How do i improve even further?

you should never hit the birdy without thinking

For shot placements, its always a good idea to take a quick glimpse of where your oppenent is (and what there doing) before you decide where to hit the birdy. This way you can see what your opponent is doing, say like running forward after a tight drop. If you see your opponent running forward, you know you should use an attacking clear to get your opponent off balance, and maybe fall and slide under the net. (well this mostly works for singles BTW)

This might sound crazy but I track where my opponents are by using my ears. Since I wear glasses and practically blind as a bat, I've been using my ears instead. Every once in a while I'll take a good glimpse with my eyes..just once in a while.

 

i've been in this situation before, and was stuck there for along while. i talk to people who play professionally and their recommendation was kind of odd, " you are improving, however it is not at the rate you want, therefore you are not satisfy enough so you push yourself harder, therefore making more error while improving. He also suggest that i take some time out and relax my mental state." He said alot of other things too, but i don't remember them.

the funny thing is i thought he was playing with me, but i was wrong. after pushing harder, and harder, i finally took his advice and a short period after that i was able to improve the dynamic of my game in all aspect.

 

You have mentioned three areas for improvement and my suggestion would be that you just focus on one area at a time. Trying to focus on all three areas is counter-productive and if it was me, I would focus on in that order:

a) Footwork
b) Shot placement
c) Backhand

Good luck.

 

This is my way of improving on those areas:

Footwork:
Do more shadows, keep focus on your footwork. You really need a coach to do this in the beginning if you don't know what's right and what's wrong. It's ok to be slow when you're trying to correct your footwork. Gradually gain more speed as you gain more confidence in doing the right footwork. In the end, you should only cover 15 corners at max speed and resting 30 seconds inbetween each time. Doing it for a total of 15 times, don't force yourself to suddenly be able to do it 15 times, build up step by step, day by day.

Skipping, single step and double step, one of the best way to develop fluid movements around the court, just remember to use more of your ankle instead of your knees to hop. Knees shouldnt be bent much at all, hardly noticeable. Quantity does matter! hehehee and speed too

Shot Placement:
Spar a lot, A LOT!! and start analyzing your games and your opponent's game while you're sparring, think about what you're doing right and wrong and also your opponent. Basically, just play with your brains instead of just relying on ur muscles to get you out of trouble. Don't get into a drift where you just play mindlessly, keep focus of whatever you are doing on court and remeber them.

Backhand:
First, make sure you have the proper swing, second, get a squash racket, and do 100 backhand swings each day without hitting the shuttle. Feet should be stationary, so place them racket leg a bit forward and rotate your body to get the follow through instead. Try to put speed into your swings instead of just an effortless swing. If you're feeling tired before reaching 100, stop and rest. I find it better to stop when I'm not putting enough effort into each swing. If the next day your arm is feeling sore, then don't push it, rest for that day. Caution: Don't force your arm to stop suddenly, you can hurt your joint. The impact point is at the max height, lots of time to slow down the racket if you make a follow through past the horizontal line.

Oh, and if you're serious, you can focus on all of them. eg: get to the games half an hour early and do some shadows to warm up. Then start sparring with the guys and focusing on your game. When the day is done, get your squash racket and do your 100 backhand swings, and remember to stretch after the games, flexibility is very important for fluid movements around the court.

Also, don't expect a sudden improvement. Do it for a month or two and THEN analyze the improvements you've made. Expecting a sudden improvement will only put you down, it'll make you feel like you've put so much effort yet its not showing results.

 

Iwan: "Skipping, single step and double step, one of the best way to develop fluid movements around the court, just remember to use more of your ankle instead of your knees to hop. Knees shouldnt be bent much at all, hardly noticeable. Quantity does matter! hehehee and speed too "

I always use my knees to skip (esp for double and triple steps rope), so from my understanding of the above, does it mean I have to shift more towards the "flat footed" stance when skipping?

Thanks~

 

manabu: well, the reason why we use ankle more is because we want the feet to be more explosive in itself. Think abt it, if u have enough power in your ankle to move like you do now with just ur feet pushing u around and little of ur thighs, then how much faster can u go when you use both?

 

Being aggressive means trying to hit winners, aiming for the lines, etc. Aggressive players usually hit more winners but tend to have more errors.

 

To me, playing aggressive is playing all out as fast as you can. Lots of smashes and fast dropshots, along with a quick netshot or punches to the back. Doesn't matter if your dropshot falls after the service line. Once in a while an attacking clear, hardly anything that allows your opponent move relaxingly like a high clear. That's playing aggressive You playing fast and forcing your opponent to move fast. You need lots of stamina and endurance for this type of game play though.

 

If you are playing double, being aggresive can also mean that you are intimidating your opponents. Let me illustrate. For example, you are an agressor in front of the net that you will hit a winner any shuttle that is inches higher than the net. Your opponents will feel intimidated that they are seldom doing drop-shots and most of the time they will lift the shuttle for the rest of the game. Again this is only one example. However, be ready for a different kind of attack from your opponent then.

Cheers.

 

Being offensive aggressive meant stretching your opponents in time (dictating pacing) and space (controling shot placement). Proper intimidation comes from confidence in skill and fitness. Defensive aggressive is simple enough, just go for every shot even when you know you won't be able to get it some of the time. Whether you'll get all the shots depends on your footwork and positioning too.