Being on the girls varsity badminton team at Schreiber is not like your ordinary backyard badminton.
That kind of badminton might seem like an easy-going sport. However, it requires a lot of practice and commitment.
To be good at this sport, like any sport, you need to practice and work hard. Badminton is a very fast-paced sport, and we play in Division 1.
Our practice starts at around 3:30 and ends at 5:30.
An ordinary practice begins with the team running laps around the gym, and sometimes our coach, Dr. O’Connor, will put out agility exercises for us to do so we can improve out footwork.
Dr. O’Connor is a great coach and always encourages us to be the best team we can be.
In warm up, he will call out different kind of shots for us to practice hitting.
For example, he will say to “hit an overhead clear” or to “hit a drop shot.” There are many different kinds of shots to learn in badminton, and they take time to learn.
Even though badminton is a team sport, it is also an individual sport.
Although our team has about 18 girls, there are three girls that play singles and four pairs of double teams.
A badminton game is won by the first person who gets to twenty-one and is played best two out of three.
While a match is in progress, the audience watching must be silent.
It is very distracting when an audience member claps or cheers for your opponent, or for a person playing on a different court.
The game of badminton is won by moving your opponent around the court by hitting various types of shots.
To be successful, you have to hit drop shots, clears, drives, and make your opponent run to get the birdie.
For the team to win, four out of the seven pairs of singles and doubles girls playing must win.
Badminton is a great sport and an exciting activity.
Everyone on the team becomes so close and I always look forward to attending practice at the end of the day.
I am always excited to play and am looking forward to a great end of the season.