specific amount of times. That is, going backwards diagonally to the backhand corner + intercepting a punching lob. Do that once or twice, I'm fine. Now do that 3x and my lactic acid endurance falls apart, making me unable to scramble for front shots. Apparently, I had serious issues with footwork there. I'm reaching that corner with 1 step less and therefore an bending over my back and using only my wrist movement to lob all the way across the court. And I didn't know! I thought all was well with my footwork. The good thing is I have a remedy, but it will take some time to set in.
The 2nd part of it was on the mastery of relaxation. In badminton one must be able to relax in the heat of the moment to avoid locking joints and movements. Just stiffening one's body will make it really hard to get drop shots (which are pretty fast in competition), let alone smashes. Because relaxation also leads to a better focus. Now, I came to this game tired, still not fully recovered from fatigue. But I had learned relaxation and I expected it to come like it did at all other times. It didn't. What happened? I had underestimated the mental discipline required to relax. Took it for granted that I had it meant I had it. But the best athletes have so much mastery over their psyche, that they are able to come back focused under the most intense and fatigued of circumstances.
The last obvious mistake was my unforced errors. I kept lobbing/net crossing/smashing out. This can be partly due to the rapidly fading focus and increasing agitation. So although it was probably seen as a separate component in itself, it was probably the by product of lacking relaxation.
And so, my badminton journey goes on!
No comments:
Post a Comment