ways to improving speed, strength and footwork

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by JukUx, Jun 5, 2012.

  1. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    Hey everyone,

    Would you guys mind sharing some tips on how to increase speed, strength and footwork?
    I've got most of the basic techniques down and this summer, I want to focus more on conditioning. I want to move faster and be quicker while having correct footwork.
    Here is what I mainly do now:

    I often do circuit training to increase speed. I also do sprinting as fast as I can and doing resting at a 1:3 ratio. Oh, and I also do quick feet/chinese footwork in my circuit training.

    For footwork, I often just shadow for 10-15 mins. I shadow at home in backyard or so. I do just light shadowing and then I try to go fast as I can and resting doing a 1:3 ratio.

    For strength training, because I don't have access to a gym, I am not too sure how I am going to do this lol. I've thought about doing push ups and swinging with a racket cover. I also thought about just body weight training, i.e doing dips, pull ups, squats etc.

    So far, my results are only shown in my speed training. I am able to move a lot quicker and get shots that I normally won't get. Also, I am able to move faster to either intercept shots or pouncing on net kills

    However, after playing a few singles games today, I feel like I lack footwork to cover the ENTIRE court. I feel relatively fine when I am playing doubles, I feel like I am doing correct footwork motion. Yet when it comes to singles, I feel like I haven't done enough footwork or that I've not improved a tiny bit and I am scrambling for every shot.

    As of right now, I am struggling to increase strength in my hits and most importantly, I can't seem to cover and move fluently in singles.

    Is there something I am doing wrong? Or is there something I am not doing enough of? Is my footwork poor for singles because I don't shadow the distance of an entire court on a regular basis? :S

    Can you guys recommend me tips or share your own drills to help me improve? I am mainly focusing on important footwork first, strength second and speed last.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Pizza Fish

    Pizza Fish Regular Member

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    continue doing all the exercises you are doing now! that will certainly help you improve.

    if you have difficulty defending the court, i would probably attribute it to your footwork technique can still be improved. you should learn to split drop (search about it, plenty of info on it) if you don't already. another is maybe you're just playing people too good for you or you could be hitting it to places that give the opponent control of your court, making it feel like your court is too large.
     
  3. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    Thanks, I do to do the split step, but I almost certain I don't do it every single time, so I do focus on that. Today, I played against my friend in singles who is almost a letter grade below me, I ended up beating him 21-9 and 21-14, but it most mostly his errors that cost him the game. I felt like my footwork was questionable, I wasn't moving effectively and I was scrambling for a lot of shots.
    I do think that game I gave him a lot of control, I wasn't hitting to where I wanted to. Also, I haven't been playing singles in awhile, dammit, I gotta go play more after today's struggles :(

     
  4. b.leung

    b.leung Regular Member

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    A lot of athletes (even in the elite level and/or outside the badminton world) find that changing up the routine helps a lot.
    Badminton isn't the only sport that requires agility and explosiveness. I'd highly look up some training drills for American football and basketball.
    Another thing I find helpful is doing exercises that are geared towards increasing your vertical.
    A surprising "side effect" is that you become a lot quicker is lateral and sagittal (probably not the best term) movements.

    The thing is, just do something different and you'll start seeing a difference.

    On a side note not relating to training.
    My personal experience with the difference in singles and doubles is that (surprisingly) you have a lot more time to react in doubles than singles. I find that looking ahead where the bird will be instead of where the bird is helps in reaction time.
    At even a low intermediate level, you should know precisely where your shots are landing. Look there immediately after you execute your shot (assuming your footwork is good), you'll be able to respond to the shot much faster.
    Another thing is that I consciously have to adjust the way I clear. Half the time you think you've done a good clear, it is actually 3-5 inches shorter than what you expect in singles.
     
  5. dlp

    dlp Regular Member

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    it sounds like you are doing a lot of the right work in terms of physical training, but its your actual footwork which is the weak point. Improving quality and technique of footwork would be the key, in addition working on your timing and acceleration through "base". CHeck out the peter rasmussen footwork video on youtube
     
  6. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    b.leung
    Ok thanks! I plan on increasing my vertical as I want to be able to jumper higher to smash anyways :p and I guess it will make my movements a lot faster.
    I will look up other drills from other sports that I can that will help me for badminton.
    I do now where my shots are landing, I think sometimes I think about returning to the base position because that's something I've tried to drill in my head. I look ahead and because my footwork is my weak point, sometimes I end up scrambling for the shot :(

    dlp
    Thanks, I agree, my footwork is the biggest weakness for me. That's the video I follow, I've been doing the drill of just shadowing to get the rhythm.

    I think this might be a psychological factor for me where I am just not doing it naturally and I am thinking of every step and if I miss one, I'll just break apart. :( I am for sure going to do shadowing a lot more after that singles game I played.
     
  7. Han

    Han Regular Member

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    From my experience, more than often is the anticipation rather than the footwork that make you unable to return the shot. If you're not able to read or anticipate your opponent return then you can only react/catch up which can be very tiring ... Playing against someone better than you is the best way to find out where your footwork/overall skill is then go from there. Someone told me badminton is all about anticipation when you get to higher level and I agree.
    Practice is good but nothing is better than real battle where you can gauge your true strength/weakness.
     
  8. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    I agree with everything you said, footwork is like the core basics of badminton. Without it, Its really hard to bring your game to the next level. Usually, when I want to know how far I am from a stronger player, I just play them in singles and that helps me gauge how close I am, to identify the weaknesses that I have and that they exploit.

