Let me emphasize. Whenever it comes to playing singles I feel like my bodies reaction is quicker than my feet and always lose the point / cannot get a good rally going. I love my SHB-SC5's (with custom orthotics, mind you I do have plantar faciitis) don't get me wrong, but I'm starting to suspect the weight of these shoes? Don't know if that makes sense, but would a lighter shoe be much more beneficial to my singles gameplay so I can lunge to spots faster? Or does it all boil down to my shady footwork as I tend to habit a lot on shuffling my feet when moving?Thanks Y'all!
Hi! I really don't think the weight of your shoes would matter. When you say your bodies reaction is quicker than your feet and that your feet feel like they're stuck in concrete do you mean that you start moving too slowly. Like although you know the bird is coming you don't react fast enough (by react I mean moving towards the bird) or that you are just moving too slowly? I agree with canucksdynasty, I think footwork exercises would help a lot. It'll help you move around the court more quickly and more smoothly.
Footwork is the most important thing.No offense, but don't blame the shoe unless u're using super heavy shoe.
If its a badminton/indoor court shoe, then its fine. Want to improve your speed? Improve your split step (do you currently use one?) timing, and the speed of your FIRST step e.g. going to the net (and you are right handed), the thing that would make you QUICK, is to perform a split step just after your opponent makes contact with the shuttle, and to take a step with your left foot in the direction you need to go immediately after landing (from the split step). This will make you quick. It doesn't matter about the final step (the lunge on the right foot) - its the first step that makes the difference. Good luck!
relax your legs. Try to anticipate the shot and move 'quickly'. More footwork and simulated games should help.
anticipating is not good advice tbh. for beginners, anticipating is equivalent to guessing. you need to be low, and have a compact split step and well practised footwork patterns to move around court well.
I would disagree that anticipation is not good advice. I would say anticipation is essential at any level, watching your opponents movements to read what shot they are going to play means you move that fraction earlier. At beginner level there won't be any deception from the opponent so I don't see how anticipation is "guessing".
it depends how much anticipation we are talking about. Moving base slightly is fine. 'anticipating' the next shot is not good as a rule. Even beginner-intermediate can have good disguise on drop/clear/smash. Anticipating the shot is just a good way to get wrong footed, and will need to be unlearnt for when you play anyone that even holds the shuttle, let alone 'proper' deceptive shots.
Anticipation is fine as long as you can still get to the shot quickly if you are wrong about which shot it is. I disagree with the comment that anticipation is essential at any level if you do not have the skills to back it up (i.e. the footwork skills). If you can anticipate one shot, and you opponent deceives you and you can still get to the next shot well, AND you sometimes anticipate correctly, then anticipation is indeed a good skill to have. However, telling someone that anticipation is essential but they keep losing points because they are reading the game badly, then that is the time to STOP anticipating. Note: moving base to correct position on court is not anticipation, it is just good sense it is the product of being aware of the depth, width and height of the shuttle, not your opponents skills. Anticipation is, at any level, always guessing in my opinion. However, at a high level, because of shot quality and the need to try and take the tiniest bit of time away from your opponent, I agree that anticipation is an essential part of the game. I would always discourage someone who is learning footwork from anticipation - it could ruin your split step stance, and make your footwork "wrong" early on i.e. you will develop footwork sufficient for your level, not good footwork that will always be correct. But thats just my opinion
The problem could be your starting stance. The solution's simple, but important nonetheless. You need to add more explosiveness to your steps before starting to reach for the shuttle. Imagine there's a trampolin under your feet. When reaching for the shuttle, imagine there's a spring underneath to help with your initial step. IMO, shoes are not probably the problem. But new shoes wouldn't be so bad for motivation either.
