I recently played a tournament and I don't play singles very often but enjoy it a lot. I'm always looking to improve so I videotaped a couple of my matches to see what I'm doing right and wrong. There are not that many good players where I'm from (Southeastern USA) so I was basically wondering how I would be rated in terms of world badminton (as in A, B, C, D or as in Varsity High School or Collegiate or whatever). Also, if you have any pointers for either tactics or techniques then please share. One caveat is that these games were played on a court that had a very bad draft due to air conditioning, which is why it was very hard to judge the shuttle and place it accurately near the sidelines. Thanks for your help! [video=youtube;ofugsJjIefk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofugsJjIefk&list=UUiKUwgtFoYV4LGZhGJRNmWg& index=2&feature=plcp[/video] [video=youtube;5fOQZpf81io]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fOQZpf81io&list=UUiKUwgtFoYV4LGZhGJRNmWg& index=1&feature=plcp[/video] Edit: I'm the one in the white shirt and yellow shoes
Only watched 4 mins of the first video, bored the hell out of me, you both made so many errors, get a court without a draft
How many tournaments have you played in? I was just in my first tournament a few weeks ago and I'll tell you that nerves definitely got me really riled up and extremely tense so I made a lot of errors which I would rarely make while playing with my friends in my normal club. Since I'm from northern California where we pretty much have the highest concentration of badminton players in the country, the standard is pretty high here. Based on what I saw at the tournament I went to, you're about a mid level D player based on your technique, which isn't too bad, but your opponent's and your own error rate was quite high. One thing I have to say about your style of play is that you jump for your overheads far too often without really making use of it. I see you use it even for your clears when you don't really need to. As a result, it ends up really being more of a waste of stamina than an increase in power or any amount of deception gained by it. I actually thought both your opponents smashed harder than you by having better form on the standing smash compared to your jump smash. Mastering even the standing smash is no easy task which I'm still working on. I personally am not even considering trying to learn the jump smash until I have the standing smash down cold. That being said I'm not against using the scissor kick "jump smash" when you're trying to get behind the shuttle as fast as possible in your forehand corner or your backhand corner as I currently employ those to great effect. I think your use of deception is decent as you have the basics down in your pushes at the net though sometimes they're too exaggerated and you end up making an error. That's about all I can see at the moment. I'm not a stellar singles player as I focus mainly on doubles, but I've seen enough in my area to know what to look for in good singles. I'm working on it though!
Footwork is ok for D, but you miss the first step (the split) which will actually get to the shuttle quicker (B +C grades). Technique on the shots are good and on par (low C grade) . In singles , sometimes you do need to hit those high backhand (C grades) , instead of going round and hitting a forehand as they will leave you too open on court. Serve should be hit more pace and variation . Nice jump smash (B grade) good power and you are able to position yourself well after the shot . Needs abit more accuracy, direction , placement (B+) . I disagree the above member who mentioned to master the smash before the jump. Since you already know how to hit the jump smash at exact point , I will carry on practicing on that, get the timing more precise ). When I trained at earlier age , the coach taught me to jump before hitting the smash (separately) , then combined both; thats how I build on from my jump smash but this was in Asia. Overall ( C grade) with improvement mentioned above
your jump smash is a joke. you're practically landing when you hit the bird and it's so flat your opponent is regularly returning it at shoulder height. Try that on a decent player and they'll smash your smash (which I think is hilarious whenever I see it, or do it). And the guy who walks into a singles SF with long pants on? WTF? If you ever play him again, run him around the court until you see visible sweat stains on his pants... then ask him if he's okay cuz it looks like he peed his pants.
Since you brought this up... I'd think even under normal circumstances, unless you're a pro, one shouldn't aim too much to the sidelines (esp. you mentioned that you seldom play Singles, and presumably seldom train for it). This leaves you little margin for errors. The result of having all those unforced errors is self-evident. Secondly, you recognize there's a bad draft, however you're unable to adapt. This reinforces the earlier comment above, try not to go for the lines. In other tournaments, you may find lighting issue, ceiling height issue, shuttle speed issue. All these factors affect both contestants all the same. The one that can manage it better would likely prevail. There's a Youtube video by ex-Canadian Women Singles champion Anna rice about margin and speed. You may want to dig it up and watch it.
One more comment, technique wise, you're in D-level where I live (apparently also where Tactim is). Your rating may be different at different parts of the world, obviously. I also think Tactim's made some good points. In Doubles, maybe you can (and want to) jump more. In Singles, try not to jump too much, esp. don't jump for height. There might be exceptions, but jumping too high not only zaps your stamina, it also slows you down in your court coverage that is important in this event.
