Bad doubles Partner

[Judyc]

Hi, what do you do when your coach in high school badminton puts you with a partner who is seirously not at your level and misses 7 shots in a row routinely when you've got the lead? And you cant change partners, either?:mad:

[LazyBuddy]

I feel sorry for u, and I can understand the frustration u have. Here are my thoughts:

1. If ur partner is serious about improving, maybe gives him / her a little bit time to improve. U can also kinda offer drills and advice to speed up the progress.

2. If he / she is not serious, and never imporve, I guess it's the time to talk with the coach. It might be hard, but I really don't see the point to let 1 less skillful player to drag down the entire pair.

[Cheung]

Does the partnership form the basis of a team? Meaning are you part of a team with different pairs?

Although it is frustrating, the coach will put you together as part of the team. It may not always be a case of matching people with equal abilities together. The coach will try to decide which combinations suit the team best.

Extreme example: if your team has a great player, but that person has a history of not turning up to matches when asked to, then the coach will drop that person for the good of the team and include a person of lesser ability.

[Judyc]

yes, we are part of the team with diff pairs. Well, she is serious about improving, since she just joined the team, what kind of advice/drills do you recommend?

[LazyBuddy]

Originally posted by Judyc
yes, we are part of the team with diff pairs. Well, she is serious about improving, since she just joined the team, what kind of advice/drills do you recommend?

She's serious about learning, which is a good sign. Overall, ppl all have different lvl in skills, the better players might need to be a little bit more patient with their partners / teammates.

If she's willing to take advice, my suggestions are the following:

1. Doing fundamental drills: Nothing fancy, more like basic clear, drive, smash practice. Also serve and receive, since that's the shot she will never be able to rely on her partner in doubles. No need to let her touch slice or cross court drop, or behind back return tricks like that. Show her proper footwork as well, if possible.

2. Giving advice: If she definitely wrong in strokes, give friendly advice off court. Never shout at her during a game. Help her with her confidence with warm encouragement as well.

3. Plan ur own game to fit for game strategy: Seems u know much more than ur partner. Once u figure out her tendency in shot / movement, u might need to adjust ur style around her a little bit. i.e. she has weak return in the back, u might need to cover the back a little bit more often, etc.

Overall, a serious improving partner is much better than a skillful jerk. U might need to play a role of "half partner, half coach" at this moment, but if things work out, u will double enjoy ur accomplishment.

Remember, win as a team and lose as a team.

[yonexfanatic]

This might be highly doubtful, but maybe your coach doesn't understand the nature of the competitiveness that's at stake?

However, like Cheung already mentioned, your coach maybe doing this because he thinks it's right for the team. Another example could be that your team might already have a strong enough core that putting you and your "poorly skilled" doubles partner together can be spared and next time around another will take yours or your partners spot, etc (not saying this is the case).

What you might want to do is talk to your coach and express your opinions and ask for a partner change. For now, you'll have to stick with your partner (don't get agitated because it'll just make you feel like you don't want to try, which will lessen your changes of winning) and try to give him advice on how to improve his shots until a solution between you and your coach is reached.

[Judyc]

our school is very small, so we just take the people we can get. (ie no cuts or anything)

[Swordfish712]

Originally posted by Judyc
yes, we are part of the team with diff pairs. Well, she is serious about improving, since she just joined the team, what kind of advice/drills do you recommend?

Well, take a look at what her trouble areas are... If she can't hit backhands, just do simple backhand to backhand rallies. If she can't drive, then drive with her, but from what you say, it seems like she needs to start right from the beginning :) .

Start by teaching her how to grip the racquet. Make sure she has it correctly before you move on, because a bad grip can be a REALLY big restraint on her skills improving. Next, you should teach her the proper strokes for the different types of shots. Show her how to use the entire body to perform clears, the correct way to lift, how to rotate the body when you serve, etc. Once she learns all the proper strokes and she performs them naturally in a game, then you can probably start doing some clear, drop, net, lift drills or something.

BTW what school do you play for?:confused:

[yonexfanatic]

Originally posted by Swordfish712
Well, take a look at what her trouble areas are... If she can't hit backhands, just do simple backhand to backhand rallies. If she can't drive, then drive with her, but from what you say, it seems like she needs to start right from the beginning :) .

Start by teaching her how to grip the racquet. Make sure she has it correctly before you move on, because a bad grip can be a REALLY big restraint on her skills improving. Next, you should teach her the proper strokes for the different types of shots. Show her how to use the entire body to perform clears, the correct way to lift, how to rotate the body when you serve, etc. Once she learns all the proper strokes and she performs them naturally in a game, then you can probably start doing some clear, drop, net, lift drills or something.

BTW what school do you play for?:confused:
The idea is there. However, if it's just school play, I would think it'd take longer than a school badminton season to teach all of the basics to the partner (and even simple backhand shots are not basic). Assuming the partner is poor in skill level (just assumption from the fact she's missed about 7 shots in a row), I would think that there's little you can do to fully improve the form as this should be worked on before the season (not saying it can't be done now).

[Judyc]

yonex she didnt join before the season....its just like she cant hit anything that comes hard at her, she knows the basics, but whenever she hits anything under its weak and goes straight up a bit, so the other team just smashes.
SWORDFISH ARE YOU IN JUNIOR BADMINTON?

[LazyBuddy]

If such a small team (sorry, don't knwo how small), maybe let other teammates help with the drills as well, when they have chances. As long as ur partner has the correct stroke, I think more chance of practice (facing different players) will be a bonus to speed up her process.

Just make sure don't over-burn her like 12 hrs per day something. :D

[Judyc]

dont watch out for me:| :| :| I might have SUCK written all over my head that day......one of those days....geez sword give me your msn so i can directly ask you abt technique

[Judyc]

lazybuddy is there any proper way of picking up a smash?

[Swordfish712]

swordfish712@hotmail.com

haha my techinque? what gave u the impression that i would be any better than you? :p hehe

[Cheung]

BTW what school do you play for?
SWORDFISH ARE YOU IN JUNIOR BADMINTON? a number of personal posts have been removed. Thanks.