[Video] How can I improve? :)

[Razor-BladE]

Thanks all for the comments, as always a real help.

Defend with left leg forward instead of right leg forward for doubles

What's the reason for this? I thought you face the direction of the shuttle, so if you're on left side and shuttle is played from left corner you'll be slightly facing left, thus right leg forward. But if the shuttle is lifted right you'll be facing right, thus left foot forward. And vice versa if you're positioned on the right hand side.

But I'd like to see more use of down the middle of your opponents when dropping, smashing or clearing.

Noted, thanks.

There's something odd about your forehand overhead technique...

When he prepares the racquet for an overhead, the arm and racquet are at hip height...

Along with my general poor racket carriage, I'll try to remember to prep better here, thanks.
I also realise I'm still not rotating fully. Need to make use of my left arm to pull back at the same time.

I recognise that venue from playing against teams there. Unhappy memories of having to hear the judo and loudest ever circuits classes using the other courts at the same time...grrrr...and those damn curtains are a liability.

If you are interested in finding coaching and can travel then I think there are (will be again) occasional Sunday sessions in Yate and possibly Gordano. I've moved away so don't know what the current venues and arrangements are but can certainly message you some details and numbers.

Yep, that still goes on at match nights! Have to shout to hear the score. A real pain, but only on match nights, thankfully our club nights are normal.

Yeah shoot me a message, I know most of the Avon coaches, but will be interesting to know what you know.

 

[Cheung]

What's the reason for this? I thought you face the direction of the shuttle, so if you're on left side and shuttle is played from left corner you'll be slightly facing left, thus right leg forward. But if the shuttle is lifted right you'll be facing right, thus left foot forward. And vice versa if you're positioned on the right hand side.

You are quite right foot forward in a lot of defensive situations. It means that your right hip and right shoulder areas will be cramped if drives or smashes are targeted there. Has that been an area of relative weakness before? It's more difficult to use the backhand thumb grip to defend these areas. I would hazard a guess you sometimes get stuck between trying to play a backhand or forehand shot.

I concur with your positioning for the right side but not really the left side - I suspect if the shuttle is lifted to the left side of the court (opponent's right side) and you are on the left side with your right foot forward, when the shuttle is smashed to the right side of the body (knee/hip height) you practically never play a cross court lift to the right side of the court.

I went and had a look at the older videos and you really have made a good improvement. Tactically it is better as well. Overall, I would say it's a lot of fine tuning that is required. For example, if you are put into a certain position on court, your choice of shot is limited to one or two and using you fingers could be more relaxed. There's a lot of power and steepness in your overhead smash - If you could get a better, more standard preparation that can also be used for a dropshot, and, as @visor says, a little more tactical variety in choice of shot, then you would be pretty difficult to defend against when you are at the rear court.

 

[Razor-BladE]

You are quite right foot forward in a lot of defensive situations. It means that your right hip and right shoulder areas will be cramped if drives or smashes are targeted there. Has that been an area of relative weakness before? It's more difficult to use the backhand thumb grip to defend these areas. I would hazard a guess you sometimes get stuck between trying to play a backhand or forehand shot.

I concur with your positioning for the right side but not really the left side - I suspect if the shuttle is lifted to the left side of the court (opponent's right side) and you are on the left side with your right foot forward, when the shuttle is smashed to the right side of the body (knee/hip height) you practically never play a cross court lift to the right side of the court.

I went and had a look at the older videos and you really have made a good improvement. Tactically it is better as well. Overall, I would say it's a lot of fine tuning that is required. For example, if you are put into a certain position on court, your choice of shot is limited to one or two and using you fingers could be more relaxed. There's a lot of power and steepness in your overhead smash - If you could get a better, more standard preparation that can also be used for a dropshot, and, as @visor says, a little more tactical variety in choice of shot, then you would be pretty difficult to defend against when you are at the rear court.

Yeah I do struggle to defend from that place the most!
Thanks for the explanation, I'll try to make those changes once we're allowed to play again!

