Let’s talk about sports!
Ever since the pandemic happened, many of us have been stuck indoors and barely did any form of physical activities or sports. This had caused us to gain a few pounds and also lose our strength.
Normally, people categorise sports into two which is casual play or even competitive play. It’s a physical activity or game which can help us maintain and improve our physical ability and skill.
Left: Ho Yen Mei Right: Daphne Ng
Today, we’d like to introduce ASICS who’s one of the best sports shoes in the market! We had tagged along with them to Asia Pacific University (APU) to conduct a badminton clinic featuring our two Malaysian national Athletes, Daphne Ng and Ho Yen Mei!
With ASICS, they would like to share with us their #LiveUplifted campaign where they have a philosophy of Sound Mind Sound Body.
Daphne and Yen Mei had focused on three major topics in the sporting and Badminton world during the clinic and shared their insights and wisdom through their experience.
1) How to avoid injuries
When playing sports, getting injuries are very common but there are methods to avoid them completely or even preventing them from becoming worse.
Some of the things we should to is:
- Warm up before sports or training
- Wear protective gear (according to the sport your play)
- Strengthen your muscles
- Knowing the rules of the game
- Having a healthy diet
- Increasing flexibility and motion
- Choosing the right sports shoes
- Always hydrate
- Have enough rest
2) The science behind a 'SMASH'
As most badminton players aspire to hit the right smash, there are also key factors towards a powerful smash. First of all is to ensure your footwork is good.
For example: If you’re a right-handed player, to perform a smash you must have your right leg behind and left leg in front and it’s the opposite if you’re a lefty.
Once you’ve established that footwork, you’ll be able to accelerate your swing. The next most important bit would be the contact point when you smash into the shuttlecock. From there you’ll need to execute the follow through.
If you do so, it should look something like this
Another important factor for a good smash is the tension of your racket. For reference, a beginner would generally have a low-tension level of 16-22lbs, an intermediate player would have a medium tension at 23-26lbs and professionals would have tensions over 27lbs and above.
The main reason to have a high tension is for players to have the ability to have more controlled shots but this can only be done so if you can hit, he sweet spot consistently. If one mishit occurs, it could also break your strings!
3) How to perform under pressure
When competing, there’s no doubt that pressure can get to you. Sometimes, we may not even notice it until we start playing. The main thing when competing is that we need to stay calm and maintain our cool.
Two tips on remaining cool and to perform under pressure is to first imagine the scenarios in your head of what you want to do multiple times and have a positive outcome out of it. Next up, you’ll need to remember to breathe. When breathing, count from 1- 4 and slowly breathe in and out.
Lastly, Daphne and Yen Mei emphasized that everyone must always maintain their posture when playing sports. They had showed a series of stretches that can be performed on and off court which can help everyone maintain their body’s physique and flexibility.
So, thinking of heading down to the badminton court this weekend? Remember to stretch and properly equip yourself! Perhaps you can pick up a few pairs of ASICS shoes while you’re at it 👀
If you follow the steps above, you could maybe be like this!
Watch on TikTok
Or maybe you’ll end up like this:
Watch on TikTok
Check out the video below:
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