playing against some much better/worse in skill level... Ok, here is a scenario. I wonder what your thoughts are on it. Imagine a friendly game of mixed doubles on just another badminton day (ie. not a tournament). side A consist of a A/B level guy with a hard smash. He is partnering with a ex-Chinese province team player, needless to describe her skills. Side B consist of the average joe club player guy, level B/C, and then the girl is beginner/intermediate girl, can only clear baseline->baseline on a good day, defense non-existent, and you know the average loose beginner type shot. So from the outset of the game, there is no question who the winner/loser will be, it will not even be a close game. if you are on side B, you would be aiming for say 5 points to call it a success. So the match starts, and side A proceed to single out the girl on side B. her net shots are loose as she is a beginner, and will immediately be rushed and smashed down the floor, all lifts will be smash down at full strength at her side of the court. At her level, there really isn’t much that she can do no matter how hard she tried. Her partner can only be of so much help as he is below their level as well. Ok, so here are my questions. If you are faced with such a game, and you are the players on side A, would you do the same, play hard and attack mercilessly to the weaker girl? Remember, this is supposed to be a friendly game, it will be more understandable if it were a tournament match. Or would you be more socialable, hold back the attack, and make the game more interesting? On the other end, if you are on side B, facing a full out attack from a pair of much higher level players, what would your reaction be? would you even bother trying? do you agree with team A's choice to single out and attack the weakest girl? Would you enjoy such a game if you are on side A/B? In regular club/gym, be it a regular doubles or a mixed game, it is not uncommon for one to face a situation of such disparity in skill levels. Different people would play the game differently, some may try harder, some may choose to make it fun, if you are involved in such a game, what do you usually do?
Very good topic, kwun... With very limited choices in many clubs, I am sure a lot of ppl facing such and such issues. If I am on side A (much better ones), I will try to take it easy on my opponents. I am not saying, giving them points for free, but try not kill them within 20 sec. I will do high quality clear, drive, might mix it up with some drops (depend on their lvl), and consider this as more like a "real life" drill, rather than a fair match. This way, we should still win this game easily, but still save some pride for the losing side. If we do it correctly, I am sure they should know they need to work harder to catch up, but still being able to enjoy a game. If they have some surprising attack, I will also cheer for them. If I am on side B (much lower ones), assume I did not know side A at the 1st place. If I know them, and I know I am way too much below their lvl, mostly, I won't even bother to join, and make a big possibility to let the game having no fun for either side. But if I join, I will put in whatever I have. Hopefully, I can still make the game staying competitive (not necessary could be described by how many pts) in some sense. If my opponents trying to do a little bit easier on me to encourage me, I will be really thankful, and try to let them give me some suggestion about my shortcomings. However, if they just bully through, I won't say anything, since they are good, and they might really want to enjoy some "real game". However, I will keep this in mind. Within a short time period, before I can really put my game into another lvl, I won't join them next time.
i think this depends on a) whether the game is played with the 'recreational' attitude or the 'competitive' attitude and b) whether these are some of your friends or just some random people you just met firstly this is because recreational players despise being killed by a better player as they are only there to basically hit the birdie around and have a good time of it. they will generally go to badminton clubs as much for the social aspect of the club as actually playing the sport. meanwhile a competitive player will, even if they are unquestionably weaker than the opponent (15-0 / 11-0 are expected scores) they will still enjoy the game very much and thank the stronger player(s) for being able to have the opportunity to play them. it's pretty clear that when you play stronger players it helps you to improve so if you're playing badminton with the intent of becoming a better player, then you would be glad to have had the chance to play some very strong players. additionally if these stronger players are your friends, then they probably won't mind playing hard against you as they know you wouldn't take it personally, but instead would be able to see it as a way of them pointing out your weaknesses to you, as they will most certainly pick on your weaknesses. if the stronger people play against people they don't really know, if they also don't know they are weak, they'll probably start off playing hard, and midgame they'll notice that their opponents are weaker, though they will probably still continue to play hard just to finish how they had started, as if all of a sudden the stronger players play much more easily the weaker players could get annoyed that they obviously have stronger abilities but are playing 'down to their level.' if however the stronger players are aware of the weaker players' abilities then, provided they are some 'nice guys' they'll probably give them a decent game by running the weaker players around the court, giving the weaker players a run for their money but still a shot they can always get to, and the stronger players will have a chance to work on their consistency. if in this scenario the weaker players are playing with the recreational attitude then they again will be quite disappointed as they will feel that no matter what they try they cannot defeat the stronger side but with a different attitude they will feel as though they are getting a great game that even though they won't win, they are getting a treat as any players at their level couldn't provide them with such a good game.
I think it depends largely on how far the gap is. Say the gap was 15-5 or less, then I believe that in a social setting, the dominant team should not seek to demolish the other team (i.e. using shot placement rather than quick put-aways). For me personally, I prefer to have the mind set of playing "not to lose" rather than playing "to win". In other words, I would keep the rally alive (either by drop, drive, clear) rather than putting the shuttle away with a quick smash. I find really long rallies more enjoyable--that's why I almost never rush a serve unless the other side was as strong or stronger.
