5 reasons to start your kids on racquet sports
Racquet sports like badminton or tennis straddle team and solo sports. There’s opportunity to learn about playing in a team, and in a small team of two you really have to learn cooperation. The fast-moving aspect of racquet sports is great exercise, and it’s hard to beat in terms of improving hand-eye coordination. Besides, what kid doesn’t like hitting something with something else?
Reflexes
There’s nothing like a ball or birdie hurtling towards you to practice getting those reflexes moving quickly. Practicing responding to things quickly is a skill that transfers to all sports.
Hand-eye coordination
That whole hitting a small ball with a racquet part of sports like badminton and tennis are a great way of developing the connection between what your child sees, and what their bodies are doing. Getting a solid connection there will help them in many different ways, not just in sports.
Healthy competition
Learning about winning and losing is a big part of childhood. It’s tempting to avoid those hard lessons about losing, but the great thing about playing competitive games is they are quick. So they might lose one game, but there’s a chance to win the next one. And the world didn’t end when they lost, either.
Teamwork
Playing doubles, where one person is in front and one in the back of the court, is a sort of next-level education in cooperation. There’s planning what to do when the ball or the birdie comes in, taking responsibility for missing a shot, and learning to let your partner do their part.
Mistakes
In games like badminton and tennis, there are constant decisions to be made about where the send the birdie or the ball, where to be on the court to best return a serve, how to relate to a doubles partner. Obviously not every decision will be the right one, sometimes costing a point or even a game. Moving on from mistakes and being resilient is such a key life skill, and particularly important if your child tends towards perfectionism.
And a great benefit in Raincouver – there are lots of places to play indoors come winter.
This post was sponsored by Badminton Vancouver. We are North America’s premier Badminton Facility that was built to bring youth and innovation to the world’s second largest sport. Our goal and vision is to give you an experience unlike any other.
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Images courtesy of Badminton Vancouver
