Hello All, I am a 38 yr old with not so good knees; I have been playing Badminton for about 4 yrs now and would like to rate myself between beginner and intermediate level. My fitness level and court availability allows me to play only doubles, now to the question, Is the Footwork for doubles different from the footwork for singles since I don't see any videos or online information about footwork specifically for doubles I want to assume that they would be the same but I want to get others opinion on it, also I feel that in the case of doubles there will be your doubles partner who will be covering some part of the court and in which case shouldn't the footwork and training be different ? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question
The basic components of footwork is very similar for doubles and singles. In doubles however, it is much more important to know when and which part of the court to cover since there are two of you. I think you can google search for double attack formation, double defense formation and rotations in doubles.
jilin74 is right. the basic footwork for doubles and singles are the same, except in singles you are covering the court all by yourself whereas in doubles you need to cooperate with your partner to cover the court. also, from personal experience I find in singles there're a lot more forward-backward footwork compared to in doubles which is more about rotating with your partner for offense and defense. I find these videos are very helpful about doubles court positioning and coverage: Doubles attack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWkkM36Y_90 Backcourt helping forecourt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp3Gemf9YqQ Forecourt helping backcourt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfXzGqVW0Hw
If your knees are not so good as you say, make sure you always play on matted surfaces, and avoid hardwood gym floors and especially not cement gym floors. Wear newer socks that are still thick and can provide extra cushioning. You may want to consider getting new badminton shoes if they're old or if you play frequently in them such that they've lost that bounce.
Thank you all for your advice and suggestion, will enable to continue my passion for many more years !!