I played badminton again last night.

It’s always a rude awakening for me when I see other players on the court. It’s not so much that I feel old, rather I feel a very deep sense of disbelief. I’m baffled at how “far I’ve fallen”. I’m slow on the court, inconsistent with all my shots, I rarely execute my “power shots”, and I’m just in poor aerobic fitness. However, I’ll get better; I know that. I’m stronger each time I play, but it’s always that feeling of two-steps back for every three-steps I move forward. The progression is that slow. At least my trick elbow has gotten better.

ASIDE: I injured my elbow playing Wii Boxing. I kept hyperextending it, and it had got so bad that reaching for anything would set it off. Very annoying and painful. I think Badminton has helped strengthen the area rather than aggravate it. It does feel tender after I play, but it’s no longer “tricking”.

Anyways, there were these high school students playing at the club last night. Two were definitely professionally coached. It was pretty obvious by the quality of their play. This led Win to say, “Man, I wished we pushed mom and dad to get us professional coaching.” I responded, “I don’t think my mindset in highschool would have worked well with that. I mean, I wasn’t into badminton that much and neither were you”.

Still, Win’s point is correct. A year of training at say, Lee’s Badminton would have made a world of difference. In fact, I think the difference would be greater with me than Win. I guess you could say I had more room for improvement. LOL.

Tai