Imagine hitting the wall

It's a hall with 5 badminton courts, walled off by concrete except for the viewing glass on one side of the hall - the shortest side of course! Don't think the local council would want to spend that much on a badminton hall!

I was on one of the courts, trying to hit the shuttle all the way to the other side of the court, only to find it falling short of the base line by quite a margin! After several attempts, the coach finally stopped the drill and started us on games. I sat out on the first round, and found myself standing next to the coach...(click here for more)

We started chatting and then he finally said something about my shots. For a "clear" shot, which is the standard term for geting the shuttle from one end of the court to the other end in the highest trajectory you can manage, you need to imagine that you're trying to hit the wall at the far side of the court. For a "smash", don't try to imagine where you're going to smash, but imagine a point beyond the smash point. He called this changing the "thought spot". It's a change in perception rather than changing the technique of the shots.

We have heard of this analogy before e.g. moving the goal post, or shoot for the stars. By aiming higher, we might just hit the target that's within our intended reach. When I was doing my professional exams, I had to aim to score high on every single question just to pass! Now, if only i have some way of reminding myself this everytime i'm on the badminton court.

In the heat of the moment, the thought spot is everywhere! There's no one single spot! Maybe that's the key, to accept your limitations and then change your every single thought spot! My... that's hard... breaking a habit is hard. Changing perception? Can the adult mind change as easily as a child's mind? Since we're on the topic of changing perception, why don't we just imagine we're a child, learning to walk. Yes, that should work. I'm a child! I'm a child! (repeat 10 times)

Categories:

• badminton
• mind
• inspire