So I'll focus on:
Left foot forward on defending
Lower body position
Higher racket carriage and better/earlier racket prep
More variety on overheads plus hitting down middle more

 

[ralphz]

What's the reason for this? I thought you face the direction of the shuttle,

you'd still face the shuttle either way

btw, good quality games, thanks for posting

 

[Razor-BladE]

So glad to be back playing! Some singles games. Was so tired in the third game so made many mistakes. I'm in black/orange.
I was focusing on my stance and racket carriage/prep, which I think looks/feels a little better.
I'm not getting quick enough back so didn't make more use of drops/angles. I'll try to do more of that in future.
And I'm taking front court shots too late, letting the shuttle drop too late and my pushes aren't flat/quick enough.
That's what I gather from the video. As always, any other feedback is appreciated.

 

[CarrotLegs]

Keep your center of gravity lower and I think you tend to "look" at your shot rather than recovering from your shot.

You have good power and the right intentions in your shots though

 

[Ballschubser]

Your game awareness, reaction and footwork looks good in my opinion. You move really well around the court.

When you are under pressure you should try to play a neutral shot, e.g. at 2:06, you barely reach the shuttle with an around the head shot and still try to play long and tight to the line. A higher clear to the backcourt center of your opponent would be much better.

The second point is your shot consistency. Quite a few shots ends in the net, often without being under pressure. An example is 2:34 where you try to archive a spinning/tumbling netshot. I have two issues with this attempt alone. One, you seem to be quite far away from the net, I would never try to attempt a tumbling netshot when it is already more than half a meter away from the net. The second issue is, that your opponent is far way from the net too. So, even if you success with a perfect tumbling netshot, it would be a waste and unnecessary risk, because a tumbling netshot forces your opponent to take the shuttle later or take some risk, but your opponent is so far away, that he will take the shuttle late nevertheless. Same at 4:43, your opponent is almost out of the court , you could play the shuttle everywhere for a direct point, but choose a risky spinning netshot instead.
At 3:30 you execute a very nice netshot (early to the net, took it high, your opponent in reach).

I think this was a training session, for this reason the attempted backhand smash at 3:50 is okay, but if you want to get a point, just be aware, that your opponent is at his backhand part of the court and a quick push to his deep forhand would most likely do the job to end the rally.

With your speed and footwork you should be able to take the shuttle higher. E.g at 4:31, first your clear, then the half smash, both with an angled arm. You can observe the angled arm very often when taking an overhead shot, I would talk to your couch about this.

 

[Razor-BladE]

Realised I never replied to you two! I apreciate the feedback.

Keep your center of gravity lower and I think you tend to "look" at your shot rather than recovering from your shot.

You're right, I do tend to look and not recover quick enough, I've been trying to get better at that.

Your game awareness, reaction and footwork looks good in my opinion. You move really well around the court.

When you are under pressure you should try to play a neutral shot, e.g. at 2:06, you barely reach the shuttle with an around the head shot and still try to play long and tight to the line. A higher clear to the backcourt center of your opponent would be much better.

The second point is your shot consistency. Quite a few shots ends in the net, often without being under pressure. An example is 2:34 where you try to archive a spinning/tumbling netshot. I have two issues with this attempt alone. One, you seem to be quite far away from the net, I would never try to attempt a tumbling netshot when it is already more than half a meter away from the net. The second issue is, that your opponent is far way from the net too. So, even if you success with a perfect tumbling netshot, it would be a waste and unnecessary risk, because a tumbling netshot forces your opponent to take the shuttle later or take some risk, but your opponent is so far away, that he will take the shuttle late nevertheless. Same at 4:43, your opponent is almost out of the court , you could play the shuttle everywhere for a direct point, but choose a risky spinning netshot instead.
At 3:30 you execute a very nice netshot (early to the net, took it high, your opponent in reach).

I think this was a training session, for this reason the attempted backhand smash at 3:50 is okay, but if you want to get a point, just be aware, that your opponent is at his backhand part of the court and a quick push to his deep forhand would most likely do the job to end the rally.

With your speed and footwork you should be able to take the shuttle higher. E.g at 4:31, first your clear, then the half smash, both with an angled arm. You can observe the angled arm very often when taking an overhead shot, I would talk to your couch about this.

