Top 5 reasons why Women should play Badminton
It is normal in India to see sports as a career or pastime for the male community. Despite the surge in women sports at a professional level, regular women still restrain from playing regularly. Playing any sport is seen as an occasional choice than as a norm.
However, times are changing due to Indian women finally making a mark on the world stage. Further, there is awareness among the people to stay fit. In the recent past, badminton has emerged as the ideal sport for women due to a multitude of reasons.
While fitness and fun are key factors for females to play any sport, unfortunately, not all sports are easy to play unless one is a professional. Badminton is that one sport which brings in many of the positive effects of other sports while fitting perfectly like a glove for the fairer sex at the same time.
In case anyone is wondering why, here are 5 reasons to convince and inspire every woman, irrespective of age, to pick up the racquet in our country.
#1 Short, Intermittent yet Intensive
One of the biggest barriers for women to play sports is the constantly intensive activity that is required over a long period of time. Badminton straight away eliminates this genetic disadvantage for women.
The overall time for playing is much shorter and the game in itself is designed such that one can take breaks between points. However, none of this takes away the fact that the sport is pretty intensive and works every muscle of the body.
Thus, the sport is short in duration, intermittent in nature yet intensive to play, making it a perfect fit for women.
#2 A great exercise for maintaining shape
As mentioned above, badminton works all the body muscles, thereby acting as a great builder of body shape. A lot of sports work certain muscle groups more than the others. For example, running is a great exercise for developing leg muscles but does not work the upper body enough.
On the other hand, badminton requires great physical fitness to play different types of shots consistently. This automatically implies that one needs to strengthen all muscle groups.
Consequently, it fits in well with every woman’s requirement to play, get fit and stay in shape.
#3 More mental than physical
Again the genetic make-up implies men can generally sustain physically intensive activities for a longer period than women. Most games and sports generally involve such intensity. However, badminton is an elegant sport and can easily be played using those brain cells over brawn.
The racquet sport is more about understanding space, patterns, movements and angles than just possessing the brute strength to smash hard. While the latter technique is useful, it is not necessary.
Thus, the importance of mental aspects acts as a great leveller and an incentive for women to step on the court.
#4 The “Doubles” option
One of the highlights of badminton is the flexibility it offers. While needing only two players to start playing is a definite plus, the ability to play one-on-one or two-vs-two is a huge incentive.
One can play singles to test oneself both physically and mentally. However, if your playing partner is not well in any way or is a beginner, then playing doubles masks those temporary shortcomings while ensuring an enjoyable experience. Furthermore, the mixed doubles is a delightful option for friends and family to play together.
This is a great advantage as women new to playing sports can work their way to singles’ fitness instead of having to get fit before picking up the racquet.
#5 Current phenomenon in India
Inspiration is extremely important in any sport as one needs someone to look up to. For example, millions were inspired by India’s Cricket World Cup win in 1983 and the result is that we are the best in the sport on several levels now.
Cricket saw stars such as Sachin Tendulkar rise from that win and received widespread coverage that translated into religion-like popularity. Badminton is undergoing a similar though slightly smaller-scale ascendancy.
The dawn of singles stars such as Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu , who are becoming household names now is a great indicator of the rising phenomenon. Further, victories of doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa on the international stage have inspired many more.
Thus, India is producing superstars now in the sport allowing every woman to experience that “1983 moment” and play the game.
These are the top 5 reasons why every woman in our country can and should play badminton for an active and fitter lifestyle.
#ComeLetsPlay
