ways to improving speed, strength and footwork

[Jonster]

I ALWAYS want to get better lol But unlike you, I have no good coaches to coach me or even good players at my university, even though I am going to be the captain of my school team. I feel like I have it a lot rougher as I have to initiate everything on my own and there's no one to guide me lol I basically figure out what I am doing wrong and find ways to correcting it. This probably made me more open to accepting criticism from others as its nice to have another person's viewpoint of where I am going on. So I guess every time I improve, its something that I am really proud of as I really had to put in the effort to get better.

I have only had a coach for one year. The 6 other years I have played badminton have mostly been to my own motivation to improve and get better. I was in the same boat as you and I believe it is unfair for you to make those assumptions that I have not gone through what you are now. Because believe me, I worked and still do work my ass off.

With that being said you have to realize I still think you are awesome in going that direction with your own self-development and the feeling is incomparable when you work hard and achieve success.

[JukUx]

hahaha, thanks man! Hope we all achieve our badminton related goals!

I have only had a coach for one year. The 6 other years I have played badminton have mostly been to my own motivation to improve and get better. I was in the same boat as you and I believe it is unfair for you to make those assumptions that I have not gone through what you are now. Because believe me, I worked and still do work my ass off.

With that being said you have to realize I still think you are awesome in going that direction with your own self-development and the feeling is incomparable when you work hard and achieve success.

[MSeeley]

Glad to see you are all working hard An obvious thing to say I know, but worth saying regardless:

When you practice your footwork or your shots, or you play your games where you can practice (like the singles against your friend) pay particular attention to your recovery footwork.

How many steps are you taking to recover? You will mostly need 1 step followed by a split step to be back at base, but sometimes you may take two. Any more than that and I think there may be something wrong.

Are all the steps effective? An obvious example would be when people come into the net and lunge, very often the first recovery step they make is with their non racket foot, a teeny tiny little step that takes them nowhere and doesn't help anything. All you need in this case is one large step with your racket leg and you are back at base! Look for scenarios where your recovery may be using "useless" steps.

Are you moving back to base AS SOON AS YOU'VE HIT THE SHOT? Or are you taking a moment to recover your balance/look at your shot?

Good luck!

p.s. the stuff I recommend is in addition to what you are already doing. The Rasmussen drill dlp recommended and that you already use is possibly the best footwork drill I have ever used!

[JukUx]

MSeeley

Dam, I think I usually take 2 steps to get back to base and sometimes more. I guess there's something wrong there already .
I don't believe all my steps are effective. I should film myself playing singles first as I have no game tapes of that. This way I would be able to analyse more effectively. In the example you gave, after I net lunge, I do lead back to base with my racket foot and then I take a tiny step to square up and I split step. Not sure if I am doing that right.
A lot of times I don't move right already, I notice I am recovering from my shot and by the time the next shot is coming, I am already running for it. Rather than, recovery to base then moving to the next shot. In this case, is my footwork slow and ineffective?
lol yes I've been doing that Rasmussen drill that you showed me from long time ago. I do it for around 15-30 mins going slow at first then going as fast as possible.

Glad to see you are all working hard An obvious thing to say I know, but worth saying regardless:

When you practice your footwork or your shots, or you play your games where you can practice (like the singles against your friend) pay particular attention to your recovery footwork.

How many steps are you taking to recover? You will mostly need 1 step followed by a split step to be back at base, but sometimes you may take two. Any more than that and I think there may be something wrong.

Are all the steps effective? An obvious example would be when people come into the net and lunge, very often the first recovery step they make is with their non racket foot, a teeny tiny little step that takes them nowhere and doesn't help anything. All you need in this case is one large step with your racket leg and you are back at base! Look for scenarios where your recovery may be using "useless" steps.

Are you moving back to base AS SOON AS YOU'VE HIT THE SHOT? Or are you taking a moment to recover your balance/look at your shot?

Good luck!

p.s. the stuff I recommend is in addition to what you are already doing. The Rasmussen drill dlp recommended and that you already use is possibly the best footwork drill I have ever used!

[JukUx]

Question for you guys,

I know there are different types of steps (footwork movements) such as shuffle, chasse, running steps etc.. My question is how should I be using all these footwork movements effectively? I am slightly cautious of how I am moving on the court now and thinking well..maybe I shouldn't have use chasse steps because I got there too slow.. etc

Thanks!

oh and I am going to take a video some time with me shadowing and doing some smash swings so you can guys can correct me and tell me what I am need to fix

[captaincook]

If you know the terms shuffle, chasse, running steps, etc you already knows all the basics (plus more).
When to apply them depends of how much time you have and how much distance you need to cover. In general, your return clear/lift/drop determine how you recover. You don't want to recover too fast or too slow. You want the last step to be your split step for the next shot. There is also a skip step which we use our non-racket foot twice to bridge the gap right before the last step with our racket foot; if you don't do that, you will need 2 extra steps instead of one hop.

Both of us have the same problem with our footwork... and we both already know the answer... it the recovering steps. At the beginning of the rally, we recovers well, and able to "handle" the next shot. A few exchange later, when we either did not clear deep enough, or not lift well enough, all sort of timing issues started to show, then it is all up hill fight.
And then there are players either with good speed and deceptions, they will throw us off our recover steps timing. Once we are half a step/beat behind, it is show time for our opponents.

At the next level, advance level - which I am not, players can abort their recover step early and drops lower start the split step at "off-base" position, and use their powerful legs to approach the shot (defensive clear or lift).

Question for you guys,

I know there are different types of steps (footwork movements) such as shuffle, chasse, running steps etc.. My question is how should I be using all these footwork movements effectively? I am slightly cautious of how I am moving on the court now and thinking well..maybe I shouldn't have use chasse steps because I got there too slow.. etc

Thanks!

oh and I am going to take a video some time with me shadowing and doing some smash swings so you can guys can correct me and tell me what I am need to fix

[JukUx]

Thanks for the info! Will take that in mind. I do agree with you, I think its the recovery steps and the lack of singles games that I get to play. Its true that the first few rallies I am doing everything correctly, but after a while I go retarded and start tensing up as I can reach certain shuttles and I keep running/scrambling for them.

I think I need to learn how to set my base around the court, instead of always going back to the middle every single time. Example, when I play a net shot, I should stay a bit closer to the net and cover yet. I need to believe and relax myself so I am to cover the back corners still.

If you know the terms shuffle, chasse, running steps, etc you already knows all the basics (plus more).
When to apply them depends of how much time you have and how much distance you need to cover. In general, your return clear/lift/drop determine how you recover. You don't want to recover too fast or too slow. You want the last step to be your split step for the next shot. There is also a skip step which we use our non-racket foot twice to bridge the gap right before the last step with our racket foot; if you don't do that, you will need 2 extra steps instead of one hop.

Both of us have the same problem with our footwork... and we both already know the answer... it the recovering steps. At the beginning of the rally, we recovers well, and able to "handle" the next shot. A few exchange later, when we either did not clear deep enough, or not lift well enough, all sort of timing issues started to show, then it is all up hill fight.
And then there are players either with good speed and deceptions, they will throw us off our recover steps timing. Once we are half a step/beat behind, it is show time for our opponents.

At the next level, advance level - which I am not, players can abort their recover step early and drops lower start the split step at "off-base" position, and use their powerful legs to approach the shot (defensive clear or lift).