I play singles games with this other guy. And he's a better player than me. He's superior in a few key areas. 1)More consistent 2)Tighter net shots and 3)Better stamina. Here's what I beat him with (although rarely). 1)Harder smash 2)More deceptive shots 3)Trickery I'm not looking for some simple answer to find his achilles heel and beat him every time. I am looking for some strategies that I may have overlooked/not using when playing a superior foe. Everyone here lost games to better players before. I'm curious to hear what you guys do differently to hope change the outcome on the next encounter.
1. Try pushing him to all 4 corners. 2. Pick on his weak points (ie. backhand). 3. Work on your stamina and consistency to equal his. If all else fails...get a busty hot chick to stand next to the court to jump up and down. I'm sure he'll be distracted. Downside is you'll probably be distracted too.
Usually when I play someone better than me they are usually better because they can move and play so much faster. Or imo that's why I believe they are better. Honestly when someone can play at a much faster pace than me I don't know how much I can do except attack the net area and try to put them under pressure by playing tight netshots and attacking lifts; pretty much playing the net and getting there faster than him so its easier to do those shots. problem is its hard to get there early when my opponent can play faster and has faster footwork than me...guess you kind of have to anticipate when hes about to play at the net and move your base position a bit more forward than normal. If your smash is better than his then playing good netshots and forcing him to lift to you would be really awesome. You could probably just try to do hard half smashes and then follow up to the net and play a good net shot while he is still in midcourtish
Be more aggressive, take more risks. Maybe attack his serve a bit harder, or put the shuttle towards his body more.
Do something unexpected. Play shots that are not your usual shots. Like Rocky when he fought Apollo Creed.
Whenever I play against a superior player, I always take it as an opportunity to try new tactics, strategies, etc ... Take it as AN OPPORTUNITY to improve and enhance your game rather than just trying to beat the guy !! FREE "ADVANCED" TRAINING
Here is a tactic that MOST PLAYERS today do not employ since the advent of the "attacking" game ala Lin Dan and Taufik - play LONG RALLIES and SUPER STRONG DEFENSE.
One of the things I do is play three people. Somebody better than me, somebody weaker than me and somebody the same level as me. When you are playing the better opponent - you are learning When you are playing the weaker opponent - practice the shots and movement you saw - you won't be under pressure so your success rate even on new shots should be high. When you are playing the player the same level as you do your new shots, movement, pace etc, but now you will be under pressure so your objective is consistency. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat
How 'bout this? You video-record your games with him next time you play him. Afterward, analyze it. Find out how you lose. Do you lose because of your own unforced errors? Or do you lose because of certain combinations? Do the same on him. With the above data, you then work on removing the element that lose you the most points, and do more of those that earn you points. E.g. you may find you give away too many easy points. Then the question is - can you improve there? Do you have to hit that tight/wide/long?
Normally... I just rely on my defence and stamina. When I play against someone who's more skilled than me... I just resort to complete defense. Instead of looking at the game as a match to win. I treat it as a defense practice. Keep clearing, and occasionally drop. When they smash, return it, and clear the next non smashing shot. Rinse and repeat. My defense is my strongest game. Eventually, once I'm used to their smashes, I'd even tempt them to smash with deliberate 3/4 clears, just to tire them out from them keep smashing what they think might be winners.. Eventually, when I'm completely used to their rhythm and shots, I'd start counter attacking as they're getting sluggish because of how worn out they are. So... yeah... I don't have a counter for better players. I just rely on consistency and defense.
A better player will win so many points by forcing their opponent into going for winners too early or narrowing their margins too far - just look at the "points from errors" statistic when Lin Dan plays a non-top-twenty guy. Just be patient and stay in the rally, as said above.