Moving from tennis to badmittion

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by kuposhy, May 11, 2013.

  1. kuposhy

    kuposhy New Member

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    I am a fresh male long time tennis player / beginner who is taking lessons from my friend right now.

    I'm currently struggling with most aspects about badmittion and I have a couple questions for you guys.

    1. My friend always tells me, "Loosen my elbow" when ever I hit almost all my shots. I dont really understand what exactly my elbow should be doing while swinging underhand. :confused:

    2. Whats the best way to learn the flight path of a shuttle?

    3. The biggest current problem right now is whenever I get even a bit frustrated,I start to adapt back to playing motion for motion like tennis, which is only frustrates me even more. Is there a specific way I can just "unlearn" everything I learned while holding a tennis racket? :mad:

    Any general extra info is also appreciated.
     
  2. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    1. Relax your muscles. You are probably holding the racquet too tightly during the swing. Aim to tighten the muscles just at the point of striking the shuttle and relax the muscles again immediately during the follow through.

    2. Play more - experience counts :)

    3. Unlearning a shot takes time - must practice (i.e. shot practice - no games) 2 to 3 sessions a week for several weeks - more frequent that that is even better.
     
  3. Jacob mm

    Jacob mm Regular Member

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    1. When you do a lift your elbow should come before your hand, its easy in the backhand, but much more challenging in the forehand.
     
  4. BernieR

    BernieR Regular Member

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    I find that instruction difficult to understand and/or implement Jacob, it's pretty difficult, perhaps impossible for me to get my elbow in front of my hand if I am in a position to play an underhand forehand, and I can't see how this unusual contortion would help me play.
     
  5. Jacob mm

    Jacob mm Regular Member

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    You have to do it the way of two reasons 1. all your lifs and blocks are gonna look the same 2. It is much easier to disguise.
     
  6. Mike1337

    Mike1337 Regular Member

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    I think hs advice re elbow only applies to backhand lifts and not forehand lifts.:D

    Explanation, if there is a drop shot and you move to the net, you should keep your racket at net height so when taking it early the shuttle will hit your racket and topple over the net.

    In deceptive play, you opponent might think you were going to do a net shot, but at the last moment you would drop your racket and lift the shuttle. This is of course to wrong foot/ keep your opponent guerssing as to what shot you are going to play.

    To be honest you should get used to playing the basic shots before you start to learn more advanced deceptive shots. As cheung says you spend time on certain types of shots/ warm up before play with your friend.

    Learning is a long process and you should take a few steps at a time, you cannot learn everything at once, persevere my friend.

    Is there any beginners- intermediates coaching club in your area you can join? You might get less frusted if you could play with people more similar to your skill set?
     
  7. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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  8. Jacob mm

    Jacob mm Regular Member

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    His backhand technique OK, but his forehand technique is the worst I have ever seen.
     
  9. AimUk

    AimUk Regular Member

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    Having tried making the transition from badminton to tennis I can feel your pain.

    The two are completely different and this makes it quite hard to break the habit of putting the stroke into your subconcious. It's kind of like driving a manual car for the first time. I'm no expert in tennis but I've had a bit of coaching and noticed some big differences.

    The main difference:

    1) Badminton the movement of your arm comes from the elbow, if you try doing this in tennis you hit it way out the back court, or do not impart spin to keep it down.

    2) Shots in tennis are hit by rotating the whole arm from the shoulder pivot. You have to lock your elbow and wrist to some extent in tennis.

    If you try doing this in badminton your swing is far too large, takes too long and the power is spread over the swing. In badminton timing your power to be at it's maximum at point of impact are more crucial.

    I think one of the major things you will need to practise is hitting the shuttle without topspin or slice to start with and focus on the basic stroke, that is a major problem for most tennis players. Yes there is definitely a use for slice and spin on shuttles.
    but that should come after you learn the correct basic stroke.
     
  10. amleto

    amleto Regular Member

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    pretty much same as this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txGtTtov9B0, so think I'm gonna disagree with you, there.
     
  11. phili

    phili Regular Member

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    I don't quite get what you are trying to say. Are you saying that first you swing with your elbow and then you use your wrist?
     
  12. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    The coach is Morten Christensen (http://jyllands-posten.dk/aarhus/sport/ECE5199964/dm-finalist-pa-halv-tid/ ?), invited to coach at this Dutch training camp in Oro. Again in 2011 along with Holger Hasse, the current German national team head coach (that's what you get with people stealing videos freely available on youtube already and even go as far as to edit out the credits :rolleyes:)

    So let me put up the original here to credit the correct people. It's a defence video, not a how to lift ..

    [video=youtube;bWgXLhMVAok]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgXLhMVAok[/video]
     
    #12 demolidor, May 11, 2013
    Last edited: May 11, 2013
  13. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    I assume(??) he does indeed mean first, not in front ... That should clear up quite a bit of confusion :D.

    Now reading that back he might actually mean in front :p:confused:
     
    #13 demolidor, May 11, 2013
    Last edited: May 11, 2013
  14. jickman

    jickman Regular Member

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    I can comment on this. To be honest i play alot of racquet sports. I play competitive for ping pong, recreation to competitive for tennis (since in canada its very seasonal), squash every now and then at school. But badminton which i started a year ago, i've picked up quite fast even at level the most player didnt believe i started a year ago.

    1.) technique is all about having the proper form, its hard at first but badminton is definitely easier to start than tennis. That you may need to learn from someone watch video etc.

    With us tennis player switch over, one thing we have to know is that the bird will only fly in one flight path. There's no spin like balls which cause it to curve etc. Just have to predict the angle at which your opponent is hitting. Experience definitely helps.

