Racketlon, by combining four similar but unrelated sports, brings together a keen community of people who learnt their sport within that sports community. When we come to Racketlon, we bring the quirks we inherit in that community into the Racketlon community. What do I mean by a “quirk”. Well the dictionary defines a quirk as:
“A peculiar aspect of a person’s character or behaviour”
And who from a non-Squash has wondered what on earth us squash players are doing when we wipe our hand down a wall, because it certainly isn’t drying the sweat away! To this end, I recently asked the UK Racketlon WhatsApp group, what quirks confused them when they started playing Racketlon? Some of the responses were exactly what I expected:
● “Why do squash players wipe their hand down a wall?” (swiftly followed “and why do the table tennis players wipe by the net?”)
● “Why does no one practise serves in table tennis?”
● “Why do badminton players stand at the back of a court, hit two shuttles to test them, then start the match? (also quickly followed by “what is tipping a shuttle?”)
● “Having hit almost all top spin in the warm up, why does everyone then only hit slice in table tennis once the game begins?”
And some are even Racketlon Specific,
● “Why do even good tennis players start playing Racketlon tennis in a tight match?”
The list was an interesting mix of the odd, the obvious (maybe?) and the technical. What were the quirks that you have come across playing Racketlon? Let us know in the comments and we can add them to our list. Later in the season, drawing on the expertise of our community, we’ll bring you some answers to these quirks; why do people do them and does it make any difference?
James Pope
