How to play singles

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by Zclyh3, Apr 12, 2001.

  1. Zclyh3

    Zclyh3 Regular Member

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    What is the best way to play singles and how do you train for it?
     
  2. Steplantis

    Steplantis Regular Member

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    Tough question and not one that you can really expect a definitive answer for, at least not the " best way to play singles " part. The style of play you use depends a lot on what you learn as a beginner and intermediate player, which in turn is about what you practice during training. I can try and give you some ideas about what`s best in training but I`d need to know more about you to give you more specific advice ( like age, body-build, length of badminton experience, current level etc).
    At the moment I`m helping out with training some of the top junior high school kids in my area here in Japan ( they`re about 14-16 yrs old ). I have to say that compared with the kids at home ( in Scotland ) of similar age they`re probably a little more advanced. I`ll give you a rundown of a typical 4hr training session with them because they`re training is well structured and incorporates ideas from Chinese, Korean coaching methods which seems to be working well for them.

    1.To start with they spend about the first 30mins doing various footwork ex`s to help loosen up and also review their movement - most of this is chassis movements going both forwards and backwards and then later using a racquet too to shadow shots. They then practice lunging mov`s at the net keeping the left foot as a pivot and lunging on forehand and backhand side with only the right foot.
    2. Next they then move onto pressure footwork ex`s ( by this I mean that whereas before they were warming up now they`re trying to go flat out and increase they`re speed and accuracy inder pressure). These ex`s include being directed to different positions by a team-mate at the front of the court who can use deception, as well as more traditional 4 corners-type ex`s. One thing that`s stressed in these ex`s is the likelihood of the shuttle returning to where you just came from. I`ll give an example - you move to the front forehand corner and shadow a shot and move next to the backhand midcourt and shadow a shot, you MUST then return to the front forhand corner. This gets them used to being able from anywhere on the court to reach another position, more so than if they`re given a free reign on where to move.
    3. Now they start to "knock-up" and do this for about 10mins. So far they`ve taken about 1hr30mins to get to this stage, maybe less. From here they go on to practice strokes and also patterns.
    4. First stroke practices on half-court with a set pattern but with the important point of there being some variation that each player can introduce at any time. This is very important because they never just practice strokes from a stationary position or in a set, monotonous pattern. They learn to introduce variation and deception even from here.
    5. These patterns are expanded with more variations - one side is generally attack-minded the other defensive, if a clear is hit by one side the other must return with a clear, the attack/defense sides can be reversed after a smash is hit etc.
    6. Next it`s on to full court patterns which concentrate on tactical skills - there are fewer rules and they can use more invention in what shots to use. This gets them used to linking strokes into a way of creating an opening to score the point, rather than just as a way to practice hitting a smash or drop etc.This section of the training takes about 1hr30mins.
    7. This leaves the last hour for games and a chance to put the ideas into a real game situation with no limits.

    I guess that you may not have 4hrs every weekend to do this kind of training or the access to courts for that long but you could always condense this down into the time you have available. Some things which are important to note though are -
    they spend a good amount of time practicing footwork
    the way they learn to play strokes is in an active way, and they strokes they learn are attacking shots - cuts, fast punch clears, tight netshots and smashes
    they learn tactically through the controlled full-court routines
    they learn the use of deception, VERY important in the modern game to give you that something extra.

    Hope this helps give you some ideas and if you want any more info just ask.

    Cheers
     
  3. May

    May Guest

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    Seems like u beat me to this q Tony. And unfortch, I have the time to go throught this routine.
     
  4. Zclyh3

    Zclyh3 Regular Member

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    Well, I'm a 17 year old Californian and I've been playing badminton for just about a year now. I haven't stopped playing. I've been playing like crazy. I'm not a strong player (as in buff). I'm just a skinny guy who runs a lot and plays hard. As for current level, let's just say I'm varisty singles #1 in my school. I have a lot of problems with deceptions shots from opponents. I can't seem to incorporate my footwork to move faster. It's hard for me to return smashes in the sidelines too.
     
