How do you cope with the confinement situation?

[s_mair]

Been following this thread for a while now but I wanted to wait until things tend to settle for a bit to draw some sort of a personal conclusion for me. And since I'm now back in the actual office 50%, the kids are back in kindergarten (part time too) and the wife is back at work too, I guess we have reached that point now (at least for this wave of the pandemic).

Looking back, I think the most important thing for me to stay sane has been doing a lot of sports. And that went from classic badminton shadow footwork, to @speCulatius' workouts, to some Youtube-yoga stuff, to go running or rope skipping... you name it. And I didn't have a goal in mind - I simply enjoyed doing what I did. And I don't want to brag (...yeah, right...) but I can't remember a time in my life when I was in better shape in terms of overall fitness. So it'll be interesting to see if and how that translates to the court next week.
I've also had my low-days of course (a number of them!), but looking back those were mostly the ones when I flooded myself with too much news and social media, so limiting the amount of Covid-news input seems to be a sound strategy. And again, I think that sports or following other hobbies was the most effective way to pull myself out of these lows - so that is an important lesson learned for me.

Also, we used the chance to fix some minor things in and around the house, sold some baby stuff that was filling the attic and simply threw away numerous other things that was piling up over the years. It felt so good to make some free space.

And speaking of online shopping while being bored - I also made a couple of impulse purchases that I most likely wouldn't have in normal times. But hey, if it makes you happy and you have it under some sort of control, why not?! At least I am now the proud owner of my own little home studio setup and I'm really looking forward to making more music in the future there. A typical thing that I had in mind for years but just didn't find the time and the motivation to get it done previously.

To me, the hardest thing during the lockdown weeks was to see the kids missing to see their friends and granparents and basically being pulled out of their usual lives from one day to the next without a chance to grasp the reason why. We were trying to make the best of it there too and shared a lot of great moments (and a number of less-great ones...), but it's simply impossible for an adult to replace the company of other kids in the same age in the long run.

I'm not sure if any of this will cause lasting changes in the long run, but it was in some ways interesting to face this challenge and make this exerience. And I'm so looking forward to enjoying all those little things again while feeling safe and having a good conscience once this whole bullsh*t has settled at some point.

 

[kellysim89]

Keep learning new stuffs! Now that schools have reopened, students who have troubles coping with school work can now hire a 1-to-1 tutor to help them get back on track!

 

[Borkya]

I'm not sure if any of this will cause lasting changes in the long run, but it was in some ways interesting to face this challenge and make this exerience. And I'm so looking forward to enjoying all those little things again while feeling safe and having a good conscience once this whole bullsh*t has settled at some point.

Ha, I think you are totally right. In china, when the lockdown ended, the first thing people wanted to do was go out, see their friends eat in restaurants, walk around malls, shopping streets, go to tourist places like parks and gardens etc. I know my friends in America are passing around hopeful articles about how this will change us, make us less materialistic, help us realize that we need people, not things, but really what do you want to do with other people? Eat at restaurants, chat over expensive fancy coffee and go shopping, haha. Honestly I was MORE attracted to a mall after the lockdown because it was a place with vibrancy and life and people and I missed all that. (Normally I hate malls! But after the lockdown I was drawn to them.)

So while I do think this crisis will make people appreciate the small things for awhile afterwards, I don't think it will change society in drastic ways.

 

[LenaicM]

And... we're back under lockdown in France. No more badminton until 2021.
My German friends are affected too, altough with a "lighter" version of the confinement.

I played a month or 9 sessions since my clubs reopened mid September and since March. Early October, my 2 clubs had covid cases, including myself (I was almost asymptomatic, loss of the sense of smell and taste "only", which is partially back after 3 weeks).

One thing I want to do differently this time is to stop watching the news and focus on things I don't usually have time for and remain positive about the situation.

Good luck to all of us who are back to square one (regarding the lockdown) and let's find a way to continue sports to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

[s_mair]

And... we're back under lockdown in France. No more badminton until 2021.
My German friends are affected too, altough with a "lighter" version of the confinement.

I played a month or 9 sessions since my clubs reopened mid September and since March. Early October, my 2 clubs had covid cases, including myself (I was almost asymptomatic, loss of the sense of smell and taste "only", which is partially back after 3 weeks).

One thing I want to do differently this time is to stop watching the news and focus on things I don't usually have time for and remain positive about the situation.

Good luck to all of us who are back to square one (regarding the lockdown) and let's find a way to continue sports to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Glad to hear that you got away with relatively mild symptoms!

