A short word of thanks for all the advice from this forum, I've learned a lot and there seems a great deal even more to learn . Improvement has felt fast starting from a low base. While playing this weekend I managed to get someone in the club to video me for a few singles rallies with a friend, at the end of our club session. Would you be able to help suss out obvious weaknesses? Which areas need practice/change? (particularly if it's dangerous or makes injury likely) I'm the guy in light blue. [video=youtube;vZ1j-s76e14]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ1j-s76e14[/video] (NB - sound removed because my friends were chatting while filming)
there is far too much arm in your shots and not enough pronation. for 'overheads' your strike point is too wide and too low
Ok; first of all; you shouldnt be playing full court singles if your stiff you need to play singles half court before you move to a full court. and your movement is too still. you need to move in a steady flow. secondly your too hasty at hitting the shuttle; you need to wait till the shuttle comes to the center of your racket before you swing. And lastly you need alot of foot work.
Ok step by step. You have a lot of weakness. This how i played b4 i got into serious badminton training. No 1 serving- Your arm is to stiff look at your shoulder, it is not relaxed. I'm guessing your holding the racket in you palm, am i right? You should with your fingers. Badminton requires finger control and movement. When you learn the correct way to hold a racket , your entire game will change N0 2-Footwork, very unnecessary large movements and poor body recovery. You seem to fall back after every shot. Please watch some footwork drills And yes with this kinda of play you will get injured , especially your shoulder.
Thanks for all the advice so far. I have been watching footwork videos in the recent past. Copying the movements shown has been a bit of a struggle, though. I've been trying the Rasmussen drill when I can get some time and space to practise, but I agree that I need a lot of work there. It's not easy when you're playing in social sessions and everyone just wants to get lots of games in because of court costs. Not sure what you mean by being too stiff, though, it is not something I was aware about. Any suggestions on overcoming that? As for grip, I can't really say what happens during rallies, but the serve is the one shot that affords me time to check that my grip is correct, and I am fairly sure I'm using a loose basic grip for the high serve.
I said stiff is because of your arm action, as your shoulder does not natural flow with the movement. A serve doesn't require power at all , it is in fact similar to a lift. A loose grip is indeed true but loose here means that the racket should be in your fingers and the racket should not wobble. Try it i am sure you will get the feel of it.
from the video, it's fairly obvious you've been watching a lot of youtube trying to get your technique, footwork, and court positioning right. Your next step is to get in some practice. If I was in your position, I'd work on drills to really get comfortable with proper technique/footwork. repetition is key for making your movements fluid and efficient.