  5. Kenny

    Kenny Guest

    Steplantis

    You've done an excellent job with the writing, the layout is very informative and no doubt be beneficial to all of us badminton players.

    Thanks
     
  6. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    Steplantis,

    Very good explanation for the 4 hour workout, thanks very much. I have a few questions if you do not mind.

    1. A learned a little bit of badminton with Chinese coaches. Never had a chance to hear about the Korean methods. In you opinion what is the difference between these 2 methods;
    2) ' ... practice lunging mov`s at the net keeping the left foot as a pivot and lunging on forehand and backhand side with only the right foot' - does it mean they are using 1 single step/ stride to reach the net?
    3) How do you introduce deception techniques? Is it up to the player or under your directive to use it during the drill?

    Thanks
     
  7. Steplantis

    Steplantis Regular Member

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    Some answers to Viver`s questions :

    1. To be honest I`m not 100 percent sure what the difference is as I`ve not actually seen the Chinese and Korean coaches in action. The head-coach of the training group has however so the next time we meet up I`ll pick his brain about it.

    2. This drill is done using a half court and the player places their left foot ( I`m assuming right-handed here) behind the front service line and then uses the right leg to lunge to the net, first forehand side then backhand side ( think of a V shape with the point of the v in the middle of the half-court ). They do this continually about 20 times. I think the main thing to concentrate on is both the lunge forward but also the recovery as the right foot doesn`t actually touch the ground on the recovery part - this ex is to get you used to changing the direction of your lunge in mid-air.

    3. Deception is something you have to work hard to achieve and in a drill situation you can`t always use it every time, but the players are free to try and use as much deception as they can during each drill, especially during the half-court drills where the space you have is limited so you want to try and fool your opponent as much as possible. The players have learnt deception both from listening to their coach but also from watching the pro`s do it on video - if you watch someone like Peter Gade he uses both racquet and body deception, I guess the latter could be called body-sway or feint as well.
     
  8. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    Hi Steplantis,

    1) Thank you and I'm anxious to learn the differences;

    2) I'm not sure if I got it right: seems you position the left foot forward, right foot behind and using the right foot to propel (or lunge). So right foot when forward is used to stop the body momentum and then moved back again and while in the air left foot is pivoting to help get back into initial position. Did I get it right?

    3) Ok. It's good that they have the coach and videos to teach them how the pros do the tricks.

    Thanks again.
     
  9. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Now that's interesting. After playing a net shot, I have been taught to shuffle back one step to about a foot and a half behind the service line still leading with the right foot forward.
     
  10. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    It depends the purpose of the exercise and not necessarily for use during the game. Could be for coordination only. That's my purpose of trying to learn more about the exercise.
     
  11. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    same here cheung, also , i tend to lunge forward by pushing with both feet but still lead with right foot. Depending on how tight the net shot, i do one small or large shuffle back, with right foot leading
     
  12. Steplantis

    Steplantis Regular Member

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    Okay maybe there`s a little confusion with the footwork ex - as Viver said I guess the aim of the ex is as part of warming up and gaining coordination skills. I`ve tried doing this and it is quite hard to do smoothly and with consistency.
    The best way to visualise it is that you`ve just played a net shot using a normal lunge to the forehand court - your right foot is forward and your left foot is behind you. Keep your left foot in that position as a pivot point and then do short lunges with the right leg to the forehand and backhand sides alternately. It`s not really practicing traditional footwork, it`s more a strength and coordination practice.

    Hope this helps!!
     
  13. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    Thanks Steplantis. I have a clearer idea of what the players were doing. I did one similar exercise for coordination and strengthening. Like you described, the right foot is leading, lunge is performed by left foot, once the right foot touches the ground it pushes back with left foot used to pivot.
     

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