    All the best
     
  15. captaincook

    captaincook Regular Member

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    until one plays against advance players with slice smashes, slice drops, pull drops, "half pull smash-drop", where the flight path begins to be "less defined" - fuzzy. The initial flight paths are different from the ending parts - the landing points can differs from where you think it should be (sometime by more than a foot). Many players have scars on their knee, cuts on fingers to prove it (compensate the deviation by diving).
     
  16. Stratlover

    Stratlover Regular Member

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    As a long time tennis player who quit tennis in order to focus on badminton, I know exactly what you're going through. Here are some general tips that will get you started learning badminton properly.

    1) FOOTWORK: probably the most important aspect of badminton, especially if you're looking to play singles.

    Always lunge with your dominant leg as the last step before you hit any shot that's far away from you and below net height.

    Agility is the most important physical attribute for badminton; focus on being able to change directions quickly while staying balanced more than pure speed.

    Split-step, same as tennis, but you often have to react faster

    You have to move backwards to take overhead shots as quickly as possible and always strive to take overhead shots rather than settle for shots at the side. Unlike tennis, the ball does not bounce, so it is always optimal to take the shuttle as high as you comfortably can in order to hit it downwards.

    2) Technique

    This whole elbow in front of your hand does not make any sense. I think the point he may be trying to get at is you should keep your arms away from your body while moving and hitting. This allows you to reach the shuttle faster and take it higher/earlier.

    Related to the point above, your strokes should be as compact and short as possible, especially underhand. Unlike tennis, you should not be using your whole arm/shoulder/body to hit underhand shots. You should only use your wrist/fingers/forearm rotation.

    One way I like to think about this is to imagine your legs being very active and providing a dynamic, yet stable base for your upper body, which is relatively still and relaxed. This is true for all shots.

    Overhead strokes are much like tennis and should make use of the whole body, especially for smashing. However, most badminton players utilize some degree of vertical and lateral jumping while hitting overhead shots in order to raise their contact point and assist in their movement.

    The racket is very light compared to tennis, so it is important to use finger strength to hit most shots. You should hold the racket in a relaxed grip when not hitting so that you can easily change grip. When you move to hit a shot you should change grip and then squeeze the grip as you hit it in order to utilize finger power. Try not to twirl your grip too much, as there is simply no time for this during a badminton rally.

    Also, you need to get used to changing your grip a lot to hit different shots. If you try to use one grip (like a continental grip) to hit all of your shots, you will severely limit your game.

    Always try to hit the shuttle flat for maximum power. There are ways to cut and spin the shuttle in order to make it do different things, but the basic skill is the ability to hit the shuttle cleanly with no spin in order to get the most power.

    3) Judging the Shuttle

    Not much you can do about this but play more. Just know that a) the shuttle decelerates quickly and will generally fall shorter than you expect, and b) if you happen to play against a more advanced player who knows how to spin the shuttle, it will drop much shorter than you expect. You must also learn the dimensions of the court and learn how to judge whether the shuttle will fall in or out of the court just by looking at the speed of the shuttle. These things will only come with time.

    Hope this helped!
     
  17. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Badminton is different from tennis in the sense that due to the difference in mass of the racket and projectile, power strokes are generated differently. In tennis, the forearm and wrist must be much more solid and tight throughout impact as compared to badminton, where the forearm and wrist are used more in a whipping motion.

    Re elbow in badminton, this is where the whipping motion comes into effect. Most easily seen in backhand clear strokes but still visible in forehand power strokes eg. smashes (if you don't see it, then just search for some slow mo badminton videos on youtube), the elbow must lead the stroke into the strike zone. Perhaps this is what some posters meant above by saying that the elbow must be in front.

    By leading with the elbow, forearm pronation/supination can be used effectively. And combined with loose relaxed muscles to accelerate and whip into the strike, these are the most important differences of the badminton stroke compared to tennis.
     
    #17 visor, May 20, 2013
    Last edited: May 20, 2013
  18. silvestre351

    silvestre351 Regular Member

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    Hi ppl, I can tell a bit of my experiences in playing tennis and badminton.
    I was a tennis player from 8 until 20 years old. During high school I ve tried badminton and pleased me a lot and the passion for this great game started then. After a long stop in praticing sports I returned to badminton at age of 35 without hesitating.
    As it can be easily imagined it is extremely difficult to loose some habits about a sport you ve learned too young and even today (age 44) it is notorious some tennis stuff when you see me playing badminton, and all it is by instinct. Those are footwork with small steps, using a big arm swing, the habit to avoid around the head stroke to naturally try the backhand stroke and not easily making net shots with a high racquet position, but of corse all these items had improved. The positive things are the drives and the defensive lifts (lob from low position). Another aspect that I naturally do is the tendency to play a lot crosscourt, specially fast drop shots from the backcourt forehand side. They many times introduce the surprise, but if the opponent makes a net shot he wins the rally.
    Another bad item is the tendency to make your base position farther to the net than it is usual in correct badminton position.
    This is my experience I share with you, I am curious about other difficulties that other ex tennis players might have when migrated to badminton.
     
  19. Dracover

    Dracover Regular Member

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    Hope you don't mind me hi-jacking this thread but I thought it would be good to continue this topic.

    I too am an ex-tennis player who has begun playing badminton. I'm getting told by people that my swing is like a tennis player. I've been watching youtube videos and trying to adjust and feel like i have but get the same comments, though no one can really explain to me what the difference is.

    Are there any rules of thumb to easily identify parts of the swing when practicing. e.g. elbow should always be in front of hand (which i'm gathering from the thread so far).
     
  20. OhSearsTower

    OhSearsTower Regular Member

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    why you guys stop tennis and start badminton? what are the reasons for such a change?
     

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