Thanks for the breakdown. Shot consistency has always been my downfall. I always try and play risky tight shots when I don't need to, bad habits die hard. I'll try and bear it in mind more going forwards. I'll be posting a recent singles game up shortly. I think I've made some improvement.

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At the weekend I played in a tournament.Won one, lost one in group stage. This game is the pair we lost against, they made it to the finals and only just lost. Would be good if people can scruntinise my doubles game

I'm in the navy (looks black on video), starting far side of the court.

 

[ralphz]

I always try and play risky tight shots when I don't need to, bad habits die hard.

I think that's a bad way to look at it...

Get good at net shots and then they are no longer risky

Get very good at them and the opponents will be afraid of giving you the opportunity to do a net shot! (Then you might get bad at them again but they will give you more of other shots. Where they think you are weak, then you get better at those. Then they end up not hitting to you cos you are too good and you end up playing with better players!). And the better your opponents the more training is needed.

BUT there can be a potential downside to improving badminton skills that isn't spoken of much

Then some end up at clubs of a higher level than the typical , that require booking weeks in advance just to play at the club.

And some overdo part of their training and aren't persistent in cancelling some things that they should and have an issue of overuse injury partly related to training error. Things the badminton coaching manuals don't speak of!

 

[Cheung]

At the weekend I played in a tournament.Won one, lost one in group stage. This game is the pair we lost against, they made it to the finals and only just lost. Would be good if people can scruntinise my doubles game

Improved quite a lot. You look fast and reactions are better. Have you been getting coaching?


Here are the more obvious areas that stand out.

Serve - need to improve quality and consistency. It’s ok for league matches but in tournaments, needs to be better. A more specific example is when you are left side serving to the younger player. He’s obviously holding the racquet in a way that makes it easy to play a forehand service return. You need to think of also serving anywhere from slightly left of his midline to the left make him indecisive of his position or grip change and therefore receive the shuttle slightly late.

Racquet hangs down a lot - examples 1) when your partner is attacking behind you, your arm and racquet are hanging down. 7.31. Try to get into the habit of raising the arm when you hear your partner smash. 2) after serving , your arm is down and you are not active in looking for an area to cut out the return or take the shuttle early.

defending when opponents are attacking - very relaxed and upright stance. You have much less opportunity to take shuttle earlier if they drop (giving up pressuring their time) and less opportunity to look for the counterattack. Need to crouch and be on the balls of your feet better. Rally at 7.12 where you get caught out with the clear is an example.

Tactical placement - many shots you and partner play are sort of playing half court singles. When the opponents are split sideways, you and partner play to corners or to the player. There’s not much variation with smashing between the two players or dropshots near the middle or even netshots to an area to make both players go for the shuttle.

Regarding tight netshots, you are taking the shuttle a bit late. Keep the arm and racquet at waist height even beforehand and stretch your arm and shoulder more towards the shuttle to take it earlier - this needs some purposeful training though.


With some better tactics, I think you both could have won.

 

[ralphz]

Regarding tight netshots, you are taking the shuttle a bit late. Keep the arm and racquet at waist height even beforehand and stretch your arm and shoulder more towards the shuttle to take it earlier - this needs some purposeful training though.

Re racket height, where you say "waist".

From what I recall when training net shots, for racket height, (And I haven't checked this as haven't been on court for a while but maybe you can confirm), a good guide rather than waist, is the height you are going to meet the shuttle... Whether that's waist height or not might depend on how long or short a person's legs are(even supposing it can be taken at the earliest point). So that might not be waist height.

 

[Cheung]

a good guide rather than waist, is the height you are going to meet the shuttle...

That really depends on the flight of the shuttle wether it’s flat, going upwards or going downwards when you are going to meet the shuttle. As such, giving simple advice of keeping the racquet up to the waist will already shorten the time to many forecourt shots in a variety of situations.


I agree keeping the racquet higher in the forecourt would be advantageous but it comes with other situations where you need to adapt with quick grips changes.

 

[ralphz]

That really depends on the flight of the shuttle wether it’s flat, going upwards or going downwards when you are going to meet the shuttle.

I wrote "Where you are going to meet the shuttle" rather than When.