You have relatively decent shot selection. The SF match you played, you could have drawn your opponent into the net followed by a push or attacking clear to his back court. He had very slow movement. But, your choices of shot seemed to make sense, for the most part. In terms of you as an individual, your footwork needs some improvement. When you play a net shot, you always want your dominant leg extended forward. This gives you more reach with your racquet. You do this on the initial netshot, but then you switch your legs so your left leg is in-front. You want to keep your right leg in-front at the net. After you play a net shot, don't move back to your base, at the most, take a step backwards. It is very easy to move back in the court when your opponent lifts. It is a lot harder moving back to your base and then coming back into the net. You seldom seem to change the positioning of your grip. Generally at the back, move your grip lower down to give you a slight more power, moving it up to increase swing speed. Overhead shots could be worked on too. Search Lee Jae Bok's Power Smash video. You do seem to work hard and persist to keep the shuttle in the court. This is good as it shows you are determined to stay in the game. Your technique could use work but your choice of shot, after you serve because those serves were aweful, was sound.
First, I'd like to thank everyone for their helpful (and unhelpful) comments. Just to clarify, I won both of these matches (and the final which is not included) in 2 straight games. I admit the quality was rather low, but I blame the large amount of errors to the bad draft. None of us had played on this particular court before and as you can see by some of the high serves, it was making the shuttle deviate from it's original intended path by 1-2 feet. I actually think I won these matches because I adapted better to the draft than they did. That being said, some of you make valid points and I will try to keep them in mind at my next session. The dominant leg forward after the netshot is something that I notice separates a lot of high level from low level players even at the professional level. I will try to work on that, although I don't think that happens in doubles so it may be difficult. I noticed some people commenting on my jump smash. I have been trying to work on the steepness of my smashes, but I feel like hitting the shuttle too high in the jump would make recovery difficult as they might return it before you're even on the ground? Do most people hit jump smashes at the top of the jump? I'll try hitting earlier in my jump and see what happens. I also saw that someone said that I do not split step. I find this hard to believe since I have been trained to split step for tennis and know that I do it unconsciously in any sport. Keep the comments coming, they're helpful. Thanks!
I think alot of people tend to miss the point that badminton is a game of consistency rather than a game of brute strength. FIrstly there isn't much point of jump smashing unless you put variation into your shots when jumping. For example a cross court slice or drop or clear. Secondly, far too many errors were made, try not to think about finishing the point as fast as possible rather exploit open areas by a variation of shots. Your game may turn out to be less flashy but you will most definitely get more points. Thirdly, the way you play is a bit more reactive than proactive. By that i mean you're not trying to take control of the pace of the game but rather react to what the opponent is doing. Try to initiate offense by exploiting open spaces, creating openings by dragging opponents around the court. Hope that helps.
Well done stratlover on winning your comp and being able to do a jump smash. Agree with others though you slightly overdo it and sometimes wonder what advantage has been gained. seen worse one guy would jump then actually and hit the shuttle!! lol. I would think about learning standing smashes using more reach slightly straighter arm and slightly more above your head then to the side.
I Watched a bit of the second game. It looked to me that you came dangerously close to faulting on serve by lifting/dragging your trailing leg.
A lot of people are commenting on your jump smash, or lack of .... If you're gonna jump smash in singles, vary from down the line and cross court tramline with the same stroke. Don't smash at your opponent unless you're in the forecourt. Also if you jump smash and can intercept early, steep check smashes into sidelines.
Okay, if you really want to know... My kid was in the B/C level in a recent small local tournament (WS event). I think she definitely can win the D-level (at least in small to medium size ones), may win C-level. Now you can put some fudge factor to account for the difference between WS and MS at the same grade level, and you can figure out roughly where you're, in case you haven't played any MS tournament lately.
You should play lunge with your dominant leg in doubles if you go in for a net shot either in attacking or defending rotation. It only makes sense to get more reach and extend your arm whether it is a net shot or net kill. Just because you may not notice it in doubles does not mean it should be an excuse! Doubles and Singles are completely different games! Oh and in regards to taking a small step backwards after a shot, look at a professional singles match. Generally the player, after playing a net shot will hover around the net to reply another net shot. If it is lifted past them, they have ample time to get back.
First off, I didn't watch the entire video. These are general suggestions that will improve your game regardless of how you played in the videos. You should work on your short serve. If you notice a strong draft in the hall, you shouldn't be doing the long serve at all. If you practice your short serve enough and able to execute a very offensive short serve, your opponent wouldn't be able to respond aggressively even if he/she knows you're doing a short serve. I find that a good short serve will often level the playing field (in terms of experience) for a doubles player transitioning into singles play (the case with me when I play singles). Stick to what you're good at. A big issue I have sometimes in the first few shots of playing singles is getting used to the lines in singles. I often make amazing shots (drops, net shots, attacking clears etc, but especially net shots) but only if the lines were for a doubles game. So for the first few rallies, I will go for body shots/drives that I'm accustomed to executing from my doubles experience. Once you get into the rhythm aim for the back lines first and then slowly build your confidence for the sidelines. Practice, practice, practice. There is definitely room for improvement.
