Hi everyone, I've been reading the threads on this forum for a while and I have not seen anything on plays. Basically, a play is a preset strategy you have before you even begin a point. One example from tennis is when a player focuses exclusively on hitting to the backhand side of the opponent. I think that these types of strategies have to apply to badminton too! Here are some of the basic ones I've seen/used before Singles-make the opponent run the long diagonal Doubles-smash until the net player can make the kill Obviously, there have to be more than just these two! Using plays against opponents is essential to having a good strategy, but I don't know too many. Can we please get a list of more plays that any player can use to improve his/her strategy and game?
Those are tactics rather than strategy, but I digress. 'Set plays' are far more common in doubles - there is less space to hit to, and so the replies are more limited, making your opponents shot more predictable. There are many set plays just based around serve, return & reply (1st 3 shots).
For Singles: Playing a fast drop and then (if the opponent plays a net shot) lift the shuttle flat over the opponent's head into the backhand corner.
General rules of thumb abound (eg. smash to the centre in doubles) but complex set plays, as they have in American football, probably wouldn't work in badminton which is so fast and fluid. Do the great players here have any examples of plays they've used? One can imagine that some professionals come up with set plays: KKK: "Ok Tan, let's lift, lift, lift. Then I'll fall on my back and hit a few from the floor. Then I'll get up and bend my wrist in an inhuman way to make a winning cross-court net shot." Tan: "Yeah, I like it! That works at least 1 in 1,000 times!"
[MENTION=32159]Fidget[/MENTION] lol! I have found that an easy 'set play' to manufacture is wide serve (tell partner or give signal), straight reply 99%, both players hunt the straight reply - often leads to a quick and easy point if not over-employed.