Where you are going to meet the shuttle is something you work out.

It's not like if the shuttle is going up then meet it here but if the shuttle is going down you meet it there.

The human brain can get some idea of where they are going to meet the shuttle.That calculation would factor in Where They are, and calculations about the journey of the shuttle which is partly dependent on where the opponent is hitting from..

When I was told about that's where you put the racket out to, my net shots got much better. And it actually makes sense.

Also a problem with just saying waist level. is it leads to can lead to a terrible net shot and just net shots being done badly over and over again. It can be better than what a player is doing, but it can still be dodgy.

When I wasn't told what I just mentioned about where to meet ,ti maybe I was having the racket at waist level.

Then I woudl stick the racket out (another coaching cue). But then i'd bop the racket up to do the net shot. And take it lower than I needed to. Then a coach demonstrated what I should be doing that'd be better.. And these were for net shots where I was early. And the racket was a lot higher than waist level. By having racket to waist level I was making the net shot not good.

And when I understood it's about having the racket out to where you meet it, I could see i could (since it was just net shots anyway), play around with the idea and even have the racket at my feet to start, then raise ethe racket to the right level for where i'll meet it and do the net shot. And it was basically perfect. Nothing more to work on re that particular shot.

If all I had done was get a dodgy coaching cue of "racket at waist level" (and almost all coaching cues are dodgy), it would never have been quite right. And i'd have to do loads more than needed to learn it.

You write "I agree keeping the racquet higher in the forecourt would be advantageous but it comes with other situations where you need to adapt with quick grips changes."

I'm not actually even talking about that range of situations..

Even if the situation is just for a net shot and practicing a net shot..

As soon as you know where you'll meet the shuttle, the racket can be at that level.

And by the way, When my net shots were good I realised that in the net shot exercise, the idea of racket at a height like "up" or "waist" or whatever was just nonsense.. I coudl start with the racket at my feet, if there was time. And quickly go from there to racket being at the place it should be for reaching it, and then go for it.

And infact, a possible alternative better to going to where one reaches it, is going with it up at the level for a perfect net shot but lowering it accordingly.

If the racket is too low and then has to come up then the net shot can be rubbish, it's harder to control. And that's the problem with the cue or "simple advice" you mention of "waist level".

(and i'm not suggesting anybody have their racket at their feet.. Just that if their net shots are good and they understand the concepts properly and why that's not a good idea in a game, then they could try that to see the principle)

But my main point is, the "waist" thing is actually likely to lead to a bad net shot. All one can say about waist level is it's better than feet level, if somebody is doing everything wrong. Racket should be moved to where one is meeting the shuttle, which can be figured out. OR, perhaps.. Starting with it up as if you're meeting it for a perfect net shot. Then lowering accordingly.

'cos at least then the shuttle won't be pushed in an upward direction.

If the shuttle is very low beblow the tape then the technique would change.. Last time I trained it when it was that low I only did a cross court not a straight.. The time before that, when the shuttle was very low , I think I trained a straight but totally different technique to what one would do for a normal net shot.

But supposing the player is taking the shuttle at a reasonable point, not way below net tape. Then bringing the racket head to the height of where they'll meet it and extending forwards .

Better to lower it a bit as you get towards it if the shuttle is a bit lower.. Than to start with the racket as low as waist which is way below net tape then bringing it up .. And if taking the net shot that low, that is a very very high risk shot that would take a lot of training to do.

Also waist level could be very very low if bending the knees.

If I imagine myself doing a cross court net shot backhand side, knees bent I reckon my racket head might still be above raist level!! Because the good way to do it (if your legs and knees can), is to get low. And you want t obe doing the cross court backhand net shot at eye level.). And that might apply to other net shots too.

But even for the simple case. A really good net shot taken high. The "waist" advice seems very problematic to me, for the mentioned reason. Mainly that it's just too low and the racket would then have to come up which can bop the shuttle up which is then the wrong technique and leads the shuttle going too high over the net. To immediately bring the shuttle up to the level they are going to be meeting it seems like the way to go. And when I practised it for ones where I coudl do a good net shot, if I found it was a bit lower I found and was told and saw, that lowering it on the way if need be, was way better. Because otherwise the shuttle can or even will bop upwards and it's not the technique for a good net shot.

