just out of curiosity.... for those that coach, or think about coaching, would you train females in a different manner than males? Meaning, would you use the same drills.... Obviously basics like footwork, grip and basic shots are universial, but what about explosive movements like jumping cut offs, jump clears, jump smashes etc... Even though the footwork would be universal, I'll ask anyway, would you teach different footwork? Would you teach females a more passive game that requires finesse or a more aggressive style game? I thought of this question only because the type of game played by women and men is different so is training the reason? or is it just the style they choose to play?
I think the same training can apply to women as men (jumping to cut off the shuttle, jump smashes) if the woman in question has the physical ability. At the same time this can apply to men. Theres no point trying to teach jump smash to a man who can't actually jump, physically most women fall into this category. At an elite level some women in doubles do jump a lot, particularly the Malaysian pair who won the commonwealths I remember having a good jump smash. Looking at the top level the average rally length would be greater in womens doubles than mens and the pair who suceeds normally has the best all around game, as opposed to the best attack. Possibly a pair could come along with a superior attack and play in a style more like the top men. I think at club and county level the big gap between mens and womens standards is not just due to the physical differences as much as the differing levels of competition and training.
From a coaching perspective I would train both males and females the same way. Of course, what you would have to concentrate on may vary from player to player still. The way that men's and women's badminton used to be (way back in the day) were quite different where women would play more defensively and force their opponent to run more. Nowadays I think it can be seen that the playing style has changed to become more aggressive, similar to the way men play to vent their testosterone.
MY Badminton coach is a woman and she is very good at it. she plays top devision badminton. she had a stronger smash than me and i'm not ashamed to admit it. she one hell of a gud player for her size. she is an aggressive player but she adds finnesse to her game too.