As an intermediate level club doubles player, I would like to identify some of the common tactical/ strategical mistakes we make so that we can correct them. Please note I am not intending to cover any skill level mistakes such as wrong grip in this thread. We often make a weak backhand clear from the middle of the court instead of allowing the partner to make a forehand smash/ drop. Basically we do not consider the partner's position before deciding whether to hit a shuttle or not. Partner has moved to rear court to return a clear, we continue to stay in the rear court (on the other half of the court) until the partner hits. This will lead to an uncertainty who will cover the front court. If the partner decides to smash/drop. Basically he/she cannot decide where to recover after the smash/drop. Partner has moved towards net to return a drop. We continue to stay in the front/mid court (on the other half of the court). This will allow the opponent to attack the rear court by a punch clear or lift. We think a slow tight net drop from the rear court is a good tactic even when the success rate is only 20%. The remaining 80% the time the shuttle does not get across the net, it get killed by an opponent, or an an opponent counters it with a spinning net drop. We makes too many cross court clears and drops leaving our partners vulnerable to a straight smash or net kill. We advise our partners too often even when the partner is playing comparatively better than us. Please expand this list by adding items. Thank you.
Here are a couple I can think of (and can be found guilty of from time to time: - Not keeping the racquet in a "ready"position - Not being patient enough and trying to make every shot a winner. Going for the perfect shot every time is a big mistake. Over the course of a match, maybe 5 points will pan out exactly as planned, the rest is really about limiting damages to gain a small advantage for the next shot. - When clearing, clearing too flat - clears need to come down vertically as the less forward momentum they have, the harder they are to return with any power. - Thinking that a diagonal shot will pay off - when in reality parallel shots are much more effective, more often than not - Being afraid to leave a net shot at the net and lifting instead, giving the opponent a second chance at a smash - Serving carelessly to just "put the bird in play", when the serve is really the only shot where you have a 100% advantage from the get go - I strongly believe that 100% of serves can jumstart an attack if done properly, serving is an incredible technical advantage when done well. - Also on the serve, a big mistake is for the non-server to not really pay attention. Serving is a two person job in doubles. Hope this helps, T.
I often do this. Basically my defsinve clears are not high enough. I have been trying to fix this problem. I had this problem, but almost corected it recently. If possible I will do a counter drop or midcourt push.
Yes, I have been trying to improve in this area. I think planning counters shots for various possible serve returns helps. However sometimes my mind wanders and becomes slow in repsonding to down the alley push shots.
some really good points, but that one's certainly wrong. serving in badminton is always defensive, the returning pair/player always has the initiative. your goal in serving should be to minimise the damage.. nevertheless, you're def right that you should really concentrate while serving and try to serve as tight as possible!
There are couple things in my club when I play doubles that has made me learn bad habits even when I know the tactics are wrong. Often in any men's doubles when I'm receiving the serve, almost all my partners stand next to me side by side instead of in the center and directly behind me. As a result, if I ever do a drive down the line and the opponent offensively lifts over my head to the empty court down my half of the court. My partner will be standing on opposite side of me instead of the middle where they will freeze and watch the birdie fall to the ground or they're forced to dash and hit a poor defensive 3rd shot. I'm left stranded at the net and my partner is confused why I didn't get that that. Almost always nowadays whenever I do a push or drive down the line, I immediately back up because I know my opponent will clear and I'm receiving the serve AND making the 3rd shot in the rear court, which is pretty strange doubles tactics. Of course this is only when i have partners who stand side by side. This makes for a great mixed doubles tactic, but not men's doubles. Another thing that has already been mentioned but none the less very common is doing cross court drops from the back of the court. A lot of the people I play with love to cross their drop shots when the birdie is around waist height for them on both the backhand and the forehand side. Granted I've played with these people for 2.5 years so I know how they play very well, but they don't like to change their tactics and almost always I end up net killing their shot because they do it far too often. Same goes for the net. If I make a tight net shot, almost always they'll try to cross the shot instead of lifting the shuttle. This almost always get's killed by me or goes into the net. Learning improper doubles technique is hard to do when people around you don't play the proper way and you form very bad habits as I have. It's especially difficult when you actually play with someone who's used to the proper tactics and they're absolutely baffled by your own shots. After playing for about a year I played with a friend who had been playing far longer than I had, and the doubles game we played was absolutely horrid. Watching pro doubles definitely gave me some insight on how to play. Also, when your partner flick serves, have you ever seen them stay at the net and watch a smash fly by their head instead of getting into the side by side defensive position? They're probably used to seeing people have very weak returns that end up at the net for an easy kill.
I've even had people complain that they don't like me standing in the centre when they're receiving serve. It seems that they don't trust their partner to get out of the way quickly enough if there's a flick serve down the middle. Well, tcouture mentioned the server's partner not paying attention. The receiver's partner also needs to stay alert. It's interesting to watch how pro doubles pairs receive the serve. They don't all do it the same way. Some of them do stand side by side. Of course the receiver's partner is still fast enough to move across and attack a straight lift. I think most of us club level players aren't that fast, and so it's better for us to stand closer to the centre.
Sometimes the crappy partner will decide to do a clear, or worse, half court clear for absolutely no reason. Then you get smashed in the face whilst beating a hasty retreat . Partner blames you for loss of point. In such situations I usually just hedge a bit and go stand in the centre of the court so I can cover any cross drives and also run away better, but I can understand why some people who have lost all faith (or never had any to start with) just remain on their side. This is probably also the reason why people rarely go to the front (same side) as the partner like you are supposed to as mentioned in the other thread. That position is even worse if the back court shot is poor, since a crappy attack will get cross-court driven and you die, needless to say a half-clear .
Yes, this another area confusion happens in the club level doubles. Some of the players in my club cover the rear court in this situation. So knowing your partner helps in deciding whether to move back or stay at the net if the opponent lifts.
I enjoy playing in the front, so one of my complaints is my partner not taking advantage of the clears that were hit to us. In men's doubles, clears = opportunities to attack, so one should almost never hit a clear after your opponents hit a clear to you (unless you are way out of position).
If a player does half court clear often I would not call that person an intermediate level player as clearing full length of the court is considered one of the basic skills.
well, if the half-court clear comes from the backhand rearcourt I would say, not bad at all ... senseless from tactical point of view, but ... hey .. it's a game after all.
If one can't hit a full length backhand clear, it'd be better to play a faster (relatively speaker) downward shot than to attempt the clear. Mixing it up with straight and cross drops, and you stand a better chance surviving than the half court clear.
Unless you're professionals, an occasional attacking clear actually is a valid and effective tactics. Of course, I'm not talking about the high but half court poor quality clears. Hack, even professional occasionally uses clears, esp. in Mixed Doubles.
Not making a positive movement.Standing too close to the net.Turning your back to the net to play a shot from the front of the court.Not warming up properly.Thinking you know everything.
