Progress!

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by amleto, Nov 3, 2012.

  1. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    I have made some! :D I've just got back from a bottom tier national event (UK 'bronze' circuit).

    I got put in a box with two juniors who are 3 grades above me so I knew it was going to be tough.

    I managed to win the first set in my first match, so I was already happy for the day - that is the first set I have won in a national tournament (played one silver and one bronze previously). I did lose the match though, going down to 19 in the last game.

    Something that I will take away from the match is that I was happy with how I adjusted to his tactics - anything he had mid court he would drive to my backhand and gave him good results at first. This was partly due to my poor defensive returns that were too passive. I kept adjusting my base to so that I could better deal with that kind of attack, and in the end my defense and rallying won the game.

    I had a bad start to the second game with a few errors, and he cottoned on to my flat-ish flick/long serve which I used for the majority.

    Third game was better and at this point I realised I had to do better with my defense so my smash returns were flatter + deeper and I also threw some cross court returns in. I managed to get to 19-17 up but then got a bit nervous and played some bad shots and lost :crying:

    My next opponent was better and employed more varied attacks. I struggled to stay in the rallies in the first game - I think partly due to poor length on my part. I lost to ~ 10.

    Next game I concentrated on length of my lifts/clears, and got to 4-1 down due to hitting everything out of the back! :D I adjusted and moved him around much better in this game. I thought I got to 18-16 then 18-17, but he argued that he had one more point. I won the next point which was a long rally and very satisfying. In the next I got a smash opportunity and got the bird on the floor. He controversially called it out - there were one or two funny looks from the observers behind the court. He argued that he had been 'generous' earlier in the game, but tbh there weren't many calls that could have gone either way.

    I think here I should have argued more for a let, but I didn't. He won 21-19.

    Anyway, I am happy that I was competitive with higher-graded players for 3 out of 5 sets. I achieved a short-term target of winning a set, and I am pleased with my match-play and adaptiveness - especially considering I have not been sparring with anyone for weeks due to injury.

    Oh yeah, and I'm still injured (left ankle) so there is definitely more to come in the short term.
     
  2. CanucksDynasty

    CanucksDynasty Regular Member

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    Keep up the good work.
     
  3. AimUk

    AimUk Regular Member

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    I'm assuming you were at the BPC bronze then? I got drawn against the second seed in my box singles (lost in 3) and got a set off the Polish pair in my doubles box but again lost in 3, close games! I'm sure I saw you at some point but I have no reference on who you played (names might help ;))
     
  4. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    both my matches were on court 1. I played Stephen Smith and Andrew Jones
     
  5. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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  6. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Which one is you?
     
  7. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    I worked it out - black shorts:)

    You look tired in the 2nd set.

    I see some things in the game that you might be able to work on. Won't do movement because you've been injured;)

    Service return: each of your service returns were from the same height - you have let them drop very low. So the opponent can adjust his timing very easily to your service return (mostly lifts). Once he worked out your service return was non-threatening, he got ready for controlling the rally and he just zoomed in confidence.

    Overhead action; two things to work on. Probably many times you can't quite get a comfortable hitting motion on backcourt overhead shots. Probably difficult to get power on smashes as well and it feels difficult to hit clipshots when the shuttle is faster even though you can 'see' the shuttle. You might feel you can't quite get the timing right when the pace goes up.

    a) you have a double motion when you swing the shuttle. i.e. you raise the racquet for the overhead ready position. Then when you start the stroke, your racquet head drops forward before going back behind you. You lose a split second of timing with you opponent gaining a precious split second.

    b) when you strike the shuttle on the overhead, your arm is bent at the elbow. With the elbow bent, you've lost height, power and speed in your shot.
     
  8. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    yes, I was already tired in the first set! oops.

    In second set I was down 3-11 and you can see in the game there is a time where I 'give up' and don't want to waste more energy on that set.


    b) totally agree - working on it..
    a) - interesting, I hadn't noticed that. Can you give example time. I think it's not easy to see in the vids?
     
  9. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    found one: g2 ~4.18. you're definitely right. Why on earth am I dong that? :confused:
     
  10. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Game 2 (up to 11 points) 0.48, 1.38, 2.26, 2.33, 2.37 (smash), 3.15, 3.19

    4.20 (clear) not sure

    If you go back to the video, you posted before, it's more obvious as the opponent gives you a lot more high serves.

    Combined with the double action, I think the steepness of your smashes are compromised.

    [video=youtube_share;uOIydWDMy3g]http://youtu.be/uOIydWDMy3g[/video]

    If you want more stuff to work on :), definitely dexterity of the fingers can be worked on for forecourt shots and help disguise. You have too much arm movement for forecourt shots.
     
    #10 Cheung, Nov 18, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2012
  11. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Going back to the match, your opponent was a bag of nerves and there for the taking. Unfortunately, the technique difficulties limit your variation of the game and slow your shots down. I think he probably got told to calm down and rally things out. Once, he realised you were tired and can read your game, he had control over you.
     
  12. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    I pulled out of the tournament I was going to do in January due to ongoing achilles issue. I strained it in September and it's being really slow to heal.

    I tried club night on Monday - first badminton in ~6 weeks. Although not very intensely, my achilles has been aching ever since Tuesday morning. sigh :( That basically means I can't do any more tournaments for three months because I cant play frequently enough for fitness, consistency and coaching - that means the rest of the season is a write-off :'(
     
  13. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    buuuuump...

    Didn't do any tournaments last year as I had surgery on my foot.

    Physio has given up on my shoulder - referred to specialist but don't know what will come of that... ignoring it for now and entered what will be my first tournament in two years (gloucs senior bronze #2)! Got butterflies already :D

    anyone else going?
     
  14. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Any results?
     
  15. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    Tournament is tomorrow.

    Specialist said MRI didn't show up much, some extra fluid around bicep but not really anything that points to an obvious issue. So it is just down to shoulder posture/bones getting in the way.

    He suggested keyhole surgery to have a look with telescopic lens, probably resulting in grinding some bone down to give wider gap for supraspinatus tendon to pass through. 3 months rest, 6 months to full recovery.

    Will see how the tournament goes, although everyone in my box is higher graded so I don't expect to be getting past the first round. Will perhaps look to play a few more tournaments until April/May time then book the surgery as it's getting pretty bad now - I played 3x consecutive days and then couldn't use a knife for dinner the pain was so bad.
     
  16. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    Just got back. Other players in my box were multiple grades higher than me, so I was always going to be up against it. I had much better game against the seed, though, in my second match.

    lost 13 & 15 then 15 & 16.
     
  17. AimUk

    AimUk Regular Member

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    At least you get to play at the moment! Broken finger from goalkeeping has put me out for a while so i'm missing out.

    Speaking from knowing others personally that offset their surgery, they have been put back playing badminton, one person had a complete lifestyle change for not doing it soon enough.

    If you value your long term playing ability, i'd consider doing it sooner than later.
     
  18. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    I discussed the surgery with specialist and he said there's no difference to doing it now or delaying it. If I was doing myself serious damage it would have shown up in the mri.

    Thanks for the heads up, though, and I hope you have a speedy recovery!
     
  19. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Does playing the relaxed style help?
     
  20. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    bit of a cross-thread discussion :D In short, yes & no - I replied previously with a bit more detail in the videos thread
     

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