Badminton LOLness

Well, I began to play badminton more actively this semester, usually starting around 5-6pm at the gym. There's always a lot of people there when I go, and they play doubles in court (I'm not sure what the term is, but they use the net and follow the rules and everything). Being a beginner, I just play at the sides, helping the players to warm-up by hitting the shuttle to and fro. (By the way, does my use of the word 'shuttle' instead of 'ball' indicate anything? :D)

One fine day, after I finished playing 'hit the shuttle', I sat down and watched a doubles match between Dr Lawrence (a lecturer in IPG KBA) paired with a staff member, and Akmal (one of my seniors) paired with another staff member. Theirs was an intense match, but Dr Lawrence and his partner won in the end. ==Sometimes I wonder how a man of his age can still play so fervently and enthusiastically.

Anyway, after that, I thought I was going to walk back to the hostel, and it was already quite dark. Suddenly, Dr Lawrence saw me sitting at the sides, and his passion for badminton got the better of him despite reason. (Well, just look at me and you will know --I can't play singles well, so keep doubles out of the question ._.) I hesitated for a moment, and Dr Law pushed again. "Well, come on. You just stay in front and return the shuttle when needed. I will take care of the back."

Sounds easy? Wait till you read on xD By the way, that was the first time in my life I played as a double in badminton ... *inserts wow herself here* ...

Apparently, there are many rules in badminton that I don't know about. First, if another person was serving to your partner, you should not hit the shuttle out of kindness or reflex action or something else. Instead, even if the shuttle lands an inch apart from your racket, you move away and let your partner smack the damn thing.

..I lost a few points because I couldn't resist hitting the lovely shuttle in place of Dr Law...

Next, there's this thing about right and left, even and odd that I still can't understand. Apparently, when the score is even, the right serves to right and vice versa. However, the right won't always be right and vice versa again. And I can't seem to get my brains to keep count of the score anyway, especially not when I'm playing in the court and focussing on not to hit the shuttle when it's not served to me, how to hit the shuttle when I'm supposed to hit it, how to make sure the shuttle doesn't land outside the lines...and a number of other things.

Dr Lawrence and I played two sets against the two staff members, and we won both. --Of course, it's because of Dr Law, not me xD

P.S: I played badminton again today, for a short while. It involved hitting the shuttle to and fro (again) with Akmal the senior, and guess what? My racket strings broke. LOL.