Interesting to see what you think

Thanks

 

[Cheung]

In general, the racquet carriage should be higher. Having it a waist height is short and simple advice which will help the overall gameplay. It’s not perfect and not a solution for all situations but it’s going to help OP a lot in his general game.

I disagree with your assertion that it would lead to a bad shot.

 

[Cheung]

Tactical placement - many shots you and partner play are sort of playing half court singles. When the opponents are split sideways, you and partner play to corners or to the player. There’s not much variation with smashing between the two players or dropshots near the middle or even netshots to an area to make both players go for the shuttle.

Apologies. I think it’s your partner who does this more rather than you and his style of play doesn’t help his partner.

 

[ralphz]

In general, the racquet carriage should be higher. Having it a waist height is short and simple advice which will help the overall gameplay. It’s not perfect and not a solution for all situations but it’s going to help OP a lot in his general game.

I disagree with your assertion that it would lead to a bad shot.

I didn't say that Racket Carriage at waist height (or any any height) would lead to a bad shot. And as I said, one can have the racket pointing at the floor with arm down, and do a great net shot(moreso if one understands the principles). It's not the racket carriage here that i'm talking about leading to a bad net shot. I'm not saying don't or do have a racket carriage this/that height, I didn't use the phrase "racket carriage".

Now, Suppose it's the case where a net shot is possible taken high. Having the racket at waist height, AND THEN stretching the racket straight , leading with the racket at waist height, How are you going to do a good net shot taking it high? The racket is still at waist level. Are you going to raise the racket and if so then when are you going to raise the racket, in the technique that you think is good? You didn't mention that when you spoke of racket being at waist height. And if you keep the racket at waist height, you are toften going to be taking the shuttle far later than you need to, and the net shots won't be as good. No doubt you are in favour of taking it early, that would usually mean making contact with the shuttle with racket head well above waist level.

 

[Cheung]

But my main point is, the "waist" thing is actually likely to lead to a bad net shot.

Disagree

 

[ralphz]

...

Looks like in your most recent post (#117), of which only one word was yours. You're going back to an earlier post of mine(#113) that was in reference to what you wrote in an earlier post(#110). All of which being before either of us elaborated(It ignores Posts #114 and #116), That is kind of reverse "progress" in that dialogue, but anyhow. We do "disagree", partly from being not even on the same page, but let's leave it at that 'cos I don't think it can go anywhere, other than backwards it seems! ;-)

 

[BadmintonDave]

My thoughts based solely on the recent doubles footage.

You move fast and you move well.

Defence could be a bit better. It seemed like a large majority of the opponents winners were hit from the mid court area. I've seen some players (and professional ones) adopt a "come at me bro" or a bearhug stance with a long grip when defending. Maybe that could work for you if you practice it a bit.

Your placement of shots seemed like you were playing a singles game sometimes. In particular in the first half of the video you played a lot of shots down the inside of the right tramline. Those 7 odd CM you aren't using might not seem much at first, but it's giving the opponents an easier time reaching the shot. You're playing mens doubles, use the whole of the court

I agree with what Cheung said about serve consistency. Analyse your opponents to see if there is any patterns in their play. You can serve to the T, infront of the opponents, over the opponents with a drive or flick and out wide. Vary it up and see if the opponent struggles once they have gotten used to your normal serving placement.

Your accuracy on smashes looked good. Hit a good amount of winners aiming at awkward places.

And a final note, I am 169cm tall and sometimes struggle to see the opponent that is receiving serve when my partner is serving to them. See if you can adjust your body to see through your partner as there was one return of serve that you didn't react to quick enough on your forehand side towards the end of the video.

 

[ralphz]

I've seen some players (and professional ones) adopt a "come at me bro" or a bearhug stance with a long grip when defending.

Describing the stance as "come at me bro" (with a smash), doesn't sound so apt for pro level (re intent at least). In non serious games players might be like "come at me bro" in a bit of a challenge to their opponent re smashing Vs smash defense. Stance might look similar but the pros are ready for everything!