     
  9. Jonster

    Jonster Regular Member

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    http://www.livestrong.com/article/193457-strength-training-for-badminton/

    I just read this article and while it is just the tip of the iceberg, it would be a good place to start in finding what muscle groups you should work on. Of course there comes spacing workouts on different days, adequate rest of your muscles, and separating body group workouts on different days.


    Simply put from your self-observation, your footwork is not there. I would suggest watching Lee Jae Bok's set of coaching videos specifically on footwork. He has many other videos on other skills and its helped me develop my strokes. At first I was skeptical because of his unothodox forehand technique but if you actually want to learn you will not criticize and learn. He is one of the best badminton resources in my personal opinion.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/coachingbadminton


    A vital part that recreational players miss are strategy and tactics. The private clubs in the GTA tend to emphasize strokes. While this is good if you do not know the strategy and tactics when playing, what good are your strokes? I am not saying that practicing strokes are bad and I'm not saying the private clubs in the GTA are bad. Strategy and tactics are so important, Doubles is completely different than Singles which is completely different than Mixed Doubles. That is what separates players that just hit shots for the sake of hitting them to those that pick shots for the purpose of creating an opportunity for your side of the court.

    Strategies and tactics are not something you will learn while playing match-play, you will not be able to re-create them easily during drop-in games. This is something where you may have to draw on a piece of paper and figure out what shots are good. You may have to grab friends and get them to play shots under certain conditions to see if they work. You can not do this during match-play because once you play games your objective is to win by whatever means.

    All of this is a lot of work and depending on your goals, your priorities for what you need to work on will change. How much time you have to work on improving, how far you are willing to work to achieve your goals will set the pace.

    A tip if you plan on seriously improving, never think a certain part of your game is good because once you do, you limit yourself. Take criticism of your abilities with positivity and use it to get better. That is not to say to listen to everything to others say but take things into account with a grain of salt.
     
  10. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    Hey Jonathan!
    (we should play sometime again :p)
    Thanks for the tips! I'll take a look at LJB footwork vids over again :p

    I have the strats and tactics there, its more of executing them and to be able to play the shots. My footwork limits me from doing so. Example, sometimes I know the opponent is off guard and there's a wide open space to hit to, yet if I can't even get there in time, then I can't hit the shot.
    I would disagree with you that strats and tactics can be learned by playing matches. As long the match is competitive and you are motivated to play, I believe you can learn tactics that way.
    I never wrote anything down on a piece of paper. Instead, I would reflect why I lost, and how come I couldn't overcome it. I learnt strats and tactics from observing my opponents and seeing what shots made them uncomfortable and to place them there. I mean, there are basic strats that one can be taught, but I believe that by playing matches, you'll develop more and more strats and tactics because of the experience you gain.
     
  11. Jonster

    Jonster Regular Member

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    When I talk about strategies and tactics, I do not simply mean hitting to the open space.

    I did not mean solely writing tactics on a piece of paper to re-create them. I am guilty of not proof reading. Well sure you can create strategies and tactics based on a certain pair but I think it is necessary to learn the basics of singles, doubles, mixed, whichever game you plan to focus on. You can build on this through games but its like footwork, it will allow you to progress so much faster with the basics. By 'basics' of each game, I mean multiple attack and defensive formations, multiple attack and defensive shots, patterned shots to open the court, serve and serve returns, anticipation, best areas of the court/player(s) to attack. I believe this comes a lot easier with a coach to help you with that.

    It is pretty cool that you have the drive to get better. I felt like I could relate to you. After joining my university team, so many doors have opened up for me and I have learned so much. Hopefully you are able go to where you want to go.
     
  12. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    Ahhh
    I see what you mean! I agree with you, in terms of tactics such as attacking formation and defensive formation, rotation and all that stuff , it is important to learn. I guess I do agree :p

    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.
     
  13. white91

    white91 Regular Member

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    Something which has helped me is weighted squats (you can do bodyweight, or hold something heavy), weighted lunges, but the best thing is a standing box jump. I jump onto tyres, but park benches etc would be fine.

    This has increased my explosive power and speed.
     
  14. OhSearsTower

    OhSearsTower Regular Member

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    can you give an example of what you mean by box jump?

    i do weighted squats regularely and im very interested in fitness exercises which are badminton related (which will improve my badminton game because of better physicality)
     
  15. white91

    white91 Regular Member

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  16. Khaleesi

    Khaleesi Regular Member

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    Have you also considered that the quality of the initial shot might be poor causing you to scramble for the next shot? For instance lack of depth or loopy drops.I think when you say strength what you mean is power. Search plyometrics and you will get loads of drills on how to improve this!Improving your strength will also improve your power but without access to a gym this would be tricky for you.
     
  17. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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    Thanks for all the tips!
    I am going to do the box jumps, as I am working to increase my vertical as well and that's one of the exercises that I do! and spot on! I just jump on the park bench! :p

    Khaleesi
    Yeah, I noticed sometimes I make bad shots and I do have to go scramble for the next one. But a lot of times, even when I play a good quality shot, I believe I think too much and my reaction time goes down. I found out today, or at least I noticed, that I play really dumb? I think that's a way to say it. I think a lot less in singles then doubles. Like I sometimes would hit a shot and I'd question myself, why did you do that? and then I get owned lol.

    I will also look into plyometrics, as for now, I don't have access to a gym, but I'll make a workout routine when school starts :)
     
  18. Jonster

    Jonster Regular Member

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    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.
     
  19. JukUx

    JukUx Regular Member

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

     
  20. MSeeley

    MSeeley Regular Member

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    Glad to see you are all working hard :D 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!
     

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