Speed 1: Speed at the initial reaction from the stance of readiness Stance of readiness -------->initial acceleration towards birdie If your initial footwork movement is slow and sluggish, your reaction towards any incoming birdie will might be late. In view of this, how fast does the later acceleration of your footwork moves wants to compensate it but if at the start of your movements, you seems to be glued to the court with no fast momentum to trigger that initial acceleration, then, you will probably end up making a late hit against any approaching birdie thus reducing the chance of making any winning shot or opportunity for a winning shot. Therefore, improving your initial footwork acceleration is an important part as the key to better footwork movements. Let us discuss what approach you can adapt while playing to improve this: A – Your feet Always be” on the balls of your toes” rather than flat footed : When your stance is flat footed, theoretically, more energy is required to lift your foot since it touches a wider surface of contact area on the floor. That extra energy will in translate as lost of kinetics movements that will sluggish your initial acceleration. Therefore, by being more “bouncy” by standing “on the balls of your toes”, it’s more swift to lift your feet hence quicker acceleration. B – Your Knees Bent your knees : Bent your knee slightly so that while at this state, it’s quicker for you to leap since by bending your knee, your calf muscle and your foot can propel your forward movement faster as more grip occur. C – Your Body Relax your Body : While preparing yourself to address the birdie, your body should be in a state of “loose” or “relaxed”. Don’t be so tense while anticipating that next coming birdie; relax so that it’s quicker to react freely D – Your Eyes Focus your Vision :Your eyes must always focus and stay fix on the birdie regardless how your opponent style of racket swing or the way he looks at you while executing his shots or the way he positioned his body while hitting the birdie. Don’t be deceived by any of the above movements or whatever movements there are because your priority will be to always have your vision fix and focus at the birdie trajectory. By having a focus vision, you will send a clear message to your mind, body and legs to be on the highest state of awareness or alertness hence will improve your initial reaction. E -Your Strength Know your Weakness to optimally locate your base I'd say you have it backwards. If you're very good at the front, you can afford to set your base position further back, to compensate for your (relative) weakness at the back of the court. So if you have a weak backhand clear, you might set your base position so that when forced to play a backhand, you are giving yourself more time, to get into a better position, to play a better shot. And of course the same applies in reverse if you are stronger at the back of the court. In fact, it's probably not so much how good you are at the front, as how quick you are in getting there. Obviously if you are much slower moving backwards, you need to set your base further back. Also, if you look at it from your opponent's point of view - if they know you're weaker at the back of the court, and they can see you always positioning yourself towards the front, they'll just play more shots to the back of the court. You'll have fewer opportunities to use your skill at the front of the court, and you'll tire sooner because your're having to cover a greater distance to each shot. At the very least, it's a matter of taste - similar to if you have good defense but a weak smash, do you buy a light racket to make your defense an even greater strength, or do you buy a heavier racket to make your smash less of a weakness? F – Your Mind Anticipate : Understand and memorize your opponent typical movements and his strength. Combined with a clear vision and awareness, always prepare to gear yourself to any typical movements to anticipate that incoming birdie. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the edited section taken from my post in regards with the above issue. You can read the full writing about Better Badminton Footwork – Improve your Speed at http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/100021-Better-Badminton-Footwork-–-Improve-your-Speed?highlight= Train your footwork well my friend
nice, easiest improvement for me was when i started skipping rope. straight away i notice that i'm never caught flat footed and my initial toe-off is much quicker
Anticipation is essential but should not fully commit to it. Moving off center when you know your opponent is most likely going to hit to a particular side will speed up your response. If the shot comes the other way, just need to put a bit more spring to get it. Once this is combined with good foot work, the net effect is fast attack on the shuttle and movement.
As part of footwork training the coach would get us to lightly run on the spot while in the ready crouch position on our side of the court. The coach was standing on the other side of the net facing us, and every 10 seconds or so would point to a random corner of the court and we would need to move in the indicated direction. After we got used to that, the instruction was changed to move in the direction opposite to the indicated direction. Doing it as a group added a competitive edge because everyone was trying to be the quickest in moving correctly (or at least avoid being the slowest/wrong move). I feel this helped in getting lighter on our feet and able to initiate movement according to a quick decision.
shooting stroke: good breakdown you have there... but i thought you should know why A and B works as you described not because of kinetic energy or anything, but because a preloaded muscle (ie. prestretched) contracts faster and more powerfully hence, by being in that ready position as you described (and also by using the all-important split step), your calves and quadriceps can propel you faster and further into the direction that you want this understanding is also the basis for plyometric exercises that improve explosive power of muscles that is so important in badminton
I think, as most have mentioned, practice using the split step. It may seem like you are reacting slower (above the waist) but you will be surprised how fast you get to the bird with strong footing. Then you can do whatever shot you want.
anticipating is a horrible advice for beginners i completely stopped anticipating since i started learning about footwork getting caught on the wrong foot was one of my major problems when i was new with the "splitstep" as you call it i have more than enough time to get to the shuttle quickly without having to guess before opponent hits sometimes i catch myself anticipating after i once again stuck like a tree on the court when a shot came to my court then i remind myself to stop anticipating!!!!!!!!!!!! of course anticipating is a big part of the game, but to every beginner, ESPECIALLY when he has trouble to start his approach to the shuttle it is a bad advice in my opinion!
Lin Dan's footwork in slow motion. quite good. [video=youtube;4b_LuXfKwRE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b_LuXfKwRE[/video]