As said, Germany has issued a "lockdown light" for the whole November starting on monday (so in theory it would still be possible to have some last minute on-court action over the weekend). Clubs and gyms will be closed, as well as restaurants, theaters, concerts, movies etc. and there is limited amount of people to gather in private. The infection numbers were climbing so quickly over the past few days that there wasn't much choice. Of course, all team league matches and tournaments are also cancelled, at least until the end of the year.

What makes the whole thing a lot more bearable compared to the first lockdown in spring for me personally this time is that schools and child care facilities will remain open. I don't have any serious issues in terms of reducing contacts and skipping badminton for a while as long as I don't have to see the sad faces and the growing frustration of our little ones who got ripped out of their routines and away from their friends.

I've stocked up beer, wine and potatoe chips, I have kept my home workout routines still going on over the summer, so I'm prepared and ready.

 

[raymond]

Our gyms here are not closed, so people could still play if they want. I'd be invited by friends a couple of times, but turned them all down. Just not sure, as not everyone is lucky enough to recover completely. Some may be left with long-term health aftermath.

I haven't played since March (so 9-7 months now). Miss it, but start to get used to it now. Kind of replacing it with other physical activities. I always knew I'm not great in physical activities, so essentially I end up having little exercises. Badminton, to me, is a game first and foremost. I rip this beneficial side-effects on fitness.

 

[HardWorkPaysOff]

It seems like Badminton Single games are still allowed in germany. I hope that my club and the county regulation will allow it too. Since iam a MD player its now time to step up with my single game

 

[s_mair]

It seems like Badminton Single games are still allowed in germany. I hope that my club and the county regulation will allow it too. Since iam a MD player its now time to step up with my single game

Looks like some rental halls think they found a loophole in the regulations. So I’m not sure if they will get away with it. It’s clearly forbidden to have practise sessions for clubs though. But tbh, it’s not really helping the whole cause if everybody keeps trying to find loopholes to keep up their own personal activities best possible. Just stay at home and reduce contacts for these 4 weeks for heaven’s sake. It’s not that difficult.

 

[Verhoef]

In The Netherlands we started the season in september playing and training doubles. After 4/5 weeks this changed because of a lockdown light to only singles and training with 2 players on a court (maximum of 16 in a hall). This went despite more regulations in the country on for about 7/8 weeks.

The second club i play closed since october so i can´t play there anymore. At my main club I have been training on monday and playing singles against recreational players on tuesday. This all went fine because of some rules. I have been improving on my serve, tactics, walking on court and even learned and improved new techniques and strokes. Very positive that with these limitations it is still possible to become better as a player!

As of today we are now in a full lockdown in Holland! Very frustating that I can´t play badminton till 19 januari and problably a few weeks after that. It doesn´t make sense to me that they cancel all sports since this is a very big point in fighting the virus and staying healthy! Hopefully I can get through this period with other activities and will be enjoying playing badminton in a couple of months!

 

[s_mair]

Germany is also heading into a more strict shutdown (not a lockdown by the way!) with most shops, schools and kindergartens closing tomorrow. New Years Eve is pretty much cancelled with the sale of fireworks being prohibited, no alcohol on public places etc.
The previous 6 weeks of "shutdown light" were not able to get the spread under control and lower the infections. Hospitals are reaching their capacity limits and the number of deaths per day had been reaching horrific values over the past two weeks. So bottom line, there was no other option but to harden the restrictions since too many people obviously weren't willing to reduce their contacts enough on their own responsability.

In terms of badminton, I don't see myself on court before February and wouldn't be surprised a bit if this became March in the end. This suck of course, but is completely negligible in the big picture.

It doesn´t make sense to me that they cancel all sports since this is a very big point in fighting the virus and staying healthy!

The goal of cancelling non-individual sports activities is to reduce the number of personal contacts. Meeting with others to play badminton increases contacts and allows the virus to spread. Plain and simple. The positive effect of sports for the immune system does not compensate this fundamental issue.

 

[Verhoef]

The goal of cancelling non-individual sports activities is to reduce the number of personal contacts. Meeting with others to play badminton increases contacts and allows the virus to spread. Plain and simple. The positive effect of sports for the immune system does not compensate this fundamental issue.

The people I played with and trained with were every week the same people. In my opinion the risk was very low. Being active and enjoying my sports is for myself personally more important then avoiding the change of getting sick.

