"What kind of bread were you baking?” He hesitantly asked after the training session.
“An enriched Japanese milk bread called shokupan,” I replied. “I’ve been baking more because I have more spare time recently. Do you bake?”
“No, well…my partner does, back when we had more spare time. My kids like…baking as well as cooking now, though.” He trailed off, looking serious.
Maybe I could have asked him how old his kids were. He seems to have an interesting life, I assumed. Travelling for badminton, playing in tournaments, training, training, training…then having kids.
On the drive home, my mind rattled off thoughts about him. He lives in a neighbouring city. He has a partner. Of course he does, he's fit and has kind of a sense of humour. He has kids, which makes sense, he has white hairs. He has a mysterious, commanding tone of voice when calling out to the other kids on the court, and knows the gentle things to say to get them to listen right away. Did he bake bread? What a stupid question. Why do I feel so awkward and curious at the same time whenever I go to badminton coaching? He has a subliminal way of being present. I made a mental note for myself to be less reserved and more myself next time we went for coaching.
“Have you been playing outside of these coaching sessions?” He asked neutrally.
We haven’t been playing in between our coaching sessions. I feel especially guilty abut this fact, which is something I know we can have more control over. I don’t want our money to go down the drain. I know muscle memory takes time to practice, so we should be practicing between coaching sessions. I tell myself I have already taken a lot away from these sessions to make myself feel better temporarily. For example, today I felt myself return to the “whipping motion” that clicked for me a session ago. And my body positioning and footwork feel a bit better, more smooth. As I turned onto the highway, I wondered if I will continue to improve. It doesn't help that all I've been craving recently is shokupan.
Our friend who frequently commutes to the court told us he did group lessons, which gives you access to drop-in sessions in the evenings. It seems more worth it.