Issue # 3 - College Rifles Squash Club

TACTICS TALK - DoublesCommunication is very important in doubles. You don’t have to be the best of friends but youmust respect each other. When you walk on court you become a team and can benefit from leavingany differences off court. Effective communication means being able to be honest with each otherwithout taking offence. It must also be balanced – i.e. not your partner is doing everything wrongand you are the perfect player. Some partners will instinctively click, that is a bonus, but most willhave to work at. It is about thinking as a team as if you were connected by a bungee chord. Youshould never be too far apart in distance as that opens up smashing and dropping channels to youropponent.If you work together you improve your chances e.g. If one is a stronger smasher and the other atouch player, try and get the smasher to the back on attack so they can set up the net player.Trust is key don’t try and do it all yourself. 1 person taking it all on themselves will only workagainst weaker opposition. The tougher your opponent the more important it is to work together.Signals can help – e.g. finger pointed down behind your back for short serve, up for flick anddegree left or right for how far away from the T you are aiming the shuttle.It’s a matter of buyer beware when it comes to rackets on the marketthat often carry the label of a major brand but are not manufactured bythat brand – i.e. often referred to as “fakes” in the badminton community.Some are tempted by what seems to be a bargain price and it isoften only when you restring it, perhaps after a month or two later, thatyou find the racket has broken and it is not under guarantee because itis a “fake”.Because it was not made by the manufacturer you thought it was,that there is no way to get a replacement racket. Often these brandsRacket fake outare made of inferior graphite material mix or have less graphite inthem, so can be many more times more prone to breaking. Some peopledon’t mind this of course and that is their choice.But if this does concern you, then be aware that one of the advantagesof buying from a shop - like the ABA YONEX Pro Shop - is that youcan still get cheap deals on good rackets but you can also try them outfirst and see if they suit you. If in doubt over a racket we can help youcheck it out, but to be sure it is best to buy from an established shop.Badminton Stories from your Badminton CommunityYou or your club could feature in this section of the newsletter. If you have a story to tell email cliff@auckbad.co.nzSally Ho – The Pacific ClubSally has a rare ability - to see both the big picture and small detail with ease and jump quickly between the two.She has been a rep for Auckland Badminton and Auckland Table Tennis (was ranked as high as 3rd in NZ in TableTennis).Sally has been involved from day 1 in helping ABA’s development manager put together the first framework forthe After Schools Just Smash It Program which is now running in around 9 schools in Auckland. From time to timeshe is involved in talks about strategy and she is always good value. She is studying Sports Recreation and BusinessManagement at AUT.The Just Smash It Program is a key program for our sport and we are constantly adjusting the approach as we learnand adapt to what the schools, sport and clubs need. In just over a year it has added 300 new players who now get achance to play regularly, even though most of our junior clubs are full.Also involved at the Pacific Club both as coach, secretary and player she has been helping out and involved in theclub for many years and is always one of their key people at their Awards ceremony.SCHOOL CHAT - AN INTERVIEW WITH CELIA MASINIPENICelia works at St Peters College and does a great job with theirbadminton teams and is mother to top reps Shane and MariaMasinipeni who are some of the most promising young talents inthe region. We interviewed Celia about how badminton is perceivedin schools.“At first, before they play the sport, they think it is a joke and reallyeasy. The perception is that you just turn up and hit this shuttle overthe net. But once they experience it, they realise really quickly howathletic and fast it is. I had the First 15 Rugby team in the hall oneday as they couldn’t train and the coach allowed me to give them a goat badminton. They were tired out after 10 minutes, even the coachwas surprised. These were superbly fit rugby players but the shortsharp movements on court were using different muscles than theywere used to.One of the key things to students respecting the sport is gettingbeaten. I often get Shane down at the start of a class to play againstthem and no one can get close to his shots. I also showed them theNZ players training at Gillies Ave and they were amazed at how fast itwas, especially the jump smash.After they have played the sport all of them like it, and it totallychanges their perception of it. We are lucky at our school to havegreat administration support for the sport and this helps enormously.We have to fight hard to ensure our sport is taken seriously in schoolsbecause our sport is not on TV, so people don’t see how athletic itis. But the rewards are worth it, especially when you see the playersenjoying the challenge, developing their strength, speed and powerand beating players who are good at other sports.”