By Kiersten Reavis

I am a competitive badminton player and often I hear from my peers “I bet I could beat you.” Or “It’s not that hard.” Sometimes I even hear “It’s not a sport.”  What people do not know is how hard badminton actually is. It is an extremely fast paced sport with a lot of moving around. You are constantly bouncing about the court, especially in a singles match.  It also takes a lot of mental skill. You need to know where to hit the birdie so the other player cannot. In a doubles match you also need to use communication a lot. Without the communication you and your partner will be running into each other and it won’t go so well.  Most people who think they can beat a competitive badminton player and have only played in gym play what we like to call backyard badminton. In backyard badminton the players tend to clear is back and forth with no strategy. There are a lot of different plays you can make like the smash which explains itself, the drop which drops right over the net, and the drive which you drive right at the person. These plays will help you score your points. You may think this sounds easy but when you are playing a competitive player they will dominate the court.