Help in singles

[Zclyh3]

Yeah..you may know me from playing doubles...I play singles now...my partner and I didn't get on our varsity squad on our team. So we split our ways and headed to singles. I now play varsity singles #1. But another player on the team can actually beat me. Too bad he ain't got the grades. But I want to take him out. Here's his game...he doesn't hit diagonally...good smash..good drops...no backhand..I've tried capitalizing on his backhand..but he always hits straight and down the sideline...plus..I hit lots of outs and sometimes I give away my serves..(landing out)..Another note..he always serves LOW. Every single time he serves it's low..I've thought about driving it to a corner..but that has yet to be experimented. Lastly..I use a MP100 and he uses a Carlton..don't know which model. I think it was a white shuttlecock..nylon too..hate that crap...bring on the feathers!

[kwun]

drills. full court drills. lots and lots of it. do it till you have trouble breathing. you mentioned you hit out all the time, make sure you are conciously aware of the narrower court.

easier said than done of course. :)

[Cheung]

Assuming you are both right handed....

Don't just hit to his backhand corner all the time. Don't play him for three weeks. In that interval, work on:
1) half smash to the forehand line BUT STEEP and coming in and flicking his net shot to the backhand corner.
2) straight drop and slice drop to forehand corner and doing that flick again.

These are not winning shots but so you can make a better set up for your smash.

If you are fast enough, you could get to the net earlier enough for a kill.

Remember to exercise patience. If it doesn't work once, rally around again, play the deep clears, whilst you wait for the shorter clear and the chance to hit a downward shot again. If there are some of his drops or clears that are really good that you can;t reach, no need to kill yourself to reach them. Just save your breath and go to the next shot.

If you do all you can and still can't win, he's better than you!

[Don]

There's a simple way to beat him... I assume your opponent does and cannot smash from the backline? He'll clear... Just constantly clear to the corners and tire him out by making him clear back.If he hits a drop... move up and drop back or flick it over him making him double back for a clear. I assume he has crappy footwork, he'll stumble or fall or he'll hit a weak return where you can capitalize on it. This works very well with the highschoolers I coach. I defensive game is just as good and very enegery consuming.

[Cheung]

The opponent has a good drop. By inference, Tony may not be able to get to a good position to reply to these shots.

Hitting out on your own serve............terrible.

Quoted from a book I read many years ago.
"The serve is a closed skill. The action of serving and position of the shuttle is under your own control. The opponent cannot affect your serve action before you hit the shuttle unlike all the other shots subsequent to the serve. Since everything is under your own control, there is no reason why you should not be able to hit a consistent serve EVERY time."

For a mere mortals like me, I guess my service error rate would be 5 to 7.5 percent (out or poor serves) depending on which serve I am using. This means I am not practising my serve!

[Zclyh3]

He doesn't clear that much...he just smashes it to a corner where I can't seem to get it. Oh yeah Cheung...he does not pose a threat...he MAY be able to beat me..BUT HE AIN'T GOT THE GRADES to play...so it's all good..I assume from my English teacher who had him last year that he is not going to even graduate..so this does not bother me..it only bothers me that I can't seem to beat him and I'm varsity #1 singles! This totally ruins my rep man.

[cooler]

sounds like your opponent is one of those who learn from watching others and impatient kind. If he could forehand smash his backhand corner down the line, maybe u not moving him hard enough. Also, u said he rarely hit diagonally, so move yourself close to the line to intercept his smash.

Also, you have to mentally adjust for the plastic shuttle because it is usually faster than feather. That's why u r hitting out. U r swing your serving thinking it
is a feather shuttle. Feather users have much harder time to adjust to plastic.
Why dont u offer him to play feather? Are your school tournaments use plastic?

[Zclyh3]

California High schoolers only use nylon shuttles...so it's mandatory that I use nylon shuttles. I hate using nylon shuttles. Don't worry..I'll play him feather next time. Oh yeah..I played Moreau Catholic today and got licked quick..15-5, then got slaughtered the next round. (15-0). I need some tips...he can drop...he can smash...he even had strut throat! But the part he got to me the most is when I get back to the center, he then clears it to my backhand side and I don't have time to recover to hit the shot..and if I do actually hit it..it's a fast drive to the corner or a smash. He is also good at hitting down the sidelines...man..playing singles really sucks..it was probably because I wasn't wearing shorts..but that's not the reason..damn..I need training. I jump a lot..meaning when someone hits..it's like a flinch...then I don't have time to recover the backhand corner..help!

[Cheung]

That's a footwork problem and balance problem.
go back and see the thread on centre of balance

[May]

This kink u can work out stroking clears and practising ur footwork.