When I look at Germany I see the same extreme measures as in The Netherlands. Merkel said this year there will be 58 million people (70% of the population) who will get the virus. In reality there are 1,36 million cases and almost 23000 deaths. Is this enough reason to put a whole country in lockdown?!

 

[s_mair]

In reality there are 1,36 million cases and almost 23000 deaths. Is this enough reason to put a whole country in lockdown?!

In my opinion, yes it is. Germany only has a population of ~80 million people, so I would be very surprised if anyone suggested that 300 million of them would be getting infected.

I would highly prefer to keep BC a happy place in terms of political discussions. We have already far too much of that on all other social media and real life situations.

 

[Verhoef]

A little update on my personal situation in The Netherlands: After a couple months not playing sports (15 december 2020- march 2021) we were able to start training outdoor in april.

After 6 weeks the numbers of infections started to drop because of the vaccinations and we were allowed to play indoor (only singles). This lasted until last saturday when the rule of 1,5 meters distance between persons on sportcourts was let go. This means we can now play doubles again after a long time (roughly 6 months)!

Tonight I had my first training including doubles with 4 persons on 1 court. Very positive towards next season to get started already with serious and fun training!

 

[kwun]

In my part of California, it is pretty much back to normal. Vaccination rate among Asian 12+ yrs old is 90+%. And since 99% of the badminton participants are Asian it is pretty safe.

 

[visor]

In my part of California, it is pretty much back to normal. Vaccination rate among Asian 12+ yrs old is 90+%. And since 99% of the badminton participants are Asian it is pretty safe.

Is that after 1 or 2 doses? Not yet pretty safe until after 2 doses!

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[s_mair]

Things are improving really quickly around here too in the past couple of weeks. Vaccination rates have climbed significantly (I've had my second shot a week ago so... ), the infection numbers plummeted suprisingly fast along with it, supported by the spring time weather and people meeting outside. Restaurants and shops are reopening, schools and kindergarten are going back to normal, even small music concerts and other cultrual events are allowed.

We are allowed to start club practise again with certain restrictions and it looks as if I'll be back on court on Sunday. Can't believe it has been 7 months since I last hit a shuttle. Oh boy, this is going to hurt.

 

[Cheung]

In HK, we are at a new normal. 20% of persons with two vaccinations which is unfortunately low. We need another wave to encourage people to get vaccinated.

At least badminton halls and gyms are open. Local tournaments have also restarted with restrictions. We are currently having the HK annual championships. Unfortunately I got knocked out of the over 35 men’s doubles but still in the quarter finals of the over 45 men’s doubles.

The first day of the competition opened with the seniors playing first. The sportshall made a miscalculation and didn’t restrict visitors. Some the people who hadn’t got into the main draw (restricted number of entries) came anyway for the social occasion. The hall was packed and I talked more than played. It’s been about 18 months without tournaments for seniors. In a way, everyone was so happy to see each other but from Covid control point of view it was terrible. At least everyone wore masks unless they were actually on court having a game. Was it dangerous? Luckily HK has only had one unknown source community acquired infection in over four weeks so I think we are ok.

At another venue, players are only allowed into the hall 15minutes before their scheduled match! As you can imagine this poses a few novel problems with the warm up and trying to get into the match frame of mind. Matches are also only up to 31 points one game. If at change ends you are losing 16-3 , it’s impossible to come back into the game (which is what happened in my losing match).

In gyms, we have to wear masks during training. I recently joined one near my place. All their instructors are vaccinated, they only have maximum 9 persons in a class and customers also need to be vaccinated. Fantastic! They said they lost some customers due to their policy but placed greater value on public health.

If outside, we can exercise without masks on.

 

[kwun]

Is that after 1 or 2 doses? Not yet pretty safe until after 2 doses!

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no specific statistics.

for overall population is 77.6% with one dose and 66.5% with both doses. So 2nd dose isn't far behind 1st dose. I just checked again and it shows Asians 12+ are 94% vaccinated. either 1 or 2 doses they are really high numbers.

 

[kwun]

We are allowed to start club practise again with certain restrictions and it looks as if I'll be back on court on Sunday. Can't believe it has been 7 months since I last hit a shuttle. Oh boy, this is going to hurt.

take it easy. I went too hard on the first time back after months and hurt my knee. Had to take another month break from doing any exercise in order to recover.

 

[visor]

Luckily the only time I was off was that 1 month due to having covid in March.

Otherwise we're playing singles and will soon progress to doubles (again) next week.

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