Any advice please on how to play with a lady who insists on playing level? She is less powerful and lifts everything including serve. I get zero chance to smash so it plays like lift and smash defense drill. Any ideas? I signed up for mixed as I like rushing round the back court smashing and dropping. New partner (club??) next season I think.
level is correct for defense formation, even in mixed. Perhaps try communicating with her and suggest some 'new ideas' to try out, e.g. She should always try to lift so that you are receiving the straight reply. She could try 'drop and rush' tactic.
Nothing wrong with a lady who wants to play level. As amleto has stated, the formations are the same. The only distinctions between mixed and level are positions at serve, man tends to defend straight and man tends to attack from the rear. You are not the only person who can (and indeed should) smash. Your issues are coming from her shot selection. Encourage her to play more attacking shots, rather than lifting. As amleto has said, a decent straight drop usually give her enough time to follow it in, allowing you to switch to the 'right-way-round'. Remember though, you need to cover the other 3 corners for that shot.
The issue is she won't go near the net, if I do then they lift. I lack the social skills to persuade her to play like a traditional lady. I've no problem going LYD style and having a reversed setup, but she can't / won't attack and clears too flat to cover properly. Sigh. How to play at my club: 1) if MD, always play side by side. 2) if XD, woman stay at net to leave both tramlines open when defending 3) flat clear is your staple shot. I think my new plan is pick a side and lift everything. Maybe take a punt on following in on a half court smash if I get one. Sorry for whining. New club if my MD partner leaves!
I think it's great that she doesn't want to play like a "traditional" lady. She will get more opportunities to play in all areas of the court, and to develop her skills. What's unfortunate is that she always hits the shuttle upwards. I would encourage her to try out different shots, and not worry if they fail. To some extent, you just have to accept that weak players are weak. You can't expect them to change their game quickly, or even at all -- unless they are actively involved in training or coaching. Young or new players might improve for a while, but most experienced players get stuck in a certain way of playing, and only improve very gradually -- if at all. If she is receptive to advice (i.e. she wants to learn), then resist the temptation to give instruction during the game; this will just confuse the hell out of her. Wait until after the game. Oh dear. I feel your pain.
Does indeed sound painful. Given that the flat clear is the staple shot, I'm not surprised that she doesn't want to stay at the net. Flat clears are vulnerable to being smashed from the mid-court. However, it's no excuse for not playing properly yourself. When the shuttle is lifted to her, then you must support her attacking opportunity. Otherwise, she has little option but to clear & the habit perpetuates. It may take a few games of her getting stuck in the rear-court 20 times, but eventually she'll wonder what's going wrong & be more receptive to comment. Similarly, in men's doubles, support your partner's smash. If they clear, you'll have time to defend the x-court. If they drop/smash, you'll be able to support it. People will start to notice the success you're having with it. Good luck & good patience.
Cheung might be right there, of course it could be a problem to find a court and someone who wants to play singles. On these club nights I'd rather have a woman playing level than a lamppost at the net (dutchies use "coat stand" as the appropriate term here )
best XD match i had was with a hat stand at the net! I'm selfish though. Actually our first win with my current XD partner was very rewarding! i play singles at work over lunch but we only play doubles at my club. I'll try and be a better partner: shut up and just practice covering the court.
Tried a new partner for a cup match tonight. Traditional mixed. Finally! Me: Let's play it mixed, but if you lift it pick a side to defend the tramlines then we'll drop it so you can chase it into the net" Her: "Sides. No that's level" *Proceeds to lift every shot then stand plumb on the T*. Me: ... we lost, but it was a good learning experience! My feet felt faster but still not fast enough for singles against a better man with a better net guard
played like a very aggressive lady tonight. win all six games! reverse mixed worked really well! so many net kills
it is very hard to defend when the lady stand plump in the middle. ask her to move to the side a little, and on the opposite side of the shuttle. that will open up the straight line for you while she guard the cross court, which give her slightly more time to react.
I have a lady partner that stands on the T, it certainly makes things interesting. She doesn't have the power to play more than 2 shots from the rear of the court. Here's what I ask of her All attacking shots and all played short and to the opponent's T - This means that we control the game and they have to either lift to me or play a net shot to her, both are attacked by us. If she is flicked on a serve, she is to hit a good high deep punch clear, then first get into a defensive position and once we're on the attack then she's to go back to her beloved T. That mainly means that we rarely have to defend, it works at div 2 level and we win more than we lose.
Kwun clearly doesn't try telling women what to do very often... It's worth maybe 5 points a game while they work out that pushing either of us to the back is a mistake. Very 'casual' division though.
when i play casually with middle age women from my church, i usually cover the court in a U shape while she stands at the T most of the time, tho they do move around the net left and right. it is a very very useful tool for you to work on your footwork, and working on improving your legs strength. because of playing with them, i am able to improve the pace and endurance of my legs one thing tho, it is definitely not an ideal positioning when it comes to defensive strategy because i'm still covering both sides of the court in defense. but for causal play, it's great training
that's not the type of defense i was talking about! enroll them to the US presidential secret service instead!
