JR: I have recently obtained a copy of the WC2003 final matches between Denmark and Indonesia. I like to congratulate you on your victory. I watched the tape over 50 times and simply enjoyed the Danes styles of badminton, very steady and discipline. You are simply a great player ! Because my height is 184 cm, which is about the same as you. I am working hard now trying to adopt your style. I would be appreciated if you can help me with a few questions I have on the court. 1) Since my height is pretty tall, my biggest headache on the court is playing drive. My opponets often realize that and like to hit drive shots towards my body. Can you please tell me how I can defense effectively against this type of shots ? 2) When my partner is preparing for a smash, he often complains I am blocking his view because of my height. Where should I stand and what should my body position is in this situation ? 3) My coach in the club always want me to knee down forward when I cover the front court. I found this slow down my reaction and it hurts my knees a lot. How do you normally position your body when you cover the front ? Thanks. Alan
Hi, I am 182cm tall and I guess the best method to solving your problem when tackling body shots from straight drives is to kneel low to tap the smash shots drive back. I used to do that when playing against another group and it was useful because it requires your opponent to react quick enough to hit back the drive shot from you. With my current group, it's no longer proper to use that technique because the person who covers the front is very fast in attacking the returning shots. Thus I have changed over to defending it slow to the net like a drop so the net opponent has to lift it for my partner to smash thus utilising my height as an advantage to smash any shots that are low enough for me to power smash from the net. That will really scare your opponent. As for the position you have to be at the front of the net. There is no 2 way around it. You have to bend your knees and squad a little. One technique I use during play is that I stand tall when your partner at the back is about to do a smash or drop. Just when you know he is going to do it, kneel fast thus blocking your opponents point of view to the partner at the back. Of course it helps if your partner has a strong smash. If you are having trouble with your knees, have they looked at. One excercise you can do to strenghten your knees while squating is rest your back against a flat wall and have your thigh and calf at a 90 degree angle. That way, you will really feel pressure on your knees. Do it slowly, it will hurt like hell the first time. Hope that helps. SMilley
