Playing through a bit of pain is a good workout
Last Sat I played indoor football for the first time in possibly a year, or more. With some Malaysians at Cardiff Uni. I was out of breath (as expected) rather quickly, but as the game wore on I got back into the rhythm of starting and stopping as and when necessary. I also took a while to get on the scoresheet, or be comfortable on the ball. With an eye for the goalkeeper's pass outwards I intercepted a short pass and took the ball up, turning to shoot the ball into the net. One. The second one came from a kickoff (i.e. we had just conceded a goal). Adrian passed me the ball as I called for it on the flank - well I was nearer the middle of the park but off to the left. However it was a ball to feet when I would have preferred it in front of me (what they'd call through pass in FIFA) and I had to slow down. Deciding to risk it since I wanted to try a shot from there (it was near the centre circle) I cut in towards the centre, placing the ball away from the obstructing opposing player ahead of me, and unleashed a shot. I am not known for hard-hitting (or shooting, for this matter), and as usual the ball didn't stay on the ground. It gained a bit of height - but a nice height I must say - to knee level and then, again because of the technique with which I kick the ball (it is more of an instep hit rather than a stiff grounder kind, which I don't do very well) it started to curl. More like swerve. So the ball, knee-high, swerved away from the keeper and embedded itself into the upper corner of the net on his left. A very nice strike I must say, nicer than I had expected. Not many expect to be on target from this distance, let alone score. Hooray! Two! Last one I can remember, I took the ball from the corner and with my back to goal moved it back up the court. Then I stepped on the ball and turned it towards the centre, so that I would be open to shooting. As I cut in from the left I became open and realised I had some space to operate in. Moving now to somewhere on the centre just ahead of the D I unleashed a right-footed shot - not hard, but placed - and directed the ball goalwards, to my left. It is not that simple a shot to make, and I was quite pleased with the outcome as the ball hit the post and went in, despite the attentions of the opposite goalkeeper. GOOOOAAALLL! Hehe. Also made a clean sliding challenge to block KK's shot. I like!
And thereafter I played badminton in the evening. Absolutely knackered, my legs have been aching over the next few days, as expected. All day on Sunday when Hui and I went to an uneventful Cheltenham I was half limping around.
But I like to be in some pain. It means you are working your muscles. As long as they don't ache too much (well it is relative isn't it) then I should be able to take this opportunity to train. So I was very happy to get called up again by Ricky to move up to the Mens A match today. We played Archers, who turned out to a competent team but not of the standard I expected of this division. They were a far cry from Vale B whom I played previously (for our A team as well). I partnered Paul R, a rather difficult partner to play with, and we started off against their thirds (since we were Reardon Smith's thirds). They made enough mistakes to allow us to win 21-16, 21-14. We were far from steady, but we were fighting well. Second match was against their seconds, a much tougher opposition. One of them had good technique and placed the shuttle well. We focussed on the weaker player, and lifted a lot of shots to him. Allowing him to try and attack and make the mistakes was a good plan but it nearly didn't pay off. We lost narrowly 19-21 in the first game, clawed it back 21-19 in the second, before going to a nailbiting finish on 21-18. I was all fired up now, despite my aching right thigh, and felt that to really justify ourselves we needed to beat their firsts. We went into the game still buoyant from the second win, and got stung quite badly. Still disorganised and making some mistakes (and I being annoyed by my partner's behaviour), our lack of proper gelling was showing pretty obvious against an obviously competent pair. They attacked the shuttle well, and I had trouble retrieving their smashes. Many a time I could only afford a weak lift which they killed. 10-21 we lost that, and it seemed like we were headed for oblivion. I decided to stop the rot and the first thing I did was instruct my partner to be positive when making comments, and boy, did he shut up after that! We laboured point for point, while they were quite content to sit back and let us attack the shuttle. That was a mistake (well maybe they were getting tired too) I think, because we got back into the match with a few good rallies, and took the 2nd set 21-19. This set the stage for the final set. Everyone had already finished their matches and were waiting for us to be done with it, but we did not mind stretching things out. They were not beginning to show signs of fatigue, and sat back while we gradually attacked more and more. By the mid-game interval the tide had turned. We were 11-3 up. It was still a difficult few points that ensued, but I was certain the game was in the bag, and they probably knew it too. In the end we wrapped it up in an emphatic 21-10 (ish) victory, and I was left feeling really victorious. Yes, they were flagging, yes, we played some tactics, but we got the victory against a competent badminton side all the same, so I am satisfied with the way I played today. Definitely room for improvement, but I was moving well even in the final sets.
I like the training with these aches. They seem to be the perfect potion for lethargy, even if they encourage lethargy in the first place. (Final score, 8-1 to us)
And thereafter I played badminton in the evening. Absolutely knackered, my legs have been aching over the next few days, as expected. All day on Sunday when Hui and I went to an uneventful Cheltenham I was half limping around.
But I like to be in some pain. It means you are working your muscles. As long as they don't ache too much (well it is relative isn't it) then I should be able to take this opportunity to train. So I was very happy to get called up again by Ricky to move up to the Mens A match today. We played Archers, who turned out to a competent team but not of the standard I expected of this division. They were a far cry from Vale B whom I played previously (for our A team as well). I partnered Paul R, a rather difficult partner to play with, and we started off against their thirds (since we were Reardon Smith's thirds). They made enough mistakes to allow us to win 21-16, 21-14. We were far from steady, but we were fighting well. Second match was against their seconds, a much tougher opposition. One of them had good technique and placed the shuttle well. We focussed on the weaker player, and lifted a lot of shots to him. Allowing him to try and attack and make the mistakes was a good plan but it nearly didn't pay off. We lost narrowly 19-21 in the first game, clawed it back 21-19 in the second, before going to a nailbiting finish on 21-18. I was all fired up now, despite my aching right thigh, and felt that to really justify ourselves we needed to beat their firsts. We went into the game still buoyant from the second win, and got stung quite badly. Still disorganised and making some mistakes (and I being annoyed by my partner's behaviour), our lack of proper gelling was showing pretty obvious against an obviously competent pair. They attacked the shuttle well, and I had trouble retrieving their smashes. Many a time I could only afford a weak lift which they killed. 10-21 we lost that, and it seemed like we were headed for oblivion. I decided to stop the rot and the first thing I did was instruct my partner to be positive when making comments, and boy, did he shut up after that! We laboured point for point, while they were quite content to sit back and let us attack the shuttle. That was a mistake (well maybe they were getting tired too) I think, because we got back into the match with a few good rallies, and took the 2nd set 21-19. This set the stage for the final set. Everyone had already finished their matches and were waiting for us to be done with it, but we did not mind stretching things out. They were not beginning to show signs of fatigue, and sat back while we gradually attacked more and more. By the mid-game interval the tide had turned. We were 11-3 up. It was still a difficult few points that ensued, but I was certain the game was in the bag, and they probably knew it too. In the end we wrapped it up in an emphatic 21-10 (ish) victory, and I was left feeling really victorious. Yes, they were flagging, yes, we played some tactics, but we got the victory against a competent badminton side all the same, so I am satisfied with the way I played today. Definitely room for improvement, but I was moving well even in the final sets.
I like the training with these aches. They seem to be the perfect potion for lethargy, even if they encourage lethargy in the first place. (Final score, 8-1 to us)
posted by cheez~ at
12:36 am
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