So I played badminton again at the club tonight. It turns out that the club is not that new. It was started in 1983. I learned this talking to Johnny, he’s a regular with the club.

I got man-handled by a new player tonight. James, the “Cambodian Super Star”. Never seen him before. Holy crap. His serve was awesome. Not much I could do. I had to stand way back and force him to serve short. It was a very defensive tactic.

I also had a different racquet for most of the time. However, I don’t think that made much of a difference.

To add to the embarrassment, I had to play against the best player in the club and this James guy. Kicked my ass across the court.

Two things I learned today.

1. If you are being beaten by a fast, long serve. Stand back and force him to serve short
2. I’ve had a problem with lateral movement when I stand behind my partner while they serve. Win mentioned that my balance was too even. My feet were square with the T on the court. He told me to stand like I was receiving a serve with one foot forward and the other back. This helped immensely as it made my side stride way more natural. No more double-short step.

Annoyance: When good players don’t give you a break.

My brother Win and I are two of the better players in the club (doesn’t say much, IMHO). However, we played Bernard and James today. They didn’t let up, even when it was clear that we could not beat them (I think we lost 15 to 2). They should have let up so that we could rally more. I barely broke a sweat. That’s how fast the points were.

Punks.

-T