Since this is meant to be a friendly game: If I were a player on Side A, I would take the game very easily. I'll definitely not single out to attack the girl. As a matter of fact, I think I wouldn't attack the male opponent too often. Giving out difference in skill level, I'll probably play a lot more lifting and dropping (not tight ones) to give my opponents the chance of rallying and attacking. If I were a player on Side B, I'll try my best to get as many points as possible - eventhough I know there is no chance for me of winning.
i'm at work now so excuse me for not reading 4 posts before this one. If i were your A/B opponent, i would make it a challenge by not smashing or make hard drive shots to your lady player, and maybe not smashing at you either This dude that smashes at your gf is a mentally poor player, one dimensional. He can't seem to read the pace and stuck at one way of playing the XD. It takes more mental ability to play smart than kill kill kill. This dude only has 1 gear. A race car with 1 speed gear isn't really a sport car, no matter how big the engine is. I hope your gf isn't turn off about badminton due to this incident.
if i'm on the winning side, i would probably play well enough that it would be a challenge for them, but hold enough back that they can return it.... if i'm on the losing side, i would try my hardest, because i only enjoy playing against people way better than me....(which might explain why i always lose in badminton, but that's besides the point)
Re: playing against some much better/worse in skill level... I would make the game more sociable, but challenging depending on side B's skill level. I've played strong mixed-doubles combo where the only thing you'd hold back on is smashing, and also intermediate level, where I'd also hold back on: i) tight drops ii) hard drives iii) smashes while working on my deception (drop stance, but flick to the back once there's movement, for example.) I've been in this situation too. Depends on how serious side A is. I've played hard against side A, but often get discouraged if the attack is RELENTLESS and well, unsportsman-like That's when my quality of shot disintegrates rapidly and court movement deteriorates. In a recreational setting, when the female side of mixed double is singled-out, I feel it's slightly inappropriate.
that is a very interesting point, and as I get into situations like that, especially if I'm the stronger side, I'm always very careful with the way I play. Personally, if get a chance to play against better players, I would be offended if they don't play as hard as they could. I would feel like they think I'm wasting their time, or I'm just not good enough for them to play hard. So normally, if I'm playing against someone whom I know they could be playing alot better but they're not, then I would stop the game, and find someone who would play hard. I don't mind losing the game, as long as I did my best against someone who did their best too. That's why if I'm on the stronger side, I would assume the other side would think like I do, so I would try my best to play against them. But if they stop trying hard to play, and just give up on the game, then I would take it easy, and make it more fun for them. Now I'm interested to find out, what would you do Kwun? If you're on either side of the match?
uneven game I would suggest splitting them up before the game starts so the the strong lady plays with the average Joe guy and the Strong guy play with the newby lady..
But if your opponents are a lot better than you are, and they still beat you even if they're not playing as hard as they could, would you still be offended? On the other hand, let's say you're playing against somebody whom you can easily beat them 15-0, 15-0 in less than 5 minutes. Woud you still give 100% effort when playing against them?
uneven game To the first question...if they can beat me without really trying then credit to them and I just use the game for experience/to get better. To the latter...I wouldn't play the game in the first place but if I did I would play hard to put them off wanting to play me again until they'd improved.
rearrange the pairs? It seems to me the way out is to rearrange the teams, men against women in this case or something like that.
to answer your first question...I would not be offended, but I would be a little sad. I would go back, train harder, and ask to challenge again until I can beat them. the 2nd question...Yup, I would. At least I would play hard to start with. Not to show that I'm just better then them, but I give them a fair chance. Because that's how I would want to be treated too. However, now I wonder if I should assume everyone else think like I do, and won't mind playing with someone and get killed in 5 min. I guess I'll keep following this thread and find out.
kwun, i would play a quater round my normal level. The way i see it > People get pounded into the ground and will give up (then no wonder why people would turn a blind eye to badders) > Second, if you play 100%, what sort of things are they going to learn? They'll learn how to scoop up the shuttle with the racket and thats it. If you play with them, not kill it off, you will make them enjoy themselves and they will learn. They will see they played a bad shot, and not do it again. If you was to pounce on it and pound it to the floor, they'll give up. If we want badminton to have a good reputation, these have to be taken into concideration. Matt
Guess I'm going to be the bad guy here Before that though, usually I'd split up the stronger pair just for interest, actually I was in this position on the weekend funnily enough. However assuming the stronger pair wasn't split up, and I was on the stronger side, usually I won't play hard, I'll give them a chance to play their shots and work on little parts of my own game, drawing out the game. Unless, and this is where I'm a little nasty, I see a new pair walk into the gym who I actually want to play with and I know if I finish first I'll get to play with htem instead of being stuck with an unskilled pair all night (come on this has happened to all of you before right?). Then I'll finish the game as quickly as politely possible, I still won't smash a beginner girl, but typically a fast drive followed by a fast drop will win a point vs not so skilled opponents. If I'm on the lower skilled side I'll usually treat it as a learning experience, if they do persist on picking on the girl I'd wonder why they bothered, and maybe comment about it depending on whether I knew them or not.
But if they are not playing their best and still beating you, you have no reason to be offended because they ARE better than you. If they are slacking off and you are beating them, then they'll either up the pace or they're (*%$#@). Personally i'd take it easy on side B because it wouldn't be fun for either side otherwise.
If I were on side A then I would maybe not play my hardest and try to make the rallies go for longer so that it would be more enjoyable for both sides. I mean, what's the fun in just killing someone on the court, right? However, if I was at the net and the perfect shot came up that I could smash it, I might go for it, just a few times during the game, just too tempting not to smash it. But overall, I would try to make the game more fun even if it means not playing my hardest. If I was on team b I would give it all I got.
